Pac-10 Notebook | Was that the league's worst weekend? Likely

Two weekends ago, it was the officials. Last week, the guys on the field.

Who's next from the Pac-10 to upchuck all over themselves, the fans?

By now, you know that it wasn't such a good weekend for Pac-10 football. The conference went 3-7. The way things were going, if it had been able to add Colorado and Texas like it wanted back in the '90s, it probably would have gone 3-9.

Because we enjoy picking wings off fallen bumblebees, we undertook to determine whether this was the worst weekend in league history.

Risking astigmatism, glaucoma and a bad back, hunched over 10 Pac-10 press guides, we hung it up after going back 15 years and concluded that no, it probably doesn't get any worse than this.

First off, it's unusual for every team in the league to play out of conference on the same day, so the wholesale fecklessness of seven losses is rare. We couldn't even come up with a day when Pac-10 teams lost six games out of league.

A worthy candidate for the worst day in league history was Sept. 17, 1994, when it went 1-5, and the only victory was Stanford, a 31-point favorite over San Jose State. Meanwhile, ASU lost to Louisville as a 7 ½-point favorite and California fell to Hawaii as a 14 ½-point favorite (you might not want to bring this up to Keith Gilbertson if you see him today; he was coaching that Cal team).

But four Pac-10 teams had byes that day, and three of them went to a bowl game that year.

Longtime Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen points out that there were some lean Saturdays in 1983, when the top three finishers in the Pac-10 had four losses and the league turned in its only deficit nonleague record (16-19-1) in its 30-year history. There was a 1-4 weekend when the only victory was Washington's over Navy.

But what pushes last weekend to the head of the class was expectations, as in point spreads. Three of Saturday's losers — Cal, Arizona and Arizona State — were double-digit favorites.

Throw in WSU's beat down by perennial stumblebum Baylor and failures to show by UCLA and Washington against BYU and Oklahoma, respectively, and you have the most spectacular train wreck in league history.

"It was just kind of a weird weekend," said Cal coach Jeff Tedford.

We don't have to overreact, although this doesn't look like a vintage season for the Pac-10. There will be better days. ASU might rebound and find a way to knock off Georgia this week.

But Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, commendably, took the realist's stance and said, "The league you play in is sort of your national standard-bearer. It affects how we're perceived. We all read that stuff.

"There's not a lot to say. The only way we can answer that is on the field."

All about the QBs

Part of the league's malaise is reflected in uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position, usually the bellwether for gauging Pac-10 success.

At Oregon State, Sean Canfield, who hasn't gotten on the field yet after spring shoulder surgery, is back throwing hard and coach Mike Riley says he could return by the USC game Sept. 25. Lyle Moevao is the starter, but the fragility of his performances means Canfield probably gets a shot at some point.

Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh says Tavita Pritchard is still his starter for the game against San Jose State this weekend. But he isn't ruling out that touted freshman Andrew Luck might be pulled out of a redshirt year at some point.

Arizona's Willie Tuitama took a step back at New Mexico, throwing two interceptions and fumbling twice. And WSU coaches must be convinced Gary Rogers isn't the guy, because Kevin Lopina will remain the starter despite throwing two picks himself and having a part in two fumbles at Baylor.

Can't the 'Cats?

Two years ago, Arizona put on a mad rush in November, positioned itself for a bowl game, and then lost to ASU. Last year, it was right there again, ready to break a postseason drought extending back to 1998, and fell to ASU again.

The hump they're trying to get over must seem like K-2 to the Wildcats, who were 2-0 last week before the upset at 0-2 New Mexico, which calls coach Mike Stoops into question again.

"Sometimes it's very, very elusive," Stoops said. "That's just a mentality we have to break through."

Arizona visits UCLA this week and then has UW and Stanford, an obvious time to make a bank deposit or two.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com