Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Thursday, November 24, 2016
College Football
Title game berths on line in Pac-12 rivalries
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Two down, four to go.
Stanford and USC have
secured victories in rivalry
games this season, but there
are four left in the Pac-12
with both berths in the league
championship game still on
the line.
Colorado controls its own
destiny when it hosts Utah
on Saturday. With a win, the
Buffaloes claim the Pac-12
South Division outright. If
Colorado loses, it drops into
a tie in the standings with
USC, and the Trojans, who
have fi nished conference
play, will win the South
because they beat the Buffa-
loes 21-17 back on Oct. 8.
The showdown between
Washington and Washington
in the Apple Cup on Friday
night will decide the Pac-12
North. Both teams are 7-1 in
conference play.
The league title game
is set for Friday, Dec. 2, at
Levi’s Stadium in Santa
Clara, California.
Stanford won the Big
Game against rival Cal
45-31 last weekend and now
fi nishes the regular season at
home against Rice, while the
Golden Bears host UCLA.
The Trojans, who beat the
rival Bruins 36-14 at the
Rose Bowl, host longtime
non-conference rival Notre
Dame on Saturday.
A look at the conference
rivalry games this weekend
in the Pac-12:
considered for a bowl bid if
there are not enough six-win
teams to fi ll all the games.
straight years. Arizona hasn’t
gone winless in conference
play since 1957.
WA S H I N G T O N -
WASHINGTON STATE
Series began: 1900.
Series record: Washington
leads 70-32-6.
Trophy: Apple Cup.
Why it’s a big deal: The
game is for the Pac-12 North
title, which has been claimed
by either Sanford or Oregon
since the league expanded and
a conference championship
game was created in 2011.
Best game: The most
memorable game in recent
years came in 2012. Wash-
ington State trailed 28-10 in
the fourth quarter but Cougars
quarterback Jeff Tuel led
his team to a pair of touch-
down drives. After Andrew
Furney’s fi eld goal tied it,
Washington’s Travis Coons
missed a 35-yard FG attempt
and sent the game to over-
time. Furney’s fi eld goal gave
Washington State a 31-28
victory in the biggest come-
back in Apple Cup history and
gave Mike Leach the rivalry
win in his fi rst season with the
Cougars. Of course, the 2002
triple-overtime marathon in
Pullman is high on the list:
The Huskies upset the No. 3
Cougars 29-26.
This year: The game is
crucial to the Huskies (10-1
overall) to preserve a shot at
the College Football Playoff.
ARIZONA
STATE-
ARIZONA
Series began: 1899.
Series record: Arizona
leads 48-40-1.
Trophy: Territorial Cup,
which is recognized by the
NCAA as the oldest rivalry
trophy.
Why it’s a big deal: It’s at
Arizona Stadium, which is
key because the home team
has won in each of the past
three seasons and the Wildcats
are still looking for their fi rst
conference win. Arizona and
Rutgers are the only two teams
in the Power Five conference
that are winless in their leagues.
Best Game: Arizona was
ranked No. 12 and Arizona
State was No. 8 in 1975 when
the two teams met with the
Fiesta Bowl in reach. Arizona
State receiver John Jefferson
made an amazing catch to
narrow Arizona’s lead to
14-10. While the lead changed
hands in the second half, Sun
Devils quarterback Dennis
Sproul’s 1-yard keeper was
the go-ahead touchdown that
sent undefeated ASU on to a
victory over Nebraska in the
Fiesta Bowl.
This year: At 5-6 overall,
Arizona State needs one more
win to become bowl eligible.
The Sun Devils have made
the postseason for the last fi ve
UTAH-COLORADO
Series began: 1903.
Series record: Colorado
leads 31-28-3.
Trophy: It’s been called
the Rumble in the Rockies,
but there’s no offi cial trophy.
The rivalry was dormant for
several decades before it was
revived when both teams
joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
Why it’s a big deal: Utah’s
true rivalry game is the Holy
War against BYU. Colorado
has the Rocky Mountain Show-
down against Colorado State.
But a win against a Pac-12
recruiting foe never hurts.
Best game: In 1961, the
Utes were just 5-3 heading into
the game against No. 8 Colo-
rado in Boulder. The unde-
feated Buffaloes jumped out
to a 6-0 lead but Utah scored
three unanswered touchdowns
and held off the Orange Bowl-
bound Buffaloes 21-12.
This year: The No. 21 Utes
fell out of the running for the
Pac-12 South title with a loss
to Oregon last weekend. The
No. 9 Buffaloes, who haven’t
been ranked this high since
2002, must win outright to
claim the Pac-12 South and
secure a spot in the league
championship game. Should
Colorado win the title game,
it goes to the Rose Bowl for
the fi rst time ever.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
In this Nov. 27, 2015, fi le photo, Washington State
coach Mike Leach, left, is greeted by Washington coach
Chris Petersen after an NCAA college football game in
Seattle. Rarely have both teams entered the Apple Cup
with so much at stake.
Washington is currently No.
6 in both the CFP rankings
and the Top 25 .
O R E G O N -
OREGON STATE
Series began: 1894.
Series record: Oregon
leads 63-46-10.
Trophy: Called the Civil
War, the game’s unoffi cial
prize is the Platypus Trophy,
awarded each year to the
alumni association of the
winning team. Lore has it
that the platypus was chosen
because it has a duck bill and
a beaver tail, so it represents
the mascots of both schools.
Why it’s a big deal: The
winner will avoid fi nishing in
the Pac-12 North basement.
Three teams — Oregon,
Oregon State and Cal — are
currently 2-6 in league play
with one game to go.
Best game: The Ducks
entered the 1994 Civil
War tied with USC for the
Pac-10 championship and
needed a win to clinch their
fi rst Rose Bowl berth since
1957. Trailing 13-10, Danny
O’Neil drove the team 70
yards, hitting Dino Philyaw
for a 19-yard touchdown
with 3:47 to play, giving
Oregon a 17-13 victory.
This year: The Ducks have
just four wins this season, but
they’re coming off a 30-28
upset of No. 11 Utah. The
chances are slim, but with a
fi fth victory Oregon could be
DUCKS: Oregon starts fast in both halves, leads by 21 points at largest margin
Continued from 1B
fi nale and did just that, racing
to a 15-point lead in the
opening 4 1/2 minutes.
UConn (2-4) chipped
into the lead by halftime,
but the Ducks started fl ying
again, building the lead back
up to 17.
Dylan Ennis added 15
points for Oregon, which
shot 54 percent and made 9
of 21 from 3-point range.
Jalen Adams led the
Huskies with 27 points and
Rodney Purvis added 13.
“Comes down to funda-
mentals: play defense and
execute on offense,” UConn
coach Kevin Ollie said. “I
don’t know what else to
say. Energy and you’ve got
to play defense. They made
shots and we didn’t make
shots. Simple game. There’s
no secret to it.”
The Ducks attacked the
Huskies from the opening
tip, scoring the game’s fi rst
10 points, racing out to an
18-point lead.
Ollie called a timeout 41
seconds into the game and
Adams, the Huskies’ leading
scorer, headed to the bench
at 17:03 after picking up his
second foul.
“I don’t think we were
just playing with the intensity
we should have,” Adams
said. “We didn’t match their
intensity or their energy and I
think we have to work on that.
We’ve got to build on that.”
Oregon pushed the lead
to 21, but the Huskies came
roaring back.
UConn started hitting
shots it was missing earlier,
while the Ducks went more
than 8 minutes without a
fi eld goal, trimming the lead
to 39-28 by halftime.
Oregon revved up again to
start the second half, hitting 5
of its fi rst 7 shots to push the
lead to 53-34.
UConn had one more run.
The Huskies whittled away
at the lead and got it down to
eight with 3 minutes left, but
couldn’t make up any more
ground.
“I just thought our energy
level today was much better
because of the ball move-
ment and getting some shots
down,” Oregon coach Dana
Altman said.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon fi nished the Maui
Invitational with a fl ourish
after a dud of a start. The
Ducks should get better as
Brooks, their leader, builds
up stamina in his return from
offseason foot surgery.
UConn’s young team
is still trying to gel. The
Huskies struggled against
Oklahoma State’s pressure
in the opener, Chaminade’s
perimeter shooting the next
game and the Ducks’ fl ock of
athletes in the fi nale.
BROOKS’ PROGRESSION
Brooks was limited to
eight points in 13 minutes
in Oregon’s opener against
Georgetown, his fi rst game
back since offseason foot
surgery.
The preseason All-America
was back to his Duck-leading
role against Tennessee in
the second round, scoring
17 points and hitting the
game-winning 3-pointer with
22 seconds left in overtime.
Brooks was limited to
nine points in 18 minutes
Wednesday, but did all the
little things the Ducks need,
like playing defense, distrib-
uting the ball — fi ve assists
— and providing leadership.
LARRIER OUT
UConn
announced
Wednesday that sophomore
forward Terry Larrier will
miss the rest of the season
with a torn left ACL.
Larrier
was
injured
Monday night against Okla-
homa State while driving to
the basket. He’s expected to
be out eight months.
UConn was expecting a big
contribution from the 6-foot-8
Larrier, who sat out last
season after transferring from
Virginia Commonwealth.
UP NEXT
Oregon hosts Boise State
on Monday.
PIGSKIN
PICKERS
Final Week
Overall:
Last Week:
Dufur vs. Crane
Stanfi eld vs. Regis
Salem A. vs. Harrisburg
Lebanon vs. Wilsonville
LSU vs. Texas A&M
Washington at WSU
Oregon at OSU
Vikings at Lions
Seahawks at Buccaneers
Chiefs at Broncos
Ron
Gibbs
John
Airoldi
Clint
Shoemake
Mark
Royal
Eric
Singer
Kevin
Fisher
Mario
Ramirez
Matt
Entrup
Anna
Aylett
Mike
Appleton
80-30
9-1
Dufur
Regis
Salem Acad.
Wilsonville
LSU
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Broncos
78-32
8-2
Crane
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Wilsonville
Texas A&M
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Broncos
78-32
9-1
Crane
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Wilsonville
LSU
Washington
Oregon
Vikings
Seahawks
Broncos
75-35
8-2
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Lebanon
LSU
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Broncos
72-38
6-4
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Salem Acad.
Wilsonville
Texas A&M
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Broncos
72-38
6-4
Crane
Stanfi eld
Salem Acad.
Wilsonville
LSU
Washington
OSU
Lions
Seahawks
Broncos
71-39
5-5
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Wilsonville
Texas A&M
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Chiefs
67-43
8-2
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Salem Acad.
Wilsonville
LSU
Washington
Oregon
Lions
Seahawks
Chiefs
66-44
5-5
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Wilsonville
Texas A&M
Washington
OSU
Vikings
Seahawks
Chiefs
65-45
7-3
Dufur
Stanfi eld
Harrisburg
Wilsonville
LSU
Washington
Oregon
Vikings
Seahawks
Broncos
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