Oregon Magazine

Cover

Pigskin Pete
Week Eight
Dawgs, Vikings Falter
As UO, OSU Rest

By Fred Delkin

Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State took the week off while Washington blew a close match with Arizona State on a bonehead defensive mistake. This week all Pac10 Northwest schools are in action, headlined by the battle in Seattle between Huskies and Ducks labeled by LA Times writer Chris Dufresne as "the Pacific 10 conference's nastiest annual encounter." The Dawgs have dropped five straight to the Webfeet, but led by superstar Jake Locker, they are looking more like the UW teams forged by Jim Owens and Don James in years past. Husky Stadium will be a very unfriendly place for the league-leading visitors. This should be a beauty, but we think the Ducks will emerge with a win leading into their titanic at home vs, USC for the league lead. Chip Kelly will keep his charges focused. OREGON by 3.

California recovered from unexpected routs by Oregon and USC to thoroughly trounce UCLA on the latter's home Rose Bowl turf. This week the Golden Bears host the mangy Cougars of Washington State and won't even break a sweat. CALIFORNIA BY 42.

Oregon State has shown a winning disdain for the mighty Trojans when playing in Corvallis, but the Beavers haven't won in the L.A. Coliseum since 1960 and we expect that streak to continue. Troy coach Pete Carroll will remind his squad of their derailing on the 2008 national title track and revenge is a powerful incentive. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA by 7.

Arizona has shown surprising strength so far this season and their visitors this week from UCLA are not likely to relieve their coach Ricky Neweasel's frustrations. Shed some more tears, Ricky...on you, they look good! ARIZONA by 14.

Stanford has the offense, Arizona State the defense, and their clash in Palo Alto rates even up. We'll give the nod to Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh, but Sun Devil mentor Dennis Erickson will mount a fierce challenge. STANFORD by 3.

The Portland State collapse should continue as the Vikings host California Davis at PGE Park. The Aggies have a solid program on an annual basis and will easily survive a trip to the big city. It will be a shock if the locals perform respectably in this non-conference clash which will probably unfold before stands as deserted as they were in last week's failure to even slow the Northern Arizona visitors. Pressure is mounting for Viking coach Jerry Glanville to take a hike. CAL DAVIS by 21.