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You know the old saying: it hardly ever rains in Southern California, but when it does rain, it pours.
The same might be said of this year’s edition of the USC Trojans. After seven years of dominance over Pac-10 foes, the Trojans finally caved in at Oregon. And I mean they were crushed in all areas of the game.
Although they plunged from the nation’s Top Ten rankings, they did make a different Top Ten list. Last Saturday’s game ties for the No. Eight spot among the Trojans All-Time Conference losses.
Going way back to 1915, when the Trojans loss to who else but Oregon, 34-0, here is the list by year.
1915 Oregon 34-0
1921 California 38-7
1950 UCLA 39-0
1954 UCLA 34-0
1957 Stanford 35-7
1960 Washington 34-0
1990 Stanford 31-0
1997 Stanford 27-0
2009 Oregon 47-20
If we look at Non-Conference games, there were ten losses that were worse than the loss at Oregon, eight were to Notre Dame.
1941 Ohio State 33-0
1947 Michigan 49-0
1947 Notre Dame 38-7
1949 Notre Dame 32-0
1953 Notre Dame 48-14
1957 Notre Dame 40-12
1961 Notre Dame 30-0
1966 Notre Dame 51-0
1977 Notre Dame 49-19
1985 Notre Dame 37-3
Way back in 1930, Notre Dame shutout USC 27-0, the same margin as last Saturday’s loss at Oregon.
Trojan fans can take some solace in the fact that offenses and defenses back in those early years were nowhere near as sophisticated as they are today. But still a 27-point loss is a 27-point loss.
What makes it seem so harsh is those seven years of USC dominance, which should have actually ended at five years back in 2007.
Oregon had defeated USC and was clearly the better team that year. Only an unfortunate injury that ended quarterback Dennis Dixon’s career prevented Oregon from being crowned the 2007 Pac-10 Champions and possibly having a shot at the national title.
Now Oregon is in the same position in 2009. All they have to do is keep winning.
And so does USC. Not for a shot at the Pac-10 title or even the Rose Bowl, which they would get only if Oregon is selected to play for the national title. But they need to keep winning simply as a matter of pride.
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