The PAC Twelver - Week 7

First: In a shocking turn of events, the Cal Bears (4-3 / 1-3 PAC-12) won their first conference game of the year by beating up previously undefeated #8 Washington State (6-1 / 3-1 PAC-12) 37-3 in Berkeley this past Friday night. I have no words to accurately describe the all-around Cougar debacle, other than to say it was likely the worst day of senior quarterback Luke Falk’s (28 for 43 passing / 286 yards / 0 TD’s / 5 INT’s) young life, and a Friday the 13th that WSU fans will not soon forget.

Second: I referenced first-year Cal head coach Justin Wilcox a few weeks back after the Bears’ hard-fought loss against USC, saying he clearly had the program headed in the right direction. I imagine even Coach Wilcox would tell you they are ahead of schedule.

Third: An outcome as equally unexpected as #8 WSU getting blown out by Cal was #5 Washington (6-1 / 3-1 PAC-12) losing an ugly one to Arizona State (3-3 / 2-1 PAC-12) 13-7 in Tempe on Saturday. Offensively this looked like a Pop Warner game, and a week after I gave Chris Pedersen so much love, the Huskies played their worst game in years.

Fourth: In regard to that same segment of ‘The Twelver’ last week, consider this "further notice.” After going 0-2 this past weekend, the great state of Washington has lost its D-1 football title of ‘The Pacific Northbest’.

Fifth: With the win, Todd Graham may have earned himself another season as the Sun Devils’ head coach when many in the media did not expect him to survive this one.

Sixth: #10 USC (6-1 / 4-1 PAC-12) outlasted Utah (4-2 / 1-2 PAC-12) 28-17 at the Coliseum Saturday afternoon. Trojan Quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 358 yards and 3 touchdowns, but in the end the game came down to a failed two-point conversion attempt by Utah. Amazingly, head coach Kyle Whittingham went for the win over the tie. Even in the loss, ‘The Twelver’ salutes you Coach Whittingham, as that took some John Wayne-type guts.

Seventh: I am convinced that Utah is still a very good football team. Their two losses thus far—against #10 USC and #22 Stanford respectively—are by a combined total of just four points. The Utes play the Sun Devils this weekend in Salt Lake City, and in spite of the big ASU win over UDub, I like Utah to bounce back in this contest.

Eighth: #22 Stanford (5-2 / 4-1 PAC-12) beat the Duck out of Oregon (4-3 / 1-3 PAC-12) on the Farm this past weekend, 49-7. The 42-point difference was the largest margin of victory ever for Stanford in the historic series, which dates all the way back to 1900.

Ninth: The Rose Bowl race is now wide open in the PAC-12 North. Wide. Open.

Tenth: Arizona (4-2 / 2-1 PAC-12) literally ran over UCLA (3-3 / 1-2 PAC-12) in Tucson Saturday, to the tune of 47-30. Considering Jim Mora is a defensive head coach, and this is likely the worst Bruin defense I have ever seen in terms of tackling, his time in Westwood may be near the end. Even with ‘The Rosen One’ throwing for 300+ yards seemingly every game, they are 1-2 in the conference, and his stock is plummeting. It is all bad in Bruinville right now.

Eleventh: Colorado (4-3 / 1-3 PAC-12) held on to beat Oregon State (1-6 / 0-4 PAC-12) 36-33 in Corvallis this weekend in another game that did not feature much defense. Colorado senior running back Phillip Lindsay rushed for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, a new head coach could not solve the Beavers’ problems. Their dam, to put it nicely, has collapsed since Mike Riley left town.

Twelfth: We finish ‘The Twelver’ each week discussing the spectrum of adult beverages that we PAC-12 fans enjoy on game days. As I have so openly stated, I am sticking to the Ballast Point Sculpin train as long as the Stanford win streak continues. If they can stay hot, we might be looking for my favorite Point Loma brewery to sponsor this segment. I’m just sayin’ Ballast Point. In any case, please drop a line here with your favorite coldies and cocktails that accompany you and your home team for the great tradition that is college football. Cheers y’all.