The 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by New York Life begins March 2 from KeyArena and every game will be broadcast live.
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Stanford is a quality opponent and a win would set the tone for a potentially good season for the Bruins.
All three came September 18 as the Rams celebrated their return to the Coliseum with a 9-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks, who have only managed 15 points in their first two games. Manny Wilkins finished with 264 yards and 2 touchdowns while completing 15 of his 31 passes for the Sun Devils. And, since he’s a dual threat quarterback, opposing defenses will have to limit their blitzes or risk giving up a big gain if the pressure doesn’t get to him in time. Against Utah, the Trojans couldn’t get out of their own way with penalties and fumbles. Defensively, USC is allowing 28.7 points and 374 yards per game. Buffaloes quarterback Sefo Liufau was hit on a go ahead 70-yard touchdown pass to start the second half and came up holding his ankle. The USC offense now ranks 115th in the nation in yards per play and 90th in passing plays longer than 10 yards.
USU linebacker Brock Carmen is one of the stars anchoring the defense after recording a career-best 12 tackles, two quarterback hurries, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack last week.
The return of Love provided another dynamic for the Cardinal rushing game. UCLA racked up a grand total of 50 yards on 34 carries.
Trojan QB Max Browne entered the season as the starter, although he has not been able to get in sync with the entire offense as of yet. Love’s presence takes the load off McCaffrey from having to step up all the time in critical moments. Only one of them will finish the month undefeated when the annual intraconference cannibalism commences.
If you want to blame somebody for USC’s woes, always blame former athletic director Pat Haden, the architect of the program’s problems. Darnold was an upgrade, but USC is now 0-2 in conference.
Rams place kicker Greg Zuerlain kicks one of his three field goals September 18 against the Seattle Seahawks.
But the drive that led up to the winning score is the real story here..
What made the defeat especially painful is that the Trojans now have the relatively soft part of their schedule coming up. Since that’s what will ultimately determine whether he remains the head coach at USC, no one should fault him for that. He was targeted for deep passes but was unable to come down with the catch.
Despite the controversial (and admittedly foolish fumble non-call that should have gone to the Longhorns), Cal played fast and furious and seem to be over quarterback Jared Goff’s ascension to the NFL.
Throughout the game Stanford’s defense got stronger, leaving the Trojans frustrated on missed opportunities. “We have a lot of confidence in our offensive line and our offense”. An impressive offensive performance against Texas Tech is the saving grace for the Sun Devils, but their ground game should keep the offense going against less than stellar defenses throughout the conference.
USC regained a 10-point lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Matt Boermeester knocked home a 43-yard field goal, but Utah responded once again to make it a three-point game with 9:45 left in the game.
Fright Night ESPN. Rumor is USC coaches jobs are on the line.
So on Monday, less than 48 hours after the loss to Stanford, the Trojans resumed practice at Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field with Darnold, not Browne, directing the first-team offense. As the team moves forward Shaw will look to work on the small issues during practice. “Sam’s going to put it on the money wherever it needs to be”.
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Stanford’s win makes them early favorites to win the conference, but they have a long way to go. The loss was fresh, but in six days, they faced another Pac-12 road test at Utah. UCLA is up first next week. Stanford can not afford to play down to team who have the talent to end the Cardinal’s hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff.
