So is Eastern Washington a lot better than we thought?
Nope...but Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times seems to think so. That and four bucks will get you a small latte at a Starbucks.
Hats off to those kids from Eastern because they played their hearts out in front of the 750 Eagle fans who bothered to show up for biggest football game in the history of the school. The kids from Eastern cared and the kids from Washington had a problem getting up for this one.
The defending FCS champion Eagles have almost as many dangerous athletes as Washington and Mitchell played this game with a gunslinger's swagger and an NFL quarterback's arm. - Steve Kelley
I don't buy that Eastern has as many dangerous athletes at Washington. What I do buy is that the athletes from Eastern were better prepared and took the game more seriously than the Huskies did.
It took an end-zone interception by UW’s Desmond Trufant to preserve a 30-27 victory over the Eagles, last year’s champions and this year’s top-ranked team in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision – or, as Huskydom thinks of it, the other side of the tracks.
Pac 16 Coming Soon?
The Pac 12 will become the Pac 16 before the end of the football season. Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are headed west according to about every report out there. The one thing that facilitates the move is the failure of the Longhorn Network to gain much traction with advertisers.
How silly in retrospect is former Oregon AD Bill Byrne who spurned a cable television partnership with the Longhorn's only a few years ago?.
Pac 12 Round Up
The Pac 12 simply wasn't very impressive this week. California and Stanford were probably the only teams that exceeded expectations. The two Arizona didn't under-perform either but when you factor in who they were playing it is hard to get an accurate read on how good either team is at the moment.
ASU 48 UC Davis 14
Nothing unexpected here since Central Washington would probably beat these guys by the same score.
Cal 36 Fresno State 21
QB Zach Maynard was impressive in his first debut. He passed for 266 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 53 yards. The Cal defense was stellar holding Fresno to a little over 200 total yards. This was the type of performance we expected to see the Huskies throw at Eastern.
Arizona 41 Northern Arizona 10
Nick Foles threw for 412 yards and five touchdowns, and Juron Criner had six catches for 151 yards in a game that was little more than a glorified scrimmage for the Wildcat. Give the Cats credit...they did what they had to do.
Hawaii 34 Colorado 17
I expected this to be a little closer. What really surprised me were the rushing numbers. The Buff's scampered for only 17 yards. The rushing game was supposed to be a strength for CU...perhaps not.
WSU 64 Idaho State 21
Nice win for the Cougars against the worst team in the Big Sky. Bad news is QB Jeff Tuel will be out 6-8 weeks with a broken clavicle. The "Lobster" will fill in while he recovers.
USC 19 Minnesota 17
I told you this game would be closer than you think and it was. The Trojans couldn't get anything going on offense in the second half. The Trojans as a team are swimming right now which is good to see.
Houston 38 UCLA 34
The Bruins gained over 500 yards and still lost the game. Kevin Prince was knocked out early with a concussion as UCLA's QB injury problems continue. Neu's career as a BCS head coach is almost over after this debacle.
Utah 27 Montana State 10
The Ute's get their first win of 2011 against a quality MSU team that is probably on a par with Eastern Washington.
Sacramento State 29 Oregon State 28
Games like this get good head coaches fired. OSU is very unsettled on the offensive side of the ball.
Stanford 57 San Jose State 3
Guess who the top rated team in the Pac 12 is right now? This was a moor spanking of a team that isn't all that bad...well at least they are better than EWU and Sac State.
LSU 40 Oregon 27
I think most of enjoyed this one. Safe to say that the probation bound Ducks will not be in the "Natty" this year. DeAnthony "Black Mamba" Thomas had two fumbles which basically sealed the Ducks fate.
Pac 12 Power Ratings
1. Stanford...The workmen like Cards did everything they needed to do in the opener.. It was a solid performance which sets them up as the favorite to win the Pac 12 this season.
2. Arizona State...The Devils also did everything they were supposed to do and that is good enough to rise to number two in the ratings
3. Oregon...The Duck aren't as good as they have been the previous two seasons. LSU beat them like a drum with a reserve QB. Can the Webfoots bounce back?
4.California...The Bear "D" is going to be a force to reckon with. These guys are only going to get better over the course of the season. Offensively Zach Maynard is the best Bear QB since Aaron Rodgers.
5. Arizona...Why put UA at number five? They did what they were supposed to do against an inferior opponent...what more do you want?
6. Southern Cal...just getting by against Minnesota for the second year in a row isn't the harbinger of future success.
7. Utah...Not exactly a convincing win over the FCS Montana State Bobcats but as we learned this past weekend there isn't that big of a gap during week one.
8. Washington...Steve Kelly says that Eastern Washington is better than we all thought. My theory is that the Washington defense isn't nearly as good as we thought it would be. Even more disturbing is the fact that the coaching staff delivered another team that came out emotionally flat for an opener.
9. Washington State...Can these guys ever catch a decent break? QB Jeff Tuel goes down early in a great win with a broken clavicle and the "Lobster" returns to lead the team. Good game for the Lobster whose only previous claim to fame was barfing in his car in front of the Pullman police station.
10. UCLA...The QB formerly known as Prince is injured once again...UW dodged a big bullet when this fragile specimen reneged on his commitment at the last minute. If you think Washington's defense is bad you should check out the game film on these losers.
11. Colorado...The Buff's weren't even close to being competitive with Hawaii. If they can't run on these guys they are destined for 0-12.
12. Oregon State...How can you lose to Sacramento State at home?