ESPN.com: NCF - Ducks-Bruins matchup has lost a little luster

That certainly seemed very real as two undefeated Pac-10 teams gravitated towards their Nov. 10 matchup. But then came Oct. 20 and it only got worse as Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 passed.

Joey Harrington
Joey Harrington and Oregon need to get past UCLA to have a shot at the Pac-10 crown.
First, Oregon dropped one to Stanford in Autzen Stadium. Then seemingly unstoppable UCLA has come undone with back-to-back loses during the last two weeks at Stanford and Washington State.

Now, UCLA running back DeShawn Foster has been declared ineligible because of a possible "extra benefits" violation.

So any talk of national championship implications with this weekend's No. 7 Oregon-No. 15 UCLA showdown should be prefaced by long shot. But Pac-10 title hopes and a Fiesta Bowl bid are abound.

"We have to battle back," said UCLA coach Bob Toledo, whose team is 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10. "We have to realize that there is still a lot to play for."

Oregon, meanwhile, stands in the least constructed path toward the Pac-10 title. Simply, the Ducks need just out its final two regular season games at UCLA and at home against Oregon State and the Pac-10 championship is theirs.

The Bruins not only need to win out to have a chance at the league title, but they also will need Stanford and Washington State to lose additional games in order to represent the Pac-10 in the Fiesta Bowl.

But Oregon coach Mike Bellotti realizes that sounds a lot easier than the actual task at hand.

"In this conference, you have to play inspired football for four quarters no matter who you play," Bellotti said.

And that the Ducks (8-1, 5-1) have done during the last couple of weeks since the Stanford loss. Quarterback Joey Harrington is again looking like the Heisman Trophy hopeful that he was before the season began. And tailbacks Maurice Morris and Onterrio Smith have given the Ducks probably the most potent 1-2 running back punch in the nation.

But Oregon's offensive firepower will be tested by UCLA middle linebacker Robert Thomas and one of the most dominant speed defenses in the nation this season.

Offensively, the Bruins could struggle with quarterback Cory Paus not at full-strength with a thumb injury and just two guaranteed scholarship receivers to face a strong Oregon defense.

"We have to take care of business," said Bellotti, whose team's next game will be the Civil War showdown against Oregon State on Dec. 1. "We're going to get a break after this so we need to put everything we have into this football game."

Around the Pac-10

Arizona
Coach John Mackovic learned last week that two calls by Pac-10 officials, which likely cost his team consecutive loses to Washington and USC, were incorrect. Mackovic was informed by Pac-10 supervisor of officials Verle Sorgen that the out of bound call on punt returner Bobby Wade that prevented a 55-yard touchdown late in the USC game should not have been called two weeks ago. And there was also a no-call on Oct. 20 when Washington receiver Reggie Williams prevented cornerback Michael Jolivette from making a game-saving interception by grabbing his face mask. But the bottom line is while Sorgen admitted the officials' mistakes there is nothing more than can be done. ... Last Saturday's 38-24 victory over Cal snapped a 10-game Pac-10 losing streak for the Wildcats. ... Wade had one of his best days as receiver for the Cats last week with six catches for 118 yards, which included touchdown catches of 50, 13 and 16 yards. Wade has caught 20 balls for 276 yards during Arizona's last three games.

Arizona State
Quarterback Jeff Krohn missed the entire second half of the Sun Devils' loss to Oregon after he suffered a blow to the head during a first quarter slide. Krohn, however, has practiced with the team this week and should be ready to go for this Saturday's showdown against Washington State. "Jeff is cleared and ready to go," said ASU coach Dirk Koetter. "He ran the team (on Sunday) and right now everything's full speed ahead." Krohn leads the Pac-10 in passing efficiency with a 161.1 rating. ... Senior tailback Delvon Flowers rushed for three touchdowns in a game for the first time in his career during last Saturday's 42-24 loss at Oregon. He has rushed for six touchdowns in the last three games. ... Receiver Shaun McDonald has had three straight 100-yard receiving game at Eugene. McDonald is second in the Pac-10 in receiving yards at 99.9 yards per game. He leads Pac-10 receivers in touchdown receptions (nine) and average per receptions (22.2 yards).

Cal
Several candidates are being mentioned for the Cal job after Tom Holmoe announced his resignation on Sunday, effective at the end of the season. Former Cal and ASU coach Bruce Snyder name has come along with former Arizona coach Dick Tomey and Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Andre Patterson. But one of the more interesting potential candidates is first-year Cal offensive coordinator Al Borges, who made his interest in the job known this week. Borges, of course, left a secure job with UCLA this year to join Holmoe's staff. "There is not a school other than Cal that I would have left UCLA for," Borges to L.A. reporters earlier this week. ... Freshman tailback Terrell Williams has put together consecutive 100-yard rushing games during the Bears' last two games. His production has come at a critical time with starting tailback Joe Igber out for the year with a broken collarbone. ... Converted receiver LaShaun Ward had four catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns against Arizona last Saturday. It was just his second game at receiver since switching from cornerback.

Oregon
Senior quarterback Joey Harrington has been named one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is presented each year to the nation's top senior quarterback. Harrington has an impressive record of 22-3 as a starter. Last week against Arizona State, he matched his own school record of six touchdown pass against the Sun Devils. Harrington has 54 career touchdown passes, which is tied for ninth on the Pac-10 career list. ... Oregon has won four straight road games heading into the showdown against UCLA on Saturday. ... The Ducks are 16-3 in the month of November under head coach Mike Bellotti.

Oregon State
After two spectacular seasons, coach Dennis Erickson is having to deal with the possibility his Beavers could from the toast of college football to the biggest busts in years time. OSU narrow 16-13 loss to USC all but thwarted any bowl chances this season. "It's been very frustrating for all of us," said OSU coach Dennis Erickson said. "It's just something we have to deal with. I haven't had to do it much in my career. The Beavers were coming off of an 11-1 Fiesta Bowl title year and were figured to challenge Oregon for the Pac-10 title this year. Instead they sit at 3-5 overall with tough games against Washington and Oregon sandwiched around tilt against Division I-AA Northern Arizona. ... Receiver James Newson has emerged as the Beavers top receiving threat during the last few weeks. He has 22 catches for 372 yards yards during Oregon State's last three games. ... Senior running back Ken Simonton would need to average 124 yards per game rushing over the Beavers last three games to become the first player in Pac-10 history to rush for 1,000 yards in four seasons. Simonton, however, needs just 109 more rushing yards to pass USC's Marcus Allen (4,810 career rushing yards) as the conference's second all-time career leading rusher. Simonton is ranked seventh in the Pac-10 rushing this season with 629 yards through the first eight games.

Stanford
Cardinal coach Tyrone Willingham is noncommittal about injured safety Simba Hodari's playing status for this week and possibly the rest of his career. Hodari suffered a concussion last Saturday as a result of a head-to-head collision with Washington's Charles Frederick. "Anytime it's an injury to the head then that is a serious matter," Willingham said. "But it's too early for speculation so we will have to see." ... Tailback Brian Allen came up with the longest run from scrimmage for the Cardinal this season when he broke an 80-yard touchdown against Washington last Saturday. ... Stanford is the only Pac-10 team holding opponents under 100 yards rushing per game (98.6 yards). ... The Cardinal is in the top 10 nationally in punt returns (16.8) and kickoff returns (25.5). Luke Powell is third in the nation in punt returns with a 17.3 yards average. ... Stanford is by far the least penalized team in the Pac-10. The Cardinal is being penalized 5.3 times for 39 yards per game.

UCLA
The Bruins learned Wednesday that they will be without Heisman Trophy candidate DeShaun Foster, who was indefinitely ruled ineligible for a possible "extra benefits" violation. ... The Bruins are down to two scholarship receivers and are hoping that senior Brian Poli-Dixon returns to the lineup this week to give them three. UCLA suffered a blow to its receiving corps last week against Washington State when Tab Perry was taken to the hospital with four broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. He remained hospitalized earlier this week and is done for the season. ... Quarterback Cory Paus has been named the starter for Saturday's game against Oregon. He has been bothered by an injured thumb the past couple of weeks. Scott McEwan, who is suffering from a sprained ankle, will be his backup. "We feel Cory is our best bet to compete right now," said UCLA coach Bob Toledo. "He's still bothered by the thumb, which is affecting his accuracy some, but we need him." ... The Bruins finally allowed a touchdown in the third quarter during last Saturday's loss to Washington State, although it did not come against the defense. The Cougars returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter. UCLA is outscoring opponents 93-10 in the third quarter this season. ... The Bruins are facing their seventh Top 25 opponent this season with No.7 Oregon coming into the Rose Bowl on Saturday. UCLA is 4-2 against ranked opponents this season and has won 14 of its 20 against such teams. ... The Bruins lead the Pac-10 in scoring defense (16.9) and total defense (310.6). They also lead in passing efficiency defense.

USC
Coach Pete Carroll hinted that running back Sultan McCullough could be done for the season. He has been sidelined for several weeks with an abdominal injury. "He is not healthy," Carroll said. "He's probably not going to be able to help us." And his lack of presence has been felt with the Trojans ranking last in the league in rushing offense with a 82.4 yards per game average. ... After being the hard-luck team of the Pac-10 to start the season, the Trojans have now won three straight conference game heading into Saturday's showdown against winless Cal...Strong safety Troy Polamalu blocked his second punt of the season in the Oregon State game last Saturday. Teammate Steve Stevenson scored on the block against the Beavers. ... Place-kicker David Davis has made eight straight field goals and is 11 of 13 on the season. ... Quarterback Carson Palmer's 59.4 percent completion percentage is the best among starting Pac-10 quarterbacks.

Washington
Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel is not about to allow his team to get caught up in looking ahead to the Pac-10 title. He has seen what it has cost UCLA in recent weeks. So instead, he is full one game at a time mode. The Huskies travel to Oregon State on Saturday. "The team du jour has not been able to hang on, so whether that has to do with the team they played or whether they read their press clippings, I don't know," Neuheisel said. "The facts of the matter are, we can't get caught up thinking we've accomplished anything yet." ... Last Saturday's win over Stanford was the 11th straight over the Cardinal in Husky Stadium. And speaking of home, the Huskies have the longest current home winning streak among Pac-10 teams at 13 consecutive victories at Husky Stadium. ... Washington did not have to rally in the fourth quarter this time, instead the Huskies nearly allowed Stanford to come from behind when it tied the game at 28-28. But tailback Willie Hurst rushed for two touchdowns during the final four minutes to thwart the Cardinal's comeback attempt. ... Washington is 9 for 10 on fourth down conversions this season.

Washington State
Cougars coach Mike Price wasn't at all pleased with his team's offensive output during their win over UCLA last week. The high-octane Cougs offense mustered just 276 yards of total offense without any of three receivers going over 100 yards individually. "We need to be more fundamentally sound," Price said. "We do that running the plays as we call them and as they are supposed to be run." ... Free safety Lamont Thompson intercepted a school-record four passes during the Cougars victory last Saturday over UCLA. That included two picks in the final three minutes to preserve the Cougs' 20-14 win. The four interceptions ties a Pac-10 single game record held by several players. Former UA safety Chuck Cecil, however, was the last to do so against Stanford in 1987. Thompson also increased his career interception total to 21, which ties Cecil's Pac-10 career interception record. ... The Cougars lead the Pac-10 and are tied for third nationally in turnover margin at +13. That stat is aided greatly by Washington State's league-leading 20 interceptions made.