Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Week Fourteen 2023

Hey All,

Welcome to the final edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard for 2023 and ever for that matter.  Oh, the name will change next year, but this intrepid reporter will be back under that new title to make your Tuesdays feel like Saturdays in the fall.  We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Summary 

Pac 12 Championship Game

Washington 34- Oregon 31: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV- The Ducks came in as 9.5 point favorites over the Huskies. All the pundits said that UW was just stumbling to the finish and that Oregon would whip the Dawgs.  Then a funny thing happened. They actually played the game and Washington beat Oregon for the third straight time within a span of 55 weeks.  The Huskies controlled the first half with dominant line play on both sides of the ball. UW built up a 20-3 lead on a five-yard TD run from RB Dillon Johnson, a four-year TD pass form Johnson to RB Germie Bernard and pair of Grady Gross FGs from 38 and 37 yards out.  However, the Ducks would cut that lead to 20-10 at the half on a 75 yard drive that was aided greatly by a suspect PI call on the Huskies that gave the Webfoots a 1st and Goal at the UW nine-yard line. Three plays later QB Bo Nix found TE Terrance Ferguson in the back of the end zone for a TD.  Seizing on that momentum, Oregon owned the third period with Nix finding Ferguson again from two-yards out and then getting a score on a run of six yard to paydirt from RB Jordan James. Oregon now held a 24-20 lead to start the fourth quarter.  The Huskies offense then came to life again and retook the lead at 27-24 when Dillon bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out.  The Dawgs then seemed to put this game away when QB Michael Penix, Jr. threw a two-yard TD pass to TE Quentin Moore for a 34-24 lead with 2:44 to play.  The Huskies then went into a prevent defense and Bo Nix picked it apart in two plays with the second play being a 63-yard TD pass to WR Treshon Holden who did a great tiptoe act down the sideline to find the end zone. The ensuing onside kick attempt failed and UW needed to run the final 2:14 off the clock to claim the crown.  They did just that with the their O-line blowing the Ducks off the ball to pick up two first downs to win the Pac 12 title. Penix, Jr. complered 27 of 39 passes for 319 yards, a TD and an interception, while Johnson led all rushers with 152 yards on 28 carries and two TDs. For the Ducks, Nix was everything again. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 239 yards, three TDs and an interception. He also was the Ducks leading rusher gaining 69 yards on six carries.
Telling Stat: They are fourth; The 2023 Huskies have the chance to be the fourth PCC/Pac 8/10/12 team to go undefeated since 1950. The other three are 1954 UCLA (9-0), 1972 USC (12-0) and 2004 USC (13-0).

Observations

...The Shaft;  As in Florida State got the shaft from the CFP Committee on Sunday morning. Then again, ESPN was setting the narrative all Saturday that FSU was going to get left out as a 13-0 P5 champ. The ESPN/SEC propaganda machine is flat out awful.  Heaven forbid the SEC would be left out of the playoff.  Sigh. 

...Another thought; If Texas hadn't beaten Bama, Georgia would have made the playoff too.  

...Gipperless;  ND is very happy the CFP wasn't around when Knute Rockne coached.




...Booger was bold;  ESPN pundit Booger McFarland went on a tirade about Florida State getting shutout of the playoff on Sunday and I'm sure it made his bosses cringe because he did not toe the line for the SEC like the rest of the talking heads. I'm sure Booger will be laid off by ESPN soon.

...Permanent reminder of a great feeling;  North Dakota State beat Montana State 35-34 to advance in the FCS playoffs thanks to a blocked PAT from Zach Peters. Peters will carry the memory of that block for awhile. Yes, that's the imprint of the laces of the ball on his forearm.  Laces!

...The Liberty question; There's much consternation of how Liberty got into the Fiesta Bowl. A few years ago, there were some lawmakers in D.C.who weren't thrilled with how Group of 5 teams were not getting any of the big bowl money. They made their voices heard to the college football powers that be with the "Gee, you really don't want us investigating you, do you?' argument.  Suddenly a "worthy" Group of 5 team makes it every year.  This year, the Fiesta Bowl was stuck with the G5 team.   

...19 minutes later;  Check out this weather change on a dime in Montana's playoff game with Delaware. Blanketed 

..Portal Fatigue; I think it would be easier if we were just told who was staying as opposed to who was entering the transfer portal.  Also, all these big posts on social media by the players who are leaving is just boilerplate garbage.

...Bad times in Beaverland;  In the span of two weeks, Oregon State has lost to Oregon, had their HC leave with most of his staff for Michigan State, had their starting and backup QB announce that they are going transfer, had their top RB arrested for DUI and been handed the last ever dreaded Sun Bowl bid by the Pac 12.  

...The bird for the Birds; Jerry Rice was in Philly for the 49ers-Eagles Sunday and he let the Philly fans know what he thought of them in an epic way.  A bird with a side of rings

...More CFP shaft;  The committee also had the chance to set up and epic Rose Bowl between Michigan and Washington as a last look at the old Pac 12-Big Ten Rose Bowl agreement. Instead Washington, the #2 seed gets a 2,000 mile trip to Sugar Bowl to face a Texas team that has just a 500 miles trip in their own backyard. Hmmmmmmmm

...Closer than home; UCLA will face Boise State in the LA Bowl.  For UCLA, the trip to SoFi Stadium will be shorter than to the Rose Bowl where they play their home games.  

...The last game;  There is still one regular season game left in the FBS. Up at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, Army and Navy will square off for the 106th time this Saturday.  Here's my annual plea to watch the game. These are kids who chose to serve the nation.  There are no NIL collectives here, no big booster money, just kids who love to play the game. They play for pride and honor and to represent their branch of the service. 

...Tough Trivia;  This intrepid reporter figures he'd finish the year with a big retro-Christams themed question.  Pictured here below is a page from the 1980 Sears Christmas Catalog. The ad is for NFL Jerseys. Each of the then 28 NFL teams is represented in the ad with a jersey of a player from that team.  The trivia question is simple. Name all 28 players represented in the ad. 


Pac 12 Overreaction

Washington made the house very rich in Las Vegas on Friday.

Pac 12 Bowls 

Here's the last slate ever of Pac 12 Bowl Games

12/16
LA Bowl: UCLA- Boise State
Independence Bowl: California- Texas Tech 
12/23
Las Vegas Bowl: Utah- Northwestern 
12/27
Holiday Bowl: USC-Louisville
12/28
Alamo Bowl: Arizona- Oklahoma 
12/29
Sun Bowl: Oregon State- Notre Dame 
1/1-2024
Fiesta Bowl: Liberty- Oregon  
Sugar Bowl: Texas- Washington 

My Conference Is Gone

Yes, there will bowl games this season, but the last game between two Pac 12 teams has been played and the football portion of The Conference of Champions is no more.  I, like many of you, can mostly understand all the reasons that the demise of the league occurred, but it doesn't mean I'm happy with it.  I am a child of the Pac 8. I saw my first Pac 8 football game in 1974 when USC beat Oregon State, 31-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.  SC would win the National Championship that year going 6-0-1 in conference play and then beating Ohio State, (They didn't have the Theee in front of their name then), 18-17. I would go on to attend, watch on TV or listen to 385 Pac8/10/12  games in which the Trojans have played. I'm already lost looking at next year's schedule and not seeing the old foes on it. Where I would be thinking about Corvallis, Pullman, or Tucson in 2024 has been replaced with Ann Arbor, Minneapolis and College Park. Heck, I grew up where the Big Ten team was who you whipped in Pasadena on January 1st, not who you face in league play.  The PCC/Pac8/10/12 was the benchmark of western football excellence. Now it's just the western branch of the Big Ten/Big XII/ACC. Maybe, I'm just saying I'm lost and frustrated right now with my league disappearing. The reality is starting to set in.  This is the last ever edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. Next year it will be Notes on a Big Ten Scorecard and maybe by then I'll have moved on enough in my mind to embrace the change.  However, I'm still not truly over the fact that Topps took the bubblegum out of baseball card packs back in 1992, so this will take awhile. One thing for sure is that the annual blog on the Coaching Carousel will hit your inboxes in late July and we will see where it goes from there.  

Departments

Low Score Game of the Week: Searcy, AR- This week's game comes form the D-II quarterfinals where The Harding University Bison came from behind for a 7-6 upset win over the Grand Valley State Lakers. A pair of field goals from PK Josh Gorball covering 27 and 48 yards gave GVSU a 6-0 lead that lasted until the fourth quarter.  The Bison had the ball with 12:52 to play and put together a 15-play drive that covered 73 yards and took the lead on a one-yard plunge by QB Cole Ceylon with 3:52 to play.  The Bison defense took over form there holding for downs at their own 26-yard line with 1:09 to play. Harding controlled the clock and the ball in this one, rushing the ball 62 times out of 65 offensive plays. 

Blowout Game of the Week: Brookings, SD: In the second round of the FCS playoffs, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits spanked the Mercer College Bears, 41-0. It was a sunny, cold 37 degree day at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, but the Jackrabbits were red hot.  RB Isaiah Davis spearheaded the Jackrabbit attack with 117 yards on 16 carries and three TDs while fellow RB Amar Johnson gained 107 yards on 11 carries.  SDSU held Mercer to just 151 total yards. 

This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...

Remembering where some of your xmas decorations  is a big deal.

I'm not a fan of December Santa Ana winds. 

I'm seeing a lot more houses lit up for xmas and I like that.

Until next year folks, remember that this blog does not exist without all of you. From our field agents across the globe to my family and my extended tailgate family all of you are what make the football season great despite whatever may happen on the field.  Thank you all for another great year of getting together to enjoy this game with the funny bouncing ball. Now, go have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

-The Commissioner