With the big victories both teams pulled off on Saturday, it shouldn’t surprise you that Stanford and UCLA players took home Pac-12 Players of the Week honors: Zach Ertz, Eric Kendricks and Daniel Zychlinski.
More on Eric Kendricks: His play at UCLA is no joke, even if comedians at comedy clubs used to crack funnies on him for his wild hair. I dare them to make jokes about him when they see him in his UCLA uniform.
Finalists have been named for numerous awards, and the Pac-12 has its fingerprints all over them. Zach Ertz and Austin Seferian-Jenkins are Mackey Award finalists, Kenjon Barner and Johnathan Franklin are Doak Walker Award finalists and Marqise Lee is a Biletnikoff Award finalist.
Going into the Civil War, Mike Riley has announced that Sean Mannion will start at quarterback for Oregon State. In Eugene, the Ducks go back to work in “fix mode.”
In other quarterback news, USC has a new starter this weekend for its matchup against No. 1 Notre Dame, but many believe Max Wittek is well-armed for his shot on the big stage.
So you know now that Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey is scary and he leads the nation in rushing, but did you also know Carey breaks off more long runs than anyone in that nation?
In the battle for the Territorial Cup, Todd Graham says managing emotions will be key for Arizona State, but last year’s disappointment is certainly a motivating factor for the players who experienced the 2011 loss to Arizona. How dare the ‘Cats stomp on that pitchfork!
Apple Cup week as well! Cougar fans, what is your favorite Apple Cup story?
Since it is a big rivalry week, the Washington press conference went longer than normal. Luckily, Bob Condotta is here to give you all the necessary video and quotes from Steve Sarkisian’s presser.
Even though the Utes have seven losses, they are playing for more than pride; Utah is still playing for a possible bowl berth because there might not be enough teams that get to six wins to fulfill all of the bowl slots. If Utah takes care of Colorado, there’s a chance it plays beyond this weekend.
We have seen a lot of big differences between the Cardinal and Golden Bears in Jon Wilner’s grading the week column, but this one takes the cake: Stanford gets an A+ and Cal gets an F.
Three fourth-year juniors will conclude their Colorado careers on Friday against Utah, says Jon Embree. Despite those additions, it should be a pretty short Senior Day ceremony in Boulder – there are only eight seniors on the team, which is the second-smallest class in the modern history of the program.
It has been a long season for Buffs football fans, but at least they can take pride in the fact that the Colorado men’s hoops team is ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1997. In other basketball news, former Pac-12 Digital staffer Neil Stover writes that patience is a virtue for Washington State men’s basketball fans.
Lastly, let’s wish Mike Price a happy retirement from football. The UTEP coach will step down at the end of this year; he led Washington State to a couple of Rose Bowl appearances.