Pac-12 Picks: Week Six
#13 USC at Utah
At the beginning of the season, this game looked like one of the biggest challenges to USC. Well, turns out Utah has flopped so far this year, and USC has a lot to prove after a loss to Stanford. For Matt Barkley, this is an opportunity to actually put together a statistically impressive game against a Pac-12 opponent, as his statistics against Stanford and Cal were fairly underwhelming. I believe he will get that chance, and he will succeed, and that this will be a blowout that reminds the nation that USC was a preseason top-3 team for good reason.
USC 45, Utah 24
September 29, 2012; Tucson, AZ, USA; Oregon State Beavers safety Ryan Murphy (25) salutes the fans after defeating the Arizona Wildcats 38-35 at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE
Arizona at #18 Stanford
This will be a great game, even if most people in the country won’t realize it. Arizona has huge offensive firepower and a talented quarterback, and Stanford has a hard-nosed defense and a star running back. Both teams lost close games last week, and both teams really need a win here. Now, I don’t mean to paint a picture of two totally evenly matched teams; Stanford has played much better this year. But anyone paying attention to Arizona knows that they are capable of beating nearly anyone (not Oregon). A Stanford win would be best for Washington, and in this case, I’m thinking Stanford will show just how impressive the Husky defense performed last week by running over an Arizona defense that is 9th in the conference in scoring, just like they ran over USC. Look for a big game against Stepfan Taylor, not that that is anything new.
Stanford 31, Arizona 24
WSU at #14 Oregon State
Sean Mannion will have a field day against the WSU defense. Seriously, they will be shredded. Mannion is still fairly unknown within the conference, and especially within the country, due to the fact that he has only played at a high level for a few weeks, but by the end of this season, he will be talked about as an NFL prospect. You can call that a bold prediction, but when a player puts up over 800 passing yards in two Pac-12 games as a sophomore, it isn’t much of a stretch. Coach Riley’s decision to play his quarterback as a freshman is paying off big time now, and in this game, Oregon State will keep rolling as one of two undefeated Pac-12 teams.
Oregon State 42, WSU 17
September 29, 2012; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Zach Maynard (15) is helped off the field by California Golden Bears offensive linesman Geoffrey Gibson (70) after the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Memorial Stadium. Arizona State defeated Cal 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIRE
#25 UCLA at Cal
Those Bruins sure are fun to watch. If you haven’t caught a UCLA game so far this season, watch this one. I expect it to be a fairly decisive win over the Golden Bears, with Cal continuing a disappointing streak of losses. Seriously, Jeff Tedford is not going to be coaching this team next season.
UCLA 38, Cal 20
Preview and Prediction for the UW-Oregon game Friday morning!