The place to be was Tempe on Saturday.
That’s where Oregon free safety Keith Lewis was, checking out some friends who play for Arizona State and hanging with former Duck linebacker Wesly Mallard, whose New York Giants were in town to play the Arizona Cardinals.
Lewis and the rest of the crowd saw a wild-west shootout, Pac-10 style.
Sun Devil quarterback Andrew Walter certainly packed his revolver, or maybe his cannon, for the matchup with Stanford. Walter, who previously had never started a game for Arizona State, threw five different touchdowns to five different receivers in the 65-24 romp. The win was sweet revenge for the Devils, who fell to the Cardinal 51-28 in Palo Alto last season.
“So many guys made plays today and I think this team is developing some confidence,” Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter told the Arizona Republic after the game.
Walter moved his pass-efficiency rating to 185.8 on the season with the dazzling performance, and now leads the nation in that category. The blowout was good news for the Devils, who finished 4-7 last year. Arizona State is already 4-1 this season and leading the Pac-10.

California Conundrum
California just continues to be the enigma of the Pac-10. Ever since the Golden Bears opened the season with 70-22 win over Baylor, they went directly from pigeonholed to holy … whatever.
The point is, nobody knows how Cal will perform against Washington on Saturday. The Bears haven’t beaten the Huskies since 1976, a streak that includes 19 straight
losses. But the Bears weren’t supposed to win a game this season, never mind topple Michigan State last month.
Washington hasn’t lost at Husky Stadium in 17 tries. But when a team, Cal, needs one more victory to equal its win total from the last two seasons combined, you never know what could happen.

Farming for

some health
It looks like Clarence Farmer shouldn’t have played those last couple minutes.
Farmer, the Arizona running back who finished second in the Pac-10 last season with 111.7 yards per game last season, tweaked his knee in the closing minutes of the Wildcats’ 14-9 victory over North Texas and will likely sit out Saturday’s game against Oregon.
“At the beginning of the year, everyone was talking about a
big showdown between Onterrio Smith and Clarence, which won’t take place,” Arizona head coach John Mackovic said in a press
conference Monday.
The injury is not the first to hit the Wildcats this season. Star cornerback Michael Jolivette is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Linebacker Lance Briggs and defensive tackle Brad Brittain both went down against North Texas. In all, Arizona starters have missed 15 games due to injury.
Somehow, the Wildcats are entering the Pac-10 season at 4-1, despite their injuries.

Rumble this Saturday Saturday Saturday
Northwest meets southwest in two key Pac-10 games this week: UCLA takes on Oregon State and USC squares off against Washington State.
The Trojan defense held the Beaver offense scoreless last week, in Derek Anderson’s first hiccup as a Beaver starter. But this week, the USC “D” will face off with the much more formidable Jason Gesser-led Cougars. Youth one week, experience the next for the Trojans, and the difference could show up in the win/loss column.