Looking at the Pac-10: Big Game for Ducks, Cardinal
For only the second time this season all Pac-10 teams are matched up and the Oregon Ducks are again involved in the key game. This time they travel to Palo Alto to take on the Stanford Cardinal. Because of its running game, Stanford has one of the best shots at knocking the Ducks off their perch at the top of the conference.
Stanford sits at 3rd in the Pac-10 with a 4-2 league record and at 5-3 on the season are in a great place to earn a bowl. In this game they are still playing for the league title because if they beat Oregon they only need either Arizona or the Beavers to do likewise.
Oregon just might be the best team in the conference and the only way to stop its offense is to keep it on the sidelines. Teams that can run the ball consistently have the best chance of doing that. Having watched both teams in person, I think Stanford can match them physically and they are very sound in their kicking game. It would not surprise me to see the Cardinal win here because they are at home and there is the chance that Oregon could go flat after their big win over USC.
Arizona sits in second place in the conference at 3-1, having only lost to Washington. They host the Cougars and will put up 50 if they can because that is the kind of coach Mike Stoops is. They probably will cruise and beat the Cougars by 30 or 40.
The Trojans should bounce back and beat Dennis Erickson’s ASU Sun Devils even though it is in Tempe. This may mark the end of the line for the ASU quarterback, Danny Sullivan, whose last-minute pass beat Washington. ASU just hurts themselves too much on penalties and turnovers to beat a team like USC who has something to prove this weekend. That is probably why they are 14-point favorites on the road.
Cal hosts the Beavers of Oregon State and that is a great match-up of tailbacks in the Beavs’ Jacquizz Rodgers and the Bears’ Jahvid Best. These two teams are really evenly matched in nearly all position areas. It will probably be high scoring and the home field should favor the Bears. After losing their opening conference games to Oregon and USC, the Bears have been playing really well and should beat the Beavers by a touchdown.
That leaves the Huskies visiting the UCLA Bruins and of course I like the Huskies to end their road miseries. Send the Bruins deeper into their spiral of losing and set themselves up for a run at a bowl game. Who knows? This could be a turning point in the program. Go Dawgs.
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