Pac-10 Recap #1

Game 1 is done. USC at San Jose. USC prevailed 56-3. Jenga mentioned that the only hiccup would be if their true freshman QB played like a true freshman QB. That was definitely a concern. However, Pete Carroll is a pretty laid back guy and he wouldn't pick a freshman QB who was at all nervous. Barklay reported being a little nervous but said he was generally calm and the game was slow.

Notable stats are USC allowing 0.3 yards per rush and earning themselves 7.6 yards per rush. Their offensive line earned good reviews as well. USC also gave up 3.7 yards per completion. Stout, stout defense. The only points came off a terrible punt.

My thoughts were that the new QB wouldn't score many points. He didn't, making only one TD. However, the RBs ran wild, making it look like a scrimmage.

Record: 1-1-0-0 50%

Format: W-L-T-P

Game 2 was Maryland at Cal. Score was Cal 52- Maryland 13. Cal was a 21 point favorite. They won the game easily and were never threatened. Javon Best had a great game running the ball and the QB scored through the air easily. Maryland's rushing D gave up 6.6 yards per rush, earning only 3.2 yards per rush. However, the Maryland team was inexperienced and away from home so those factors compounded. Also playing on the West Coast. Lastly, Maryland upset Cal. In many ways, a perfect storm of factors contributed to Cal's jumping on Maryland.

Record: 2-1-0-0 66%

Format: W-L-T-P

Game 3: LSU at Washington. LSU won 31-23 but failed to cover the spread. They also badly failed in many areas and really should be considered lucky to beat a team that was winless last year. That speaks poorly for LSU which is ranked 11th in the country. It also speaks well for Washington. Important factors were a new coach (added energy), I think lots of returning players from last year's massacre (biggest leap is from year 1 to year 2), and a home game (extra energy, normal focus).

Important stats were Washington's 25 1st downs to LSU's 17, Washington's 478 yards of offense to LSU's 321, Washington's 11 penalties (83 yards) versus LSU's 3 (35 yards). Washingon would have won but frequently settled for field goals in the redzone.

Washington definitely is looking stronger than last year.

Record: 2-2-0-0

Format: W-L-T-P

Other games were passes including