In the early stages of the Pacific-10
Conference season, certain teams are staking claim that they will be serious contenders for the conference title, while others are descending to the bottom pile.
Siegel’s streak snapped
Though senior kicker Jared Siegel broke
Oregon’s all-time scoring record Saturday, he also snapped his streak of consecutive extra points made at 98, 10 shy of the Pac-10 record.
Siegel hadn’t missed a PAT since the 2002 season opener against Mississippi State.
In other Oregon news, defensive end Devan Long leads the conference with 7.5 tackles for loss this season. Linebacker Jerry Matson is fourth with six tackles for loss. The Oregon
secondary looks like it might get Justin Phinisee back for the Arizona State game Saturday. He practiced in pads Monday and appeared to be healthy. The return of Phinisee will help
cornerbacks Sam Hughes, Jackie Bates, Ryan Gilliamand Aaron Gipson to stop the explosive Sun Devil passing game.
Offensively, sophomore Dante Rosario scored a touchdown in his fifth consecutive game
during Saturday’s victory against Idaho. His
4-yard run also gave Oregon its first rushing touchdown of the season.
Arizona State’s stingy D
The Sun Devils will travel to Oregon this week as one of the hottest teams in the Pac-10. Arizona State’s 4-0 start is its best since going 11-0 in 1996.
In the Sun Devils’ 27-18 victory over Oregon State, it held the Beavers to minus-19 yards rushing, and during the last two games, they have given up a total of 25 yards on the ground.
Arizona State’s defense has also been stingy through the air, giving up one passing
touchdown in four games. On the other side of ball, the Sun Devils have scored 13 of their 15 offensive touchdowns through the air.
Cal returns after two weeks
California returns to action after having a bye last week and a game against Southern
Mississippi postponed due to Hurricane Ivan the previous week.
During Cal’s last eight games, it has averaged 531.6 yards and 42.7 points per game. This
season, Cal running back J.J. Arrington has carried the ball 16 times in each of the first two games and has amassed 678 yards.
Cal faces Oregon State Saturday, and the Golden Bears have lost their last five to the Beavers, but lead the overall series 31-25.
Oregon State looks to continue success against Cal
Oregon State has had arguably the toughest schedule in the country, and it doesn’t get any easier this week as it faces No. 10 California. The Beavers are the only team to have beaten Cal the last two years.
Quarterback Derek Anderson moved up to eighth place in Pac-10 history in passing yards with 8,394. Defensively for the Beavers, middle linebacker Trent Bray leads the conference in solo tackles with 30 and is third in overall
tackles with 10.5 per game.
Change at the helm
Redshirt freshman Carl Bonnell will be
calling the signals for Washington on Saturday when the Huskies travel to face Stanford.
Head coach Keith Gilbertson said they are struggling offensively. Former starter Casey Paus will now be the backup.
Injuries are also forcing Gilbertson to make other changes to the offense. Washington lost receiver Corey Williams and fullback Zach
Tuiasosopo for the season — Williams due to a separated wrist and Tuiasosopo because of a broken leg.
Surprising Stanford hopes
to recover from a tough loss
Stanford nearly pulled off the upset of the year against No. 1 USC, but fell just short. Though the Cardinal didn’t get the win, it proved to the rest of the Pac-10 it will be a force to be reckoned with.
Now its newly renovated offensive attack will get to prey on a weak Washington defense.
Sophomore quarterback Trent Edwards has led the offense, throwing seven touchdown passes and only one interception this season. He has led a resurgence of the Cardinal
offense as its points per game has gone up from 16.9 last season to 36.0 this season.
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