By Nick Bartlett, SuperWest Sports activities
It was one other combined week for 3 of the 4 groups in motion from the West within the Pac-12 and ACC.
Washington State rebounded from a troublesome loss two weeks in the past with a victory over Toledo.
Cal and Stanford weren’t as lucky, shedding to Virginia Tech and Miami. The Beavers had a bye to organize for this week’s recreation in opposition to the Cougars and proceed their seek for a brand new head coach.
Right here’s my tackle all 4 groups heading into Week 10.
The Bears on the crossroads of a pivotal season beneath Justin Wilcox
I know the West Coast is chill, however sooner or later, Cal wants to determine what they’re doing with Justin Wilcox. This season’s 5-3 isn’t dangerous, but when they will’t beat Virginia Tech, what are the Golden Bears actually doing?
California’s remaining schedule is troublesome, which implies they may end the season with a shedding file. It might be their eighth time in 9 years with him in cost.
The Bears host Virginia this week in a matchup that they need to be capable to win. The Cavaliers are beatable; they barely survived their final two outings in opposition to North Carolina and Washington State, each extra time victories.
The important thing for Cal is not any extra excuses. Time’s up. It’s time to beat some good groups or get a brand new coach.
The Golden Bears have the expertise to beat UV at dwelling, they usually match up nicely in opposition to the Cavs’ passing assault. The Bears rank thirty third in passing yards allowed per recreation. Virginia additionally struggles to defend the cross, rating 88th in yards allowed per recreation.
Cal travels to Louisville the next week, after which has a bye earlier than Stanford and Notre Dame to finish their slate.
Notes
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- Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has thrown for 1.982 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He additionally added two touchdowns on the bottom.
- Kendrick Raphael leads the workforce with 566 speeding yards and eight speeding touchdowns. He has 135 speeding makes an attempt on the yr.
- Trond Grizzell has 448 receiving yards and one landing reception.
- Cade Uluave leads the workforce in tackles for sacks and TFL’s with 81 and 10.5. He’s additionally tied for the workforce lead with three sacks.
The Tree look like bettering, and nonetheless may pull off an upset
If you take a look at the ultimate rating of the sport final week, it appears to be like terrible. However Stanford was tied 7-7 at halftime in opposition to Miami. Whereas a 42-7 loss isn’t going to make the boosters smile, the Cardinal are beginning to present that they will play some protection.
Holding the Hurricanes to seven factors within the first half is spectacular and exhibits consistency after limiting Florida State to 13 factors the week prior. If the Tree performs any such protection in opposition to Pittsburgh, they may pull off the upset at dwelling.
The Panthers have the eighth-ranked scoring offense nationally, however they’ve a signal-caller with restricted taking part in expertise.
Mason Heintschel has solely began 4 video games on the collegiate stage; he took over for Eli Holstein after Pitt had back-to-back losses earlier this season.
Stanford will want Ben Gulbranson to reap the benefits of Pittsburgh’s 74th-ranked cross protection in yards allowed per recreation. They rank thirteenth in speeding yards allowed per recreation, so shifting the ball on the bottom may show troublesome.
It feels just like the Cardinal are bettering. They’re within the course of, however they could pull some upsets within the course of.
Notes
- Ben Gulbranson has thrown for 1,585 yards, eight touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.
- Cole Tabb has 376 speeding yards and two speeding touchdowns.
- CJ Williams leads the workforce with 476 receiving yards, he’s additionally tied for the workforce lead with two landing receptions.
- Matt Rose leads the workforce with 68 tackles, he’s additionally tied for the workforce lead with 5 TFL’s at linebacker. He’s additionally added a sack and two cross deflections.
The Cougars need to end the season sturdy, can’t overlook OSU
Jimmy Rogers is constructing one thing at Washington State. The win in opposition to Toledo will get missed on the nationwide radar, however the Rockets are a reputable program, which has had a successful file 14 the final 15 years.
UT kinda gave the sport to the Cougars, however WSU gave away the prior recreation in opposition to Virginia. Both approach, a 28-7 victory over Toledo is spectacular, even with Chip Trayanum out.
Flipping the week, the Cougs have an opportunity to complete the common season 8-4, however they will’t overlook Oregon State. The Beavers enter this contest with a 1-7 file, getting their first win in opposition to Lafayette earlier than the bye.
OSU hasn’t crushed an FBS workforce but this yr. The important thing for Washington State is to destroy the Beavers’ soul from the start.
The Cougars’ offense has struggled many of the season, however goes on random spurts every now and then. They scored 21 factors within the second quarter in opposition to UT.
If WSU may get certainly one of these explosions within the first quarter, it may put away the Beavers early. However this seems like a lure recreation, and a should win to construct momentum heading into Pac-12 half 2.
Notes
- Zevi Eckhaus has thrown for 1,100 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He’s additionally added 168 yards and 4 touchdowns on the bottom.
- Kirby Vorhees leads the Cougars with 351 yards speeding. He’s additionally added two touchdowns.
- Carter Pabst is averaging 22.4 yards per reception. He has 157 receiving yards and one landing reception.
- Parker McKenna leads the workforce with 60 tackles and one interception. He additionally has one sack and three.5 TFL’s.
Beavers trying to reset their season with a win over the Cougars
Oregon State has an opportunity to vary the narrative of its season, however they must get it finished in opposition to Washington State.
Regardless that the Beavers’ file is horrible, from a expertise standpoint, they need to be capable to compete on this matchup.
Coinciding with OSU’s closing 4 video games is their seek for a brand new Head Coach. Interim coach Robb Akey probably received’t be the candidate, because of his struggles as the pinnacle man at Idaho.
Akey, nonetheless, does have an opportunity to make an argument for himself. But it surely’s probably he’d must win out to even get thought-about.
Among the many candidates floated by numerous media are Brent Vigen, Brennan Marion, Paul Chryst, Bryan Harsin, Ed Orgeron, and Jason Eck. Different potential candidates talked about embrace Jonathan Smith and Nick Rolovich.
The Beavs’ closing 4 contests are all winable, however a loss this weekend just about ends curiosity past the teaching search. However Oregon State may undoubtedly beat the Cougars, It’s necessary to by no means overlook the Beavs at Reser.
Notes
- Maalik Murphy has thrown for 1,722 yards, 9 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
- Anthony Hankerson leads the workforce with 671 speeding yards and 6 speeding touchdowns. He has 154 speeding makes an attempt on the yr.
- Trent Walker leads the workforce with 48 receptions and 609 yards,
- Aiden Sullivan leads the workforce with two pressured fumbles at linebacker. He additionally has 48 tackles and three.5 TFL’s.
Writes about soccer and basketball as a Senior Author and hosts “The Nick Bartlett Present” for SuperWest Sports activities.
