Pac-10 Notebook For 09-20-2006 - College Football News And Picks

Pac-10 Notebook For 09-20-2006
By Jeff Zell
Posted: 3:30 am PDT 2006-09-20

Recap: All four teams ranked in the Top 25 won this past Saturday, and the conference as a whole went 7-1. The two most impressive wins came from USC and Oregon at their home fields against Nebraska and Oklahoma, respectively. The lone loss from the Pac-10 falls on the shoulders of Stanford, which was embarrassed at home against Navy by the tune of 37-9. The same four teams: USC, Oregon, Cal and Arizona State are again ranked in the top 25.

A Silly Voter: And journalists are supposed to be smart, right? Associated Press poll voter and Charlotte Observer columnist Ken Tysiac said he mistakenly sent the AP his Sept. 10 poll instead of his current one. Essentially, the vote broke a tie between Arizona State and Boston College. And in fact, Tysiac had Arizona State ranked so low, the Sun Devils dropped two spots to No. 22. He became aware of the mistake when his home paper published his picks and everyone believed he officially fell off his rocker when Notre Dame was still ahead of Michigan after the Wolverines thwarted the Irish at home 47-21.

What Quarterback Controversy? At the beginning of the season, Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter named Sam Keller the starter. After an uprising from the players, Keller transferred and last year's backup, Rudy Carpenter, (who replaced Keller when he was injured), took the job and has been phenomenal. Despite throwing two interceptions Saturday, Carpenter still has a 9:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and Arizona State averages 285 yards through the air (good for 15th in the nation).

Still a Dynasty? Despite winning 47 of their last 49 games, national championship hype has been quiet when speaking of the USC Trojans. USC has efficiently gone 2-0, successfully avoiding any confrontations on the road against an Arkansas team in Week 1, and a ranked Nebraska team this past week. Matt Leinart's replacement, John David Booty, has quietly been one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Booty has a 158.0 passer rating, including a nifty 6:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. "We're not as quick as we were last year, yet, but it's a scrappy bunch," Booty told the Washington Post. "It's definitely a work in progress, and we'll get better as the season goes on."

Ducks Under Radar: The teams in the Pacific Northwest just don't get enough love. The Oregon victory over Oklahoma has now been overshadowed by suspensions of referees and outcries from Oklahoma's university president. How about giving credit to the Ducks for scoring two touchdowns in 22 seconds? Mike Bellotti's spread attack has been phenomenal this year. The Ducks rank 9th in the nation in total offense (473 yards per game), which has put them on their way to 37.7 points per game and a 3-0 start. Dennis Dixon has completed 65.4 percent of his passes, and RB Jonathan Stewart averages 6.8 yards per rush.

A Look Ahead: Pac-10 play begins for six teams -- the most notable game coming with No. 22 Arizona State heading to No. 21 Cal (the Bears are -7.5 on WagerWeb.com). Jeff Tedford's crew wants to prove it deserved to be ranked after the embarrassing loss to Tennessee to open the season. The trendy sleeper pick in this conference at the beginning of the season was Arizona. The Wildcats get their shot against USC this week (Trojans are -21 at WagerWeb.com). In a battle for the presumable cellar of the Pac-10, Washington State (-10) and Stanford face off.

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