Halftime–Inside the Pac-10, Part I

Posted by: Avinash on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

Despite my disappointment about Saturday’s result, there is a nice little caveat entering the midpoint of the college football season–the Pac-10 schedule looks very intriguing again. And that means MORE FOOTBALL, which can’t be a bad thing, right?

Let’s take a look-see at the ins and outs of a Pac-10 season that will probably only get wackier as the days progress. I’ll go from bottom to top.

“Is it time for March Madness?”
Washington State (2-5, 0-4 in the Pac-10)WashingtonState
Some people say, “What’s worse than being a Cal fan today?” I say, “How about pulling for Pullman?” My Lord. That Oregon game was a demolition. If you need an idea of the ineptitude of this team, just take a look at that first half.

The Cougars’ first six possessions went INT (resulting in a TD on the next play, 7-0), INT (resulting in a field goal, 10-0), punt, fumble recovery (resulting in a TD 20 seconds later, 17-0), 3-and-out, sack for safety (TD on the resulting possession, 26-0), 3-and-out (resulting in a TD 100 seconds later, 33-0), 3-and-out (resulting in a TD 30 seconds later).

40-0, halftime. And Cal fans think they had it bad on Saturday. Sheesh.

To be fair, Wazzu had a rough opening schedule–they’ve already had to play at USC and at Wisconsin, and they did manage to push ASU to the brink. But how do you explain away a 28 point beat-down administered by Arizona? Coaching errors have been rampant throughout this season, and it looks like Bill Doba will be sent packing. That game in three weeks could be very depressing.

On the bright side for poor Alex Brink, the Senior Bowl is in a few months.

WillieTuitamaArizona (2-5, 1-3 in the Pac-10)
They have no running game. None. Zero whatsoever. They had USC on the ropes for most of that game and couldn’t win because they couldn’t run the damned ball. It’s still mystifying how the Bears let “the master of the check-down” hang 27 on them. And it really doesn’t get much easier after the Stanford game: at Washington, UCLA, Oregon, at ASU to finish it up.

Knowing ‘Zona, they’ll play BCS buster again and beat up at least one of those last three. Perfect way for Mike Stoops to exit, middle fingers aligned squarely at the Pac-10. Thanks for nothing asshat. Hope you and your bro can spread your corruptive ways away from the West Coast.

ucladorrellUCLA (4-2, 3-0 in the Pac-10)
Schrodinger’s team, as EDSBS so kindly named them. It’s peculiar that UCLA goes here since they still control their own destiny in the Pac-10 race, but Bruins fans already are sure their head coach will dispatch even that wishful thinking. Evidence from Bruins Nation:

So I don’t really care about the upcoming Cal game all that much. I do expect a win because I always expect UCLA football team to win its games at home. To me that should be business as usual. And a victory over teams like Cal should never be worthy of some kind of extra credit.

What Dorrell does from here on out means nothing.

We are done with him. We are finished with him.

Oh, I am sure I along w/ others will be reading the stories during the game week. I may even get inspired enough to compile my notes on the Bears (no promises here). But honestly I don’t give a da*n about this upcoming game. And I believe I am not the only one. I believe there are thousands of us who are just going through the motions at this point until we get our program under a brand new football coach.

But don’t blame us for being so unexcited and lifeless when it comes to our football program. Blame the doofus posing as a football coach on our sidelines, embarrassing and humiliating the name of our alma mater on a yearly basis, turning it into one of the laughing stocks of college football.

We have simply moved on and are looking forward to our next coach. Until then all the football games that will still feature a clown like Dorrell as the UCLA head coach will mean absolutely nothing.

That sums up this team quite nicely. Of course, I’ll be happier when our game with them is done. Strange shit happens in Pasadena.

Battle for the Armed Forces Bowl.
UW (2-4, 0-3 in the Pac-10)
jakelockerIf the Huskies win three more games, put them in a bowl game. Seriously. Look at their schedule. In all of their four losses, this undermanned Washington team took USC to the brink, led Pac-10 leader ASU and the now de facto #1 Ohio State at halftime, and hung around with UCLA until finally being overwhelmed in the 4th. I love teams like this–teams that don’t have a chance to win (completely outmatched on both sides of the ball), but fight until the bitter end. Or maybe I’m just channelling the Bills old Super Bowl performances.

They’re going to give Oregon a battle this week, and I’m scared to death of facing them in Seattle. They have practically no defense, no receivers, and a mediocre ground game, but Jake Locker just doesn’t go down easy. They’re a team to look out for the next two years, if their recruiting is as good as people say it is.

treeStanford (1-3, 2-4 in the Pac-10)
This is a spunky little team. For those of you counting out the Cardinal from making a late run, the records of the teams they’ve played so far? 25-7. Until the Big Game? 11-23. They gave it a noble effort against TCU before faltering late, but expect the Cardinal to make a move against OSU, the Washington schools, and Arizona. I mean, come on, don’t you want Stanford to be a little competitive come December? It’s been sad being the bully the past five years–at least put some fire back into these games.

Side note: How sweet must Jim Harbaugh’s life be now? He could literally start meditating on the sidelines or dousing cold ones or wash his hands and no one would give a crap. The only thing the fanbase could possibly want that’s left on the schedule is The Big Game, but even with a loss, the season is success. Good times in the junior college.

Tomorrow: Contenders to glory.
Anything you guys have to add about the lower rung of the Pac-10?



Topics: Cal Football, Pac-10, Sports

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