The Pacific-10 Conference pits its front-runners against its last place teams this weekend as No. 1 Southern California begins its season-ending homestead against Arizona at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. The Trojans are looking to improve their winning streak to 19 games.
California, No. 5 in the nation and currently second in the conference, takes to the road this Saturday to battle Washington in Seattle.
No. 20 Arizona State aims to complete a flawless 2004 home-record as they face Washington State in Tempe, Ariz. The middle of the Pac-10 standings should receive a make-over after Saturday with a reduced number of ties and a more clear bowl picture. The Pac-10 could have as many as seven bowl berths or as few as four.
Washington State
(4-5 overall, 2-4
conference) at No. 20
Arizona State (7-2, 4-2)
This game features both of
last week’s Pac-10 Offensive Players of the Week in Arizona State senior quarterback Andrew Walter and Washington State junior tailback Jerome Harrison. Their teams
are both coming off clutch victories last Saturday.
Going into this season, second-year Washington State head
coach Bill Doba may not have expected losing four conference games and sitting in seventh place in the Pac-10 near the season’s end. But close losses and the unfortunate season-ending injury of starting quarterback Josh Swogger have
left Doba and his Cougars with nowhere to go but up in the conference standings with only two
games remaining in their regular season schedule.
Washington State must find a way to contain Walter, who set the conference record for career touchdown passes in last week’s 34-31 win over Stanford. Shutting down Arizona State’s running game will be a daunting task as well for the Cougars and will require continued strong efforts from junior linebacker Will Derting and junior defensive end Adam Braidwood. Braidwood has posted eight tackles for loss in the last three games.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter acknowledged the skillful defensive play of injury-laden Washington State.
“They’re playing pretty darn well on defense,” Koetter said. “I think coach (Bill) Doba is kind of downplaying their defense.”
The Cougar offense has suffered injuries in the offensive tackle,
tight end and tailback positions
all season, but has still managed to put points on the board thanks to standout performances from wide receiver Jason Hill. In last week’s 31-29 victory over UCLA, Harrison recorded 247 yards and a school-record 42 carries.
Last Saturday, Koetter gave a gameball to his freshman tailback Rudy Burgess, who demoralized Stanford’s defense by rushing for 186 yards on 34 carries.
No. 5 California (8-1, 5-1) at Washington (1-8, 0-6,)
The Golden Bears of Cal sit alone in second place in the Pac-10
after last weekend’s nail-biting
28-27 win over Oregon in Berkeley, Calif. Cal should have little trouble continuing its Rose Bowl campaign in Seattle this weekend, but must not take Washington lightly. The Huskies have played strong defense all season but have been plagued with an offense that isn’t scoring a lot of points.
The Golden Bears feature the
No. 5 offense in the nation, led by junior quarterback Aaron Rodgers, senior tailback J.J. Arrington and senior wide receiver Geoff McArthur. Moving the ball through the air may be difficult for Cal considering that Washington tops the conference in pass defense. Husky linebackers Joe Lobendahn, Evan Benjamin and Scott White rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference in tackles and will need to use good technique to put Arrington to the turf and not allow a second effort from him.
On Tuesday, Cal head coach Jeff Tedford commented on Washington’s defense and the Huskies in general.
“When you watch them on tape, they have been snake-bitten a lot,” Tedford said. “But their defense
is playing pretty well. They’re flying around; they’re playing hard, and there is no evidence of quit anywhere in them.”
Earlier in the week, Washington head coach Keith Gilbertson expressed little concern for his defense in this Saturday’s game but acknowledged his dismay for his team’s lack of offense.
“We don’t have any consistency, and more than that, we haven’t been able to make big plays,” Gilbertson said. “Everything’s hard right now offensively.”
Arizona (2-7, 1-5)
at No. 1 Southern
California (9-0, 6-0)
It is a good thing that Arizona beat Washington last weekend to give first-year head coach Mike Stoops the first conference win of his career because this Saturday they go on the road to face the top-ranked team in the nation.
The Trojans of Southern California have amassed an 18-game winning streak in the course of two seasons and aim to make their 19th straight win a career day for their junior quarterback Matt Leinart, who is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. Leinart leads the Trojans and the second best offense in the Pac-10 into this Saturday’s game looking to stay undefeated and bound for the Orange Bowl in early January. If the Trojans win, they will capture at least a portion of the Pac-10 Championship.
On Tuesday, Southern California head coach Pete Carroll expressed his team’s excitement for this Saturday and the close of the regular season.
“It’s really fun for us, after all of these games, to now have an opportunity to play for a Rose Bowl bid,” Carroll said. “It’s an incredible accomplishment for us. We have to do a tremendous job in preparation this week to focus and get our job done.”
Arizona’s defense will have
its hands full all game trying to
keep pace with Leinart and sophomore tailback Reggie Bush. The Wildcats are currently ranked fifth in the conference in total defense, but did not fair well last time they faced Cal — a team of similar caliber in offense to the Trojans. In last week’s 23-13 win over Washington in Tuscon, Ariz., the Wildcats shutout the Huskies in the second half and scored their first defensive touchdown of the season on freshman cornerback Wilrey ‘ 33-yard fumble recovery.

Scott J. Adams is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Emerald