Showdown Saturday

What was exciting about Saturday's match-ups in college football there was an air of bowl game intensity at several stadiums across the country. Some of the most exciting games were played between teams of the Big Ten and Pac-12.

The day started out early with UCLA playing at Nebraska. Kickoff in Los Angeles was 9 a.m. on ABC and the Bruins had traveled to Lincoln with heavy hearts,  the death of freshman Nick Pasquale weighing on their emotions, so much so, that UCLA fell behind in the first quarter, 21-3.
But behind quarterback Brett Hundley, who wore a towel on his belt that had the inscription RIP No. 36, UCLA scored 38 unanswered points and posted an impressive 41-21 victory.

Here are the results of the day's other Big Ten vs. Pac-12 games:

Ohio State at California: The Buckeyes, who were undefeated last year but were ineligible for a bowl game, won their 15th straight with a 52-34 victory over the Golden Bears. Kenny Guiton passed for four touchdowns in the first six minutes to lead OSU to a relatively easy win.

Washington at Illinois: The Huskies traveled to Soldier Field in Chicago where they were more than up to the assignment of winning their second game of the season, 34-24. Keith Price passed for over 300 yards and two touchdowns and Bishop Sankey rushed for over 200 yards to lead Washington, who may be the surprise team in the Pac-12.

Wisconsin at Arizona State: In maybe the best game of the day at Tempe, the Sun Devils held off the Badgers with the clock running out in the fourth quarter, 30-27. Wisconsin was driving for either the tying field goal or a shot into the end zone, but the Badgers ran out of time in a confusing ending that saw Wisconsin, which was out of timeouts, spike the ball,  thinking the clock would stop, which it didn't.

In other involving Pac-12 teams, USC defeated Boston College, 35-7; Stanford, on the road at Army, beat the Black Knights of the Hudson, 34-20. And Washington State, fresh from upsetting USC last week, 10-7, defeated Southern Utah, 48-10.