A Saturday to forget in the Pac-10

Sporting News, The, Sept 19, 1994 by Ivan Maisel

The Pacific 10 Conference won't be pressing last Saturday into its memory book anytime soon.

The farther east the left-coasters traveled, the more embarrassed they became. Southern California, one week after showing so much promise in defeating Washington, gave up three touchdowns to Penn State in the first eight minutes and stumbled to a 38-14 defeat. The Nittany Lions' "rebuilding" defense hasn't allowed a touchdown. Penn State has outscored its opponents, 94-17.

In the Midwest, Stanford played the kind of football that turns coaches into old men. Bill Walsh, already gray, watched his team beg Northwestern to win before finishing with a 41-41 tie.

The Cardinal turned over the ball three times inside their 30. They had an extrapoint attempt and a punt blocked. And Eric Abrams missed a 23-yard field-goal attempt with six seconds to play that would have allowed Stanford to escape with a victory.

It turns out that Abrams, who is leftfooted, didn't want to kick from the right hashmark. Picky, picky, picky.

"No excuse," Walsh says. "It was a flatout miss, a poorly kicked ball."

Like USC, Stanford had its moments. The running game, comatose last season, came to life. Mike Mitchell ushed for 136 yards and scored a disputed touchdown. (He dropped the ball at the 2-yard line and Northwestern recovered. Somehow, the officials ruled a touchdown. Now there's a talent worth teaching.)

Stanford held the Wildcats to minus-12 yards on their last three possessions. Steve Stenstrom put up his typically muscular numbers: 25 of 38 for 374 yards and a touchdown. He even scored the first two rushing touchdowns of his career. But he also lost two fumbles.

The Pac-10 didn't do well at home, either. Arizona State crumbled moments after Miami ran onto the field, losing, 47-10, to the revitalized Hurricanes. And California fell to San Diego State, 22-20, on a last-second field goal. The Aztecs had been 0-16-1 against the Pac-10 in the last nine seasons. (San Diego State Coach Ted Tollner, on the other hand, went 3-1 against the Golden Bears during his tenure at USC from 1983 through '86.)

Meanwhile, the Big Ten couldn't look more impressive. Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin all won formidable victories and proved their stature as Top 10 teams. The Wolverines edged Notre Dame and the Badgers ran it up on Eastern Michigan, 56-0, despite losing outstanding receiver Lee DeRamus.

The Big Ten looks invincible while the Pac-10 is groping. Remember that script from the 1970s and '80s, when the Pac-10 champion would come into the Rose Bowl with three or four losses against the mighty behemoths from Ann Arbor or Columbus?

The Pac-10 won those Rose Bowls, too. In other words, Washington's 25-16 whipping of Ohio State went exactly as it should have.

Not so special

Is it me or has the quality of special teams play plummeted? Michigan committed two offside penalties on kickoff coverage, gave up a 55-yard kickoff return, allowed a field-goal attempt to be blocked -- and the Wolverines beat Notre Dame.

LSU's Eddie Kennison returned a punt 100 yards for a touchdown. Stanford's problems have been discussed. San Jose State's punting team gave up a block for a touchdown and a bad snap that turned into a safety in a 54-20 loss to Baylor. South Carolina blocked a punt to set up one touchdown and also blocked a field-goal attempt to defeat Arkansas, 14-0.

Alabama blocked a Vanderbilt field-goal attempt. Virginia Tech punter Robbie Colley dropped two snaps deep in his territory. Texas' Mike Adams fumbled a punt. So did Dorian Brew of Kansas.

Maybe it's September. Maybe -- and dry out those crying towels for the coaches -- because the scholarship limits have resulted in fewer players, the losses are being felt down the depth chart, from whence special-teams players come.

The unexpected nature of a botched kick produces uncommon thrills, which is great for the fan. It's not exactly what coaches had in mind.

Heisman hopefuls

Unless you're looking for a bargain, check the day-old bin of Heisman candidates. Notre Dame tailback Lee Becton has rushed for 92 yards in two games and committed two fumbles against Michigan. Before last Saturday, he hadn't fumbled in 233 carries dating to 1992.

Southern Cal quarterback Rob Johnson has completed 36 of 53 passes for 350 yards. These are not bad numbers, except they are for two games. Nor has Johnson thrown a touchdown pass. Johnnie Morton, please come home.

Wide receivers Joey Galloway of Ohio State and J.J. Stokes of UCLA didn't play Saturday, the former because of suspension, the latter because of injury. Galloway wouldn't have made a difference in the Buckeyes' loss at Washington. He wouldn't have been able to tackle Huskies tailback Napoleon Kaufman, either.

Stokes showed his value to the UCLA offense by his absence. The Bruins struggled to defeat SMU, 17-10. He will have the national stage Saturday when UCLA visits Nebraska. He's expected to take it.

Hurricane watch

What's wrong with Miami? Florida scores 70 points for the second consecutive week. Florida State gets 52. All the Hurricanes can produce is a mere 47.