Roundup: Cal and Oregon square off in Ninerville
Two weeks after Stanford hosted Washington State, we have another Friday night special for you in the Bay Area, as Cal welcomes Oregon to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the home of the San Francisco 49ers (7 p.m. PT, FOX Sports 1). Mike Vernon of the SF Chronicle gives us a little background on how Cal was able to play at Levi’s Stadium. There’s also a short game preview inside. Additionally, Kyle Bonagura discusses Cal football's turnaround from a one-win 2013 to a 4-3 start to 2014 and how it has brought more good vibes to Berkeley.
The AP tells us that Oregon will look to extend its two-game win streak when it plays the Golden Bears. I also suggest that you read Chantel Jennings' story on Oregon running back Royce Freeman. He's been built like a back since birth.
Set your alarm a little earlier Saturday if you’re in the Pacific Time Zone and you like to sleep in, because Colorado welcomes UCLA to Folsom Field for an 11 a.m. PT/noon MT kickoff on the Pac-12 Networks. From the Buffs’ side of things, Colorado will try to keep the ball away from Ishmael Adams, who leads the Pac-12 in kickoff returns at 25.1 yards per attempt. Homecoming weekend for the Buffs too.
The Bruins have had some moving parts up front and Jack Wang reports that Jim Mora isn’t guaranteeing that Conor McDermott will start at left tackle.
It’s also homecoming on The Farm, and Stanford will greet Oregon State to campus for a 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon kickoff on ESPN2. Good article from David Lombardi on how Stanford football is dealing with adversity. This is the first time in five years that the Cardinal has lost three games in a regular season.
On the Beavers’ sideline, Mike Riley says that Oregon State running back Storm Woods is questionable for the Stanford game.
The Cougars got a big one in Pullman with 15th-ranked Arizona coming to town for a 3 p.m. PT start on the Pac-12 Networks. For your Wazzu link, Jacob Thorpe features Washington State interim special teams coordinator Eric Mele, who replaced the dismissed Eric Russell midseason.
Cool feature from Arizona sports guru Anthony Gimino on Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright. Great headline, too: “Scooby Wright’s puppy days paved way for success at Arizona.”
Huge Pac-12 South implications abound in USC-Utah from Salt Lake City (7 p.m. PT, FOX Sports 1). Good backstory here provided to us by the Salt Lake Trib’s Kyle Goon on the friendship between USC quarterback Cody Kessler and Utah linebacker Jared Norris. They played at the same high school and are best friends.
Meanwhile, USC is preparing for a loud Rice-Eccles Stadium. The MUSS doesn’t make it easy on anybody in a road uniform.
Our nightcap takes us to what could be a very wet Seattle as Washington takes on Arizona State at 7:45 p.m. PT on ESPN. Yes, the conditions aren’t expected to be perfect, but Arizona State isn’t worried about the rain in Saturday’s forecast, reports Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic.
Washington coach Chris Petersen has not officially named a starting quarterback or running back. according to Christian Caple. “Everybody’s day-to-day in our program,” Petersen told Caple and other reporters.