November is where the rubber meets the road in college football, and programs along the West Coast cemented varying trajectories at the beginning of the month. USC suffered its fifth one-possession loss of its disappointing season in a Week 10 defeat at Washington, while fellow Big Ten newcomer Oregon aced another one of its biggest tests of the year to keep its undefeated campaign alive and well.
Time is running out quickly for teams with something to prove, and some handled that desperation better than others. Even a UCLA program struggling through a rebuilding year made a bigger statement than the Trojans over the weekend, putting the Los Angeles-based schools on opposite paths.
A bevy of teams in the region still have playoff hopes, and most of those squads took steps toward reaching the postseason with key wins. Those results, along with a few disappointments, headlined this week’s action in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.
USC IN BOWL ELIGIBILITY DANGER; WASHINGTON INCHES TOWARDS POSTSEASON
Five losses in seven games is about as poor of a start as anyone could have imagined for USC in its Big Ten era, but that is where the Trojans stand after a loss at Washington. Not only is the competitiveness of this new conference a clear issue for Lincoln Riley’s program, but even former Pac-12 teams remain too much for the Trojans to handle. Riley chalked some of those struggles up to bad luck, but the biggest indictment against USC is that it finds itself in close-game situations against teams with lesser talent to begin with.
“The biggest key for us growing both this year and in the future is when you get the ability, or the opportunity, I should say, to separate in these games; that’s what you gotta do,” Riley said. “And then it doesn’t come down to a coin flip or hoping you make a play or they don’t or this call goes your way or that one doesn’t. That’s just kind of been the story of this stretch for us.”
USC needs two wins over its final three games to reach a bowl. It will be a betting favorite over both Nebraska and UCLA and likely an underdog to Notre Dame, but even with those first two opponents bringing numerous issues of their own into the upcoming matchups, can the Trojans be trusted to take care of business? Losses to Minnesota and Maryland, to name just two, suggest there is a real chance Riley’s program misses the postseason. And that would be a disaster scenario for this proud university.
The other side of the contest with Washington also featured bowl implications, as Washington picked up a key fifth win and put itself just one victory from avoiding a national championship game to sub-.500 slip — a la TCU last season. The Huskies still face a pair of top-10 teams in Penn State and Oregon, so the home date with UCLA is likely a make-or-break opportunity for Jedd Fisch.
OREGON ON PACE FOR PERFECT SEASON AFTER WIN AT BIG HOUSE
Oregon opened its Big Ten era with one of the most favorable schedules in the conference, and preseason projections tabbed the Week 10 trip to the Big House as one of the few real tests on this slate. The Ducks passed the assessment with flying colors as they never gave a down Michigan team much hope in a three-score game, and AP Top 25 voters rewarded them with the first unanimous No. 1 ranking in program history.
Injuries to star receiver Tez Johnson and offensive lineman Marcus Harper would be more concerning if not for a very manageable road ahead. The Ducks will not face another ranked team until their likely Big Ten title game appearance, paving the way for them to enter the postseason with a perfect 12-0 record.
BOISE STATE, BYU BATTLE FOR PLAYOFF BYE
Assuming the top three College Football Playoff seeds go to the Big Ten, SEC and ACC champions, the final first-round bye hangs in the balance with both Boise State and BYU in strong contention. The Cougars held onto pole position in that race during their bye week, and losses from other Big 12 title contenders made them the only Power Four team standing in the Broncos’ way. If both teams win out, the selection committee figures to reflect the sentiment of AP voters that BYU is the clear-cut pick for the No. 4 seed. But one loss in the chaotic Big 12 for Kalani Sitake’s unit would create the opening that Spencer Danielson’s Broncos seek.
ARIZONA STATE ALIVE IN BIG 12 RACE; WHEELS FALL OFF AT ARIZONA
Arizona State continued its breakthrough season under one of college football’s most exciting young coaches in Kenny Dillingham, while in-state rival Arizona has to wonder if it made the right hire in Brent Brennan. The Sun Devils thumped Oklahoma State to stay alive on the fringes of the Big 12 title race with its 3-2 league record, while the Wildcats suffered their fifth-straight loss and sixth in seven games. One year ago, nobody would have predicted this wide of a gap, in this direction, between the two schools.
FINAL NOTES
DeShaun Foster silenced more doubters over the weekend as he guided UCLA to back-to-back victories for the first time in his young head coaching career. The Bruins took a commanding lead on Nebraska and held on for a seven-point win in one of the nation’s toughest environments for a road team, and in turn, earned their second-straight win away from home.
Stanford surrendered 59 points to a freshman quarterback-led NC State team, making CJ Bailey the 247Sports True Freshman of the Week in the process. The Cardinal’s first year in the ACC has been nothing short of a disaster with a two-point win at Syracuse and a rout of FCS foe Cal Poly representing the program’s only wins.
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The race to play against Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game underwent a surprising twist over the weekend as Colorado State emerged as the new frontrunner. The Rams are the only undefeated team in conference play outside of the Broncos, which comes as a major surprise given the tempered preseason expectations and loss of star wide receiver Tory Horton for the year. That is the reality, though, after their latest win and after Fresno State inexplicably lost to Hawai’i after taking a two-score lead into the fourth quarter.
