Pac-12 Results: Week Seven

Oct 10, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron at press conference after the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Arizona 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Another Saturday passed, another week of results. I keep picking the UW game on Saturday in the Gameday Guide, but I never just include it in the results page. So I’m finally doing that.

Arizona at USC

My Pick: USC 31, Arizona 24

Actual Score: USC 38, Arizona 31

Pretty close on the final score, but that hides the reality that USC ran away with this game before slowing to such a light job that Arizona almost caught back up. Interim Head Coach Orgeron has certainly energized his team, and that has been the major storyline in the wake of this one, but allowing that sort of furious comeback at home is pretty sloppy. Looks more and more like these two teams will be fighting for the 3rd and 4th spot in the Pac-12 South.

Stanford at Utah

My Pick: Stanford 35, Utah 28

Actual Score: Utah 27, Stanford 21

Oh boy. Stanford is the first major Pac-12 team to go down, confirming at least for now that Oregon is king in the conference. Not great for the strength of the conference nationally or for those picking Stanford to win the Pac-12, but great for Utes everywhere. This was their real “Welcome to the Pac-12” moment, as opposed to the sneering welcomes that came after hard losses last year.

Colorado at Arizona State

My Pick: ASU 45, Colorado 20

Actual Score: ASU 54, Colorado 14

The Sun Devils were even more pissed off in the wake of the Notre Dame loss than I thought, and they ripped apart those poor Buffaloes. Not cool ASU, you weren’t even mad at Colorado!

Cal at UCLA

My Pick: UCLA 45, Cal 17

Actual Score: UCLA 37, Cal 10

The score looks decisive, and UCLA was rewarded with a move up to #9 in the AP poll, but if you were watching the game or even following UCLA fans on twitter, you understand that the win was sloppy. In particular, the run game will need to be strengthened before the Bruins are ready to take on Oregon or Stanford. Unfortunately, they have to play both back to back, on the road, starting this Saturday in Palo Alto. Brutal.

Oregon State at Washington State

My Pick: WSU 38, Oregon State 35

Actual Score: Oregon State 52, WSU 24

Wrong pick, clearly. Mannion shredded the Cougar secondary while Halliday threw one touchdown to 3 picks. In a game featuring two pass-happy offenses, it really was as simple as that.

Oregon at Washington

My Pick: Oregon 38, Washington 31

Actual Score: Oregon 45, Washington 24

It hurt to pick Oregon and it hurt to be right. I was wrong, however, to think that Washington would be able to keep on answering Oregon’s scores over four quarters. Not with that Oregon secondary.

Record This Week: 4-2

Total Record This Year: 46-6