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Week ten Pac-10 picks
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Last week I went 3-1 to bring my season picks total to a respectable 13-4 (please note I'm only in my fourth week of making picks). Let's take a look at how Pac-10 play shakes out this weekend:
Washington at UCLA
Jake Locker and the Washington Huskies are fresh off a bye and will head to Los Angeles to take on the UCLA Bruins. The last time the Huskies took the field, they were promptly demolished by the Oregon Ducks' wrecking crew, 43-19. Washington has lost its last two games since they pulled one over on the Arizona Wildcats back on October 10th.
Things have not been bright for a UCLA Bruins team that started the season 3-0. Since then UCLA has dropped its last five contests and will need to find some sort of consistency on offense if they want to avoid making it six straight on Saturday.
Bruins head coach, Rick Neuheisel, says that he is still optimistic, but I mean c'mon, what else is he going to say? As bad as they are, starting quarterback Kevin Prince seemed to find some rhythm towards the end of last week's loss at Oregon State. The Bruins have a nice set of receivers and if Prince can finally take advantage of them they could potentially put an end to all this losing. PICK: UCLA
Oregon at Stanford
There might not be a hotter team in college football right now than the Ducks, which doesn't bode well for the Stanford Cardinal who host Oregon this Saturday. The Ducks are coming off a big win against USC on Halloween night. Oregon's offense spent much of the evening dismembering a Southern California defense that never knew what hit them.
The Cardinal will have to come up big, really big, if they want to have a chance at stopping a Ducks program that is scoring at will. To make things interesting, Stanford will need to lean on its leading man, tailback Toby Gerhart. Gerhart has paced the Cardinal offense this season and currently leads the Pac-10 in rushing, averaging 124.2 ypg.
Stanford will keep things close for much of the game but in the end it will be all Ducks. PICK: Oregon
Washington State at Arizona
The Cougars have shown steady improvement as the season has progressed. Unfortunately for Washington State, that has not exactly translated in the win-loss column. True freshman quarterback, Jeff Tuel, continues to be a bright spot on an offense that has been paltry. While he threw two interceptions against Notre Dame last weekend, Tuel is a tough competitor who has shown that he can make the big play. The Cougars will need big plays from Tuel if they want to have a shot in Tucson on Saturday.
Besides the Oregon Ducks, there is probably no team in the Pac-10 playing better than the Arizona Wildcats. Factor in that it is homecoming weekend for Arizona and you know the Cats will be pumped up for this game.
Tuel's development for Washington State is nice and all but it's not enough to get the victory in Tucson this weekend. PICK: UofA
Oregon State at California
The Beavers head to Berkley to take on the Golden Bears in what should be a shootout between to offensively potent teams. Jacquizz Rodgers and Jahvid Best should spend much of the day eating up chunks of yardage for their respective teams in what could make for an exciting game.
California just barely got out of Temple last weekend with the victory, beating Arizona State in the closing moments of the game. Oregon State, on the other hand, had its way with the Bruins at home last Saturday, helping add to UCLA's losing streak.
This game could very well come down to the quarterback play of Sean Canfield for Oregon State and Kevin Riley for California. Whichever quarterback can limit his mistakes and make the big play, should be able to lead his team to victory. In this game, I give the edge to Canfield. PICK: Oregon State
USC at Arizona State
The Trojans will need to put last weekend's debacle out of sight and out of mind as they head to the desert to take on the Sun Devils. After getting seriously plowed by Oregon on Halloween night, Southern California has scrapped their fancy defensive schemes and will take a simple approach against Arizona State.
Fortunately for the Trojans, the Sun Devils are not exactly an advanced offensive team in the Pac-10. In fact, Arizona State is ranked 8th in the Pac-10 in total offense, serving up a meager offensive portion of 365 ypg. Defense is another story for the Sun Devils. Arizona State boasts the Pac-10's top defense, giving up an average of 296 ypg to opponents. The Sun Devils will need to make all the stops in this game if they want to steal a win from the Trojans
This is an interesting match up this weekend. The Sun Devils are not exactly world beaters but the Trojans are wounded coming out of Eugene. Still, I think Southern California comes out of the gates with something to prove. Look out Arizona State! PICK: USC
Picks subject to interpretation.
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