This week in the PAC-10

All games Saturday.

#18 Arizona (6-1, 3-1) at UCLA (3-4, 1-3)

Matt Scott had a big game starting for the injured Nick Foles in last night's 44-14 victory over Washington, 18-22 for 233 yards, 2 tds, rushing for 7 carries 65 yards. The Wildcats rank 10th in country and first in the PAC-10 in total defense, and first in the conference in rushing defense, allowing just 90.86 yards per game. Unless UCLA finds a passing game between now and Saturday, this could get ugly for the Bruins. Arizona could reach 7-1 and the top 15 for their Saturday November 6 showdown at Stanford.

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

Odd to say after four weeks of conference play, but Oregon State and Arizona are the only teams that still control their own destiny in the race to unseat Oregon for the league championship. Cal has been tough at home but anemic on the road so far, 4-0 in Strawberry Canyon, 0-3 away. Ryan Katz has had a bye week to recover from his worst game as a starter, throwing three picks against Washington last time in a 35-34 loss.

Washington St (1-7, 0-5) at Arizona St (3-4, 1-3)

This is Washington State's best chance for a conference win, other than the Apple Cup. After this they'll have Cal at home and Oregon State in Corvallis. They played Stanford very tough, Jeff Tuel tossing three touchdown in the fourth quarter trailing 31-7. Dennis Erickson seems to be getting exasperated with his team, which broke down in all phases versus Cal. He played 3 quarterbacks in the 50-17 loss and didn't get much from any of them.

#12 Stanford (6-1, 3-1) at Washington (3-4, 2-2)

Stanford ranks 5th in the country in scoring offense at 42.3 points per game, 216 yards on the ground, 250 through the air, while Washington is 98th in total defense and 104th against the rush. Stanford has Arizona next week in a battle of probable 7-1s, and the survivor still has a chance at a very good bowl. This game looks like a battle of the PAC-10's two most touted quarterbacks, both with NFL prospects when the season began, although Locker's stock has gone down considerably after subpar performances against BYU and Nebraska. He has a chance to refurbish his image a little head-to-head against Luck, but he's been banged up.

#1 Oregon (7-0, 4-0) at USC (5-2, 2-2)

Southern Cal is 7th in the country in total offense and passes for 281 yards a game. They started the month with back-to-back losses to Stanford and Washington and appeared dead, but they rallied with a 48-14 win over a Cal team that went on to paste Arizona State.

Going on the road to the Coliseum is Oregon's toughest test yet, and most of the questions center around the Oregon defense, which has yielded yards and first half points against Tennessee, ASU, Stanford and Washington State. The overall defensive numbers, embellished by lopsided wins over New Mexico and PSU, don't look bad: 25 turnovers, 19 sacks, 15.9 points per game. But USC's talent at the skill positions looks like a challenging matchup, one the national media will watch closely.