■ Pac-10
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Arizona State defensive tackle Jordan Hill (1) attempts to pull down quarterback Kellen
Clemens (11) in Oregon’s 28-13 loss to the Sun Devils.
Conference leader
USC faces off with
last-place Arizona
Top-ranked USC hosts Arizona and No. 5 California
travels to Seattle to play Washington this week
BY SCOTTJ. ADAMS
FREELANCE SPORTS REPORTER
The Pacific-10 Conference pits its
front-runners against its last place
teams this weekend as No. 1 South
ern California begins its season-end
ing homestead against Arizona at the
Coliseum in Los Angeles. The Trojans
are looking to improve their winning
streak to 19 games.
California, No. 5 in the nation and
currently second in the conference,
takes to the road this Saturday to bat
tle Washington in Seattle.
No. 20 Arizona State aims to
complete a flawless 2004 home
record as they face Washington
State in Tempe, Ariz. The middle of
the Pac-10 standings should receive
a make-over after Saturday with a
reduced number of ties and a more
clear bowl picture. The Pac-10 could
have as many as seven bowl berths
or as few as four.
Washington State
(4-5 overall, 2-4
conference) at No. 20
Arizona State (7-2, 4-2)
This game features both of
last week’s Pac-10 Offensive Players
of the Week in Arizona State senior
quarterback Andrew Walter and
Washington State junior tailback
Jerome Harrison. Their teams
are both coming off clutch victories
last Saturday.
Going into this season, second
year Washington State head
coach Bill Doba may not have ex
pected losing four conference
games and sitting in seventh place
in the Pac-10 near the season’s end.
But close losses and the unfortunate
season-ending injury of starting
quarterback Josh Swogger have
left Doba and his Cougars with
nowhere to go but up in the confer
ence standings with only two
games remaining in their regular
season schedule.
Washington State must find a
way to contain Walter, who set the
conference record for career touch
down passes in last week’s 34-31
win over Stanford. Shutting down
Arizona State’s running game will
be a daunting task as well for the
Cougars and will require continued
strong efforts from junior linebacker
Will Derting and junior defensive
end Adam Braidwood. Braidwood
has posted eight tackles for loss in
the last three games.
At Tuesday’s press conference,
Arizona State head coach Dirk Koet
ter acknowledged the skillful defen
sive play of injury-laden Washing
ton State.
“They’re playing pretty darn well
on defense,” Koetter said. “I think
coach (Bill) Doba is kind of down
playing their defense.”
The Cougar offense has suffered
injuries in the offensive tackle,
tight end and tailback positions
all season, but has still managed to
put points on the board thanks to
standout performances from wide
receiver Jason Hill. In last week’s
31-29 victory over UCLA, Harrison
recorded 247 yards and a school
record 42 carries.
Last Saturday, Koetter gave a
gameball to his freshman tailback
Rudy Burgess, who demoralized
Stanford’s defense by rushing for 186
yards on 34 carries.
No. 5 California (8-1, 5-1)
at Washington (1-8, 0-6,)
The Golden Bears of Cal sit alone
in second place in the Pac-10
after last weekend’s nail-biting
28-27 win over Oregon in Berkeley,
Calif. Cal should have little trouble
continuing its Rose Bowl campaign
in Seattle this weekend, but must
not take Washington lightly. The
Huskies have played strong defense
all season but have been plagued
with an offense that isn’t scoring a
lot of points.
The Golden Bears feature the
No. 5 offense in the nation, led by
junior quarterback Aaron Rodgers,
senior tailback J.J. Arrington and
senior wide receiver Geoff
McArthur. Moving the ball through
the air may be difficult for Cal con
sidering that Washington tops the
conference in pass defense. Husky
linebackers Joe Lobendahn, Evan
Benjamin and Scott White rank
PAC-10, page 14B
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