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Games this week end - BostonCard - 09-26-2017

Some very good games this week end to keep an eye out for:

1) USC at WSU.  (USC favored by 4 points).  This will be interesting for two reasons.  The first is that this is arguably USC's first tough match-up, so it may answer the question of whether USC is overrated or if they really are as good as they looked against us.  The second is that this is definitely WSU's first tough matchup.  They have played 1-2 Montana State, Boise State (who is 2-2 with a loss to a Virginia team that has lost to Indiana), 1-3 Oregon State, and 0-4 Nevada (that is, no team with a winning record).  Since the success of our season may at the margins be determined by our game against WSU, I will look at this one as a possible early gauge of our prospects.  I'm still not sold on WSU, but they may well give SC a game.

2)  Cal at Oregon (Oregon is favored by 13.5 points!).  This will be an important measuring stick for two programs on an upward trajectory.  Oregon was being talked of as being "back" until they went to ASU last week and lost.  Cal is without question improved from the Sonny Dykes era and managed to keep up with USC for three quarters before the wheels fell apart.  The shocker for me is the spread.  I get that the game is being played at Oregon, but I wouldn't give much more than a touchdown.  Oregon got beaten by ASU who was supposed to not be that good this year (like us, lost to SAn Diego State).  Regardless, the winner of this game will likely challenge the upper half of the division, while the loser might have to settle for fifth place in a much improved P12N (I think OSU seems destined for 6th).

3) Colorado at UCLA (UCLA is favored by 7!).  This is another game where the line makes no sense.  Colorado was beating UW at halftime, while UCLA looks like they can't stop anyone.  A UCLA win (especially if they show some spine on D) might reassure us that our win against them wasn't meaningless and that our offense was not buoyed by playing bad teams.  A Colorado win means it's (probably) good by Jim Mora.  Not sure I see a UCLA win, let alone a 7-pt margin.

BC

Re: Games this week end - qwerty49 - 09-26-2017

I saw the second half of the c.al game on the Pac-12 in 60 min show.  C.al played really tough on D, stopped the run a lot, and it would have been a very close game had not their QB thrown 4 interceptions in about a 10-minute span between 3Q and 4Q.  Two of the picks were panicky heaves to no one in particular that were even worse than Chryst's last pass against SDSU.  One was when his arm was tipped and went about 4 feet to a Toejam LB inside the C.al 5 yd line.

The Toejams had to be thankful to escape with a win.  Coulda, woulda, shoulda but C.al played hard and had a real shot.  They had a lot of success on seam routes down the middle.  (Remember when Stanford used to throw downfield like that?)



Re: Games this week end - CTcard - 09-26-2017

(09-26-2017, 04:51 PM)Boston Card link Wrote:2)  ןɐɔ at Oregon (Oregon is favored by 13.5 points!).  This will be an important measuring stick for two programs on an upward trajectory.  Oregon was being talked of as being "back" until they went to ASU last week and lost.

I am not completely convinced yet that Oregon is back. They may be, but the convincing part needs some more work.
They have wins over Southern Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska. Nebraska seems to be struggling a bit, with a home loss to Northern Illinois, and they had to deal with the cross country trip to Eugene.

ASU might not be terrible - at least their QB Manny Wilkins looked pretty good to me - and it was on the road.

For me, I'd take the points big time.


Quote:3) Colorado at UCLA (UCLA is favored by 7!).  This is another game where the line makes no sense.  Colorado was beating UW at halftime, while UCLA looks like they can't stop anyone.  A UCLA win (especially if they show some spine on D) might reassure us that our win against them wasn't meaningless and that our offense was not buoyed by playing bad teams.  A Colorado win means it's (probably) good by Jim Mora.  Not sure I see a UCLA win, let alone a 7-pt margin.

Our offense was buoyed by playing bad teams, but that doesn't mean it wasn't improved. At the very least, we know that the offense that couldn't be stopped over the final eight drives was playing the same caliber of defense as the one that couldn't move the ball the first five drives.

Since we're skipping Colorado this year, and UCLA is done, I will be somewhat less interested for scouting reasons than for most Pac 12 games. But it will be interesting to see how well Colorado has replaced their defense.