Mariota Continues as Heisman Leader, Arizona State Kicks Off Week 10 Pac-12 Play
With #2 Oregon’s (8-0, 5-0) 42-14 win over #20 UCLA (5-2, 2-2) last Saturday, quarterback Marcus Mariota’s performance kept him at the top of the USA Today Heisman poll for a second week. Mariota went 21 for 28, 230 yards and one touchdown.
Last Saturday’s game represented Mariota’s second one this season against a ranked opponent (then #16-ranked Washington) where he has completed 76 percent of his passes for 596 yards with four touchdowns. He’s added 106 yards on the ground and one score. He has also dodged any turnovers in them and versus UCLA, he continued his no interception streak to a conference record of 292 straight.
Marcus Mariota
For the Heisman, Mariota’s greatest competition is again Florida State’s (7-0, 5-0) Jameis Winston.
Here’s a look at this week’s USA Today poll with only quarterbacks making the list. Note that three points are for first-place votes, two for second and one for third.
1. Marcus Mariota, Oregon: 15-8-0=61.
2. Jameis Winston, Florida State: 6-11-6=46
3. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M: 2-3-11=23
4. Bryce Petty, Baylor: 1-1-1=6
5. AJ McCarron Alabama: 0-0-4=4
Derek Carr, Fresno State: 0-1-0=2
Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois: 0-0-1=1
Connor Shaw, South Carolina: 0-0-1=1
This week, Oregon has a bye but its next game is against #5 Stanford (Nov. 7). Meanwhile Winston and his team will face #7Â Miami on Saturday.
Mariota sits at 7/5 to win the Heisman while Florida St. gets the win this week (-21.5).
In other Pac-12 news…
The conference has an interesting slate of games this week beginning with Arizona State (5-2, 3-1) at Washington State (4-4, 2-3) on Thursday evening. The Sun Devils play well on this night as they have a 9-2 record and with this upcoming game, it will be No. 5 under coach Todd Graham. He has a 3-1 Thursday record, which includes an earlier victory this season against Sacramento State. The Sun Devils will look for another win through the assistance of its No. 1 in FBS scoring, running back Marion Grice and No. 2 kicker Zane Gonzalez.
For the Cougars, they’ll have quarterback Connor Halliday looking to not only get his team the win but also to achieve single-season school records for pass attempts and completions. To-date, he has 428 attempts with 273 completions with school records sitting from 2007 by Alex Brink 503 and 305, respectively. Halliday has 2,798 passing yards in 2013 and needs just 14 yards more to sit on Washington St.’s single-season top 10 list.
The Sun Devils have history on their side as they’ve won eight of the last nine games against the Cougars, including last year’s 46-7 victory. The Cougars’ last win came in 2011, Â 37-27, but for 2013, the win goes to the Sun Devils (-11.5).
On Friday, there’s USC (5-3, 2-2) at Oregon State (6-2, 4-1). Look for a battle of a top defense vs a top offense in this matchup. In USC’s 19-3 win over Utah (4-4, 1-4) last week, its defense had six sacks. The Trojans lead the conference for total defense. They are No. 2 for rush defense and scoring defense and also sit in the Top 20 nationally for these along with sacks and tackles for loss.
Sean Mannion
Oregon State lost to Stanford 20-12 last week but its defense still had eight sacks. They’ll bring the nation’s leader for passing yards and touchdowns with Sean Mannion.
Prior to the Stanford challenge, Mannion had thrown more than 350 yards in seven straight games. He has set school records this season for game passing yards (493 versus Washington State) and touchdowns (six versus Colorado).
Helping Mannion’s good numbers is his wide receiver Brandin Cooks. He also is a national leader with his receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns; Cooks sits at No. 3 for scoring and No. 4 for all-purpose running. And with his 21 career touchdown catches, this ties a school record.
Cooks leads the FBS with his 10.6 receptions per game and 157.0 yards per game.
Will USC’s defense be able to stop these two?
The Beavers have won three of the last five games against the Trojans; three have come on their home field and the most recent one was a 2010 36-7 win. This year, they’ll get the win again (-5.5)
