Pac-10 Notebook

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

Pac-10 Notebook

Stanford (1-5, 0-3) at Arizona State (2-4, 1-2)

Thursday, 7:00 PST

Stanford: Stanford and Arizona State will both be coming off
byes to play this rare Thursday night game.

Stanford has yet to win a Pac-10 game, losing to Arizona, Oregon
and Oregon St. The good news for the Cardinal is that the visiting
team in this series has won the last three contests. Junior wide
receiver Troy Walters made his season debut in Stanford’s last
game, catching five passes for 159 yards.

However, he dropped a punt return which led to Oregon State’s
game-winning touchdown. Stanford has the top passing offense in the
Pac-10, but they also have the worst passing defense.

Player to Watch – Troy Walters

Arizona State – The Sun Devils will have a new quarterback
against Stanford. Freshman Chad Elliot will start ahead of Ryan
Kealy.

Kealy, who has thrown for just 759 yards and seven interceptions
in his last five games, has been the starter ever since Jake
Plummer moved on to the NFL. Elliott has completed 26 of 48 passes
for 249 yards and a TD in relief of Kealy this year. Arizona State
totaled its lowest offensive output in nearly three years in its
last game versus Notre Dame, scoring just nine points. Arizona
State leads this series 10-4.

Player to Watch – J.R. Redmond

Predicted Score – Arizona State 28, Stanford 20

Oregon State (4-3, 1-3) at Washington (4-2, 2-1)

12:30 PST

Oregon State: The Beavers started the season with a 4-2 record
for the first time since 1968, but were defeated handily last
Saturday against Arizona, 28-7.

Oregon State has averaged 22.1 points per game while giving up
22.0. Running back Ken Simonton, the third-leading rusher in the
Pac-10 with 96.7 yards per game, was held to just 36 yards against
Arizona. Oregon State’s quarterbacks rank last in the Pac-10 with a
passing efficiency of 95.7.

Player to Watch – Ken Simonton

Washington: Quarterback Brock Huard will be back in the lineup
after missing two games with a separated left shoulder. Backup
Marques Tuiasosopo, who led the Huskies to wins against Utah State
and California in Huard’s absence, will still get some playing
time.

Last year, Huard led a 510-yard offensive attack against the
Beavers as the Huskies scored 35 second half points to win 45-17.
Washington has won 10 straight and 20 of the last 21 meetings with
Oregon State. The streak won’t stop here.

Player to Watch – Brock Huard

Predicted Score – Washington 35, Oregon State 17

USC (5-2, 3-1) at No. 14 Oregon (5-1, 2-1)

3:30 PST

USC – The Trojans have dominated this series, holding a 33-11-2
series lead. They have won five of the last six and nine of 11.
Last week, USC crushed Washington State 42-14. R. Jay Soward caught
two of his six receiving touchdowns and now has 422 yards on 23
receptions. Linebacker Chris Claiborne, a semifinalist for the
Butkus Award, has four interceptions and has scored twice. USC
ranks third in the Pac-10 in scoring offense behind Oregon and
UCLA. Last season, the Trojans nipped the Ducks, 24-22.

Player to Watch – Chris Claiborne

Oregon – The Ducks lost their first game of the year on Saturday
against UCLA. They took the Bruins to the brink and showed why
they’re the second-best team in the conference. But they suffered a
bad break when the Pac-10’s leading rusher, Reuben Droughns, broke
his right leg.

Droughns, who had rushed for 824 yards and scored nine rushing
touchdowns, will miss the rest of the season. Backup tailback Kevin
Parker sprained his right ankle versus the Bruins and will likely
also miss the SC game. That leaves Oregon’s high-octane offense in
the hands of quarterback Akili Smith and receiver Damon Griffin.
Smith has the second-highest passing efficiency in the nation.

Player to Watch – Akili Smith

Predicted Score: Oregon 35, USC 31

NE Louisiana (2-4) at No. 16 Arizona (6-1, 3-1)

7:00 MST

NE Louisiana: The Indians’ only two wins have come against
powerhouses Nicholls State and Stephen F. Austin. Arizona will be
the third ranked opponent the Indians have faced. Kansas State and
Florida defeated them earlier this year. Wide receiver Marty Booker
leads the team with 666 yards and five touchdowns. This will be the
first ever meeting between the two teams.

Player to Watch – Marty Booker

Arizona: The Wildcats’ only loss of the season came against UCLA
on October 10. Arizona beat Oregon State on Saturday, as tailback
Kelvin Eafon had three touchdown runs. The Wildcats lead the Pac-10
in rushing defense, and will completely shut down NE Louisiana’s
ground attack, which ranks second to last in the nation with just
70.2 rushing yards per game. This game may get ugly.

Player to Watch – Ortege Jenkins

Predicted Score – Arizona 52, NE Louisiana 10

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