Huge, huge, HUGE win at Oregon this past weekend, and not just for our victorious Bears.  With the nation watching (OK, the western states were watching.  Everyone else got the highlights), Cal and Oregon showed the rest of the country that them boys on the left coast can play some ball, too.  It was exactly the kind of game the Pac-10 needed.  In a game with a surprising amount of defense, both teams came out looking like top-10 teams, and neither of them were USC.

However, if you spent the rest of the evening in a drunken, celebratory haze, you may have missed the rest of the Pac-10 action.

Here’s what went down:

- USC visited Washington as UDUB attempted to claim the 1960 national title, complete with throwback uniforms.  The Trojans must have been distracted by all this, as they struggled mightily to beat what should have been an overmatched Washington team.  Look, the Huskies aren’t a bad team, but the #1 or #2 team in the nation shouldn’t be within a field goal of them.  They also shouldn’t be committing 16 penalties and 3 turnovers.  And as close as this game was, it was THIS close to going to overtime.  With Trojans up by a touchdown late in the 4th and in the red zone, Washington appeared to intercept a ball in the end zone.  Replay, however, showed that the ball clearly hit the ground before being caught, and USC got another down with which to kick a field goal that proved to be the difference in this game.  Without that FG, the TD the Huskies scored with 34 seconds left ties the game.  Those dynastic Trojan teams of Bush and Leinart never had to escape like this.

- Oregon state coughed up a win to UCLA in Corvallis.  In a battle of two teams that didn’t really want to win this game, OSU apparently wanted it less.  The Beavers took a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter and led into the 4th quarter before melting down.  Returner Gerard Lawson fumbled away 3 consecutive kickoff returns, which, along with a blocked punt, played a big part in the four TDs the Bruins scored in the 4th quarter.  This game featured 8 turnovers.  Be glad you missed it.

- Apparently, Arizona isn’t the worst team in the Pac-10, as their offense finally started clicking in a 48-20 drubbing of Washington State, the Wildcats’ first win over I-A competition this year.  Hurrah!  This game was actually close until the 4th quarter, but I’m not so much impressed by Arizona as I am disappointed in Washington State.  They should be a nice breather before the USC game in November.

- Arizona State laid a beat-down on Stanford in a 41-3 victory.  I still can’t tell if ASU is for real, and games against the Washington schools over the next two weeks might not tell us much.  They have one seriously backloaded schedule, as they follow that up with Cal, @ Oregon, @ UCLA, and USC on a Thursday night ESPN game.  That’s one heck of a gauntlet to run.  Meanwhile, it doesn’t get any easier for the Cardinal, as they get USC this weekend, and they have to go without their starting quarterback.  Good luck!

Pac-10 Standings

UCLA	3	0
Arizona State	2	0
California	2	0
USC	2	0
Arizona	1	1
Oregon	1	1
Oregon State	0	2
Washington	0	2
Washington State	0	2
Stanford	0	3

- Our non-conference opponents didn’t far so well this weekend.  Tennessee had the week off, while Louisiana Tech fell 17-6 at Fresno State.  LaTech still doesn’t have a win over I-A competition, but
they’re still doing better than Colorado State, which fell 24-12 at TCU and still doesn’t have a win at all this season.  In fact, they’re mired in a school-record 11-game losing streak.  I sure hope Cal’s not counting on them to boost our strength of schedule.

- Oh yes, and Notre Dame lost again last weekend, this time to Purdue.  0-5 and no end in sight.  This week they travel to UCLA, and if the Bruins manage to lose this one, Karl Dorrell should be fired on the spot.

 

You really really like us!  And by us, I, of course, mean the physically fit men who we vicariously live through.  But right now is the best time to live vicariously through those hulking brutes.  Because not only do some of the real world voters think Cal is the 3rd best team in the nation, but some of the basement dwelling, Screech Is My Hero-type voters (like us!) think Cal is the #1 team in the nation. 

Please, join me in a round of WHA?!?!?  Yes, the new MGoBlog BlogPoll just came out and Cal got 3 first place votes.  In comparison, USC got 16 and LSU got 45.  Who are these modern day heros strong enough to stand up for what is right?

The first is a Tulane blogger apparently named Frank McGrath.  This is why this rather tubular fellow feels Cal is the best team in the nation. 

"As the Tulane voter in this poll, I actually watched LSU struggle pretty mighty for three quarters to beat a bad Green Wave outfit (wrote about it here). I had been voting the Tigers #1 recently- but after that…

Well, then Cal looked pretty darn good- and if you dismiss raw pedigree, their paper resume is probably better than USC. And they get USC at home.

Before I knew it, I had voted them #1. I know it isn’t bullet-proof analysis- but their body of work is better than USC’s right now in 2007."

Who would know more about LSU struggling to beat a bad Tulane team than a guy who actually is willing to watch Tulane football?  

The next blogger is a big fan of the Louisville Cardinals.   Besides rooting for a team with a mascot dangerously close to Stanford’s, he also thinks the Top 3 should go like this:

"1. California: The only top ten team that bothered to show up this past week, the Bears (Golden?) easily have the best resume of the current big three.

2. LSU: Any team with a pulse beats them on Saturday, and this Perrilloux/Flynn situation is a disaster waiting to happen.

3. USC: The "best team in the history of college football" doesn’t let that Washington squad play them anywhere near close."

And for the record, yes, these Bears ARE Golden.  

The last blogger in our triumverate of true heroism comes to us all the way from Columbus.  Perhaps he is just buttering Cal fans up before the big matchup against OSU.  But then again, maybe not.  Here is his post.  And here is what he has to say about Cal:

"1. California* - Name a team that has played better in every quarter.  Maybe LSU, maybe not.  On a neutral field you have to like the Bears chances against anyone."   

As you can see, slowly, but surely Cal is starting to get some credit in this wide world of ours. Of course, these blog results mean nothing, but these aren’t 3 Cal bloggers or even 3 Pac10 bloggers.  They are as random as you can come and they all feel that Cal deserves immense amounts of respect.  Hopefully, this will show a start to the perception that Cal is an elite team.  In college football, perception is EVERYTHING. 

Also note that in the MGoBlog BlogPoll, Cal has the 2nd lowest Standard Deviation, which, if my math-stupid brain understands correctly, means that the VAST majority of the bloggers put Cal at 3 or very close to 3.  It is unanimous.  We rock!  And they like us! 

GO BEARS (GOLDEN)!