A Look Back and Ahead
Published 9:00 pm Monday, October 16, 2006
I’ve got a little time before the Pac-10 coaches teleconference so now’s a good time to look back at last week and a little ahead to this week.
There were almost no players at the weekly media luncheon yesterday so it was hard to tell exactly what they felt about losing Isaiah Stanback, at least beyond the typical “it’s a bad blow but we have to move on” feelings. Today is the day we’ll meet with the offense, including offensive coordinator Tim Lappano, so we’ll get a better idea of what losing Stanback means to them and how it will change what they do. California’s offense has rightly gotten a lot of attention but its defense is extremely good and physical too. My initial thought is the Huskies have to run the ball well and control the clock, both to keep Cal’s offense off the field and because the Bears have a pretty good secondary with one of the nation’s leader in interceptions in Daymeion Hughes. But we’ll touch more on that later.
Looking back on my picks from last week, I had a pretty good week, though in a sense I wish I hadn’t. I was one of the few who picked Oregon State to beat the Huskies, feeling like Washington would have a let down week, though I thought it would be closer than it was. Sometimes it’s not always fun to be right. Here’s a look back:
Oregon vs. UCLA: What I said: Oregon 30-19. What happened: Oregon 30-20. Wow, didn’t realize I came that close, but I figured the Ducks were plenty better than the Bruins.
USC vs. Arizona State: What I said: USC 28-19. What happened: USC 28-21. Another close one in which I figured the Sun Devils would give USC some trouble.
California vs. Washington State: What I said: Washington State 25-21. What happened: California 21-3. Got Cal’s score right but didn’t figure on the Cougs’ offense getting shut down.
Oregon State vs. Washington: What I said: Oregon State 23-22. What happened: Oregon State 27-17. A bigger blowout than I thought.
Arizona vs. Stanford: What I said: Stanford 30-24. What happened: Arizona 20-7. Why do I keep picking Stanford to win a game?
Record for the week: 3-2. Record for the season: 32-13.
