tlongII
09-22-2009, 08:58 AM
http://blog.oregonlive.com/pac10/2009/09/pac-10_insider_why_we_love_the.html
By Ken Goe, The Oregonian
September 21, 2009, 6:27PM
Hey, Goe: What does Washington's big upset of USC say about the conference?
For starters, it says the Pac-10 is one of the most competitively honest of the major conferences, because each school plays the other nine every season.
In other conferences - the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, the Big 12 and Southeastern, to name four - nobody plays more than eight conference games.
An eight-game schedule allows schools to substitute a guaranteed win over, say, Delaware State, North Texas, Eastern Illinois or Arkansas State, for a conference rival that not only is trying to knock off your block but is good enough to do it.
Let's face it, everybody in the Pac-10, even Washington State, is better than Charleston Southern, Lousiana-Monroe and North Texas. Those opponents have provided gimmes for Florida, Texas and Alabama, the three teams that sit atop the major polls.
The Pac-10 is a meatgrinder. The nine-game round-robin means five Pac-10 schools will lose their ninth conference game, which doesn't do anything for teams on the fine edge bowl eligibility. Stanford and Arizona State were 5-7 in 2008, and just missed the postseason.
Neither does it help a second conference team get into the Bowl Championships Series, something the Pac-10 last managed in 2002.
Since the Pac-10 went to the round-robin in 2006, nobody has gone through the conference unbeaten. Last season's USC team was the only one with fewer than two conference losses.
But, so what? Pac-10 fans are blessed because the round-robin makes for a glorious regular season. Anybody think the people in Husky Stadium last Saturday would rather have been watching Washington-Southern Utah?
Hey, Goe: Shouldn't the Ducks bench quarterback Jeremiah Masoli now, before it's too late?
With No. 6 California bearing down on Autzen Stadium for a game Saturday, I can't think of a more hare-brained idea.
Back-up Nate Costa has thrown five passes - none since 2006 - in a career truncated by two major knee injuries. Tossing him into action against what some believe is the best Cal team since 1958 without absolutely having to do it would be idiotic.
Masoli gives Oregon a chance. He has a nice feel for the option component of the Oregon spread. He averages 4.4 yards per carry this season and has scored four rushing touchdowns despite operating behind an inexperienced offensive line and alongside new running backs.
He needs to throw ball better than he did last week in a 31-24 victory over Utah, in which he completed 4 of 16 passes, gave up a red zone interception and often looked rushed and off-balance.
But that game is an exception. Masoli was statistically acceptable against Boise State, 14 for 27 for 121 yards in a game in which the Ducks couldn't run the ball a lick, and Purdue, 11 for 21 for 163.
The last time I checked, Oregon is 2-1 this season, the loss coming to a Top 10 team on the road. Objectively speaking, it's not a bad place to be.
I can't forget the way Masoli closed 2008, with brilliant, dual-threat performances against Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and Oklahoma State.
He was the whole package.
To make a panicky move because of one bad game - a game the Ducks won, by the way -would be silly.
Hey, Goe: Three weeks in, which conference team has been the biggest surprise?
Easy, UCLA. The Bruins are halfway to bowl eligibility after winning their first three games despite injuries and uncertainty at quarterback and on the offensive line.
Even if Tennessee is down, the way UCLA marched into Neyland Stadium and won before more than 100,000 fans was impressive.
Now, Coach Rick Neuheisel's team has two weeks to prepare an Oct. 3 game with Stanford. Can you say, 4-0?
I picked the Bruins seventh in the conference, something beginning to look like a major miscalculation.
Lesson learned: Never underestimate how far a good defense can take you.
By Ken Goe, The Oregonian
September 21, 2009, 6:27PM
Hey, Goe: What does Washington's big upset of USC say about the conference?
For starters, it says the Pac-10 is one of the most competitively honest of the major conferences, because each school plays the other nine every season.
In other conferences - the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, the Big 12 and Southeastern, to name four - nobody plays more than eight conference games.
An eight-game schedule allows schools to substitute a guaranteed win over, say, Delaware State, North Texas, Eastern Illinois or Arkansas State, for a conference rival that not only is trying to knock off your block but is good enough to do it.
Let's face it, everybody in the Pac-10, even Washington State, is better than Charleston Southern, Lousiana-Monroe and North Texas. Those opponents have provided gimmes for Florida, Texas and Alabama, the three teams that sit atop the major polls.
The Pac-10 is a meatgrinder. The nine-game round-robin means five Pac-10 schools will lose their ninth conference game, which doesn't do anything for teams on the fine edge bowl eligibility. Stanford and Arizona State were 5-7 in 2008, and just missed the postseason.
Neither does it help a second conference team get into the Bowl Championships Series, something the Pac-10 last managed in 2002.
Since the Pac-10 went to the round-robin in 2006, nobody has gone through the conference unbeaten. Last season's USC team was the only one with fewer than two conference losses.
But, so what? Pac-10 fans are blessed because the round-robin makes for a glorious regular season. Anybody think the people in Husky Stadium last Saturday would rather have been watching Washington-Southern Utah?
Hey, Goe: Shouldn't the Ducks bench quarterback Jeremiah Masoli now, before it's too late?
With No. 6 California bearing down on Autzen Stadium for a game Saturday, I can't think of a more hare-brained idea.
Back-up Nate Costa has thrown five passes - none since 2006 - in a career truncated by two major knee injuries. Tossing him into action against what some believe is the best Cal team since 1958 without absolutely having to do it would be idiotic.
Masoli gives Oregon a chance. He has a nice feel for the option component of the Oregon spread. He averages 4.4 yards per carry this season and has scored four rushing touchdowns despite operating behind an inexperienced offensive line and alongside new running backs.
He needs to throw ball better than he did last week in a 31-24 victory over Utah, in which he completed 4 of 16 passes, gave up a red zone interception and often looked rushed and off-balance.
But that game is an exception. Masoli was statistically acceptable against Boise State, 14 for 27 for 121 yards in a game in which the Ducks couldn't run the ball a lick, and Purdue, 11 for 21 for 163.
The last time I checked, Oregon is 2-1 this season, the loss coming to a Top 10 team on the road. Objectively speaking, it's not a bad place to be.
I can't forget the way Masoli closed 2008, with brilliant, dual-threat performances against Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and Oklahoma State.
He was the whole package.
To make a panicky move because of one bad game - a game the Ducks won, by the way -would be silly.
Hey, Goe: Three weeks in, which conference team has been the biggest surprise?
Easy, UCLA. The Bruins are halfway to bowl eligibility after winning their first three games despite injuries and uncertainty at quarterback and on the offensive line.
Even if Tennessee is down, the way UCLA marched into Neyland Stadium and won before more than 100,000 fans was impressive.
Now, Coach Rick Neuheisel's team has two weeks to prepare an Oct. 3 game with Stanford. Can you say, 4-0?
I picked the Bruins seventh in the conference, something beginning to look like a major miscalculation.
Lesson learned: Never underestimate how far a good defense can take you.