Oregon State quarterback Sean Canfield did not let an interception, which was returned for a touchdown, affect his effort against ASU.

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We know a few things about two-thirds through the Pac-10 season — the state of Washington is terrible, Stanford is sneaky good and Cal looks like a team of giant yellow bananas.

We think we know what to expect the rest of the way:

1. Arizona State will rally. We wouldn't be surprised to see the Sun Devils (2-6) win three straight.

The reason — they face winless Washington on Saturday, then host 1-8 Washington State and 3-5 UCLA.

But coach Dennis Erickson isn't counting his victories yet.

"When you're in that bottom third or bottom fourth (of the Pac-10) and you're playing the guy in the same category as you, it doesn't mean very much," he said.

Shaun DeWitty ran for 110 yards on 16 carries in his first career start at halfback Saturday. His 54-yard run was the Sun Devils' longest from scrimmage. So that's a start.

ASU hasn't won since Sept. 6.

"That's a long time," Erickson said. "Golly."

2. Oregon State will be OK — even without QB Lyle Moevao. Backup Sean Canfield was intercepted Saturday, and ASU returned it for a touchdown.

He immediately huddled with the injured Moevao.

"They were all talking about what we were going to do," coach Mike Riley said. "I listened to that and I thought it was really, really good."

Canfield completed 19-of-28 passes for 218 yards and two scores.

An MRI of Moevao's sore shoulder showed "nothing significant that will be long-lasting," Riley said.

The Beavers practiced Tuesday as if Canfield, who started nine games last year, would do the same Saturday at UCLA.

3. USC's defense will continue to be the best in the country. The Trojans lead the nation by allowing 7.1 points and 211.6 yards per game.

Their last two opponents, Arizona and Washington, have each failed to register more than 200 yards.

Since giving up a touchdown on Oct. 4, the Trojans have outscored foes 214-13.

And coach Pete Carroll is 24-0 in November at USC.

4. Washington's Tyrone Willingham will keep trying. Attempting to purge any thoughts of quitting from his team, Willingham passed along one of his favorite quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.:

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry," it reads. "He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lives a great street sweeper who did his job well."

"Hopefully," said Willingham, "it forces them to think about their response to those things."

5. There will be controversy. It's the Bowl Championship Series, after all. Carroll said he agrees with Barack Obama that football needs a playoff.

Carroll said he wants an eight-team playoff over three weeks. He said it would be better than the BCS, which has USC ranked No. 7.

"Is this a process that tells you which team is the best team, or the team that's had the year that you like most?" he asked. "They want to pick the BCS champion, but I don't know exactly what that is anymore."