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AROUND THE PAC-12
PAC-12 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PARTICIPANTS SET, SITE TO BE DETERMINED
North Division: STANFORD will represent the North Division in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. It could still finish in a tie for first with Oregon, but holds the tie-breaker based on its head-to-head victory over the Ducks.
South Division: ARIZONA STATE will represent the South Division in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. It could win the South Division outright with a victory over Arizona. Should Arizona defeat Arizona State and USC defeat UCLA. The Sun Devils and Trojans would finish in a tie for first, but Arizona State holds the tie-breaker based on its head-to-head victory over USC.
The FCG Host: Should Arizona State defeat Arizona, it would host the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. Should Arizona defeat Arizona State, the Sun Devils travel to Stanford where the Cardinal will host the Pac-12 Football Championship Game for the second consecutive year.
GAME THEMES: Apple Cup and Civil War kick off the weekend action with a pair of Friday rivalries. . . WASHINGTON looks to reclaim the Apple Cup behind their ground attack led by Bishop Sankey (143.1 rushing ypg), while Connor Halliday (355.0 passing ypg) will take to the air to help WASHINGTON STATE claim Cup rights for the sixth time in 10 years... OREGON is in search of its sixth consecutive 10-win season. However, OREGON STATE and Sean Mannion (371.1 passing ypg) look to snap a five-game skid in the 117th Civil War. . . COLORADO and UTAH go head-to-head with the victor escaping the cellar in the South Division. . . STANFORD dropped a 20-13 overtime decision to Notre Dame last season in South Bend, but have its sight set on revenge as the Irish come to visit. The Cardinal look to post their fourth consecutive 10-win season. . . The Victory Bell is currently in the hands of UCLA, but USC has held it 12 of the last 14 years and will look to get it back when the Bruins visit the Trojans n Los Angeles. . . The desert battle for the Territorial Cup will occur in Tempe with Pac-12 Championship Game location on the line. ARIZONA STATE’s rush defense (123.4 ypg) will key on ARIZONA’s Ka’Deem Carey, the second leading rusher in the FBS (155.9 ypg).
STILL COUNTING?: In each of the six conference games last weekend, the victor scored 38 or more points. It was the highest-scoring weekend in Pac-12/10 football history (conference games only), both by total points (463 pts) and by average per game (77.2 ppg). (courtesy of Bud Withers, Seattle Times).
UPCOMING GAMES
WASHINGTON STATE (6-5, 4-4) at WASHINGTON (7-4, 4-4)
WASHINGTON STATE: Reached six wins on the season, including four conference wins and consecutive conference wins, all firsts since 2006, marking the last time WSU was bowl eligible… Junior QB Connor Halliday tossed four TDs to bring his career passing touchdown total to 50, fifth all-time in WSU history, and his 488 passing yards brought his single-season total to 3,905 yards. He needs 64 yards to pass Ryan Leaf’s single season record of 3,968 yards set in 1997… His 380 completed passes mark a single-season record, and needs just eight more completions to break the Pac-12 record… Senior S Deone Bucannon leads the Pac-12 with 102 tackles, and is the first Cougar to post back-to-back 100 tackle seasons since 1999-2000.
WASHINGTON: UW’s 69 points were the most scored by Washington in 69 years and were the fifth-most scored in a Conference game… Rushed for 530 yards against the Beavers via three 100-yard rushers, the second-most yards ever and only the second time three Huskies have ran for 100-yards plus in a single game in program history… Junior RB Bishop Sankey rushed for 179 yards and three TDs, tying Napoleon Kaufman’s career mark of 34 rushing touchdowns… His 1,575 yards this season are third in the nation, and he needs just 121 yards to break UW’s single-season record of 1,695 set by Corey Dillon in 1996… Junior RB Deontae Cooper turned in a career day after three reconstructive knee surgeries in as many summers, collecting his first 100-yard rushing game, including a 70-yard sprint and two TDs.
LAST MEETING (11/23/12): Andrew Furney kicked a 27-yard field goal on Washington State’s first possession of overtime, and the Cougars overcame an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat rival Washington 31-28 in the Apple Cup. Jeff Tuel led the Cougars air attack, completing 33 of 53 for 369 yards.
OREGON STATE (6-5, 4-4) at No. 12 OREGON (9-2, 7-2)
OREGON STATE: Junior WR Brandin Cooks became OSU’s all-time leader for single season receiving yards after collecting 117 yards against Washington to bring his total to 1,560, which ranks second all-time in the Pac-12 behind Marqise Lee’s 1,721 yards set last year... The nation’s leading receiver has 110 receptions, which are third-all time in a single-season in the Pac-12… Junior QB Sean Mannion passed for 229 yards, bringing his career total to 9,909 to move him into second-place on OSU’s career passing yards list, while his 34 TD passes this season are a school single-season best.
OREGON: Sophomore QB Marcus Mariota tossed a TD pass for the 24th-straight game, giving him at least one in every game of his career, while his 360 yards of total offense brought his career total to 7,085, making him just the fifth player in school history to eclipse the 7,000-yard mark…Mariota was intercepted on his first pass attempt of the game, breaking a streak of 353 attempts without a pick… With five more rushing yards, sophomore RB Byron Marshall will become the Duck’s eighth 1,000-yard rusher in the last seven seasons.
LAST MEETING (11/24/12): Kenjon Barner ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns and the Ducks accumulated a season-high 430 yards on the ground, as No. 5 Oregon won at No. 16 Oregon State, 48-24.
COLORADO (4-7, 1-7) at UTAH (4-7, 1-7)
COLORADO: Junior WR Paul Richardson now has CU single-season record 79 catches for a school-best 1,289 yards (16.3 yards per catch), with 10 touchdowns on the year…Richardson needs just one TD to tie the single-season TD mark of 11 set by Derek McCoy (2003)…The Buffs are 4-of-6 on the year in two point conversions, tying the 1959 (4-of-14) and 2002 (4-of-4) teams for most made in a season…The temperature at kickoff for the USC game was 29 degrees, the 14th coldest for a game at Folsom Field.
UTAH: Junior TE Jake Murphy (102 yards) and junior WR Dres Anderson (129 yards) both had 100-yard plus receiving yards against the Cougars, the first time Utah has had two 100-yard receivers in a game since Sept. 2, 2004… For Anderson, it was his school single-season record tying sixth 100-yard game. He needs 92 yards against Colorado to become the seventh Ute to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season.…Former walk-on and sophomore QB Adam Schulz started in place of the injured Travis Wilson, throwing for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdowns.
LAST MEETING (11/23/12): Trevor Reilly intercepted the game’s first pass and Utah took a 7-0 lead on the next play to jump start a 42-35 win. However, the Buffs would match Utah score-for-score until Reggie Dunn returned the fifth 100-yard kickoff return of his career (an NCAA record) for the winning TD with 8:12 left on the clock. The Utes John White rushed for 168 yards.
No. 25 Notre Dame (8-3) at No. 8 STANFORD (9-2, 7-2)
STANFORD: The Cardinal concluded league play with a 63-13 win over California in the Big Game. It was the most points scored by either team in the 116th meeting of the two teams. . . Junior QB Kevin Hogan is 14-2 as a starter after completing 17-of-26 for 329 yards and five TDs. . . Junior WR Ty Montgomery scored on each of his first four touches - a 31-yard run, 50-yard reception, 12-yard reception, and 72-yard reception. He added a school record-tying fifth touchdown with a 9-yard reception at the end of the second quarter. Montgomery had five receptions for 160 yards.
LAST MEETING (10/13/12): The seventh-ranked Irish kept the Cardinal out of the end zone in overtime to remain unbeaten with a 20-13 win over No. 17 Stanford. Notre Dame hit a game-tying field goal with :20 remaining in the game to force overtime. Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor rushed for 102 yards on 28 carries.
No. 22 UCLA (8-3, 5-3) at No. 23 USC (9-3, 6-2)
UCLA: Senior LB Anthony Barr is one of the four finalists named for the 2013 Rotary Lombardi Award, while freshman LB/RB Myles Jack has been named a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award. . . Redshirt sophomore QB Brett Hundley moved into third place on UCLA’s all-time touchdown passes list with 51, passing Tom Ramsey (50). He also moved into fourth place on UCLA’s all-time passing yards list (6,277), again passing Ramsey (6,168). . . Hundley also moved into fourth place on the Bruin single-season total offense list and now has 3,144 yards.
USC: USC has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with UCLA. . . The Trojans are 6-0 under interim head coach Ed Orgeron in Pac-12 games. Orgeron is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year. . . The kickoff temperature at Colorado last Saturday was 29 degrees, tying for the second coldest for a USC game. . . Senior FB Soma Vainuku blocked his third punt of the season. He also had his first five carries of the season, gaining 70 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown run. . .Sophomore TB Javorius Allen has had his third 100-yard game this season with 145 yards on 21 carries with 3 TDs. He’s scored 10 touchdowns in the last four games (nine rushing)... USC is going after its second 10-win season in the past 3 years, and its 25th overall (not including 2005, with 12 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty).
LAST MEETING (10/27/12): Brett Hundley passed for 234 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more scores as No. 17 UCLA beat USC, clinching a second-straight Pac-12 South title and snapping a five-game losing streak in the crosstown showdown. Johnathan Franklin rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns for UCLA, while inebacker Eric Kendricks blocked a punt and made a fourth-quarter interception for the Bruins.
ARIZONA (7-4, 4-4) at No. 13 ARIZONA STATE (9-2, 7-1)
ARIZONA: In the upset win over Oregon, junior RB Ka’Deem Carey finished with 206 yards on 48 carries with four touchdowns. He became the school’s all-time rushing leader (3,913 yards), surpassing Trung Canidate’s 3,824 yards set from 1996-1999. Carey pushed his career touchdown tally to 49 (rushing and receiving combined). That mark breaks Art Luppino’s school record (48) previously set from 1953-56. The 48 carries set a new school record and are the most by an FBS player this season... Senior QB B.J. Denker accounted for 280 yards of offense, including 178 passing yards (19-of-22 attempts) and 102 rushing yards (14 rushes).
ARIZONA STATE: Senior RB Marion Grice has now amassed 100-plus all-purpose yards in 13 consecutive games. He recorded 95 rushing yards, 72 receiving yards and 101 kick return yards. Grice is now the only player in the country with 400+ yards rushing, receiving and in a kick/punt return category. Grice now ranks second in school history in single-season all-purpose yards with 1,941, passing J.R. Redmond. He trails Whizzer White, who tallied 2,065 in 1950. . . Junior QB Taylor Kelly joins quarterback Andrew Walter as the only other quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000-plus yards in multiple seasons (3,063 passing yards in 2013, 3,039 passing yards in 2012). Kelly also tied quarterback Mike Pagel’s 1981 school record for single season points responsible for with 198 after adding one throwing and one rushing touchdown in the contest.
LAST MEETING (11/23/12): Marion Grice rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona State rallied back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Arizona, 41-34 in Tucson. Ka’Deem Carey tallied 172 yards on 25 carries for the Wildcats
