RACE DOWN TO THE WIRE
By Art Thompson III
November 16, 2009
In the previous seven years, USC would have been closing in on at least a share of the Pac-10 championship. USC won the title outright in five of those seasons and were co-champions with Arizona State in 2007 and with Cal in 2006.
But holy Tommy Trojan what we have this year is a quagmire in front of the title throne. Heading down the stretch, four teams still possess a legitimate shot at winning outright or sharing the title and the Pac-10 berth in the Rose Bowl game still is very much up for grabs.
There are a host of tie-breaker possibilities, too numerous to name here. But this much is known – Oregon (8-2, 6-1) and No. 18 Arizona (6-3, 4-2) control its destiny. All either school has to do is win its remaining conference games (two for Oregon, three for Arizona) and it would spend New Year’s day in Pasadena.
Arizona’s margin for error disappeared last Saturday when it lost at Cal. But the Wildcats can atone for that misstep Saturday if they can beat visiting Oregon, in what figures to be Arizona’s most important conference game in more than a decade.
Oregon’s remaining game after playing Arizona will be against rival Oregon State, in the annual Civil War. Oregon State (7-3, 5-2) also has a Rose Bowl heartbeat but the Beavers, who play Saturday at Washington State, need Oregon to beat Arizona.
The fourth team still alive is Stanford (7-3, 6-2), which in successive weeks booted Oregon and USC (7-3, 4-3) out of the Associated Press top 10 poll. But Stanford needs assistance from a couple of former foes, now comrades. If the Cardinal beat visiting Cal Saturday in the annual Big Game, Stanford still would need for Oregon State and Arizona to lose once more.
RUBBING IT IN?
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh deftly dodged the question posed to him, in a few ways, after his visiting team’s 55-21 trouncing of USC last Saturday. Stanford had just scored, with 6:47 left in the game, to push the score to 48-21. But instead of going for the obligatory PAT kick, Harbaugh kept his offense on the field and opted to go for a two-point conversion. It seemed obvious to many observers that Harbaugh wanted to see 50 points next to Stanford’s name on the Coliseum scoreboard.
USC’s defense stuffed freshman running back Stepfan Taylor to thwart the two-point try but four minutes later, Harbaugh had his 50 points, and more, when the Cardinal cashed in on an eight-play, 44-yard drive.
Harbaugh explained his reason for trying for two points, instead of kicking, by stating that his offensive line was in such a groove that he felt that was the best play to call. When asked if perhaps that might give the perception of kicking a defeated opponent when it already was down, Harbaugh repeated his thought, in different words, about how well he thought his offensive line was playing. On the flip side, the decision did not go over very well with USC coach Pete Carroll or the Trojan fans.
KEY MISTAKE
One key mental lapse can make the difference between a gigantic victory and a deflating loss. Cal can attest to that. In 2007, the Bears were No. 2 in the nation and on the brink of becoming the nation’s top-ranked team because No. 1 LSU already had gone down to defeat.
But then-freshman quarterback Kevin Riley, instead of spiking the ball or throwing it away, to stop the clock, tried to scramble into the end zone from more than 10 yards away. He was tackled and the game ended before Cal could reassemble to kick a tying field goal in a 31-28 loss to Oregon State.
Fast forward to last Saturday at Cal. Arizona had marched down to Cal’s 25, late in the game, trailing 18-16. On third and three, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles attempted a pass that was batted down by a Cal defensive lineman. The ball ricocheted back to Foles, who tried to throw it, again. That’s a no-no. The penalty and loss of down, essentially killed the drive.
CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?
If it can, Washington State supporters don’t want to experience it. Going into last Saturday’s game, against UCLA, there was a glimmer of hope among Washington State fans that perhaps the Cougars could win their first conference game. After all, UCLA had been experiencing many troubles of its own, losing five of six games, after a 3-0 start.
But three hours later, Washington State was on the wrong side of a 43-7 rout, dropping the Cougars to 0-7 in Pac-10 play and 1-9 overall. Washington State will be underdogs in its two remaining conference games against Oregon State and in the Apple Cup against Washington. There could be some heat on second-year coach Paul Wulff, a former Cougar player, who now is 3-20.
Art Thompson III is an award-winning sports writer who has covered the NBA, the NFL and Major League Baseball, in addition to college sports. He was The Orange County Register's lead college writer and its UCLA beat writer for seven years.
