Pac-10 Roundup: ‘Cats hang tough with Trojans

Another week in the Pac-10 and six of the ten teams in the conference shift positions after Saturday’s action. USC and Arizona played a tight one in Tucson, Oregon’s pastel yellow pants proved to be too much for ASU, and Washington mercifully ended their murderous non-conference schedule. And in an unprecedented development, Washington State lost by a field goal to Bye Week.

Here’s an updated look at how the teams of the conference stack up through week nine…

1. USC (6-1, 4-1)- Last week - #1 - Not flashy, not exactly convincing, but USC won again, beating Arizona 17-10 in Tucson. The Trojans’ offense sputtered, but their defense dominated, holding UA to only 88 yards passing. Back to the offense…how does Joe McKnight get only 5 touches in a game? I know Pete Carroll has the luxury of having 26 All-American running backs on his payroll roster, but McKnight is special. I also know that he’s had fumbling problems this year, but still, he’s a game changer, and 5 touches is not enough for a player of his ability. One carry each in the 1st, 2nd and 4th quarters, and a whopping 2 carries in the 3rd.

2. Oregon (6-2, 4-1) - Last week - #2 - The Ducks kept pace in the Pac by pasting Arizona State 54-20 in a game that wasn’t that close. Jeremiah Masoli earned the starting job at QB, and did nothing to jeopardize it against the Sun Devils, throwing for 147 yards and a td, and running for 85 more and another score. Jeremiah Johnson and LaGarrette Blount didn’t put up big yards for Oregon, but combined for 4 touchdowns. Mike Bellotti’s relentless rushing effort, in which no player had more than 9 carries in the ball game, racked up 304 yards.

3. California (5-2, 3-1) - Last week - #4 - Cal rebounded nicely from their loss to Arizona with a 41-20 dismantling of UCLA. Quarterback Kevin Riley threw two touchdowns, Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen combined for 216 yards rushing, and the defense scored two touchdowns in the victory. The Bears’ defense allowed only 16 yards rushing and picked off UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft 4 times.

4. Arizona (5-3, 3-2) - Last week - #3 - The Wildcats lost a share of first place with their 17-10 loss to USC on Saturday. Outside of some decent running by Nic Grigsby and Keola Antolin, the Wildcats offense did next to nothing. Quarterback Willie Tuitama completed 14 of 30 for only 88 yards, a ridiculously low 2.9 yards per attempt. In fact, Tuitama is 515 yards off of his 2007 pace, in which he threw for 2294 yards through 8 games.

5. Oregon State (4-3, 3-1) - Last week - #5 - The Beavers had the week off and are preparing for a visit from Arizona State.

6. Stanford (4-4, 3-2) - Last week - #8 - Only in the 2nd division of the Pac-10 can you move up 2 spots in a week in which you didn’t play. Stanford had a week off to recover from their tough loss to UCLA, and this week will host Washington State, which will undoubtedly push the Cardinal back over the .500 mark

7. UCLA (2-4, 1-2) - Last week - #6 - The Bruins got smacked by Cal 41-20, and the evil Kevin Craft reared his ugly head again, throwing 4 interceptions on the day. The Bruins running game didn’t help, gaining only 16 yards on the ground. UCLA has this week off, and Rick Neuheisel has made it clear he will re-examine the quarterback position, and backup Chris Forcier will most likely receive more snaps in practice.

8. Arizona State (2-5, 1-3) - Last week - #8 - Somehow, ASU has gone from a 10-win team, and a squad everyone had their eye on in 2008, to a team that is simply not even competitive. The Devils got lit up 54-20 by Oregon on Saturday, coming off of a bye week. There’s been no improvement in the offense, and now the defense is struggling as well. ASU will try to avoid their first 6-game losing streak in 71 years as they take on Oregon State on Saturday.

9. Washington (0-7, 0-4) - Last week - #9 - Any signs of life against Notre Dame would have leapfrogged the Huskies over Arizona State, but that didn’t happen. The Huskies managed only 124 yards of offense against the Irish, and didn’t score until their final possession of the ball game. By the way, 69 of their total yards came on that touchdown drive. The Huskies are still the only BCS Conference team without a win, and they won’t get one this week as they visit USC in Los Angeles.

10. Washington State (1-7, 0-5) - Last week - #10 - Bye week kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired giving it a 3-0 win over Washington State. Ok, that’s just cruel. The Cougars take on Stanford on Saturday.

Prediction results last week: 3-1.

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