Simming The Season, Week 12: Tuel-Led Cougs Destroy Sun Devils

I was trying to think of some witty headline that made fun of Todd Graham, but I couldn't quite get there. "After Cougars Have Their Way, They Tell Todd Graham To Call Me Maybe" was what I originally had, but thought, "That's way too forced. That's basically trying to be Kenneth Arthur but actually being Dan Shirley." Regardless of my inability to be humorous, the Cougs improve to 9-2 with a 54-25 clobbering of Arizona State. The good news is Oregon lost to Stanford in overtime meaning the Cougs are your 2012 North Division champions. Utah also clinched, so your Pac-12 Championship game will be Washington State at Utah.

Sticking with the victory over ASU, Jeff Tuel went bananas and threw for over 500 yards. Tuel was named Player of the Game, as well as Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. Marquess Wilson went over 250 yards receiving, and even Vice President of Team Shark Bobby Ratliff went over 100 yards. With just under four minutes to play in the 3rd quarter, Arizona State led 25-23. Tuel then put the team on his back, helping our crimson-clad crew score 31 unanswered.

We're surely ranked after improving to 9-2 and clinching the division, right? I mean, our only two losses are to the current undefeated #1 team in the nation and to the former undefeated #1 team in the nation. There's no way you'd put a 7-4 Ohio State team in the Top 25 instead, right EA Sports super computer?

Ugh. Whatever.

Passing:
Jeff Tuel: 24/33, 529 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, L63, 2 sacks

Rushing:
Jeff Tuel: 14 carries, 41 yards
Rickey Galvin: 5 carries, 31 yards, 2 TDs
Carl Winston: 2 carries, 11 yards, 1 TD

Receiving:
Marquess Wilson: 12 catches, 254 yards, 1 TD, L57
Bobby Ratliff: 6 catches, 136 yards, 2 TDs, L63
Andrei Lintz: 3 catches, 86 yards, 1 TD, L48
Kristoff Williams: 1 catch, 33 yards
Rickey Galvin: 1 catch, 13 yards
Max Hersey: 1 catch, 7 yards

Defense:
Anthony Laurenzi: 8 tackles, 5 solo, 2 sacks
Chester Su'a: 8 tackles, 4 solo, 1 sack
Adam Coerper: 7 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sack
Darryl Paulo: 2 tackles, 2 solo, 1 sack

Around the Pac 12:
Utah 48, Arizona 17
Oregon State 31, Cal 21
Washington 41, Colorado 10
Stanford 27, Oregon 24 (OT)
USC 31, UCLA 13

Pac 12 Standings:
North

1) Washington State (9-2) [6-2]
2) Stanford (6-5) [4-4]
3) Oregon (7-4) [4-4]
4) Oregon State (4-7) [2-6]
5) Washington (5-6) [2-6]
6) Cal (2-9) [0-9]

South
1) Utah (11-0) [8-0]
2) USC (10-1) [8-1]
3) Arizona (7-4) [5-3]
4) Arizona State (5-6) [4-4]
5) UCLA (6-5) [3-5]
6) Colorado (4-7) [3-5]


Top 25: (Coaches Poll)
1) Iowa (11-0)
2) Utah (11-0)
3) USC (10-1)
4) VA Tech (10-1)
5) Arkansas (9-2)
6) Texas (9-1)
7) Kansas State (10-1)
8) Oklahoma (8-2)
9) Georgia (9-2)
10) Alabama (9-2)
11) NC State (10-1)
12) Notre Dame (9-2)
13) TCU (8-2)
14) Nevada (10-1)
15) LSU (8-3)
16) Wisconsin (9-2)
17) Texas A&M (8-3)
18) Texas Tech (8-3)
19) Michigan (8-3)
20) Georgia Tech (9-2)
21) Florida State (8-3)
22) Tulsa (10-1)
23) Ohio State (7-4)
24) Florida (8-3)
25) Nebraska (8-3)

Others Receiving Votes:
Auburn, Washington State, Purdue, Boise State, Cincinnati, Toledo, SMU

Bowl Projections:

Oregon vs. Nevada -- Las Vegas Bowl
Arizona vs. Texas Tech -- Holiday Bowl
Washington State vs. Oklahoma -- Alamo Bowl
Stanford vs. Clemson -- Sun Bowl
UCLA vs. Army -- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
USC vs. VA Tech -- Rose Bowl
Utah vs. Iowa -- BCS National Championship

• I would repost the Award Semifinalists, but it's exactly the same as last week.
• Tuel jumped to #3 in the Heisman Race.
• Nevada lost to New Mexico, dropping from #3 to #14, which, hahahahahaha
• At this point, I'm in full conspiracy theory mode. I'm willing to bet any amount of money that a Husky works at EA Sports and has compromising photos of one of the higher-ups. This would explain why UW is always rated so highly and why it's impossible to do anything positive with WSU.
• Seven Pac-12 teams are projected to play in bowls. If the Huskies win the Apple Cup, and Arizona State wins the Battle for the Desert (or whatever it's called), that would make them both 6-6 and probably send at least eight teams to bowl games.
• UCLA started the season 6-0. They are now 6-5. I don't think I've ever rooted for a team to lose as much as I'm rooting for them to lose next week. I'm pretty sure I'm now banned over at BN.
• USC, at 10-1, is the #3 team in the nation. They have Notre Dame at home next week, and if they win that (and Iowa loses), we could see an all Pac-12 National Title game. That would be pretty cool.
• Marquess Wilson broke the NCAA single season receiving yards record, and we still have three more games to play.

No tweet this week, but I found this picture of Mark that I figured you guys would enjoy.

Remember, if you want rosters, go here. For a detailed explanation of what this is, go here. See you Monday. Go Cougs!