College Football Notebook: PAC 10 Playing Some Defense?
One Great Season
The PAC 10 has long been an offensive league with video-game scores every Saturday.
Through three weeks, three teams are among the top seven nationally in scoring offense, and four are ranked in the top 13.
But in addition to leading the country with 63 points per game, Oregon also leads the nation in fewest points allowed — 4.33 per outing. Arizona is seventh and Stanford is ranked 15th.
Surely none of these teams will maintain this type of defensive dominance once league play heats up, but it's worth mentioning that a pinball league can get some stops for a change. The PAC 10 race could be the most interesting one to watch this season.
TWITTER WATCH: Oregon State running back JacQuizz Rodgers sounds like he appreciates the magnitude of the Beavers' game at No. 3 Boise State this week. He sent out the following on Twitter Monday: "The Week Everyone Been Waiting On...#Boise We Gotta Come With Our 'A.'" You can follow Rodgers at @JQR1bgs.
Also on Twitter, former Ohio State safety Kurt Coleman, now with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, took a jab at his old college rivals after Philly won at Detroit last week: "Oh and not to mention ... STILL undefeated in the state of Michigan." You can follow Coleman at @k4coleman.
PRACTICE FIELD MAKES PERFECT? In preparation for its game at Boise and the blue turf there, Oregon State has painted its practice field blue to help the players get used to the unusual setting.
I wonder if Hayden Fry ever thought about painting the field at Kinnick Stadium pink when he was the coach at Iowa.
JEKYLL AND HYDE: More than a month ago when it looked like Cincinnati might be good again this year, I included the Sept. 25 Oklahoma at UC game in my best-games-of-the-season list.
Well, the Bearcats aren't looking too good, but that doesn't mean it's time to wave the white flag just yet. Sure Oklahoma has a fancy No. 9 ranking in this week's OGS poll, but the Sooners have struggled to win two of their three games this year. In Week 1, OU squeaked past Utah State at home, 31-24, and had an even closer call against Air Force, 27-24 Saturday, also in Norman. In Week 2, against a decent Florida State team, the Sooners coasted to a 47-17 thrashing of the then-No. 17 Seminoles.
But with the Sooners' annual Red River Rivalry game against Texas scheduled for Oct. 2, the Bearcats could possibly get Oklahoma at a time when the Sooners might be looking past them. Expect a closer game than the 13-point spread suggests.
HERE COMES NORTHWESTERN: Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats are 3-0 and could very well take a 6-0 mark into their Oct. 23 home game against Michigan.
NU opened the season with a 23-21 win at Vanderbilt, and has beaten two scrubs since. But with Central Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue up next, NU and its eighth-ranked scoring defense (12.33) could make some noise in the Big Ten this year. As long as Northwestern keeps forcing turnovers — the Wildcats are third in the country with a plus-six turnover margin — it will have a chance every time it takes the field.
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