Game of the Week
Stanford (4-2,4-Q) at Southern California (3-3,1-2)
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s time for the honeymoon to
end.
As the wacky Pacific-10 Con
ference season heads into the
home stretch, the team that sits
comfortably atop the division is
the Cardinal.
The Cardinal? The same team
that lost at home to inferior San
Jose State 44-39?
The same team that barely
pulled out an ugly 21-17 come
back victory last weekend over
Oregon State?
Yes, that team. But it’s all about
to end for those bookworms by the
Bay.
Southern California is in no
mood for another loss after what
happened in South Bend, Ind., last
Saturday.
“It was a very difficult afternoon
for us at Notre Dame,” head coach
Paul Hackett said in a released
statement.
Difficult? No, difficult is an un
derstatement.
In the third quarter the Trojans
held a 24-3 lead, but they self-de
strutted and lost 25-24 to further
scar the Pac-lO’s diminishing rep
utation.
Now the Trojans host Stanford,
a team it has beat five ofthe last six
times. Stanford relies heavily on
its offense, which is a good thing
because its defense is currently
ranked 110th in the nation.
Quarterback Todd Husak needs
to produce another strong perfor
mance in the air if Stanford hopes
to push its league mark to 5-0.
But the Trojan defense,
ranked third in the Pac-10,
should be able to contain the
Cardinal offense enough to give
its offense a chance.
From there it’s all up to junior
quarterback Mike Van
Raaphorst and his ability to get
the ball to R.Jay Soward and
Chad Morton, who USC offen
sive coordinator Hue Jackson la
beled the “Energizer Bunny.”
One thing’s for sure: if USC
doesn’t blemish Stanford’s
record Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on
ABC, then the Cardinal’s Rose
Bowl dreams will keep going...
and going... and going.
OSU seeks first Pac-10 win
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
UCLA (3-4,1-3)
at Oregon State (3-3,0-3)
What happened to all the talk of
championships in Corvallis?
Beaver fans got a little bit car
ried away when their “new”
Beavers were 3-0.
But then came the Pacific-10
Conference season, and with it,
the three straight losses.
But never fear Beaver faithful
because the UCLA Bruins are
headed to town this weekend.
The Bruins are in disarray follow
ing their 17-0 loss at home last Satur
day to California,their first shutout
defeat in more than five years.
Beaver quarterback Jonathan
Smith has improved his numbers
from a season ago in helping Ore
gon State lead the Pac-10 in pass
ing offense. Expect Smith to have a
solid game against the Bruin de
fense, which ranks seventh in
passing defense.
And if the score is close at the
start of the fourth quarter, don’t
plan on having it stay that way.
The Bruins have been outscored
43-6 in their last three fourth quar
ters. Anticipate the trend continu
ing and, Dennis Erickson record
ing his first Pac-10 win.
Washington (3-3,2-1)
at California (3-3,2-1)
There are five games remaining
for California to earn a bowl berth.
But that’s the bad news. If recent
history is any indication, the Gold
en Bears are in for a long second
half. California has gone 1-4 to
close each of the last three seasons.
Last week’s 17-0 shutout win at
UCLA has California right in the
middle of the bowl hunt, but a big
problem stands in the way — the
Huskies.
Washington has won its last 16
meetings with California. The
Huskies have held the Bears to less
than 20 points in 11 of the last 13
games and must do the same this
weekend in order to get the win.
Washington quarterback Marques
Tuiasosopo will have his hands
full with California’s stingy de
fense, ranked first in the Pac-10.
But the problem is that the
Golden Bear offense is ranked
109th in the nation and another
poor showing will lead to a Wash
ington victory.
Washington State (2-4,1-2)
at Arizona State (3-3,2-1)
Something has to give when the
Sun Devils, last in the league in
rushing defense, host the Cougars,
last in the league in rushing offense.
Both the Cougars and Sim Devils
are coming off blowout wins, but
there was a big difference in oppo
nents.
The Cougars knocked around
inferior Louisiana-Lafayette 44-0
at home, whereas Arizona State
beat the Huskies 28-7 in Seattle.
Sun Devil quarterback Ryan
Kealy reached 5,000 career pass
ing yards last weekend, but he
might find it tough to break
through the Cougar secondary,
which ranks third in the Pac-10.
In the end, Washington State’s
two-game winning streak should
come to a close, but the Cougars
can take solacethat those are two
more wins than they were predict
ed to get.
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