Every time a Pac-10 team played a national title contender this fall, the result was the same.
Washington lost to Nebraska. Stanford lost to North Carolina. Arizona lost to Ohio State. After UCLA lost to Tennessee, Southern California lost to Florida State a few miles away.
So why is everybody on the West Coast raving about the league this year?
Because the Pac-10 features the hottest trends in college football in the 1990s–parity and offense.
Only upstart Washington State survived September unbeaten, and there isn’t a team in the bunch as awful as Illinois, Indiana or just about any Big East entry. Longtime doormat Oregon State, which has finished last six times in the 1990s, is 3-2–and its losses were to Stanford and Arizona State, by a field goal apiece.
“We call ourselves the `Cannibal Conference’ because it seems like we tend to beat up on each other,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti says. “In other conferences, there tend to be some givens, that this team is going to win no matter who they play, wherever. That isn’t the case in this conference.”
As for the offense, the Pac-10 has produced a slew of wondrously talented quarterbacks who are upholding the tradition of John Elway, Drew Bledsoe and Gary Beban.
“One of the writers from Seattle this week said what do you think about playing (Washington quarterback) Brock Huard,” Arizona coach Dick Tomey says. “But we play against (a star quarterback) every week.”
The best might be UCLA junior Cade McNown. He’s second in the nation in passing efficiency and has thrown only one interception in his last 122 attempts. He’s a big reason the Bruins have won four straight–and scored 211 points in that stretch–after dropping early heartbreakers to Washington State and Tennessee.
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“He’s probably the hottest quarterback in the country right now,” says Fox Sports analyst David Norrie, a former Bruins quarterback who might be the slightest bit biased. “He’s not as fast as (former Washington quarterback Mark) Brunell, but he’s more developed as a passer at this point.”
At least four Pac-10 quarterbacks could be headed for the NFL: McNown, Huard, Washington State’s Ryan Leaf and Stanford’s Chad Hutchinson, who might opt for baseball instead.
But what about all those losses against elite teams from across the country? Pac-10 supporters note that each game was close. And they point to the league’s three victories over ranked non-conference opponents, more than any league but the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“The Pac-10 really demonstrated they could play with anybody,” Norrie says. “None of the Pac-10 teams got embarrassed. They could have won all of those games.”
Meanwhile, over in Watts: One exception to the Pac-10’s ascension is USC, where coach John Robinson Tuesday used a Hollywood horror-flick metaphor to describe his 2-3 team.
“We don’t have guys who are indifferent,” Robinson said. “We have guys who are playing like Frankenstein.”
That sets up a big-screen battle with the Hunchbacks of Notre Dame this weekend in South Bend. A loss to Notre Dame will fire up the fire-Robinson chorus, which is growing louder by the week.
Robinson also knows what is at stake. He said Tuesday if the Trojans don’t improve, he will resign.
“I’m a really good football coach who’s not doing very well right now,” Robinson said Tuesday. “If I don’t do better, then I will step aside. If we don’t turn the program around, I’m not talking about wins but I’m talking about facing this crisis and having our players respond, then our football team should go in a new direction at the end of the season.
“I’m the first to say that. . . . I’m not going to be part of a situation where I let this team slide into the gutter.”
Asked if playing their ancient rival would inspire his listless players, Robinson said, “It’s a big game and it’s an emotional game. I think that could be (a help). That’s our story, anyway.”
Big MAC attack: The Pac-10 might not be getting much respect nationally, but the Mid-American Conference is as it enters its second half-century. For the first time in league history, four teams received votes in last week’s AP (media) poll: Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Ohio University and Marshall.
“We’re having the best year in the history of the league,” commissioner Jerry Ippoliti says.
One of the reasons is newcomer Marshall, which jumped up from Division I-AA this year and has wide receiver Randy Moss, listed among the nation’s top talents. This week, the Thundering Herd meets Miami, a longtime MAC power.
The RedHawks made headlines by defeating Virginia Tech recently. “We’ve impressed upon (conference members) that the only way we’re going to get any national respect is to play those people–and beat them,” Ippoliti says.
The MAC hopes for a shot at another big-namer in the inaugural Motor City Bowl Dec. 26 in the Silverdome, the destination for the MAC champion.
Here’s a tip to Motor City officials: there’s a team down in Indiana that just might win seven games. They have played in a few bowls over the years and have terrific travelling support and television ratings. Dial information in South Bend and ask for Coach Bob Davie’s office.
Wild blue yonder: Air Force quarterback Cale Bonds wasn’t too worried about the possibility of starting his first college game Saturday for the unbeaten, 18th-ranked Falcons. Bonds, who replaced injured starter Blane Morgan in the 10-7 win at Navy last weekend, is up to his epaulets in schoolwork.
“I’ve got two term papers and a lab to worry about before I think of Saturday,” Bonds says. “That’s life at the academy. You have to get things done, and maybe that’s what makes people in here a little tougher.”
Fourth and inches: Temple has won twice as many Big East games (two) this year as it had ever won, but the Owls still might be on the endangered species list as a conference member. Big East officials are nervous about continuing poor attendance at both Veterans Stadium and Franklin Field; Temple’s overall average this year is 10,087. . . . Of course, no one in the Big East ought to be pointing fingers at the Owls. The Big East is a combined 22-26 overall and may have trouble filling its four bowl slots. Officials at the Liberty Bowl, where the No. 4 Big East team is headed, already are checking out other options. The bowl’s host is the Conference USA champion, and with Southern Mississippi in front, there’s talk of pairing the Golden Eagles against either Mississippi State or Ole Miss, both of which have long refused to play their upstart neighbor.