ESPN College Football

On set for the SMU-Houston game, Lee Corso apologizes for an expletive used during College GameDay.

If you needed any more proof that Oregon's visit to Stanford is big, ESPN's College GameDay provided it by deciding to make its first trip to the Farm.

Oregon, ranked eighth in last week's BCS standings, is 8-1 and has won 18 conference games in a row. The Ducks lone loss came in the opener against No. 1 LSU. Stanford, ranked fourth in last week's BCS standings, is 9-0 has won 17 in a row, the nation's longest winning streak.

Yes, it's big.

This will be the fourth time this season Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews have been at a Pac-12 game. "GameDay" was at the season opener between Oregon and LSU, at Oregon for the Ducks' matchup with Arizona State and at USC for the Trojans game with Stanford.

ESPN's "College GameDay" is heading to LA for Stanford's visit to USC.

This will be the third time this season Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and Erin Andrews have been at a Pac-12 game. "GameDay" was at the season opener between Oregon and LSU, and it was at Oregon for the Ducks' matchup with Arizona State.

This will be "GameDay's" first trip to LA since Oct. 30 of last year (Oregon at USC).

Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and ESPN GameDay are headed back to Eugene for Arizona State's visit to Oregon.

This will be GameDay's sixth trip to Oregon. The Ducks are 4-1 in the five previous games.

The game kicks off at 10:15 p.m. ET.

Oregon was ranked ninth before it beat California 43-15 on Thursday. Arizona State was 22nd before beating Utah 35-14.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- TCU pushed Oregon State around inside palatial Cowboys Stadium. No getting around that. The sixth-ranked Horned Frogs rushed for 278 yards, which is more than the Beavers 255 total yards. Oregon State ran just 51 plays; TCU 81.

"Still," the glum head shakes from the Beavers said afterwards. They had the ball and a chance with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter, but they made their biggest error of the evening. A miscommunication on a shotgun snap from senior center Alex Linnenkohl to sophomore quarterback Ryan Katz, who was making his first career start, sailed over a surprised Katz's shoulder, which forced Katz to kick the ball through the end zone for a safety.

Those would be the final points -- and the last time the Beavers touched the ball -- in a 30-21 defeat.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't give ourselves a chance on the drive at the end," Beavers coach Mike Riley said.

What happened was this: Oregon State, down seven, had a first down on its 18-yard line. A draw play was called. Katz saw something he didn't like. He tried to change the play. Linnenkohl didn't get the message and snapped the ball.

The Horned Frogs got two points and the ball and they didn't give it back.

"The safety was a big deal," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "You go up by nine and you play the game a lot different."

The biggest deal was TCU's running game and the Beavers lack of one. While Jacquizz Rodgers gained a tough 75 yards on 18 carries, the Beavers finished with just 73 yards on the ground. Three TCU runners gained at least 64 yards, topped by Ed Wesley with 134 on just 17 carries, which works out to a crisp 7.9 per rush.

Suffice it to say, the Horned Frogs option worked even though the Beavers knew it was coming.

"We just couldn't get off a block to make a play," Riley said.

Oregon State was still in the game in the fourth because of two interceptions of TCU quarterback Andy Dalton -- one by Lance Mitchell and the other by Dwight Roberson -- and a well-executed fake punt that netted 23 yards on a fourth-and-1. The fake punt set up the second of Katz's two touchdown passes, which gave the Beavers a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.

Katz made some nice throws -- his TDs covered 30 and 34 yards -- but he only completed 9 of 25 passes for 159 yards. Nonetheless, it was a solid first start on the road. He didn't throw an interception and was mistake-free until the muddled shotgun snap.

The only plus coming from that play was Katz taking responsibility for the miscue, just like a veteran quarterback would.

"We should have just stayed with the [called] play," he said. "That's on me."

Riley agreed, by the way: "He didn't have to get out of it."

As for TCU, it got another win over a BCS conference foe. In the constant fight for respect, this was another notch on the musket. Seeing that the Horned Frogs are 14-3 in their past 17 games against teams from BCS automatic-qualifying conferences, they might need another musket.

"The national spotlight and national attention I think will pick up," Dalton said. "I think a lot of people will watch the game tonight and see how we play football."

One thing is for sure: TCU still enjoys seeing itself as an underdog. It didn't escape detection that ESPN GameDay analyst Lee Corso picked the Frogs to go down by "three touchdowns."

"I did text [Corso]," Patterson said. "You guys thought that was a bogus text. That was me. I asked Chris Fowler, 'Lee: Three touchdowns?'"

Big week for the Mountain West Conference, too. Utah beat Pittsburgh, the Big East favorite, on Thursday, and BYU's win over Washington -- along with Oregon's 72-0 win over New Mexico -- gave the conference a 2-1 Saturday vs. the Pac-10. Why is the conference in turmoil when it's so darn good?

Perhaps the most disappointed Beavers were the Rodgers brothers, who were playing their first -- and likely only -- game together in the state of Texas. Both turned in solid performances -- James Rodgers caught four passes for 75 yards and a TD -- but both only saw what they didn't do.

"We left a lot of plays out there," James Rodgers said.

For both programs, this big stage was an opportunity. Both are nationally respected -- see national rankings -- but both want to take the next step. TCU knows only perfection will get it into the national championship conversation -- or even BCS bowl contention -- while the Beavers want to climb toward the top-10 while they make a run at their first Rose Bowl since 1965.

For TCU, mission accomplished. For Oregon State, it's another nonconference loss to start the season, which fits into a pattern: The Beavers started 2-3 in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and 2-2 in 2009.

Of course, if any team knows that an early loss doesn't end the season, it's the Beavers.

"It's very frustrating, but we can't let that get to us," James Rodgers said. "We've got 11 more games."

That's 11 more games, including a date with Boise State on Sept. 25, in which to make a statement.

But on this night, TCU made the statement: Count us in the mix in the national championship chase.

ESPN analyst goes out on a limb for this ACC-SEC matchup.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Will the 'Zona Zoo come through? Or will this one produce a Civil War for the ages?

The red-clad, 'Zona Zoo student section started to fill up two hours before the game, and this beautiful evening in the desert should get pretty hectic.

Oregon (8-2, 6-1), ranked 11th in the BCS standings, and Arizona (7-3, 4-2) both control their Rose Bowl destiny. All they have to do is keep winning, starting tonight.

The Ducks enter as the favorite. They own the Pac-10's No. 1 scoring offense and scoring defense. Arizona, meanwhile, slightly smudged the gravity of the matchup when it lost at California last weekend, which knocked it out of the national rankings.

But the Wildcats are a different team at home. They've won 12 of the last 14 in Arizona Stadium and all five games this season.

The buzz certainly was strong. With ESPN's College GameDay in town -- Lee Corso donned the Duck head, much to the consternation of the gathered throng -- the locals have become intoxicated with the smell of roses.

Who can blame them? Arizona is the only Pac-10 program that hasn't played in a Rose Bowl.

Arizona is no slouch statistically, either. It ranks second in the conference in total offense and total defense. It has the offensive balance to keep the Ducks defense honest, particularly with the return of elusive tailback Nic Grigsby from a shoulder injury. It has the defensive speed to keep up with the Ducks ludicrous speed spread-option offense.

But does it have the discipline? The Wildcats have lost twice this year -- at Washington and Cal -- due to late fluke plays, but in both cases they allowed the flukes to happen by not asserting themselves in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats linebackers need to play soundly tonight in order to contain Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James and company. Getting caught out of position can lead to disaster. Just ask USC.

And Nick Foles and the offense can't make mistakes and give the Ducks a short field. They need to take advantage of opportunities and score touchdowns instead of field goals when they push into Ducks territory.

As for Oregon, if it prevails, it will play host to rival Oregon State on Dec. 3 with the Rose Bowl as the stakes -- the Civil War winner takes the Pac-10 and heads to Pasadena to play Ohio State.

If Arizona finishes on top, it still must win at Arizona State next weekend and at USC on Dec. 5 to earn the Rose Bowl berth.

In large part, this one acts as a Rose Bowl elimination game.

So the stakes couldn't be much higher.