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By Brian Consolazio, October 20, 2009 3:47 pm

#1 Star: Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars
Alma Mater: UCLA
Stats (10/19): 33 Carries for 133 Yards, 3 TDs, 5 Receptions for 45 Yards

With the Jacksonville Jaguars still struggling, and Maurice Jones-Drew publicly stating his frustration about not getting the ball enough this season, Jones-Drew showed exactly what he can do when given the opportunity this week against the St Louis Rams. His 33 rushes (most in the NFL) for 133 yards (fourth this week) and three TDs (most in the NFL) led the Jaguars to a 23 – 20 win over the Rams.

Maurice Jones-Drew scored all three touchdowns for the Jaguars this week, but the fourth quarter was really where he took over the game. Jones-Drew ran for 74 yards in the fourth quarter with two TDs. His one yard TD run with 8:05 left in the game gave the Jags a 13 – 10 lead, and his three yard shot up the middle also gave them the lead at 20 – 17.

With this big win the Jacksonville Jaguars moved back to .500, and it looks like they are starting to understand that their best chance of winning is to give opponents a healthy dose of Maurice Jones-Drew.

#2 Star: Brian Cushing, Houston Texans
Alma Mater: USC
Stats (10/19): 9 Tackles, 1 INT, 2 Forced Fumbles, 2 Pass Deflections

With the Houston Texans going into Cincinnati to play one of the hottest teams in the league, not many people were picking Houston to win. The Texans did pull off the upset though, thanks to Brian Cushing’s huge performance and allowing zero points in the second half of the game for the 28 – 17 victory.

The Houston Texans took a 21 – 17 lead in just under four minutes into the third quarter, and this is when the defense really stepped up. Cushing’s first forced fumble came on the next possession, stopping the Bengals at midfield with a hit on Daniel Coats. With 5:38 left in the game and the Bengals down 28 – 17, Cushing once again forced a fumble, this time on J.P. Foschi to all but seal the victory for the Texans. The Texans couldn’t run the clock out though, and Cushing did seal the game with 1:48 left when he intercepted a Carson Palmer pass at the Houston 26 yard line.

The Texans moved to 3-3 after their impressive win against the Cincinnati Bengals, and with the offense clicking as well as it is, if Brian Cushing and the Texans defense continue to play at a high level, they should be a tough team to beat down the stretch.

#3 Star: Zach Miller, Oakland Raiders
Alma Mater: Arizona State
Stats (10/19): 6 Receptions for 139 Yards, 1 TD

After an embarrassing 44 – 7 loss to the New York Giants last week and the Philadelphia Eagles coming into Oakland this week, it looked like it was going to be another disaster for the Oakland Raiders. Shockingly, the Raiders were able to pull off the huge upset, thanks in large part to Zach Miller. His six receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown led all Raiders receivers in all categories, and his yardage was tops among NFL tight ends.

Zach Miller’s biggest play of the game came in the first quarter when Jamarcus Russell dumped a 16 yard pass to him down the middle and let Miller do the rest of the work. Miller got a few key blocks from Louis Murphy and was able to finish the play with an 86 yard touchdown reception, the longest pass play for the Oakland Raiders in 25 years. This touchdown also proved to be the only touchdown of the game, and the Oakland Raiders were able to fight off the Eagles 13 – 9.

13 points isn’t an offensive explosion, but it was enough to get the Raiders a much needed win.

Honorable Mentions:

Cal’s Aaron Rodgers (29-37 358 yards 2 TDs 1 INT, 3 Rushes for 9 Yards, 113.7 QB Rating)
Any other week Rodgers would have made the top three with this line, but in a big week for other players I would have liked to see a few more TDs and 0 INTs against the Lions to crack the list.

Oregon State’s Sammie Stroughter (3 Receptions for 65 yards, 142 Return Yards, 1 TD)
Stroughter also had a game worth talking about where his biggest play was a 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown to narrow the Panthers lead to 21 – 14.

Stanford’s Oshiomogho Atogwe (10 Tackles)
Oregon State’s Nick Barnett (8 Tackles, .5 Sacks)
Oregon State’s Steven Jackson (16 Rushes for 50 Yards, 6 Receptions for 78 Yards)
Oregon’s Jonathan Stewart (17 Rushes for 110 Yards, 1 TD, 1 Fumble)

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By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, October 16, 2009 5:24 pm

Washington Huskies (3-3) vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (3-2)
Saturday, October 17, 7:15 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona State -6.5

Continue reading 'Week 7 Game Matchup: Washington Huskies VS. Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Dave Consolazio, October 13, 2009 6:06 pm

Arizona State Sun Devils 3-2 Overall (1-1 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Arizona State 27 – Washington State 14

Next Week’s Opponent: Washington


Continue reading 'Pac-10 Week 6 Notes and Observations: Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Brian Consolazio,

# 1 Star: Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
Alma Mater: Arizona State
Stats (10/7 – 10/10): 5 Runs, 2 Home Runs, 3 RBIs, .500 AVG

The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to go only as far as their right fielder Andre Ethier’s bat takes them. In the final 12 games of the regular season the Dodgers went 5-7 and looked to be going in the wrong direction with Ethier going 3-for-34 during the slide with one home run and five RBIs.

Things changed quickly come playoff time though, and during the Dodgers three game sweep of the Cardinals, Andre Ethier led the way batting .500 with two home runs, two doubles, one triple, five runs, and three RBIs.

Ethier’s two home runs both proved to be critical in the outcomes of those games, and if he can keep this hot streak going, it would definitely help the Dodgers in their efforts to knock off the defending champs.

#2 Star: Andre Carter, Washington Redskins
Alma Mater: Cal
Stats (10/11): 6 Tackles, 2.5 Sacks, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Pass Deflection

In what has been a largely disappointing season so far for the Washington Redskins, it was nice to see a big performance from defensive end Andre Carter.

In the 20 – 17 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Andre Carter had six tackles, two and a half sacks, one forced fumble and one pass deflection.  Carter’s two and a half sacks this week were ranked second to only James Harrison and his three for Pittsburgh.

As Washington’s offense continues to struggle, Andre Carter and the defense will have to continue to play at a high level to give the Redskins a chance to win each week.

#3 Star: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
Alma Mater: UCLA
Stats (10/7 – 10/12): 5 Runs, 1 Home Run, 1 RBI, 2 SBs, .429 AVG

The defending World Series Champions clinched the final spot in the NLCS Monday night, and Chase Utley proved to be a key factor the entire series.

Chase Utley finished the four game series with five runs, one home run, one RBI, two stolen bases and a .429 batting average. Utley’s five runs were tops on the Phillies during the series, and his two stolen bases also led the team.

Usually known for his power, Utley showed his versatility during this big series and if he stays hot with Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez behind him, the Phillies will be awfully tough to beat.

Honorable Mentions:

USC’s Matt Cassel (253 Yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 28 Rushing Yards)
Oregon State’s TJ Houshmandzadeh (5 Receptions for 77 Yards, 2 TDs)
Cal’s Marshawn Lynch (17 Carries for 69 Yards, 6 Receptions for 56 Yards, 0 TDs)
Arizona’s Antonio Pierce (8 Tackles, 1 Fumble Recovery)
Oregon’s Nick Reed (3 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 Fumble Recovery, 1 TD)
USC’s Terrell Thomas (4 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Pass Deflection)

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By Dave Consolazio, October 11, 2009 7:38 pm

The pecking order in the Pac-10 after USC and Oregon continues to get cloudier instead of clearer the deeper into the season we get. Stanford and Arizona were looking like the “best of the rest”, but both picked up losses this week; Stanford, of course, to Oregon State, who appears poised and ready for their late season run with two convincing victories in a row. With games still to come against Cal, USC, and Oregon, they’ve got ime to prove they are once again for real.

And speaking of Cal, which Cal team shows up fresh off the bye next week in UCLA; Pre-Oregon Cal or Post-Oregon Cal?

Saturday

Oregon 24 – UCLA 10 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Oregon 30 – UCLA 24 (W)
Dave: Oregon 27 – UCLA 23 (W)

Arizona State 27 – Washington State 14 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Arizona State 38 – Washington State 13 (W)
Dave: Arizona State 38 – Washington State 10 (W)

Oregon State 38 – Stanford 28 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Stanford 28 – Oregon State 24 (L)
Dave: Stanford 27 – Oregon State 21 (L)

Washington 36 – Arizona 33 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Washington 30 – Arizona 27 (W)
Dave: Arizona 38 – Washington 27 (L)

Oregon State made both of us pay for picking against them for the second straight week. With Arizona up two scores late in the 4th quarter, it was looking like Sam was going to be on the losing end of our split decision once again, but he and Washington received a twist-of-fate bounce on the pick-6 to get the Huskies the win at home.

Not a single easy one on the schedule next week; should be a fun one.

Sam’s Record: 28 – 13
Dave’s Record: 31 – 10

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By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, October 9, 2009 1:35 pm

Arizona State Sun Devils (2-2) vs. Washington State Cougars (1-4)
Saturday, October 10, 2:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona State -21.0

Continue reading 'Week 6 Game Matchup: Arizona State Sun Devils VS. Washington State Cougars'»

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By Sam Saig, October 7, 2009 12:13 pm

Arizona State Sun Devils 2-2 Overall (0-1 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Oregon State 28 – Arizona State 17

Next Week’s Opponent: @Washington State


Continue reading 'Pac-10 Week 5 Notes and Observations: Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Dave Consolazio, October 5, 2009 11:29 am

There weren’t too many surprises this week, relatively speaking of course. All the teams that were favored to win won, with the exception of Oregon State, who performed their stuck with their annual practice of waiting until everyone counted them out to pick things up and earn the win.

To Sam’s credit, he did get the score prediction exactly right on that one; unfortunately it doesn’t count when the teams are swapped.

Saturday

Stanford 24 – UCLA 16 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Stanford 28 – UCLA 23 (W)
Dave: Stanford 24 – UCLA 13 (W)

Notre Dame 37 – Washington 30 (OT) (Game Matchup)
Sam: Notre Dame 35 – Washington 28 (W)
Dave: Notre Dame 34 – Washington 20 (W)

Oregon State 28 – Arizona State 17 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Arizona State 28 – Oregon State 17 (L)
Dave: Arizona State 27 – Oregon State 14 (L)

USC 30 – California 3 (Game Matchup)
Sam: California 27 – USC 24 (L)
Dave: USC 27 – California 17 (W)

Oregon 52 – Washington State 6 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Oregon 42 – Washington State 14 (W)
Dave: Oregon 49 – Washington State 9 (W)

Oregon, USC, and Stanford roll right along and leave little doubt that they are the class of the conference. But what on earth is going on with Cal? It’s hard to blame JUST the coaching or the players when it is clearly a joint effort to perform this poorly. It’s been painfully bad for the Bears who are really doing the conference no favors in silencing its critics.

Next week marks the first week of exclusively in-conference play with everyone but USC and Cal in action. Should be fun.

Sam’s Record: 25 – 12
Dave’s Record: 29 – 8

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By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, October 1, 2009 5:55 pm

Oregon State Beavers (2-2) vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (2-1)
Saturday, October 3, 4:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona State -5.0

Continue reading 'Week 5 Game Matchup: Oregon State Beavers VS. Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Dave Consolazio, September 30, 2009 4:36 am

Arizona State Sun Devils 2-1 Overall (0-0 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Georgia 20 – Arizona State 17

Next Week’s Opponent: Oregon State


Continue reading 'Pac-10 Week 4 Notes and Observations: Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Dave Consolazio, September 28, 2009 11:29 am

I’m sorry, were you hoping that Week 4 was going to clear up some of the haziness in the Pac-10?

• Cal beating Oregon to establish themselves as the best team in the conference? No, Cal gets destroyed, and we have no idea where they stand.
• USC beats Washington State convincingly to show no signs of a hangover from last week? No, not exactly.
• Washington beats Stanford to hang on to that top 25 ranking? Nope.

The list goes on. The only thing that is clear at this point is that we have no idea what to expect this season.

Saturday

Oregon 42 – California 3 (Game Matchup)
Sam: California 35 – Oregon 24 (L)
Dave: Oregon 34 – California 31 (W)

Georgia 20 – Arizona State 17 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Georgia 33 – Arizona State 17 (W)
Dave: Georgia 28 – Arizona State 24 (W)

Arizona 37 – Oregon State 32 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Oregon State 24 – Arizona 21 (L)
Dave: Arizona 24 – Oregon State 20 (W)

Stanford 34 – Washington 14 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Washington 31 – Stanford 27 (L)
Dave: Stanford 34 – Washington 28 (W)

USC 27 – Washington State 6 (Game Matchup)
Sam: USC 52 – Washington State 10 (W)
Dave: USC 52 – Washington State 3 (W)

That’s right! In a week chock full of madness, I went a perfect 5-0 in my predictions, correctly calling the Arizona and Oregon upsets. Some might call it luck. I call it… well, luck I guess.

The Oregon Cal game really is the most surprising of all. Not in that Oregon won, but how Oregon won. They dominated in every facet of the game, leaving us wondering a) Where was this team week one? b) Where was this Jeremiah Masoli the last three weeks?

This upcoming weekend’s USC vs. Cal game was drawn up by many as a battle of undefeateds, the winner taking a stranglehold on the conference. Instead, both teams enter already having lost in the conference, and the loser with two losses will be virtually out of the running for sole possession of the Pac-10 title. Go figure, huh?

Sam’s Record: 22 – 10
Dave’s Record: 25 – 7

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By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, September 24, 2009 9:01 am

Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (2-1)
Saturday, September 26, 4:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Georgia -11.5

Continue reading 'Week 4 Game Matchup: Arizona State Sun Devils VS. Georgia Bulldogs'»

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By Sam Saig, September 22, 2009 12:34 pm

Arizona State Sun Devils 2-0 Overall (0-0 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Arizona State 38 – Louisiana Monroe 14

Next Week’s Opponent: @Georgia


Continue reading 'Pac-10 Week 3 Notes and Observations: Arizona State Sun Devils'»

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By Dave Consolazio, September 21, 2009 2:24 am

Wow. What a week. Overall a pretty good one for the Pac-10, avoiding a repeat of last year’s out-of-conference disaster week three going 6-2 this week.

Oh, and that one conference game? Yeah, that one was kind of a doozy.

Hats off to Washington for earning themselves some much deserved national attention, and for confirming what we already knew; the trip to the Rose Bowl this year is going to be a pretty wild ride. Strap in.

Saturday

California 35 – Minnesota 21 (Game Matchup)
Sam: California 37 – Minnesota 17 (W)
Dave: California 38 – Minnesota 17 (W)

Washington 16 – USC 13 (Game Matchup)
Sam: USC 38 – Washington 23 (L)
Dave: USC 41 – Washington 17 (L)

Oregon 31 – Utah 24 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Oregon 34 – Utah 30 (W)
Dave: Utah 31 – Oregon 28 (L)

Iowa 27 – Arizona 17 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Arizona 24 – Iowa 20 (L)
Dave: Iowa 17 – Arizona 13 (W)

Washington State 30 – Southern Methodist 27 (OT) (Game Matchup)
Sam: Southern Methodist 38 – Washington State 28 (L)
Dave: Southern Methodist 42 – Washington State 24 (L)

Cincinnati 28 – Oregon State 18 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Cincinnati 34 – Oregon State 28 (W)
Dave: Cincinnati 38 – Oregon State 34 (W)

Stanford 42 – San Jose State 17 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Stanford 38 – San Jose State 17 (W)
Dave: Stanford 41 – San Jose State 14 (W)

Arizona State 38 – Louisiana-Monroe 14 (Game Matchup)
Sam: Arizona State 30 – Louisiana-Monroe 17 (W)
Dave: Arizona State 27 – Louisiana-Monroe 10 (W)

UCLA 23 – Kansas State 9 (Game Matchup)
Sam: UCLA 28 – Kansas State 13 (W)
Dave: UCLA 20 – Kansas State 10 (W)

Neither of us saw the Washington State or Washington wins coming, and I must admit; we were probably more surprised by the Cougars win. It took a Bo Levi Mitchell implosion, but credit the Cougs for taking advantage of the opportunity and never quitting out there.

What caught us most off guard about the Huskies win was the way they won it; holding the Trojans to only 13 points. With the explosive Jake Locker at the helm we were considering the possibility of a shootout; but 16-13? Wouldn’t have expected the Trojans to get outscored by 10 by the Idaho Vandals. As they say, that’s why they play ‘em.

Splitting the Arizona and Oregon games leaves us with the same record through three weeks; 20-7.

And now we move on to primarily conference play; let the fun begin.

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By Dave Consolazio and Sam Saig, September 19, 2009 12:02 am

Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (1-1) vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (1-0)
Saturday, September 19, 7:00 PM PST
Las Vegas Favorite: Arizona State -20.5

Continue reading 'Week 3 Game Matchup: Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks VS. Arizona State Sun Devils'»