NCAA Football West Round-Up; UCLA Pummeled by Cal
Zach Maynard and Cal put a whipping on the Bruins in Berkley last week.
Maybe too much was expected to soon of the UCLA Bruins under new head coach Jim Mora, Jr. as they got off to a roaring start this season. Even the first loss to Oregon State didn’t seem as bad as the Beavers are now 4-0, but now we’ll find out how mentally tough this team is after a severe 43-17 beating by Cal.
The Bruins lost for the seventh straight time at Berkley and turned it over six times in the process. The loss drops UCLA to 4-2 on the season while Cal moves to 2-4 and attempts to get their season turned around.
USC 38 at Utah 28 – The Trojans overcame a 14 point deficit early in the game to post the Pac-12 victory. USC out-gained the Utes 432-304 in total yards and were led by Matt Barkley’s 303 yards passing and three scores. Anyone thinking the Trojans are out of the national title game picture should think again. Southern Cal will have at least one and potentially two match-ups with Oregon before the season is out so if SEC teams stumble at all, the Trojans could pounce.
Washington 21 at Oregon 52 – The Ducks led 35-7 at half and never looked back as they emptied their bench near the end of the third quarter. QB Marcus Mariota threw for four touchdowns on the day and running back Kenjon Barner ran for 122 yards on 20 carries. This was the 40th win as head coach for Chip Kelly at Oregon. And the umpteenth uniform combination for the Ducks as well.
Washington State 6 at Oregon State 19 – The Beavers moved to 4-0 on the season and didn’t play real well offensively in the process as QB Sean Mannion threw three interceptions. That turned out to be the good news for Mannion who is now sidelined with a knee injury for the next few weeks if not longer. The good news besides the win for OSU was the play of cornerback Jordan Poyer who picked off Washington State QB Jeff Tuel three times on the day.
Looking ahead to next week
Barkley and the Trojans head into Seattle to play the Huskies on Saturday.
USC (-12) at Washington – The Trojans go on the road in the Pac-12 for the second straight week. The last time the Huskies were home they were knocking off #8 Stanford for their only loss of the season. Washington struggled at Oregon as many teams do but USC seemed to get some more focus last week and being under the radar right now may suit them well. I like the Trojans to cover here.
Texas A&M (-7) at Louisiana Tech – Although there is still much on the schedule left, one could argue a victory over the Aggies would be the final test in the road to an unbeaten season for the Bulldogs. The play of freshman QB Johnny Manziel has improved dramatically for the Aggies and had this game been played as it originally was supposed to I might take the Bulldogs. I think A&M finds a way to go into a difficult environment and will win, but I think it’s within seven.
Stanford (+7) at Notre Dame – The Cardinal are coming off an amazing come-from-behind win over Arizona last weekend and now must deal with a terrific Irish defense and fired up crowd at Notre Dame Stadium. Stanford failed its’ first major road test by losing at Washington and I see this as far more difficult. The only saving grace here is the lack of consistency by Notre Dame’s offense. Even so, I like the attitude of the Irish and I think they cover.
Other games I like (My picks in BOLD)
Fresno State (+7) at Boise State
Utah (+8) at UCLA
Arizona State (-23) at Colorado (tonight)
