Posted by Jerry Hinnen

A look at the key matchup that could determine the Fiesta Bowl.

Stanford WR Griff Whalen vs. Oklahoma State CB Brodrick Brown.

Stanford has a problem, and it's a big one: Chris Owusu is not coming back. The senior wideout and one-time kickoff return threat has suffered through a concussion-plagued final season in Palo Alto and won't be available against the Cowboys.

Losing a target of Owusu's caliber would be a big blow for any offense, but for one with as few weapons at the wide receiving position at the Cardinal, it's even bigger. Just three Cardinal wideouts finished in double digits in receptions, and one of those -- Ty Montgomery -- was a true freshman with 17. Owusu had 35. Meaning that the only remaining legitimate, proven threat at wideout is senior Griff Whalen, who finished with 49.

The issue is that Whalen's 49 receptions covered just 664 yards -- a less-than spectacular 13.55 per-catch average -- and accounted for just four touchdowns. Without Owusu, the Cardinal wideouts don't appear to have any way to stretch the field, and Whalen didn't seem to prosper without his fellow senior around to deflect coverage; in the two games after Owusu was sidelined for good against Oregon, Whalen totaled just four catches for 23 yards.

Though Stanford's tight ends are as good as any in the country -- All-American Coby Fleener has been the team's true deep threat all season, averaging better than 20 yards a reception and racking up 10 touchdowns -- Andrew Luck is going to need something more than that from his wideouts. Unfortunately for Whalen, it's not going to be easy to have a breakout game given the Cowboys' strength in the secondary. He's likely to spend most of the game dealing with Brodrick Brown, the Pokes' outstanding junior corner, whose team-leading five interceptions helped him to first-team all-Big 12 honors.

If Whalen can make some kind of headway against Brown, he can keep the rest of the Poke secondary from locking in on the tight ends, do his part to keep some space open for the clock-milking Stanford running game, and maybe even give Montgomery some holes to work in. But against a corner the caliber of Brown, that's going to take Whalen's biggest and best performance of the season--and without it, Luck may simply not have enough targets for the Cardinals to keep pace with the likes of the Cowboys.

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Posted by Bryan Fischer

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The Game of the Century, West Edition, featured plenty of defensive plays, mistakes on special teams and one of the teams ready to press for a rematch in the BCS national championship game. The only difference between that tussle in Tuscaloosa last week and this defacto Pac-12 championship in the Bay Area? There were touchdowns. Plenty of them.

Oregon's speed went over, around and - at times - through Stanford's size as the Ducks ended the nation's longest winning streak with a 53-30 win over their division foe to take control of the conference title race. Both teams got off to their normal slow start in the first half but the Ducks, who are now 24-0 when leading at halftime under Chip Kelly, utilized big plays from Darron Thomas, LaMichael James, DeAnthony Thomas and Josh Huff to pull away from the Cardinal in the second half.

The most impressive performance of the night came from the Oregon defense that constantly put pressure on Andrew Luck and seemingly brought the Heisman Trophy front-runner back to the pack, of which James might have run his way back to. Without the team's top wide receiver (Chris Owusu) and top tight end (Zach Ertz), Luck was forced to throw into coverage often after his receiving corps could not create much separation, tossing two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six. Without a speed threat to guard against, Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti pressed his cornerbacks and used safety help over the top, limiting Stanford's bread and butter offense of quick short and intermediate throws.

That didn't mean Luck and company couldn't move the ball or get stops on defense. They just didn't do enough. It's not hard to argue that this was Stanford's biggest game in decades but they never could do enough to slow down Oregon, who proved that they're the Pac-12's best team and well on their way to their third straight conference title.

They even got a glimpse of the trophy, as commissioner Larry Scott officially presented it before the game in the press box. Given the way the South is playing out (UCLA lost, Arizona State and Utah are unranked, USC is ineligible), you wouldn't blame the Ducks' uber-booster Phil Knight for asking if he could take it home with him on his private jet.

He'll have to wait a few weeks to officially hoist the silver trophy for the first time ever but after Oregon settled things on the field Saturday night against #2 Stanford, it's a matter of when - not if - any more.

Quack.

Posted by Eye On College Football

On Sunday night the new BCS standings were released. LSU is now an unquestioned number one, but now the huge story is Alabama falling from No. 2... all the way to No. 3, ahead of not only Boise State but also Stanford. That might not hold up for more than a week, but it's the situation right now.  

You can check out a rundown of the Top 10 below, with some thoughts from our College Football Bloggers. For a full breakdown of the Top 25 teams in the BCS formula, you can check out the comprehensive standings.

1. LSU: LSU is number one, no questions asked, and only a loss could possibly keep the Tigers out of BCS contention -- and even then, LSU would be a major contender for the BCS Title. That's not to say that it doesn't matter if LSU beats Arkansas or not, obviously, but it does demonstrate just how powerful LSU's perch is here atop the BCS standings with three weeks and the conference championships still yet to play out. - Adam Jacobi

2. Oklahoma State: The Cowboys are right where they want to be. It's going to be impossible to pass LSU at this point barring a loss, but whether the #1 or #2 is next to your name in the BCS standings, all that matters is your in line to play for a BCS championship. Still, Oklahoma State has a long way to go with games left against Texas Tech and Iowa State on the road, not to mention Bedlam. - Tom Fornelli

3. Alabama: Losing to the top-ranked team in the nation in overtime might be devastating for fans, but it sure has a nice effect on a team's strength of schedule, which is why we see Alabama staying so high in the polls. Now, this designation of Alabama over Stanford isn't nearly as important as what the BCS decides next week, after Stanford potentially has a win over Oregon on its resume. Then and only then will we get a good sense of how close we are to a Bama-LSU rematch. - AJ

4. Stanford: The Cardinal went up to Oregon State and took care of business but suffered two big blows with the loss of wide receiver Chris Owusu (concussion) and tight end Levine Toilolo (upper body). That could be a big factor this week as Oregon comes to Palo Alto in what is the game of the year West of the Rockies. Stanford still has the best player in college football in Andrew Luck and are looking to solidify their hold on the #2 spot with a win. - Bryan Fischer

5. Boise State: Well, it looks like the Broncos will have to resign themselves to another possible unbeaten season ending in the wrong BCS bowl game. In order for Boise State to reach the top two it needs a lot of teams ahead of it to fall, and considering that Alabama has already lost and is STILL (italicize) two spots ahead of it in the standings, that's not a good sign for the Broncos. The possible good news is that with Georgia now being the favorite in the SEC East and TCU beginning to climb into the rankings, there's a chance Boise's schedule strength could give them a bump. - TF

6. Oklahoma: Some bad news for Oklahoma if they were hoping to be a one-loss team qualifying for the BCS title game: Alabama has a loss and only fell to third. Which means that if Oklahoma wins out it's probably going to need Stanford and maybe Boise State to fall, along with another loss from Alabama. Worse yet, the ACL injury to Ryan Broyles makes beating Oklahoma State at Bedlam even tougher. - TF

7. Oregon: Though they're not the highest ranked one-loss team, that could change with a win on Saturday against Stanford. LaMichael James put together a solid game against Washington as he continues to return from injury but the encouraging sign for Ducks fans had to be the play of the defense. The team hasn't really been tested since the opener but that will change this week in a game that essentially determines the Pac-12 champion. - BF

8: Arkansas: Want to see chaos befall the SEC and BCS system? Watch to see what happens if Arkansas somehow goes into Death Valley and upsets LSU. We'd be at a three-way tie in the SEC West (assuming everybody wins out), and each of the three teams would have a legitimate argument to make for getting to the SEC Championship -- and then, potentially, the BCS Championship. Yes, Arkansas at No. 8 means the Razorbacks would need a lot of help from pollsters ascending this ladder, but again, we're talking about if they win at LSU; voters would certainly take notice. - AJ

9. Clemson: While the Tigers' BCS title hopes were crushed in the loss against Georgia Tech, Clemson still has plenty to play for in the ACC Atlantic Division. Winning out in conference play would lock up the division and give them a shot to claim their first conference championship since 1991. For a team that plays 20+ redshirt or true freshman per game, that would not be a bad building block for the next few seasons. - Chip Patterson

10. Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech is lucky to still be collecting votes after their 14-10 squeaker against Duke two weeks ago. But the off week has given the Hokies a chance to hit the reset button before arguably their biggest game of the season. Virginia Tech will travel to Atlanta on a Thursday, and try to avoid the same trap that caught Clemson. A win should give Virginia Tech control of the ACC Coastal Division, a loss and the Yellow Jackets become part of the picture. - CP

Posted by Bryan Fischer

This week's polls have been released. Here's how the Pac-12 fared, from the top of the polls to the bottom, and what it means.

(AP/Coaches)

3/2. Stanford

The Cardinal were one of two teams to take advantage of the Game of the Century in Tuscaloosa. Stanford moved up one spot in the AP poll, ahead of Alabama and behind Oklahoma State, and all the way up to second in the Coaches Poll. If they can beat Oregon in next week's huge match up, they will probably leapfrog the Cowboys. The defense showed improvement against Oregon State this week but injuries are continuing to mount, losing two of Andrew Luck's top targets in tight end Levine Toilolo and wide receiver Chris Owusu.

6/6. Oregon

No movement in the polls for the Ducks but they have their chance to make a statement this Saturday in Palo Alto. They dispatched with rival Washington 34-17 thanks to an explosive third quarter. LaMichael James is looking like he's recovering from his elbow injury nicely, rushing for 156 yards and a touchdown against the porous Huskies defense. The best take away from last week's game was the play of the defense, a welcome sign the week before facing the best player in college football.

20/ N/A. USC

The Trojans rolled to an easy win against Colorado on national television Friday night and thanks to some losses by teams ahead of them on Saturday, moved up two spots in the AP Poll (they're not eligible for the Coaches Poll). Matt Barkley set a school-record for touchdown passes in a game with six and the running game has been a surprise the past few games as well despite some injuries. They face their old pal Steve Sarkisian back home and can rise even further in the polls with a convincing win.

Others receiving votes: Arizona State received 15 points in the AP and 49 from the Coaches, Washington 8/10.

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Posted by Bryan Fischer

A handy recap of who really won and who really lost that you won't find in the box score.

WINNER: Larry Scott

Both Oregon and Stanford were favored this week but upsets are a matter of life in the Pac-12. The Cardinal had to go into Reser Stadium - a place highly ranked opponents often leave with a loss - and dealt with several big injuries but pulled away from Oregon State with a big win. Likewise, the Ducks hit the road to take on one of their biggest rivals in a tough place to play in when it's rocking. Both came out with wins and set up the game of the season west of the Rockies and make commissioner Larry Scott extremely happy to have plenty of attention on the conference Saturday night.

LOSER: Husky Stadium

If you never got the chance to visit the Pacific Northwest and see a game at Husky Stadium, you missed out. A beautiful old venue right on the lake, there's no place quite like it when Washington is good and the place is rocking. The press box itself is attached to the trademark overhand and can sway noticeably when the fans are into the game. Starting a major renovation next week (UW is on the road the next two weeks and the Apple Cup is at CenturyLink Field), the loss to Oregon marked the final game for a while in a place that opened in 1920. There was talk of a big upset and the 1991 national championship team was honored but neither seemed to help, especially in the second half. The final play of the stadium? A Jesse Callier one yard rush from the two yard line to end a 34-17 loss.

WINNER: Rick Neuheisel

The embattled UCLA head coach came into the Rose Bowl Saturday afternoon needing a huge upset win over Arizona State and got one, knocking off the Sun Devils thanks to a missed field goal as time expired and putting the Bruins in the enviable position to control their own destiny. Win out and it's a spot in the Pac-12 title game and the best bowl trip in years. He probably isn't fully off the hot seat but the team has momentum heading into their final three games, two winnable ones at Utah and against Colorado before the annual crosstown rivalry game against USC.

WINNER: Matt Barkley

USC's had Heisman winners and some of the winningest quarterbacks in NCAA history wear the cardinal and gold but nobody has ever thrown six touchdowns in a game, as Barkley did against Colorado on Friday. Yes, the Buffs defense isn't that good but the blond-haired California kid was still sharp and had to deal with several drops from his receivers. At a historic program like USC, having your name in the record book is quite an accomplishment and given that, it's understandable why the contingent of Trojan fans that made their way to chilly Boulder kept chanting 'One more year!' as Barkley left the field Friday. If he does come back, he could have a team that is looking at making a run at a title and himself at with a Heisman campaign.

LOSER: Stanford training staff

All David Shaw wanted going into Stanford's game against Oregon State was an easy win and a chance to come home healthy. The easy win part seemed to happen but the latter didn't. Already missing Zach Ertz from the USC game, Andrew Luck lost another of his trio of big tight ends after Levine Toilolo went down and had to be taken to the locker room. He came back to the field later without pads and was nursing his shoulder/neck area. The Cardinal's top wide receiver Chris Owusu looks like he could be done for the year after taking a nasty hit that left him with a concussion and a ride in an ambulance. Safety Delano Howell could be back for next week's showdown but nothing is certain.

LOSER: Arizona's defense and special teams

The problem in the desert hasn't been offense, it's been the defense. Utah, a team that had been struggling to move the ball, didn't seem to meet much resistance against the Wildcats. Starting quarterback Jon Hays threw for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns while showing progress and running back John White topped the century mark on the ground once again. Special teams wasn't any help for Arizona either with two blocked punt and a terrible fake field goal.

WINNER: Cal's vacation plans

The Bears took another step toward bowl eligibility with a 30-7 home (well, at AT&T Park) win over Washington State that put them at 5-4 on the season with another winnable game against Oregon State coming up. There's still the possibility, perhaps even a likely one, that they'll stay home for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl but the chances of postseason play certainly improved after taking care of business.

LOSER: Paul Wulff

Perhaps it was an omen that a small earthquake shook the Bay Area right before Saturday's game. After a promising start to the season and signs of life in the Palouse, Washington State has slid back to the bottom with five straight losses and put Wulff on a very, very hot seat. The offense only scored a late touchdown and the team allowed 30 points for the fifth time this season, not exactly hallmarks of a turnaround. The schedule doesn't exactly lighten up either and if the losing streak stretches to seven, Wulff will be out looking for a new job.

WINNER: LaMichael James' elbow pad

Oregon came out in white and "carbon" uniforms against Washington and it was James who had a bulky elbow pad on his right arm that seemed to stick out despite the tame (by Ducks' standards) look. No matter how big or ugly it looked though, the pad seemed to do the trick in James' second week back in action after dislocating the elbow. It wasn't a huge performance by his standards but James rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown.

LOSER: Arizona State visors

Dennis Erickson always seems to lose a game on the road with the Sun Devils that he's favored to win by more than a touchdown. Despite this being ASU's year with the team in position to win the division, Erickson and the coaching staff saw it all slip away at the Rose Bowl against UCLA. There were plenty of bad plays and questionable officiating calls that had to leave a few of the staff's hats slammed to the ground at the end of a frustrating Saturday night.

Posted by Bryan Fischer

STANFORD WON. It's safe to say that the Cardinal is very much a second half team this season. What looked like a game that could be another one of those miracle upsets that Mike Riley seems to get every year in Corvallis turned into just another big Stanford win. Things weren't all positive for David Shaw however, as he saw two offensive threats, tight end Levine Toilolo and Chris Owusu, get knocked out of the game.

WHY STANFORD WON: Despite the injuries to three of his top four targets, Andrew Luck continued to be efficient, throwing for 209 yards, three touchdowns on 19-of-29 passing with an interception. The ground game really was the difference though, with the team topping 300 yards and five players with at least 30. The defense also stepped up and limited the Beavers to just 275 yards on the day.

WHEN STANFORD WON: After a seven-play, 66-yard drive for Oregon State to start the second half, Stanford responded two drives later with a quick (by their standards) 77-yard trip to the end zone resulting in a 24-13 lead. They put the game away after recovering a Sean Mannion fumble on the next series and Luck tossing a 14 yard touchdown pass to Coby Fleener.

WHAT STANFORD WON: Pac-12 North division, Pac-12 Championship and BCS title hopes are still alive for the Cardinal. They also held of their end of the bargain for the West Coast's version of Alabama-LSU with Oregon coming into Palo Alto next week. The victory did come at a price with the injuries so Stanford will have to limp back home.

WHAT OREGON STATE LOST: Mike Riley's team moves to 2-7 on the year, which has been quite forgettable. There were some positives to take away from the game, especially on the defensive side at times, but this still a team that is struggling no matter who they play.

THAT WAS CRAZY: A week after taking a big hit from USC safety T.J. McDonald, wide receiver Chris Owusu was the recipient of another vicious hit that resulted in him being taken off in an ambulance. It didn't look like it was a direct helmet-to-helmet and the way he fell to the turf had to be concerning for Owusu and the doctors. He's had a history of concussions and one hopes this wasn't his final play of the season or his career.

Posted by Jerry Hinnen

The USC Trojans and Pac-12 officials have suddenly gotten very well acquainted in the days since the team's triple-overtime loss to Stanford.

We've already told you that Lane Kiffin got tagged with a $10,000 fine and a reprimand for saying conference officials had "lied" to him at game's end, but he wasn't the only Trojan target from Larry Scott's office Monday: safety T.J. McDonald was also hit with a half-game suspension for a late hit against "defenseless" Cardinal receiver Chris Owusu.

McDonald will miss the first and second quarters of the Trojans' game this Friday at struggling Colorado. Scott issued a statementwith the following explanation:

“While Mr. McDonald was appropriately penalized on the field, I have deemed it necessary to add a a half-game suspension ... This process was part of our weekly review of all targeting and unnecessary roughness hits.”

“Mr. McDonald had been previously warned about illegal hits above the shoulders on defenseless opponents. In order to protect our student-athletes, it is imperative that we enforce these penalties for the safety of the game."

Kiffin, naturally, disagreed:

"He made a bang-bang play and his intent was not to hurt the receiver or launch his body at the receiver or lead with his helmet. If you watch the hit in real time, we feel it is impossible to competitively play that play any differently.

"T.J. is a tremendous player and leader for our team, and he has our full support.  I know he felt badly about being penalized and the impact it had in the game."

For his part, McDonald said he "accept(s) my penalty" and apologized to both Stanford and his own team. But before you dismiss Kiffin's complaint as more generalized whining about the officials ... consider that he might actually be right in this case. Here's the play in question:



It's a rough hit, and despite the gripes from Trojan fans, it's not fair to ask the officials to keep their flags in their pockets after seeing something that violent in real-time. But an after-the-fact suspension? That we'll disagree with, since:

1. McDonald is clearly leading with his shoulder rather than his helmet, which is even turned away from the impact rather than taking McDonald into it

2. McDonald makes contact with Owusu's head not because that's where he's aiming, but because Owusu sinks towards his knees in an effort to catch the ball; if he had stayed upright, McDonald likely would have hit him in the chest

3. While it's easy to tell that the ball has gotten away from Owusu on the replay, we have serious doubts McDonald had any chance of pulling up in the split-second between the ball's arrival and its bouncing away (heck, even Owusu is still futilely trying to make the catch as McDonald arrives).

The bottom line: we don't know, really, what Scott wants McDonald to do. If Owusu had been able to catch the ball, McDonald's hit might have dislodged the ball and been credited as a great play ... but because Owusu can't quite come up with it and lowers his head into McDonald's hit, now it's suspension-worthy?

Frankly, it seems the reason McDonald has been suspended isn't the hit as much as it is that he's T.J. McDonald ... who, as Scott accurately points out, has had a healthy share of personal foul penalties already this season. And if McDonald had committed another cut-and-dry late hit, the worthy aim of protecting the players who play college football would indeed require a suspension.

But this wasn't cut-and-dry. This wasn't that kind of hit. And as much as we applaud Scott's efforts to make the Pac-12's defenders think twice about going headhunting, this wasn't the right place or the right play to make that stand.

Posted by Bryan Fischer

LOS ANGELES -- Stanford had heard from just about everyone that they hadn't been tested this season.

They played their first ranked team last week, Washington, and promptly ran for school-record 446 yards. It was their 10th straight win by 25 points or more, the first time ever that had been accomplished since 1936. Apparently they weren't tested.

They were tested Saturday night; escaping LA with a 56-48 victory after three overtimes in front of a sold-out Coliseum crowd that was rocking like it was in the glory days.

The Heisman front-runner, Andrew Luck, gave voters a game to remember with crisp, efficient passes to 10 different targets to finish 29-for-40, 330 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on the night.

"The stats aren't going to show the plays he made, but he's a really special pocket passer and makes plays with his feet," Lane Kiffin said. "It's why he'll be the first pick in the draft."

The grizzly-bearded Luck nearly gave the game away, throwing a late pick-six that was returned by Nickell Robey for a touchdown to put USC on top 34-27 with just over three minutes remaining.

"Throughout the game he was looking off receivers a lot, that's what he does (so well)," Robey said. "I knew when he looked off he was going to come back to Chris (Owusu). My coach always says trust and believe. When I saw him sit down I just went for it. Luck is a great player, he did a lot of things that wasn't normal in the passing game. He came at us at every angle."

Not only had Stanford trailed for the first time all season after Curtis McNeal sprinted up the sidelines for a 61-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but it was also the first time the Cardinal offense were tested late in the game. The pick-six put the team down seven late in the game. That was no problem for Luck, who led an efficient, game-tying 10 play, 61-yard drive to send the game into overtime.

"I was very disappointed in myself," Luck said of the interception. "There were a couple of seconds there when I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself. But the guys believed in me. I was happy there was still some time on the clock to go down there again."

"One thing you can't forget about Andrew is that he is the most competitive guy on our team," David Shaw said. "When a bad play happens he goes completely down in the dumps. He's so mad, he's so upset, he's furious. Then it's like a toilet, he flushes it. It's like it never happened and he moves on even more determined.

"He was so mad at himself, he was not going to let that play lose the game for us."

The Trojans came close to pulling off the upset thanks in large part to one of the smallest players on the USC roster in McNeal, who rushed for a career-high 145 yards and two touchdowns. He ended up the goat however, fumbling the ball into the end zone after USC had the ball on the four yard line looking to match the Cardinal's touchdown and two-point conversion to lead off the third overtime. Terrence Stephens punched it out of McNeal as he took a draw up the middle, preserving the win.

Despite coming close to seeing their perfect record blemished, the scoreboard still showed the Cardinal had rang up 56 points. The amount was the most ever scored on USC in the program's illustrious history.

"We just needed one stop, that's all," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "Then we'd all be celebrating right now."

"I didn't know that but I would probably figure out it was close if it wasn't the record. I can't believe anybody would give up that many points. Of course, overtime and (Luck) ended up with a short field now too."

Even Luck's incompletions were things of beauty that every one of the 93,607 fans appreciated - regardless of the shade of red they were wearing. On one play early in the game, Luck was flushed out of the pocket to his left, but still managed to throw a bullet with perfect form to the back of the end zone - while being tackled - that glanced off the hands of his target. It went down in the box score as an incompletion but was nevertheless impressive.

How special is the 6-foot-4, 237-pound signal-caller? He's led an offense that has scored the most points against USC ever - twice - after scoring 55 against the Trojans in 2009. By the way, he managed to so against defenses run by Pete Carroll and Monte Kiffin, who happens to have 45 years of coaching experience. It was also USC's only overtime loss at the Coliseum ever.

"I tip my hat off to him, he's a special player. Whatever grade he's in, I'm glad he's not going to be here next year." USC linebackers coach Joe Berry said. "He's one of those guys that comes along every 15 or 20 years. There's always first round draft pick quarterbacks in every draft but this guy? He's special."

Fourth-ranked Stanford escaped Los Angeles and kept their Pac-12 championship - and national title - hopes alive. Better (Andrew) Lucky than good for one night in October.