Nightmare for USC
Posted: Sunday, October 07, 2007 2:08 AM
Rich Brooks took a lot of flack several days ago for saying that there are “four or five USCs” in the SEC.
Well … the Kentucky head coach and former Oregon boss had it right all along.
There’s no current on-field evidence to dispute the fact that the Trojans don’t resemble anything superior to LSU, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. That’s eight SEC teams and none of them have had back-to-back clunkers like the ones USC has put on exhibit in the past two weeks.
So, remind yourself about the wealth of talent stockpiled by Pete Carroll, use your own prejudices against three or four of those SEC teams listed above, throw them out and then you’ve got your own set of schools that Brooks was talking about.
I guess the new question to ask him is: “How many Californias are there in your league?” Brooks has got to be impressed with the way the Golden Bears were able to go into Eugene last week to defeat the Duck program that he help build.
USC, on the other hand, is the most disappointing team in the country, on either side of lowly Louisville.
After getting flagged for 16 penalties and turning over the football three times, the Trojans needed to successfully field an onside kick to hold off a challenge by Washington on Sept. 29. Then, just when you thought the 27-24 victory over a team that finished ninth in the Pac-10 last year was Carroll’s wake-up call, his absolute nightmare came calling on Saturday night.
Stanford … yes, Stanford, the only team that finished below Washington last year, somehow upset USC, 24-23. Jim Harbaugh … yes, Jim Harbaugh, the first-year Cardinal coach who has repeatedly made news by making bizarre comments about Carroll and his Trojans, broke USC’s 35-game winning streak at Coliseum. Tavita Pritchard … yes Tavita Pritchard, a sophomore who previously had only one completion on his resume, calmly lofted a 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with only 49 seconds remaining to beat the five-time defending Pac-10 champions his first collegiate start.
It’s all unbelievably amazing … and entirely unacceptable. But, Carroll has yet to accept responsibility for this debacle. He’s the anti-Lloyd Carr in that respect, opting instead to talk of “new beginnings.” However, the same old schedule still needs to be played.
Carroll would never admit it, but he can’t be feeling too good about his team’s upcoming road trips to Eugene and Berkeley … or even South Bend or Tempe for that matter.
His team will have to significantly upgrade its performance if it hopes to stay in contention for any sort of title, conference or otherwise, and a major bowl game.
Right now, John David Booty looks more like a guy about to lose his starting gig than a Heisman Trophy candidate. His cause wasn’t helped by a finger injury suffered in the second quarter, a feeble running game and receivers plagued by drops, but nevertheless the boo-birds seem to have been targeting him in his own yard.
The heavily-hyped Trojan defense hasn’t been on its game either. Allowing Pritchard to convert on fourth-and-20 during the game-winning drive was the latest in several lowlights this season.
And the special teams, usually a sub-par after-thought during the Carroll-era, have been further downgraded to become a clear sore spot. A week after a high snap and subsequent blocked punt nearly fouled up the game at Washington, a blocked PAT provided Stanford with its winning margin.
But let’s not give all the credit to Rich Brooks for seeing this coming. Don’t forget that Les Miles has already been proven to be at least half right with regard to his previously controversial statement about USC having to “play real knockdown drag-outs with UCLA and Washington, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford.”
