Near the midway point of the Pac-10 season, one thing is for sure: Nothing is certain.
While No. 3 USC and No. 12 Cal have distanced themselves from the rest of the conference with unblemished conference records so far, the Trojans have been living on the edge with six-point victories against Washington State and Washington and a seven-point win against Arizona State in consecutive weeks.
The Cougars, Huskies and Sun Devils share combined records of 13-10. Likewise, the Bears were nearly upset by the Huskies last weekend at home. Despite four interceptions thrown in regulation by reserve quarterback Carl Bonnell, the Huskies forced overtime on a desperate 40-yard Hail Mary that was tipped and caught by Marlon Wood, who plunged into the end zone as time expired. But Bonnell’s fifth interception of the game in overtime sealed the victory for the Bears.
There are many intriguing matchups this week in what promises to be another entertaining Saturday in the Pac-10.
USC at Oregon State
Early in the season, this game looked like a laugher. Now, all of the sudden after two solid road victories, the Beavers appear headed in the right direction. Of course, getting out on the road was probably what the team needed most following two uninspiring home losses to Cal and Washington State.
Beaver Nation’s growing displeasure with coach Mike Riley and quarterback Matt Moore seemed to cause great distraction. Now at 2-2 in the conference and 4-3 overall, Oregon State returns home, right back into the thick of things.
Once-untouchable USC has looked mediocre since starting Pac-10 play with a 20-3 win at Arizona. But after a bye-week last Saturday, the Trojans have had two weeks to prepare for the Beavers. The USC defense, which ranks second in the conference, likely won’t have much trouble containing the Pac-10’s second-leading rusher, Yvenson Bernard. Expect the Trojans to squeak this one out.
Washington State at UCLA
This a very interesting matchup between two teams, each with two conference losses, battling to jump the other and reach the upper-tier of the conference.
The Bruins and Cougars experienced polar opposite emotions after Saturday. Washington State danced after a victory over then-No.16 Oregon, while UCLA sulked following a late-game collapse at Notre Dame in which the Irish completed a 45 yard touchdown with 27 seconds left to take a 20-17 lead.
How quickly the Bruins can put that behind them will go a long way in increasing their chances of defeating the Cougars Saturday in the Rose Bowl.
Both defenses in this game are very capable. UCLA is the Pac-10 leader in total defense and really dismantled a potentially explosive Notre Dame offense for three-and-a-half quarters. Meanwhile, the Cougars kept an Oregon offense off-balance but were aided by four Duck turnovers that were essentially gifts.
This will be quarterback Pat Cowan’s third start overall and his first start at home after two tough road games. He’ll lead the Bruins to victory against Washington State.
Arizona State at Washington
The good news for Arizona State is that the Sun Devils finally recorded their first Pac-10 victory. But it came at the expense of winless Stanford last Saturday at home. Now Arizona State must travel to Washington. The Huskies, like the Bruins, are coming off a heartbreaking loss at Cal but they’ll get a nice remedy when they meet an anemic Sun Devils’ defense Saturday.
A win would set the Huskies up nicely for a battle next weekend when they invade Eugene hoping to crash Oregon’s homecoming party.
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