Roundup: Myles is the Jack of all trades
The most impressive thing about UCLA’s 31-26 win on the road at Arizona to stay within one game of Arizona State had to be its true freshman linebacker running for 120 yards on six carries, including a 66-yard TD scamper that proved to be the winning score. That said, it looks like Myles is the Jack of all trades leading UCLA in a tight Pac-12 South race (did I mention he also had eight tackles, a fumble recovery and two pass break-ups?). Here’s Pac-12.com staffer Kevin Cohen’s take on defensive players shining on offense for UCLA. (It’s Cohen’s birthday today!)
Tough one to swallow for the ‘Cats, and these four plays that defined Arizona’s loss to UCLA won’t make you feel any better about things.
The win over Oregon gave the Card even more national exposure, especially with Shayne Skov, A.J. Tarpley and Tyler Gaffney wearing those nerd glasses in the postgame presser. This leads the San Francisco Chronicle to say that for Stanford, nerd is the word. And the updated BCS standings show that Stanford is No. 4, while Oregon is sixth, UCLA is 13th and Arizona State is 19th.
The Trojans’ reward for taking care of Cal 62-28? A visit from ESPN’s College GameDay for the USC-Stanford game this coming Saturday (Silas Redd is questionable for the game as of now; let’s hope to see him on the field). If the 2013 version is anything like the 2011 version of this game (or even 2012…or even 2010 – peep the caption under the photo here; I'm sure that's the last time Andrew Luck was mistaken for his father), this should be a great one. The conference’s weekly awards won’t come out until later today, but is there any question as to who is going to be the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week?
While the loss to Stanford was certainly disappointing, Ducks fans can take solace in the fact that the Oregon women’s basketball team broke Pac-12 and school records with a 131-91 win over CSU Bakersfield Saturday. The squad broke records for most points and three-pointers made (20) in a game. This is the run-‘n-gun everyone hoped for with Westhead in Eugene.
Washington came out very strong after the bye week with a 59-7 smashing of Colorado Saturday night, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins was again a focal point of the offense with his 62 receiving yards and a score. He hasn’t had the stats many expected him to tally this season, but Sark likes the way this dude is blocking (pretty big part of being a tight end, mind you).
The sign of a really good team is one that wins despite not having close to its best performance. That’s what happened in the case of Arizona State’s 20-19 squeaker over Utah, and the recent success is providing ASU football with a reputation boost. Who said the Forks can’t win close games on the road?
Gotta move on to the next one if you’re the Utes, and it’s a pretty big one at that: No. 6 Oregon, and the Utes’ offensive line is under scrutiny as preparations for the Ducks begin.
Sonny Dykes never thought it was going to be easy to revive the Cal football program, and Dykes is dealing with the team’s growing pains, writes Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News. Also, the Cal women’s basketball team couldn’t keep up with Duke in a 70-58 loss to the second-ranked Blue Devils.
Roberto Nelson poured in 36 last night, but Oregon State failed to execute its game plan in a 78-73 loss to Coppin State. Not to make excuses, but no Devon Collier and Eric Moreland for the Beavs in this one, and Collier returns for Wednesday’s game against Portland.
While Colorado football was hopeless in Seattle, the men’s basketball team rolled past UT Martin in its home opener after a season-opening loss at Baylor.
After a 1-0 win over U-Dub, the 22nd-ranked Washington State women’s soccer team awaits its fate with the NCAA tournament bracket being released later this afternoon. Keidane McAlpine’s team finishes the regular season 14-3-3 and 7-3-1 in the Pac-12, so they’re basically in (it’d be the third straight season making the field of 64 for the Cougs if there’s any justice in this world).