Roundup: Stanford-USC rivalry renewed Saturday night on The Farm
A full slate of 11 games for you on Saturday, including our first conference tilt of 2018 with No. 10 Stanford hosting No. 17 USC in a rematch of last year’s Pac-12 Football Championship Game (5:30 p.m. PT, FOX). Vytas Mazeika of the Bay Area News Group tells us why Stanford isn’t afraid to throw the ball against USC (see: Arcega-Whiteside, JJ).
Joey Kaufman goes into how USC-Stanford became an annual September game. It’s the fifth straight year the Trojans and Cardinal have squared off in September.
The Saturday slate begins with Arizona taking on Houston in Texas (9 a.m. PT/10 a.m. MT, ABC/ESPN2), and longtime Arizona reporter/historian Anthony Gimino ponders the question, “is Houston’s Ed Oliver the best DT to play against Arizona?” His answer – no, but it’s close (he has Washington’s Steve Emtman and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh listed above Oliver).
Arizona is one of four Pac-12 teams playing a game in the Central time zone this weekend. Next up is UCLA at No. 6 Oklahoma (10 a.m. PT, FOX), and Thuc Nhi Nguyen writes that the UCLA freshmen will “face a trial by fire” against the Sooners.
Check out Andrew Greif’s Oregon-Portland State game preview (11 a.m. PT, Pac-12 Networks) as the 23rd-ranked Ducks look to get to 2-0.
With Colorado readying for a huge game at longtime-rival Nebraska (1:30 p.m. MT/12:30 p.m. PT, ABC; the third of four Pac-12 teams playing in the Central time zone, for those scoring at home), Brian Howell notes that sophomore wide receivers KD Nixon and Laviska Shenault are playing starring roles in the Colorado offense. The two also happen to have known each other since junior high and were teammates in high school.
Ninth-ranked Washington looks to get on the right side of the win column with a 2 p.m. PT home date against North Dakota (Pac-12 Networks), and be on the look out for the Huskies getting running back Salvon Ahmed more touches against the FCS-Independent Fighting Hawks.
Utah will take its talents to DeKalb to square off against Northern Illinois (5:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. PT, ESPNews; the fourth and final Pac-12 game in the Central time zone), and Kurt Kragthorpe lets us know that Kyle Whittingham wants more out of his receivers against Northern Illinois.
Following the Sun Devils’ impressive season-opening win over UTSA, Arizona State is a trendy upset pick against Michigan State (7:45 p.m. PT, ESPN), notes Jeff Metcalfe. More than a couple of national pundits think the Sun Devils will unseat the 15th-ranked Spartans.
Our last game of the night takes you to the Palouse, where Wazzu will greet San Jose State (8 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Networks). In his latest article, Theo Lawson features the Nunn brothers – Leki, who plays for Washington State, and Patrick, who plays for San Jose State. The Serra High School (San Mateo) alums are going up against each other in an organized game for the first time (Leki is a receiver and Patrick is a DB, so they could be involved in the same play, potentially).
Yes, we are aware that Oregon State hosts Southern Utah at 5 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks, but if there’s one thing you need to know about Beaver athletics on this Friday, it’s that longtime baseball coach Pat Casey announced his retirement Thursday after 24 years at the helm in Corvallis, winning three national championships and 900 games overall. The OSUBeavers.com release notes that Casey will stay on at Oregon State as a Senior Associate Athletics Director/Special Assistant to Vice President and AD Scott Barnes.
And yes, we know full well that Cal football has a huge game at BYU Saturday night (7:15 p.m. PT, ESPNU/ESPN2), but you should also know that former Golden Bear Jason Kidd will be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday night in Springfield, Mass (San Francisco Chronicle). Also, hats off to Cal men’s soccer senior Shinya Kadono scoring four goals in Cal’s 6-2 win over Sacramento State at Avaya Stadium in San Jose Thursday night.