By Nick Bartlett, SuperWest Sports activities
Some rivalries and traditions imploded or diminished when the legacy Pac-12 broke up, however “The Massive Sport” stays as related as ever.
Stanford and California could also be on completely different paths within the ACC, however a win would make an enormous distinction for both program.
Washington State bounced again with a victory over Louisiana Tech final week, and may make a press release this week with a powerful efficiency at James Madison.
Oregon State has a bye to study from its two straight losses and put together for the season finale in opposition to the Cougars.
Right here’s my tackle all 4 groups heading into Week 12.
Cal’s win in opposition to Louisville could possibly be thought-about an important in Justin Wilcox’s tenure. Nevertheless it doesn’t imply something in the event that they lose “The Massive Sport.”
Throughout the bye week, the Golden Bears hopefully applied a plan to get Kendrick Raphael concerned. If California struggles to run the ball, it may show problematic on this contest.
The Bears are good at throwing the ball and defending the go, but it surely feels spotty. They rank forty fourth in passing yards allowed per sport and thirty second in passing yards per contest.
They’ll additionally want Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to proceed to guard the ball. After the three-interception sport at Duke, he’s solely thrown two within the final 4 outings. So long as he avoids errors, Cal looks like a greater general workforce than Stanford.
The Tree struggles mightily on offense; they’re 129th nationally in factors scored per sport.
The Golden Bears’ greatest concern needs to be protecting CJ Williams. Williams is the one man who can actually harm them.
Nobody nonetheless is aware of what to think about Cal, however a win right here and issues really feel alright. California will host SMU within the remaining regular-season sport.
Enjoyable Info
- Alex Morgan is a Cal alumna.
- The Golden Bears have the third-tallest clock tower on the planet on campus, Sather Tower.
- College students roll down “4.0 Hill” at first of the semester in hopes of reaching a 4.0 GPA.
This is the primary of two contests for Stanford to finish their season. However this one’s huge, and much more winnable.
No matter who will get the dub, the important thing for the Tree of their remaining two video games is the event of Elijah Brown.
In Brown’s final outing in opposition to North Carolina, he performed effectively, however took quite a lot of sacks. He threw for 284 yards, one landing, and one interception in opposition to a Invoice Belichick-led protection.
If the Cardinal are going to beat Cal, they’ll want their offensive line to guard Brown higher.
Stanford ranks 131st nationally in sacks allowed, with 38. The Cardinal can even look to make the Golden Bears one-dimensional. California is final within the nation in speeding yards per sport.
This might assist maintain the sport shut as a result of the Tree ranks twenty third in purple zone protection. It’ll be difficult to attain seven with a restricted speeding assault.
The Bears are solely favored by 1.5 factors so the gates are open on the Farm. Stanford’s had a tricky 12 months, however a win right here alleviates quite a lot of the harm.
The Cardinal have one remaining sport in opposition to Notre Dame the next week.
Enjoyable Info
- Christian McCaffrey is an alumnus of Stanford.
- Stanford is nicknamed the Farm as a result of it was based by Leland and Jane Stanford on their inventory farm.
- There’s a custom on campus known as fountain hopping, the place college students splash about in campus fountains.
Washington State performed a strong sport final week. It was ugly, however ugly is what it can take to win in Pullman long-term. The important thing to the rest of their season is making a bowl sport.
The WSU devoted would clearly like a victory in opposition to James Madison
However a six- and even seven-win marketing campaign would show a outstanding accomplishment contemplating the roster turnover, with a big portion of the brand new additions coming from FCS South Dakota State.
If the Cougs are going to drag an upset in Harrisonburg, they’ll want their offense to attain. The Dukes rank 14th nationally in factors per contest and seventh within the nation in speeding yards per sport.
Washington State has one of many higher defenses on the mid-major stage, so in the event that they’re offense scores a few touchdowns, they could be capable of steal a victory.
Zevi Eckhaus can even have to play effectively, he’s confirmed a little bit of every little thing this season.
WSU’s protection has solely allowed 20 mixed factors of their final three outings, they need to be capable of maintain their very own in opposition to JMU.
A remaining observe: Washington State is in search of a brand new Athletic Director.
Enjoyable Info
- John Olerud is an alumnus of Washington State.
- WSU is a land-grant establishment, based to serve the general public by schooling and analysis.
- Washington State has a Bear Heart that has a couple of dozen grizzly bears at a given time, and the general public can view them from behind a protected barricaded fence.
Oregon State’s loss to Tulsa was a horrible strategy to enter the bye week, but it surely additionally provides readability to what’s subsequent.
Robb Akey is not going to be the top coach of the Beavers subsequent 12 months. Again-to-back losses in opposition to Sam Houston State and Tulsa aren’t doing it, even when OSU is 2-9 as an alternative of winless.
That is the second the place OSU must kick its teaching search into excessive gear. In accordance with OregonLive, there are 9 possible candidates for the job, most notably Ed Orgeron, Jason Eck, and Bronco Mendenhall.
The subsequent tier is debatable: Nick Rolovich and Brennan Marion are additionally on their record.
There’s nothing to remove from the Tulsa sport earlier than the Washington State matchup, aside from that wasn’t adequate. The Beavers beat the Cougars of their first contest, which implies they’re going to get a pissed off WSU workforce on the Palouse.
The ultimate notable is Tristan Ti’a threw two touchdowns final week in his first prolonged motion of the 12 months. The Beavs have two weeks to organize for a workforce they’ve already crushed, possibly the dam can strike twice.
Enjoyable Info
- Gary Payton is an alumnus of Oregon State.
- OSU is a land, sea, area, and solar grant establishment. They’re the one public college in Oregon to carry this designation.
- The campus homes an Electron Microscopy Facility inside its School of Science.
Writes about soccer and basketball as a Senior Author and hosts “The Nick Bartlett Present” for SuperWest Sports activities.
