Ducks fly together. (Remember that from The Mighty Ducks?)

A week after losing to I-AA Appalachian State, Michigan lost yet again at home to an unranked team. The Oregon Ducks absolutely manhandled the young Michigan defense, dropping a total of 624 yards of offense on the Wolverines, 331 of which were on picked up on the ground. If ever there were a game that illustrated just how much defensive talent the Wolverines lost to the NFL, this was it. The win has catapulted Ducks into the AP top 25 at No. 19, bringing the number of ranked Pac-10 teams to four. Luckily Dan Fouts wasn’t one of the commentators; I can only imagine how delighted he was.

As glad as I am that Oregon won one for the Pac-10, I must say that I have little respect for Mike Bellotti. While the guy certainly produces consistently talented teams, he has almost no class as a play caller. With Oregon up 32-7 at half, there was little reason for Bellotti to come out with guns blazing in the third quarter. Though the Ducks put up only 7 points in the third, they played their starters on offense until the last five minutes of the game. In my mind, there is no reason for this, except to rub salt in the wound and impress the pollsters. Not only had Michigan failed to even sniff the goal line since the first quarter, but both Chad Henne and Mike Hart were injured. There’s simply no reason for Oregon to have their starters in the game at this point!

I was also unimpressed with Bellotti allowing the team to use the hammer in the Michigan end zone during halftime. That shows no respect for the other team’s field. I love when our teams can dominate non-conference opponents, but I want us to be respectful as well. Mark my words: this one’s going to come back to bite Oregon in the ass. Michigan may be down now, but a team like the Wolverines won’t be down forever. And they’ll remember this the next time the meet the Ducks.

Rob Moseley, who covers Oregon football for The Register-Guard, had a bit to say about the hammer in his blog. In response to what he said, I think it’d be different if the Ducks’ mascot had been holding the hammer instead of a player. It also would have been better if this were done before the game started rather than at halftime, when Michigan was already getting blown out. There’s a difference between pumping fans up for a game that is about to begin and showing off when you’re way out ahead. Would Moseley think the same thing if Tommy Trojan stabs center field after USC creams the Ducks in October?

This is just bad karma. I predict that Oregon loses at least 4 games in conference play.

Meanwhile, Washington was able to upset Boise State and Heisma-hopeful Ian Johnson. The Huskies got a solid performance from redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker, who threw for 193 yards and rushed for another 84. He’ll be a force in the Pac-10 by the time his junior and senior seasons roll around.

Washington Coach Ty Willingham is now in his third year in Seattle, and the team has shown signs off improvement the last two years. The Huskies started 4-1 last season before quarterback Isaiah Stanbeck suffered a season-ending injury. Considering the 0-2 start of the Fighting Irish this year, one must question if Stanbeck’s firing from Notre Dame was a bit premature.

Consider that this is going to be an “off” year by recruiting standards for the Irish — Coach Charlie Weis hit the recruiting trail late before his first season after helping the New England Patriots win yet another Super Bowl. While mega-recruit Jimmy Clausen was certainly a big win for Weis, don’t forget that Notre Dame’s recent success was built off of players that Willingham had recruited, most notably Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija. Quinn is now in the NFL and Samardzija plays professional baseball.

Damn Beavers

Oregon State is the first Pac-10 team to make a serious blunder this season by losing badly to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Beavers were completely dominated, throwing six interceptions, losing one fumble and getting only 30 yards on 16 attempts (less than two yards per carry) from running back Yvenson Bernard. This is following a 165-yard two-touchdown performance against Utah a week earlier.

Leave it to one of those Oregon schools to screw the conference. By comparison, the Big East and the Pac-10 are very similar in their status among the other BCS conferences. Both are currently sporting three ranked teams, one of which is considered a serious championship contender (USC and West Virginia), and both sport some electrifying offensive talent (Steve Slaton, DeSean Jackson, Pat White, Brian Brohm, John David Booty). And by the way, all five are generally considered to be on the this year’s Heisman-watch list.

Losing to a mediocre Big East team is unacceptable. The Big East gets little respect, and this will lead to the Pac-10 getting even less. It’s not like OSU was playing a powerhouse team like Louisville or West Virginia — it was Cincinnati. They’ve been a part of the Big East for only two years; previously they were a Conference USA team.

The most important part of building a strong conference is consistency from the better teams in non-conference play. Thirteen-ranked UCLA is regarded as the third-best team in the Pac-10, and it’s their consistency in non-conference that will play a huge part in defining just how tough the Pac is this year. This week they match up against BYU, a team fresh off of pounding those pussycats to the south. The following week they’ll travel to Utah, where OSU had their promising start. A loss to either team would be a devastating blow to the Pac-10, the logic being that one of our better teams can’t even handle these softies in weaker conferences. As much as I hate those dirty Bruins, I have to cheer for them.

What many fans don’t understand is that college football is a regional sport. You always support your conference, even if the team is your bitter rival. Ohio State fans were shown cheering last week during the final moments of the Michigan loss to Appalachian State. What those boneheads don’t realize is that loss makes their conference look like crap. Sports Illustrated college football analyst Stewart Mandel moved the Buckeyes down a few spots in his power rankings, despite the team’s victory over Youngstown State, commenting that Michigan’s loss has revealed the Big Ten to be highly overrated.

You’re crazy, Les.

It’s that time of year again, folks. That’s right, the college football season has officially begun, and we’ve already seen some fireworks. But before we get into all of that, lets take some time to clarify what this blog is all about.

Most college football fans have heard of the east coast bias; it’s the idea that the east coast AP poll voters and coaches, because of the time difference, rarely appreciate west coast football the way they should. I mean, who’s going to stay up until 1 a.m. to watch USC pummel Idaho? However, it is their job to watch as many games as possible to make an educated and informed vote every week. And while #1 USC has remained largely unaffected by the east coast bias the last four or five years (and not without reason), the rest of the Pac-10 hasn’t fared as well.

Public perception of the Pac-10 is that the conference is soft, a bunch of offensive finesse without the defense or muscle in the trenches to compete with the other BCS majors. It didn’t help the cause when a ranked Cal team went into Tennessee and was embarrassed 35-18 last year.

I, however, disagree with this assessment and, through this blog, will cover the Pac-10 with the respect and passion these teams deserve.

Sporting News ranked the Pac-10 as the fifth toughest conference this season following the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, respectively. Even LSU coach Les Miles jumped on the bandwagon in July, making the point that the Trojans will have an easy time getting to the National Championship because of the softies in the conference. LSU, he said, would love to have the path that USC has.

But forget all the hype because the season has officially started.

Tennessee made the trip to Berkley where the 12th-ranked Bears avenged last season’s loss while racking up more points on the No. 15 Volunteers than any other team in the past 12 years. Cal put up almost 500 yards of total offense to beat the Vols 45-31. Cal running back Justin Forsett, who weighs only 198 pounds at 5-foot-8-inches, rushed for 156 yards on 26 carries against a respected SEC defense. While Cal was ranked higher than Tennessee, only 46% of Yahoo! users picked the Bears to win, despite their home-field advantage.

This was a must-win game for Cal. Coach Jeff Tedford and his Golden Bears have often been the Pac-10 poster boys for the conference’s lack of toughness. After being passed up for a Rose Bowl berth in 2004, 10-1 Cal (with their only loss to the eventual national champs USC) played flat and lost to a 7-4 Texas Tech team in the Holiday Bowl. At one point during their loss to Tennessee last season, Cal was facing a 35-point deficit. It’s nice to see the Tedford can win a game that counts for something, though he’s yet to really do that outside of Berkley.

Across the board, Pac-10 teams performed well in the first week of the season with only Washington State and Arizona losing non-conference games to No. 7 Wisconsin and BYU. Key matchups for this weekend include Oregon at previously No.5-ranked Michigan and Washington hosting Fiesta-Bowl-darlings Boise State. Let me point out that Oregon has failed to score a single point in three previous trips to the Big House. Perhaps they can take a cue from Appalachian State.