By Doug Haller
Mercy. Last weekend was brutal. As a result, the Pac-10 is taking a national beating, perhaps rightfully so.
Arizona State loses to Nevada-Las Vegas. Brigham Young hammers UCLA. New Mexico defeats Arizona. Maryland upsets California. Texas Christian pounds Stanford. Baylor thumps Washington State. Overall, it was one of the worst Saturdays in recent memory for the Pac-10. The conference's only saving grace: Southern California, which dismantled No. 5 Ohio State. Explanations, please.
Oregon State coach Mike Riley: "Every week you're going to be surprised. There's a lot of good football out there. It's playing the best on Saturday and living in the moment and all those old coaching clichés that you guys don't want to hear, but I think it's more real than ever, and last weekend proved it."
Oregon coach Mike Bellotti: "You got to be ready anytime you play another conference or a non-BCS school just (because) of the perception of their desire to win and make a name for themselves is very great. We have to recognize that you become the target."
USC coach Pete Carroll: "Why that happened, I don't know. It was a big week for the Mountain West, man. A fantastic week. Probably the best week ever. I don't know what that means on the big scene. It really depends on how everybody responds."
Cal coach Jeff Tedford: "I wouldn't expect to see this again. It was just a weird weekend."
Words to live by
Oregon has health problems at quarterback. What's new, right? Dennis Dixon last season. Nate Costa in the preseason. And now Justin Roper, out for at least two weeks after partially tearing a knee ligament last Saturday against Purdue. Bellotti insists it's just a coincidence. "Our quarterbacks have taken less hits in the spread offense than they used to in our West Coast, pro-style offense," he said. The Ducks are taught how to avoid hits. Their motto: First down, touchdown, out of bounds or get down. It just hasn't always worked out that way, which means junior college transfer Jeremiah Masoli and freshman Chris Harper are expected to alternate Saturday against Boise State. Unless, of course, one of them gets hurt in practice.
And for your next task . . .
(Should you accept it.)
Beat USC. After defeating Hawaii, Oregon State has more than a week to prepare for the No.1 Trojans. Kickoff is Sept. 25. Both teams are off this weekend. "That team is hitting on all cylinders, and has no apparent weaknesses," said Riley, adding that this team compares to the great teams of USC past. Carroll, needless to say, wasn't hearing it. "We've played two nice football games, and that's it," he said.
Paging Mr. Neuheisel
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel ditched Tuesday's Pac-10 teleconference. He must have still been smarting from Saturday's 59-0 loss to Brigham Young. Or maybe he just forgot.
Three-and-out
1: Four Pac-10 teams (Oregon, Arizona, California and USC) average 40 points or more. The only conference with more: The Big 12, which has seven.
2: Washington's Jake Locker is the Pac-10's only fulltime quarterback who hasn't thrown an interception. He has 84 attempts, just three fewer than ASU's Rudy Carpenter.
3: Through three games, Washington State has been outscored 150-33. The Cougars rank 113th among 119 Bowl Subdivision teams in scoring offense.
The last word
"Our offense is working about as well as it ever has. We're putting up huge numbers. We went on four drives of over 65 yards (against New Mexico). If we just don't beat ourselves, then we know what kind of football team we can have. We can score on anybody in the country. That's the mentality sometimes our players have." - Arizona coach Mike Stoops on why he believes the Wildcats will bounce back Saturday against UCLA.
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