Pac-12 Football: Five things we learned in Week 3

Takeaway: Unfortunately for the Wildcats, there isn’t a lot to take away, given the level of competition. While the Trojans yielded passively in the fourth against Stanford, the Bruins threw off three quarters of mistakes and meandering and imposed their will in the final frame.

The SEC West and the Pac-12 South – these were the two best divisions in the two best conferences last season.

Next: vs. UCLA, September 26. His leading receiver of the night, running back Demario Richard, tallied 2 touchdowns and 151 yards, while also rushing for 104 more yards. “We batted down the hatches and got back to work and played great in the second half”. So losing the Pac-12 opener, losing as a double-digit favorite for the third time in 16 games, will further embolden Sarkisian’s critics. “Our guys are used to playing in big games”. “He has probably matured more than anyone on the team”.

Game: Cal 45, Texas 44.

Stanford had held its opponents (Brown, Santa Clara, Long Beach State) scoreless for almost 51 straight minutes (50:54) before the 49ers scored 1:06 into the third quarter.

Cal’s running game sputtered to a halt in the fourth quarter against Texas.

Last week, Smith-Schuster caught 10 passes for 192 yards, including touchdowns of 50 and 41 yards. In RB Daniel Lasco’s absence (hamstring injury sustained in the prior SDSU game), RB Khalfani Muhammad had 10 carries for 164 yards and 1 TD.

The legend of Taylor Alie was born against Georgia State. The Longhorns have been anemic on offense, but they rolled to 650 yards behind the run-pass skills of redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard. But you certainly get the six or eight that do into the mix. “It was a heck of a ball game”. The storyline of the game was Colorado kicker Diego Gonzalez missing a 48-yard FG at the end of regulation to win the game. The junior had missed a 48-yard attempt on the final play of regulation. Oregon State should be improving as the season goes on as Anderson’s system takes form. Nobody in college football has a better win this season. “That was good for us”.

Coach Mark Dantonio says Copeland should heal fine and be back next spring, but he will not return this year.

Game: Oregon 61, Georgia State 28. It helped that the good Kevin Hogan showed up at quarterback, throwing for 279 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

The R-G reports Oregon plans to start Vernon Adams, broken right index finger and all, at quarterback against Utah.

The Beavers put together a nice game against the San Jose State Spartans.

Stanford countered to go back up 4-1, but USC managed back-to-back goals next to fight back within reach. Defensively Oregon State is allowing 21 points and 278.7 yards per game with five sacks, a fumble recovery and four interceptions. RB Storm Woods had 17 carries for 151 yards and 1 rushing TD.

It feels wrong for a conference that seems so attuned to student-athlete welfare to ask players from any campus, regardless of the lengths of the trips involved, to make that turnaround.

Game: Stanford 41, Southern Cal 31.

Seymour and Jackson started the opener against Arkansas State, Jackson and sophomore Jonathan Lockett started against Idaho. Nine other Trojans scored single goals as well. Stanford had possession for 39 minutes, 29 seconds, in part by converting 8 of 12 third-down chances.

USC doesn t have as many elite defensive players as it typically does – and that s the reason many were skeptical about the Trojans as a top-10 team entering the season – but Stanford s front five has played worse against lesser units. Most alarming was the lack of toughness and discipline on defense.

“We just didn’t execute”, USC linebacker Su’a Cravens said. “As much as Stanford is that ‘ground-and-pound, ‘ the ball gets to the edge a lot. That didn’t happen enough for us”.