USC Gets Chewed Up by Unranked Beavers

Top-ranked USC went to Oregon State Thursday and expected to beat the Beavers. As of Wednesday, Sept. 24, the line on the game was USC, -25.5. After all, Oregon St. went into last nights game 1-2 with its only win coming against Hawaii.

After USC trampled Ohio State on Sept. 13, 35-3, it was only a question of how bad would USC beat Oregon St, but the other OSU had an answer to this question in a stunning, 27-21 victory.

With 9:20 left on the clock in the first quarter, Oregon St. scored the first touchdown of the game to go up, 7-0. Then, in the second quarter, the Beavers scored another touchdown to put them ahead, 14-0. With four seconds left in the half, OSU hit the end zone again, putting them up 21-0 at halftime.

The Trojans came out in the third quarter and scored twice, bringing them within seven points with a score of 21-14, but, in the fourth quarter, Oregon St. made it a two-possession game. The Beavers decided to go for two, but failed, making the score 27-14. With 1:19 left in the game, USC scored again, putting the score at 27-21, but that was the last score of the game. Oregon St. beat the No. 1 team in the nation at home. What does this loss say about USC?

First of all, USC is a team with a lot of talent, but for a team to have so much talent and not be able to win the games they should win goes back to coaching. Pete Carroll is as overrated as his team, and I will never understand the hype behind this guy.

After 2005, USC has not proved much. In 2006, they lost two games, both came against unranked teams. In 2007, Stanford upset USC at home, then USC’s second loss came in Oregon, which was ranked fifth at the time, but this is the same Oregon team that lost their quarterback after the USC game and lost three straight games after beating USC then Arizona St. the week after, finishing the season 9-4. Then, after three games this year, USC is 2-1 with a loss coming from an unranked Oregon St. team.

Can USC still make the National Championship game? Yes. But they will have to win out and depend on other teams.

Either way, I know that Oregon St. just made this year very interesting, and it is likely another SEC team will be in the National Championship. After all, a two-loss SEC team is better than a one-loss Pac-10 team.