Trojans respond to punch to the mouth

Well unlike their trip to Corvalis in September, USC responded to Stanford landing the first punch. Against Oregon State, the Trojans could not muster any response to the Beavers, but last night against the Cardinal, after giving up a touchdown on Stanford's opening drive, USC answered with a scoring drive of their own. But even with that, it was a sloppy first half for the Trojans, who came in wanting to attack the weak Cardinal pass defense, and eventually turned to their potent run game to take control. Stanford controlled both side of the ball at the start of the game, rushing for over 140 yards in the first half while pressuring USC QB Mark Sanchez. The turning point in the game was when C.J. Gable returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown after Stanford had pulled ahead 17-10. That sparked a 35-0 scoring run that put the game away for the Trojans. It was nice to see the adjustments the coaching staff made, notably running the ball and bringing up a safety to stop the Cardinal rushing attack. Now that this has been settled, the two rivalry games remain against Notre Dame and UCLA. But for now, a bye to regroup. By the way, no real indepth analysis of this game... too busy having fun at a wine party... Anyway, the Pac-10 rankings...

1. USC (9-1 overall, 7-1 Pac-10) - So much for that impenetrable defense... but still a nice come from behind win, even if it was only against Stanford. And 8.3 points per game allowed is still nothing to be ashamed of. Next up is a matchup against Notre Dame after a bye. The Irish are floundering right now and almost blew their game against Navy.
2. Oregon State (7-3, 6-1) - Can't see them losing the rest of the way, as they're clicking on all cylinders. Arizona and Oregon won't be cakewalks, but the Beavers should win out and make it to the Rose Bowl, for a rematch with Penn State... ugh...
3. Oregon (8-3, 6-2) - Now that's a Pac-10 game! The Ducks won a 55-45 shootout with the Wildcats, where Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli finally showed that he can throw the ball. Now can they win the big one? After a bye, and assuming Oregon State beats Arizona, the Ducks could be playing for second place in the Pac-10 and a trip to the Holiday Bowl.
4. Arizona (6-4, 4-3) - Just fell too far behind Oregon in a hostile environment. But they can still do things down the stretch, by ruining Oregon State's Rose Bowl hopes and preventing rival Arizona State from making a bowl game, something coach Mike Stoops would love.
5. California (6-4, 4-3) - Well so much for finishing strong. Though they will get to 7 wins (Cal plays Washington in the season finale) but other than a win over Michigan State in the season opener, they really haven't done much this season. The only thing left to do this season is not screw up by losing to Stanford again.
6. Stanford (5-6, 4-4) - Showed a lot of spirit again this week against USC, but the Trojans were able to flip this switch this year and pull away late. Now they need to upset Cal again if they want to become bowl eligible, which will be a tall task.
7. Arizona State (4-6, 3-4) - Two game winning streak!!! Too bad it was against Washington and Washington State... Now they can get some momentum going into the season finale against Arizona by taking care of UCLA, which they should do. Should. Like how they should have beat UNLV.
8. UCLA (4-6, 3-4) - Keep those fans dreams alive for a bowl game! Lol. Seriously. If they make it to a bowl game, I will buy any UCLA fan four tickets to that game, cause making it to a bowl means they have to beat Arizona State in Tempe (questionable) and USC in the Rose Bowl (doubtful).
9. Washington (0-10, 0-7) - The Huskies should be favored against the Cougars.
10. Washington State (1-10, 0-8) - Other than that, I got nothing. Though at least Washington State gets to go to Hawaii in the season finale!

And the top 25, though not much changes after not many upsets:

1. Alabama (11-0)
2. Texas Tech (10-0)
3. Florida (9-1)
4. Texas (10-1)
5. Oklahoma (9-1)
6. USC (9-1)
7. Utah (11-0)
8. Penn State (10-1)
9. Boise State (10-0)
10. Ohio State (9-2)
11. Missouri (9-2)
12. Oklahoma State (9-2)
13. Texas Christian (9-2)
14. Brigham Young (10-1)
15. Ball State (10-0)
16. Michigan State (9-2)
17. Georgia (9-2)
18. Pittsburgh (7-2)
19. Oregon State (7-3)
20. Louisiana State (7-3)
21. Cincinnati (8-2)
22. Western Michigan (9-2)
23. Oregon (8-3)
24. Miami (Florida) (7-3)
25. Northwestern (8-3)

And BCS bowl predictions!

BCS National Championship - Florida (SEC Champ) vs. Texas Tech (Big 12 Champ)

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - Texas (BCS at large) vs. Utah (BCS at large)

Allstate Sugar Bowl - Alabama (BCS at large) vs. Ohio State (BCS at large)

FedEx Orange Bowl - Miami (Florida) (ACC Champ) vs. Cincinnati (Big East Champ)

Rose Bowl Game - Penn State (Big Ten Champ) vs. USC (Pac-10 Champ)