Cal got back on the winning track this past weekend, working double overtime before finally beating the Oregon Ducks. With the win, the Golden Bears ran their home record to 3-0 on the young season, and are probably wishing they could play every game at home. On the road, Cal is 0-3 this season, but will try to reverse their fortunes this week when they travel to Los Angeles to take on USC.
Davis Webb went off against a bad Oregon defense on Saturday, throwing for five touchdowns against zero interceptions. Webb completed 42 of 61 passes, racking up 325 yards in the process. In Week 7, Webb and company lost in overtime to Oregon State, as Webb failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time all season. He made up for that on Saturday.
In total, ten different receivers caught passes, including Vic Wharton III, who led the team with seven grabs. Running back Tre Watson rushed for 154 yards in the game, while catching five balls for 50 yards and two touchdowns. It was a well-balanced attack by Cal, who will now face a red-hot USC team fresh off a bye this week.
Don’t look now, but Mike Leach and his Washington State Cougars are playing some of the best ball in the Pac-12. Armed with one of the better quarterbacks in the conference, Leach’s Air Raid system is carving up defenses, and Arizona State was their latest victim on Saturday. The Cougars went on the road and beat the Sun Devils 37-32, and are now 4-0 in the conference.
After starting the season off 0-2, the Cougars have run off five straight wins, and are winning at home, and on the road. With the win, the Cougars kept themselves on pace for a Pac-12 North showdown against the Washington Huskies at the end of the season that could decide the division. Quarterback Luke Falk is playing out of his mind right now, and leads an offense that is going to be hard to stop moving forward.
Against Arizona State, Falk threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns, while not throwing an interception. Incredibly, the team ran for -52 yards in the game, mostly due to Falk and his -61 yards on ten carries. It did not matter, as Falk hit 11 different receivers in the game, while connecting 42 of his 53 passes. The Cougars will stay on the road this week, as they travel to Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers.
Like Washington State, the USC Trojans are red-hot right now, and are coming off their bye week. On Thursday night, they will play against Cal and their pass-happy offense, which should be a good test for the team that has won three straight. The team made the switch to Sam Darnold at quarterback over a month ago, and the redshirt freshman has paid immediate dividends.
Darnold has been amazing under center for USC, and he has been utilizing his best weapon perfectly since getting the starting nod. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is arguably the best wideout in the nation, and he has really taken off since Darnold took over for Max Browne. He has gone over 100 yards in each of his last three games, and has six touchdowns in that span.
USC had an extremely tough first couple of weeks of the season, after opening up their season with a blowout at the hands of No. 1 Alabama. However, this is a completely different team that the one who took the field in Dallas, and their confidence is sky-high heading into Thursday’s matchup. They are only one game out of first place in the Pac-12 South Division, and can leapfrog Colorado with a win and a Buffaloes loss this week.