Are the USC Trojans Overrated?

In 2007 it was Stanford, at home!  If USC won that game, they would have gone to New Orleans.  I don’t care if Booty played with one hand tied behind his back (USC fans blame his injured fingers for the loss), Stanford probably doesn’t have two players on their entire roster that even received scholarship offers from USC.

Also, Stanford won that game with their backup quarterback…ouch.

How did we get here, why does USC get the benefit of the doubt like no other team in college football?  I think it all started in 2003.

Carson Palmer, a Heisman winner, graduated and another Heisman winner stepped right in, Matt Leinert.  Since then, we’ve all assumed that whoever starts for the Trojans at QB (or RB, or WR) is a star.  Why?

For every other team in the nation, a new starter at QB means ‘wait until next year’ for the title talk. 

Florida returns 16 starters, including a Heisman winning QB (Tim Tebow), and they’re ranked below USC. 

Oklahoma returns 14 starters, and the most efficient QB in college football (Sam Bradford), and they’re ranked below USC.

Texas Tech returns 18 starters, including the most prolific QB/WR tandem in college football, and they’re ranked below USC.

When it comes to USC, and with every other school in the nation, we need a shorter memory.  Just because Leinert was successful in his first year, does that mean every Trojan QB will be a star?  Heavens no.

Leinert was blessed to have Norm Chow (one of the top offensive minds in all of football, on any level), and four to five future NFL players playing with him (Reggie Bush, LenDale White, etc.). 

Sanchez doesn’t have that, he’s got one potential star (McKnight), and several former five-star recruits the world is still waiting to see blossom.

USC is the only preseason Top 10 team breaking in a new quarterback AND a new offensive line.  For any other team this would be a warning sign, but when it’s USC we don’t even care. 

Thanks to a weak PAC-10, USC will probably pick up another conference title this year.  Thanks to a 9/13 showdown with Ohio State, USC will once again be a one or two loss team at the end of the season. 

They’ll peak towards the end of the year, everyone will excuse their loss to Ohio State, claiming they’re one of the best teams and that ‘we need a playoff.’

USC will go to the Rose Bowl, again, and beat the second best team in the Big Ten, again, and they’ll be well on their way to a No. 1 or No. 2 preseason ranking next year.  Look at the bright side, at least next year they’ll deserve it.

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