Death, taxes, and the annual mid-season USC slump. Gotta love it!!
Where does last night's result put Penn State since the Nittany Lions beat Oregon State 45-14?? I have to think there is going to be quite a bit of noise made in State College about that game, especially if they keep winning games. Ugh.
Guess it just goes to show that you can lose to anyone in college football if you don't show up ready to play against a motivated opponent. Let's be honest, USC is getting everyone's best shot, and these conference opponents always seem to have a better read on USC than the nonconference opponents. USC will be back. Too much talent on that roster for them to play poorly for more than a couple games, and I fully expect them to start peaking again late in the year and ready to blow out whatever Big 10 team they get in the Rose Bowl. For now, I'll enjoy seeing them go down and knock themselves right out of the national title race. As far as I'm concerned, USC can lose 9 more games and it wouldn't be enough for those jacked-up steroid abusers. I still can't believe there hasn't been a performance-enhancing drug scandal at USC yet. Probably the worst kept secret in the country.
The Pac 10 currently has one team in the top 25 (USC). Ouch. Not a formula for USC to make a statement that they deserve a bid as a one loss team. What is going to be their best chance for a good win from here out?? A two loss ASU team that got plowed by Georgia and lost at home to UNLV?? An Oregon team that lost at home to Boise State?? A Cal team that lost to a mediocre Maryland team?? A Notre Dame team that hasn't looked a ton better than the 3-9 season from a year ago??
Just a guess, but I would imagine there were more than a handful of cheers last night in Athens, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, and Gainesville when Sanchez threw that pick in the fourth quarter. Would anyone be opposed to the SEC Championship game just being renamed as the "BCS Championship Game" this year??
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3 comments:
The moneyline last night was something like +1600.
Wish I had some action on that!
I was thinking the exact same thing last night regarding steroids. It's only a matter of time before Taylor Mays has a full blown roid rage on the field. That might also explain SC's propensity to commit personal fouls.
Carroll may be the greatest recruiter in the history of college football and he's an incredible motivator for the big games. If it's a big early season non-conference game, the ND game or a bowl game, SC will be fired up. If SC isn't sky high, however, they are vulnerable.
I think the difference between the recent SC teams and the national championship teams is assistant coaching. When Carroll had top flight assistants in 2003-05, such as Norm Chow, they could out scheme and "out talent" teams. Too bad Pete couldn't stand that Chow, rightfully so, received a great deal of credit.
SC is also somewhat like the Yankees. When they had more "blue collar" players, like Sartz, Fargas, Tatupu and Grootegoed, they seemed hungrier and more focused. Ditto for the Yanks with O'Neill, Brosius and Tino Martinez. The current crop of players, although highly recruited, seem like overly arrogant prima donnas (like A-Rod). Since I'm making the comparison, maybe USC can bring in Roger Clemens to help them with some tips, like improved needle placement.
Can't say I'm terribly surprised by this result. Its amazing that Carroll is unable to get his team up for the lower-echelon Pac-10 games during the middle of the year. But you know they'll be fired up for ND and that Rose Bowl game.
I know everyone and their mother thinks Carroll is God's gift to college football, but these slip-ups along with the consistent failure of SC grads in the NFl seems to speak to a culture of laziness and entitlement that Carroll seems to be fostering in LA. I know HS players aren't going to be able to see this at 17-18 years old, but its going to hurt these kids in the long run.
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