Week 5: Pac-10 recap

California coach Jeff Tedford made that abundantly clear as the Golden Bears’ season-opening debacle at Tennessee, a black mark seemingly as permanent as a grease stain, was revisited over and over.

While others wanted to pin much of the blame for a 35–0 defeat turned into a 35–18 defeat on Nate Longshore, Tedford suggested his sophomore quarterback actually fared better than people thought, that a general lack of support in Knoxville was more telling, that he was neutralized by dropped passes and missed blocks.

There are no criticisms of Longshore now. Absolutely none.

While USC remains the Pac-10’s premier team until someone else says otherwise – and more arguments are being raised each week – the Cal quarterback clearly has established himself as the league’s top player.

For a fourth consecutive week, Longshore was nothing short of sensational, leading the Golden Bears to a 41–13 victory at Oregon State by throwing four touchdown passes for the third time this season.

His repeated heroics have moved Cal (4–1 in overall games, 2–0 Pac-10) into a huge game next Saturday at home against the unbeaten Oregon Ducks (4–0, 2–0), matching up the Pac-10’s two hottest teams.

Since that stumble in the South, Longshore has turned the Golden Bears into a fearsome offensive machine, churning out 41 points or more each time out. Against Oregon State, he completed 22 of 31 passes for a career-best 341 yards, throwing two of his four TD heaves to tailback Marshawn Lynch.

Cal hardly needs to rely on Lynch, considered the league’s best back entering the season and someone who still ran for 106 yards against the Beavers, or DeSean Jackson, who now has scoring catches in a national-best seven consecutive games after pulling in a 27-yarder against OSU.

Longshore, a strapping 6’5”, 233-pounder who missed all but one game of his freshman year with an ankle injury, has bounced back nicely and shouldered the load impressively. He’s completed 67 percent of his passes, connecting on 88 of 131 attempts for 1,221 yards and 14 TDs for the season. He’s thrown just four interceptions.

“He’s got a quick, sharp release,” Oregon State coach Mike Riley said in admiration after the weekend humiliation.

“The ball is going to be there, no matter what,” Golden Bears receiver Lavelle Hawkins said after catching six passes for 129 yards and a score.

Longshore was so thorough in carving up the Beavers, Cal was up 31–0 by the second quarter and many of the 39,309 at Reser Stadium went home at halftime.

Oregon, a 48–13 victor at Arizona State (3–2, 0–2), will attempt to stop Longshore and his teammates. Neutral observers like Cal in this one.

“Oregon is so much about trickery and misdirection,” ASU defensive lineman David Smith told reporters. “Cal is just plain physical. It’s not even close.”

Still, the Ducks haven’t been beaten, emptying out Sun Devil Stadium fairly quickly and thriving in 95-degree desert weather. They piled up 574 yards of total offense. They rang up 28 first downs to the home team’s 9. They sacked beleaguered ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter six times. In their first outing since their controversial win over Oklahoma, they left no doubts about the outcome.

They also turned up the heat on ASU coach Dirk Koetter, who suffered his worst loss in six seasons in Tempe. The defeat was the most one-sided at home for the Sun Devils since UCLA punished them 59–23 in 1994.

“I apologize to the fans,” Koetter said, addressing the 58,526 who had witnessed he paltry effort. “We should be paying them for making them sit through that.”

For the second consecutive week, unbeaten USC (4–0, 2–0) appeared less than invincible while squaring off with a mid- or low-level Pac-10 entry, barely escaping a trip to Washington State (3–2, 1–1) with a 28–22 victory.

“We’re glad to get out of here,” USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Part of the Trojans’ problem is a steady string of injuries thinning the seemingly endless firepower some, the latest a well-publicized shoulder strain preventing All-America receiver Dwayne Jarrett from traveling to Pullman. In Jarrett’s absence, however, senior Steve Smith was sterling, catching 11 passes for 186 yards and two scores.

At the same time, USC has won 25 consecutive Pac-10 games, and 18 in a row against all comers in regular-season road encounters.

After getting sorely tested on the road by Arizona and WSU, the Trojans return home to face surprising Washington, a 21–10 winner at Arizona.

The Huskies (4–1, 2–0), under the patient rebuilding efforts of coach Ty Willingham, already have surpassed their victory total of the previous two seasons and are readily talking bowl game. They turned to No. 4 to turn back the Wildcats on the road. Both No. 4s.

Senior quarterback Isaiah Stanback, who wears that jersey on offense, and senior linebacker Scott White, who claims the same number on defense, had Arizona (2–3, 0–2) thoroughly confused. Stanback hit on 14 of 25 passes for 293 yards and two TDs and rushed 10 times for 47 yards. White, shaking off a shoulder injury that kept him from practicing, came up with a team-best 10 tackles, including a pair of sacks.

Wildcats coach Mike Stoops billed this as the biggest game of his three-year career in Tucson, drawing 55,409 to Arizona Stadium. It wasn’t. A lot of those fans left early.

UCLA (3–1, 1–1) got back in the win column, beating winless Stanford 31–0 but hardly leaving everyone satisfied. A Rose Bowl crowd of 72,095 booed lustily as the Bruins left the field at halftime, holding an unimpressive 7–0 lead. The home fans expected so much more against a Cardinal team (0–5, 0–2) threatening to lose them all.

The defense rescued UCLA with a blocked punt that Eric O’Neal returned 12 yards for a score and a sack-caused fumble that Kenneth Lombard scooped up and ran in five yards for a TD.

With Stanford senior quarterback Trent Edwards, the question continually is paper or plastic? He’s been sacked 12 times in two weeks, five times by the Bruins.

Player of the week: Nate Longshore. QB, Cal
Standing tall in the pocket and guessing right on blitzes, the sophomore completed 22 of 31 passes for four touchdowns against Oregon State, his exact same stat line against Minnesota three weeks earlier. He had 341 passing yards this time, compared to 300 against the Big Ten team.

Game of the week: USC 28, WSU 22
This one came down to the last play, as the Cougars, wearing new red and white jerseys reminiscent of the early AFL days, wouldn’t back down before a sellout crowd of 35,117 in the Palouse.

Freshman impact: Taylor Mays, S, USC
The USC safety, playing center field, stepped up and intercepted a Hail Mary pass by the Cougars on his 4-yard-line on that final play of the game, preserving the hard-earned six-point victory.

Notable injuries:
Oregon defensive tackle Cole Linehan suffered the worst one league-wide, breaking his foot at Arizona State, which could end his season. … USC wide receiver Chris McFoy, asked to fill in for the injured Dwayne Jarrett, injured a shoulder, similar to Jarrett, and was in street clothes for half the game in Pullman. … Washington wide receiver Anthony Russo suffered a concussion at Arizona. … Huskies quarterback Isaiah Stanback had to give way to backup Carl Bonnell on the game’s final series after suffering a leg bruise. … Oregon tailback Jonathan Stewart reinjured a chronic sprained ankle early, but still rushed for 142 yards on 12 carries. … Stanford fullback Anthony Kimble missed the UCLA game after suffering a concussion earlier in the week.

Additional notes:
•    Oregon State’s Alexis Serna tied a school record with a 58-yard field goal, a liner hit so hard it could have cleared from 65.

•    Two defensive backs who hadn’t played much or at all this season because of injuries, Oregon’s Terrell Ward and Washington’s Dashon Goldson, each had interceptions in pulling extended time.

•    Oregon sophomore wide receiver Jaison Williams, joining the league’s elite pass catchers, pulled in 10 passes for 137 yards and two scores against Arizona State.

•    WSU wideout Michael Bumpus grabbed 11 passes for 115 yards against USC.

•    Arizona has scored just two touchdowns in four games against Division I opponents.

•    Before getting injured, USC senior wide receiver Chris McFoy caught a 7-yard scoring pass, his first TD in five college seasons.

•    Oregon’s Dexter Manley had three sacks of ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter.