Roundup: Cougars display winning attitude
Huge, huge victory for Washington State in Southern California as the Cougs took down then-No. 25 USC 10-7 at the Coliseum. There’s a new aura about this bunch in the Palouse, and the Cougars are displaying a winning attitude.
It wasn’t a pretty game to watch if you like offense, and especially so for the Trojans, who were unable to amass 200 yards of total offense. You could say that USC has problems after the loss to Washington State, and Kiffin is hoping to shore up the offensive issues by definitively naming a starting quarterback later today.
They were an antsy bunch as the last team to play its season opener, but by thoroughly beating San Jose State 34-13, Stanford stuck to its winning formula: Run it right down your throat and start a party in your own backfield.
No. 2 Oregon looked like the No. 2 team in the country alright with its 59-10 smashing of Virginia in Charlottesville, and yet again, De’Anthony Thomas made the most of his touches Saturday by rushing for 124 yards on 11 carries. Oh, and three touchdowns to boot.
Finally, the nation’s leading rusher from 2012 is back on the field, and Ka’Deem Carey returned in a big way for Arizona as the Wildcats demolished UNLV 58-13. He scored on his first touch of the season – a 58-yard scamper – so I’d say he got off to a pretty good start.
Happy first victory as a Pac-12 head coach, Sonny. A defensive turnaround and Jared Goff’s passing led Cal past Portland State 37-30 to get the Golden Bears to 1-1 on the season. With 935 yards passing in his first two collegiate starts, Jared Goff is setting records (the link says 930, but trust me, it’s 935; he leads the NCAA in passing).
After beating Central Arkansas 38-24, 2-0 Colorado already has one more win than it did all of 2012. While Paul Richardson literally one-upped himself on Saturday with 11 catches for 209 yards against the Bears after going for 10 catches and 208 yards against Colorado State, the Buffs’ defense is making a difference. How ‘bout this stat- Colorado State and Central Arkansas had a combined nine fourth-quarter possessions against the Buffs; five of them ended in turnovers.
It was closer than expected for a while, but Oregon State got past Hawai’i 33-14, and the Beavers’ defense responded as Oregon State got its first win of the season. And let’s hip-hip-hooray with Mike Riley in the locker room after the win. Also, big-time congratulations to Gary Payton for being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
With a 70-7 victory Saturday afternoon, it was total domination for Utah over Weber State. So, with a 2-0 start and 100 points scored in the first two games, the Utes are riding high as they prepare for Oregon State.
No football for the Huskies this weekend, so Steve Sarkisian was a recruiter and an announcer during the bye week. ‘Twas his son’s first game of tackle football, and Sarkisian was there to call the action as a public address announcer.
Very sad news down South, as UCLA football player Nick Pasquale was killed after being hit by a car early Sunday morning. The 20-year-old redshirt freshman was a respected wide receiver on the scout team.
The Sun Devils took care of business Thursday night, so let’s go ahead and get a glimpse at the Pac-12 Networks’ First Snap preview of the Arizona State-Wisconsin game.