The 10 Most Painful USC Losses Under Pete Carroll

It must be nice to be Pete Carroll, a coach for whom losing is so rare, it shakes the foundations of college football when it happens.

Or maybe it was nice a week ago, before the USC Trojans, ranked third in the country, lost again to an unranked PAC-10 opponent on the road.

So much for winning forever.

In anticipation of more painful losses for Trojans, who may not be as good as we once thought, let's look at the 10 most painful USC defeats of the Carroll Era.

#10: Four Losses To Kick Off The Carroll Era

Pete Carroll's first season as head coach started rather inauspiciously. His "tenth most painful loss" we can rather neatly combine out of four losses that had the Trojans at 1-4 staring down a long PAC-10 road.

The Trojans lost to Kansas State 10-6 at home, lost at Oregon 24-22, lost to Stanford 21-16, and lost at Washington, 27-24 in a four-week stretch.

Imagine Pete Carroll on a hot seat. Absurd!

#9: Notre Dame Adds A Loss To The 2001 Fire

This loss also occurred in 2001, but deserves special mention for being the only loss by a margin of greater than ten points in the entirety of Pete Carroll's tenure.

Just goes to show Pete Carroll is not only a great coach at coming in first, but keeps it darn close when he wants to come in second.

The Trojans went on the road and lost to the Golden Domers 27-16, putting their record at 2-5 in 2001 before winning out.

Hey, I'm a Michigan fan. I sympathize with rough starts.

#8: Kansas State Nips USC On The Road

Picking up the pieces of the 2001 team meant being competitive early.

But the Kansas State Wildcats, facing USC in week two, had other ideas as the Trojans lost 27-20 to the same KSU team that had stung them a year earlier.

The pain of the loss was compounded down the road. The Trojans would lose to Washington State before winning out, likely costing them a shot at the National Championship. They would also split the PAC-10 Title with Washington State.

And if there's one thing Pete Carroll dislikes, it's sharing.

#7: 34-31, Cal Beats The Third-Ranked Trojans

This loss was painful but not unforgivable. The Trojans lost on the road to the Cal Bears on a missed field goal in triple overtime.

The loss would prove unfairly costly, however, as the Trojans would win out yet get snubbed from playing in the National Championship game in the BCS's inaugural season in favor of one-loss Oklahoma against the LSU Tigers.

The Trojans fired back by beating the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl, beginning the tradition of "Rose Bowl as consolation prize" for Pete Carroll's crew.

#6: The Oregon State Beavers Start An Alarming Trend

No one figured this loss to the Oregon State Beavers would become emblematic of things to come. At the time it just appeared to fit the mold of the upset in college football.

USC went on the road to Corvallis and got lazy, going down by 23 points before a late rally fell short on a batted away two-point conversion.

Pollsters would forgive the upset as USC battled back and were ranked #2 going into the final game against UCLA. Future pollsters would prove much less forgiving

#5: Ex-Trojan Steve Sarkisian Downs His Mentor

It's difficult to say where losing 16-13 on a last second field goal to the unranked Washington Huskies will land on the spectrum of most painful USC losses. Sure, it's the most recent, and therefore the freshest.

But considering how much untested talent this Trojan team is fielding, I would be surprised if losing to Washington, which may prove to be a good team, proves to be all that painful.

Yes, the agony of defeat hurts now, Trojans. Imagine how bad it feels to be part of a program that, you know, actually loses sometimes.

#4: Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers Can't Be Found

The 2008 USC team fielded four first- and second-round NFL draft selections at linebacker. On September 25th, 2008, none of them were able to tackle Jacquizz Rodgers on any consistent basis, as the Oregon State Beavers again beat USC in Corvallis in the PAC-10 opener for both teams, a week after the Trojans had dominated the Ohio State Buckeyes.

This loss would again prove costly as a thoroughly dominant USC team would be left out of the National Championship game in favor of unbeaten Florida and Oklahoma despite winning out.

#3: UCLA Picks Off USC's National Title Dreams

One-loss USC comes into this game duly warned about UCLA's upset potential. They're ranked second in the country and just need to win to play for the national championship.

They still lose.

I remember watching this game in disbelief that UCLA was able to hang with the Trojans, who safetied USC and scored in the second quarter but were otherwise turnover-happy when they got near the endzone.

Patrick Cowan, UCLA's quarterback, led the upset despite absolutely getting his meat spun from a helmet-to-helmet hit along the sidelines.

(The Trojans rarely let the upset happen without inflicting a little pain.)

The losses to unranked mediocre PAC-10 opponents? Now they're starting to look troubling.

#2: Stanford, Um, Beats The Spread

There is only one reason to excuse this upset - John David Booty's broken finger that contributed to four interceptions in the second half.

There are so many reasons not to. USC is playing at home! To a 41 - 41! - point underdog! The lowly Stanford Cardinal, with a first-year coach! Fielding their backup quarterback! Who had thrown three passes ever!

They've outrecruited Stanford since Moses was in short pants!

Stanford, on pure moxie (since God knows it wasn't talent), scores 17 fourth quarter points, drives and scores on a fade to the endzone and goes up 24-23, shocking the Coliseum into silence.

Who am I kidding, words can't describe it:

#1: Vince Young Outshines The Team Of The Century

The most painful loss, because the most was at stake. Two greatest teams of the decade, no doubt. The Longhorns come out victors.

Word.

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