Halfway through the Pac-12 football regular season, the physical grind is mounting on a lot of teams.
That's in addition to the ones who were struck early by key injuries, like Arizona State, Utah and Washington State.
Oregon, already having lost LaMichael James for an indefinite period, saw quarterback Darron Thomas go down Saturday night against ASU. No word on his knee going forward, since the Ducks shield such information like the CIA guards intelligence on al-Qaida strongholds.
USC began the weekend by losing receiver Marqise Lee and running back Marc Tyler to shoulder problems.
Colorado, already threadbare offensively, is without running back Rodney Stewart, plus linebacker Doug Rippy (knees, in both cases).
And Oregon State straggled futilely to the finish against Brigham Young without some key defenders, including run-stuffer Castro Masaniai (broken fibula).
What We Learned
Maybe Oregon is really just playing Xbox 360. The Ducks lost James a week ago -- an All-America running back -- and hardly seemed to miss him, although it took awhile to break loose from ASU.
The Ducks had 58 yards rushing at halftime. They finished with 327. Kenjon Barner had 171, and De'Anthony Thomas had 73 on seven carries. Bryan Bennett, the redshirt-freshman backup to Thomas, shook loose five times for 65 yards. Crazy numbers against a salty defense.
* Washington's offense might be something special. True, Colorado's defense isn't exactly the supreme test. But at times, the Huskies moved almost effortlessly against the Buffs. The UW offense against the Stanford defense should be worth watching this week.
* According to ESPN research, the Cardinal is the first Pac-12 team in history to win nine straight games by more than 25 points.
* Two teams, one life preserver at CenturyLink Field this week. The loser of the Oregon State-Washington State game stands to suffer more than the winner will gain. The Beavers (1-5) are virtually out of the bowl hunt but could be headed for a truly bad season with a loss. The Cougars (3-3) have to win to sustain realistic postseason hopes.
The Beavers limped through the BYU loss, with injuries to Masaniai and starting linebackers Cameron Collins (groin) and Feti Unga (calf). They made four turnovers, allowed the Cougars to go 11 of 14 on third-down conversions and surrendered 282 yards rushing.
* Utah clarified the difference between the Pac-12 and Big East. Still without a Pac-12 win, the Utes ventured to Pittsburgh, widely picked second in the Big East. They held the nation's leader in rushing yards, Ray Graham, to 46 yards on 12 tries, and did a number on Pitt's feckless passing attack, as the Panthers completed 9 of 30 for 50 yards -- 1.67 yards per attempt.
Not that the Utes (3-3), who won 26-14, don't have things to work on. Their special teams were a disaster, as they gave up two touchdowns and had a substitution error on a field-goal attempt, necessitating a timeout.
"We have a few things to fix," said coach Kyle Whittingham, "but effort is not one of them."
On the other side, first-year Pitt (3-4) coach Todd Graham was calling his offense "unacceptable" and "embarrassing."
This Week
The headliner is Washington-Stanford, but USC has a fetching matchup at Notre Dame.
Thursday night, ESPN commentators try to explain why they're doing the UCLA-Arizona game.
