Roundup: Practice makes perfect for Arizona
Go out on the town Saturday night? You didn’t miss much in the Pac-12, besides, say, a new school passing record, a near-upset in the Palouse, and oh yeah, the BEST ENDING IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS SEASON. In probably the wildest game so far this year, Arizona beat Cal 49-45 on a Hail Mary on the final play (there’s the play if you missed it). I’m sure a lot of people think completing a Hail Mary is total luck, but Daniel Berk lets us know that Arizona practices the Hail Mary at the end of every practice.
Former Bear Jeff Kent announced Monday an endowment to Cal's Women Driven Scholarship. The retired Major League second basement contributed $531,000 to the fund he originally started with his wife back in 1998 when he was playing across the bay for the San Francisco Giants.
It wasn’t easy going 1-0 in Pac-12 play for the No. 2 team in the country, but Oregon has learned from its close win at Washington State, writes Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press. The Ducks get a little reprieve now until a Thursday night dealio with undefeated Arizona.
Heck of a ballgame played by the Cougs, sacking Marcus Mariota seven times and going blow for blow with the Ducks all game long. That said, Jacob Thorpe writes that Washington State still has a lot to prove.
While most of the nation was engulfed in Oregon-Wazzu and Cal-Arizona, Sean Mannion set the Oregon State career passing mark in a clinical 28-7 Beavers victory over San Diego State. Mannion is now No. 3 on the Pac-12 all-time passing yardage list – just a couple of Trojans are ahead of him (Matt Barkley and Carson Palmer).
Mannion wasn’t the only one to top a school list Saturday, as Colorado wide receiver Nelson Spruce broke school records with 13 catches and a sixth-straight game with a TD reception in a 21-12 win over Hawai’i.
Utah put a beatdown on Michigan in The Big House, waiting through a long lightning delay to eventually post a 26-10 victory over the Wolverines. Man, it was some game for Utah linebacker Gionni Paul – the Miami transfer had 14 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. But perhaps the most memorable moment was Kaelin Clay’s Heisman pose after returning a punt for a touchdown, something he called “a little homage to Desmond [Howard].”
With a 45-14 triumph over Georgia State in the rear-view mirror, Washington has its attention focused on a big Pac-12 North matchup with Stanford, and it’s the opinion of wide receiver Kasen Williams that Washington needs to air it out more than they have so far this season. According to Adam Jude and Percy Allen, the Dawgs are last in the Pac-12 with an average of 418 yards per game of offense (that’s still a lot of freakin’ yards to be last in the conference, though).
Jim Mora hasn’t given any indication one way or another, but Arizona State expects Brett Hundley to play Thursday night, writes Doug Haller.
The Los Angeles Times reports that UCLA safety Randall Goforth is out for the season after having surgery on both shoulders.
With no game to break down last weekend, Conquest Chronicles looks at USC football’s 2015 schedule and makes some predictions.
The Pac-12 2014-15 women’s basketball schedule was released Monday morning, and here is the Stanford women’s basketball schedule for this year.