Roundup: Mariota in control of the Heisman race
The North champs made quick work of their Civil War foes Saturday, blasting away Oregon State 47-19 in Corvallis. John Canzano writes that Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota won the Heisman with his performance in the game – 19-25 passing, 367 yards, four TD passes and two more scores on the ground (of course, the official presentation won’t be ‘til later in December, but ya know…).
The stars aligned for the 'Cats on Black Friday – Stanford took it to UCLA, and then Arizona did some work of its own by defeating rival Arizona State 42-35. As a result, Arizona won the Pac-12 South and jumped into the playoff race, writes Martin Rickman of Sports Illustrated.
Some performance from the Cardinal, looking like the team that won the last two conference titles. A Stanford 31-10 win over UCLA was led by a “relaxed” Kevin Hogan, writes Tom FitzGerald. The Stanford quarterback threw for 234 yards and two touchies on 16-19 passing.
No use reliving a devastating loss that ruined your shot at a Pac-12 and national championship, UCLA supporter, so maybe I can cheer you up by telling you that UCLA running back Paul Perkins is the Pac-12’s leading rusher at the end of the regular season with 1,381 yards.
Here are Doug Haller’s takeaways from Arizona State’s loss to Arizona – the Sun Devils got manhandled at the line of scrimmage, Mike Bercovici has to be the guy at QB (Taylor Kelly isn’t the same threat he was before the injury) and Arizona State has a very important bowl game to play (chance to win 10 games and cap off a successful season).
Heartbreaking loss for the Golden Bears, 42-35 to BYU, to knock them out of bowl contention. Mike Vernon of the SF Chronicle notes that Cal will address its defensive issues.
After a 38-34 win in Boulder to clinch its first winning Pac-12 record since joining the conference, Utah is likely headed to the Sun Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl, jots Matthew Piper of the Salt Lake Tribune.
No real surprise here – Colorado wide receiver Nelson Spruce was named team MVP. Dude caught a school-record 106 passes.
What a performance by USC, huh? The Trojans demolished the Golden Domers 49-14, and the Los Angeles Times gives us five takeaways from USC’s win over Notre Dame.
Make it two in a row in the Apple Cup for the Dawgs after a dominating 31-13 triumph over the Cougs, and Christian Caple writes that Washington beat Washington State thanks to big plays and defense.
Cool moment on an otherwise dreary night for Coug fans when Steve Gleason was inducted into the Washington State Hall of Fame between the first and second quarters.
Watch Oregon State coach Mike Riley talk about the Beavers’ loss to Oregon.