PAC-12 WEEKLY FEATURES
Co-Owner Brett Ciancia is joined by Pac-12 experts Bryan Holt and Jeff Vinton to provide weekly game previews each Wednesday, and a look back at the league's top performers each Monday. Be on the look-out for additional feature articles, and we invite you to join the discussion and follow us on Twitter:
PAC-12 Game Previews - WEEK 11 BY JEFF VINTON, PAC-12 STAFF WRITER
QB Marcus Mariota
LB Shaq Thompson
WR Nelson Agholor
LB/RB Myles Jack
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UCLA vs. Washington
We have reached November, folks. This is the month where names are made, the dust settles and we finally find out who is the best of the best and will go on to the inaugural College Football Playoff. One of the teams that was supposed to be in the conversation at the beginning of the season was the #18 UCLA Bruins, but two losses to #20 Utah and #5 Oregon have derailed those hopes. But, this week, the 7-2 (4-2 Pac-12) Bruins will hop a plane up north to Seattle to take on the 6-3 (2-3 Pac-12) Washington Huskies. The Huskies started off the 2014 season great, winning their first four games, but once Pac-12 play started, the Huskies season got away from them. The Huskies have lost three of their five conference games (Stanford, Oregon and Arizona State), and the only two they have won have been against Pac-12 cellar dwellers Colorado and Cal. They were close in their games against Stanford and ASU, so this still should be a competitive game. UCLA needs to keep winning because if they suffer another Pac-12 loss, they are all but officially out of the Pac-12 South race. PREDICTION: UCLA 24, WASHINGTON 13 Colorado vs. Arizona Will Colorado ever get over the hump? Last week, the Buffs welcomed Washington to Boulder with the hopes of getting the monkey of 7 straight Pac-12 losses off their backs. However, it was a game that wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter. The Buffs have looked much better in year 2 under Mike MacIntyre, but turnovers and many other mistakes typical of young teams have kept the Buffs from much success this season. A few weeks ago, #21 Arizona was coming off of an upset of then-#2 Oregon, which propelled the Wildcats all the way into the Top 10. Since then, the Cats have been defeated twice (by the LA schools), and are now looking to send a statement to South rivals and Utah and Arizona State, which both remain on the Arizona’s schedule. A blowout of Colorado will do wonders for that and for Arizona’s confidence as they continue November play. When the teams take the field at Arizona Stadium on Saturday, expect a decently close game, with RichRod and the Wildcats taking the W. PREDICTION: ARIZONA 45, COLORADO 34 FULL GAME PREVIEWS FOR UTAH/OREGON, NOTRE DAME/ARIZONA STATE, can be found in our National Coverage HERE. |
PAC-12 Players of the Week BY: JEFF VINTON, PAC-12 Staff Writer
QB Marcus Mariota
Scooby Wright, Arizona
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Offensive:
USC QB Cody Kessler: 21/32, 400 yards, 5 TDs The USC Trojans took a trip up to the Palouse on Saturday to visit the Washington State Cougars. Normally, it would be the passing statistics of the Cougars that jump off of the page when looking back at this game, but in this case, it was those of Trojan QB Cody Kessler. Kessler has been playing pretty well as of late, as just a couple of weeks ago, against Colorado, he threw for 7 TDs, a USC record, and 319 yards in a 56-28 drubbing of the Buffs. After a down week against a very good Utah team, Kessler picked it back up against the Cougars completing 21 of his 32 passes for 400 yards and 5 TDs. Kessler also showed himself to be one heck of a competitor and sportsman when he went out to console Wazzu QB Connor Halliday after he went down with a broken leg. For these reasons, Kessler has been named Pick Six Previews’ Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. Defensive: Washington DL Andrew Hudson: 6 tackles (2 for loss), 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass broken up, and 1 sack. It’s not often that one talks about the defensive line when looking at the Washington defense. Normally, the conversation is centered around which defensive back or linebacker took a turnover to the house, but this week, that defensive line is exactly where we are headed. Washington took on Colorado in Boulder on Saturday and were challenged up until the end in a 38-23 victory that was much closer than the score says. Throughout the day, however, one man was making his name known. Defensive lineman Andrew Hudson was everywhere for the Huskies on Saturday, earning himself 6 tackles (which were all solo tackles), 2 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, a pass break-up, and a sack. Without his effort, the Huskies may have ended up being the first team to lose to Colorado in Pac-12 play since Cal in 2013. For his efforts on the gridiron, Hudson has been named Pick Six Previews’ Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. |
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