Bleacher Report - USC Football

Two Games for Redemption: What Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans Must Accomplish

Rick McMahan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:01:58 -0500

As Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans migrate down an unfamiliar path (the road to mediocrity), there are still definitive goals that must be accomplished, both for this season, and perhaps more importantly, for the next.

The very same questions that, left unanswered, have resulted in this disappointing season, are those same ones that beg clarity as the Trojans move forward.

Without these answers, Pete Carroll and his staff will find themselves staring at the same results that have led some of the Trojan faithful to wonder if the Pete Carroll era has run its course.

Some of these questions, such as the maturing of Matt Barkley, will only come with the playing of the game itself, while others are fundamentally more difficult, involving personnel and perhaps even schemes.

Bear in mind, many of these strategical dispostions will remain in a state of flux until players who are eligible for the NFL draft make decisions regarding their futures; while others, such as incoming recruits, won't be evident until the arrival of the February 2 signing date.

Here are some, though not all, of the questions that Pete Carroll and his staff need to address in these final two games as well as the all important off season:

Defense

The defensive backfield will be the focus of a major overhaul.

Kevin Thomas, Taylor Mays, and Josh Pinkard are all seniors and will have to be replaced.

Shareece Wright, who was tabbed as a starting corner back until academic woes derailed him will be back, assuming he has met his scholarly obligations.

The rest of the defensive backfield will come from a bevy of highly regarded but largely untested four and five star recruits.

Of greater concern is the defensive front seven, which has exponentially become more of a question mark as the season has wore on.

However, there are mitigating circumstances with that front seven that should be acknowledged.

For example, many among those who started the season so well are now injured or playing hurt.

Jurrel Casey and Everson Griffen are playing hurt as is the case with Michael Morgan and Malcolm Smith at the linebacker positions.

For this reason, Devon Kennard, the highly regarded defensive end recruit and Shane Horton, a safety forced into linebacker duties both started for the Trojans.

Both were found to be lacking.

With two weeks off to heal, it is hoped that the Trojan defense will be demonstrably better against UCLA.

These next two games, against the Bruins and Arizona, should provide some clarity going into the 2010 season.

Offense

Some questions have already been answered.

Kristopher O'Dowd has gone on record as saying that he will be back for his senior season.

This is huge for a unit that will graduate everyone around him except Tyron Smith.

Given the fact that the offensive line has, by and large, been a disappointment, now might be a good time to rotate some of the younger O-linemen like Kevin Graf, Khalid Holmes, and Matt Kalil into the mix.

Meanwhile, there is also a very good chance that both Damien Williams and Ronald Johnson will also return.

Same with Joe McKnight—who will be an important transition in the running game.

With a year under Matt Barkley's belt, the offense has a chance to be as special as this year's unit was hoped to be.

If the Trojans sign the recruits that have verballed, including both outstanding wide receivers Kyle Prater and Robert Woods, they will have a very intriguing offense.

Special Teams

The kickers will be back and they will welcome Matt Darr, a David Buehler clone who will make his presence felt immediately.

Special teams have not been a problem this year and they will only get better next year.

Conclusion

Don't get me wrong. The Trojans should not give up this year to pave the road for 2010.

A 10-3 year (assuming they can win the final two games and their bowl game) is still damn good and something to strive for.

But there are better things on the horizon and Pete Carroll has the football acumen to deliver the best he can this year while preparing for next year.

At a charity dinner last night, Pete Carroll was asked if it was fair that Trojan fans are so spoiled that they would complain after one so-called "down year," after seven straight good ones.

Pete responded: "Trojan fans SHOULD be spoiled. It is what we have worked for."

Now is the time to set the table to spoil Trojan fans for years to come.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Are USC's Struggles Really Due To An Improved Pac-10? I Say NO!

Gerald Ball — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:07:08 -0500

In trying to explain USC's disappointing season, which goes way beyond losing a ton of players to the NFL draft and both coordinators to Washington. Carroll is claiming that the reason is that the rest of the Pac-10 has improved. This echoes what many western sportswriters have been claiming ... that this Pac-10 is the best and deepest that it has been in years , possibly ever. However, the media and fans should not let Carroll off the hook so easily.

Exhibit A

If USC's struggles are due to an improved Pac-10, how come USC has been less than impressive out of conference? USC went from blowing out Ohio State 32-3 to eking by them 18-15 thanks mostly to the Buckeyes' own incompetence. They also went from thrashing Notre Dame 38-3 to needing a defensive stop to preserve a 34-27 victory, and even their 56-3 against San Jose State was not nearly as impressive as the score indicates. Another thing about the Ohio State game: do not forget that the Buckeyes also lost a ton of players, including their top 2 WRs, top 2 RBs and left tackle.

Exhibit B

The evidence that the Pac-10 is improved is lacking. Or should I say that if it is improved, then it only means that the Pac-10 was really bad, no better than a good mid-major league like Conference USA, before this year. Again, look at their performances out of conference.

Arizona State: beat Idaho State and 6-4 Louisiana-Monroe , lost to 6-4 Georgia .

UCLA: beat San Diego State, 6-5 Kansas State , 5-5 Tennessee .

Washington: beat 7-4 Idaho , lost to 8-2 LSU and 6-4 Notre Dame .

Arizona: beat 7-2 Central Michigan and Northern Arizona, lost to 9-2 Iowa .

Oregon: beat 4-8 Purdue and 8-1 Utah , lost to 10-0 Boise .

Stanford: beat San Jose State, lost to 4-7 Wake Forest , 6-4 Notre Dame pending.

California: beat Eastern Washington, 2-7 Maryland , 5-5 Minnesota .

Washington State: beat 5-4 SMU , lost to 3-6 Hawaii and 6-4 Notre Dame .

Oregon State: beat Portland State and 4-6 UNLV, lost to 10-0 Cincinnati .

So, the best Pac-10 victories are over Louisiana-Monroe, SMU, Idaho, Central Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue, Kansas State, Tennessee and Utah. Of those 5 are mid-majors, 5 are BCS conference schools that are not yet bowl eligible (Kansas State has 6 wins, but 2 of them to FCS schools, plus they lost to 5-5 Louisiana-Lafayette), and only one is ranked (Utah).

Meanwhile, with the exception of USC and UCLA, the Pac-10 blew their chances to win statement nonconference games. Arizona State lost to Georgia, Washington lost to Notre Dame, Arizona lost to Iowa, Oregon lost to Boise, Stanford lost to Wake Forest, and Oregon State lost to Cincinnati. Further, the Iowa, Boise and Cincinnati losses were by double digits, and further still the Pac-10 teams lost both legs of home-and-home series to Boise and Cincinnati.

Now it is not that the Pac-10 has been dreadful out of conference like the Big 12 this year or the Big 10 last year. Rather, it is that beating Louisiana-Monroe, SMU, Idaho, Central Michigan, Maryland, Purdue, Minnesota, Kansas State, Tennessee and #23 Utah merely represent at best a typical nonconference performance. This is a major issue for the Pac-10, as their claim to fame—especially against the SEC—is superior performance in nonconference games.

However, beating eight good teams out of conference (and this is with a rather charitable standard for "good" as it includes BCS conference teams with terrible records like Purdue and Maryland, and lower mid-majors like Idaho and Idaho, ranked 76, 78, 90 and 120 by Sagarin ) is in no way noteworthy.

As a matter of fact, the SEC equals that number even if you exclude Florida and Alabama from the discussion (7-3 Ohio, Arizona State, 4-5 North Carolina State, 3-6 Louisville, 5-4 Louisiana-Monroe, 7-3 West Virginia, Washington, Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-5 Texas A&M, 7-3 Troy) for 10 teams. Pac-10 fans may claim that I am including lower-mid majors and losing teams from BCS conferences to pad the SEC's case, but they are ignoring that without such considerations it is the Pac-10's Utah and Central Michigan versus the SEC's West Virginia and Ohio, a virtual wash. Even if you change it it to give the Pac-10 a maximum benefit (only ranked mid-majors and likely bowl teams) there is the Pac-10's Utah, Minnesota, Tennessee and Kansas State versus the SEC's West Virginia and Texas A&M.

And that's just the SEC, who could care less about nonconference games. Consider the ACC and leave off likely champion Georgia Tech. Their quality victories include BYU, Middle Tennessee State, Central Michigan, Kent State, Oklahoma, Central Florida, Marshall, Nebraska, East Carolina (twice), Indiana, Connecticut, Stanford and Pitt. That's 14 teams, with 3 of them ranked (#8 Pitt, #18 BYU, #25 Nebraska).

Even if you account for the ACC being a 12 team league by lopping off a good team and a bad one, you still have 11. And the ACC still has games against Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and South Florida to go, and they will win 2 of those 4.

So, the idea that USC's struggles this year are due to a vastly improved Pac-10 has to be challenged. Either it isn't true and the Pac-10 is really no better than it generally is (with last year being a down year and this year being an average one) or it is true, meaning that the Pac-10 is a terrible football conference, so bad that even in one of its better years it is still worse than the ACC, which is primarily a basketball conference.

My position is the former. Where the Pac-10 clearly had a down year last year (2-6 against the Mountain West, only 5 bowl eligible teams), this year the Pac-10 is as strong as it generally is. Thus, this is clearly Pete Carroll's worst USC team since his first, which finished with a 6-6 record in 2001. Pac-10 fans should recall that 2001 was the year that Oregon went 11-1, Washington State 10-2, Stanford 9-3, UCLA 7-4, and Washington 7-6, Arizona 5-6, Oregon State 5-6 and Arizona State 4-7.

For Carroll to claim that the Pac-10 is anywhere near as tough this year as it was in 2001 - when 3 Pac-10 teams could have conceivably played for the national title and 2 Pac-10 teams would have easily gotten 2 teams in the BCS under this current format - was just as disingenuous as Carroll's asking Jim Harbaugh "what's your deal?" over that 2 point conversion. Carroll knows it, which is why he went on to allude that Stanford has better athletes than USC does.

Bottom line: the Pac-10 isn't that tough this year. Pete Carroll just wants you to think that it is so you won't ask him too many questions about the horrible coaching job that his staff has been putting in lately. Case in point: all those four and five star players at WR and RB and not a single one is among the better players in college football at his position. The top USC RB has 932 yards rushing, the top WR 688 yards. Now you know why Mark Sanchez left, and why Carroll did a lot more than say "what's your deal?" at Sanchez's press conference!

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Pete Carroll-Jim Harbaugh: What's the Deal?

Paul Peszko — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:03:16 -0500

Well, the deal, Peter, is the scoreboard.

If you’re rankled over a two-point conversion attempt with the score 48-21, maybe you should ask your defense what its deal is. How come they stopped the two-point conversion but managed to give up another touchdown?

While you’re at it, ask Rocky Seto, Ken Norton, Jr., and Jethro Franklin, what their deal is.

If a coach really wanted to run up a score, why wouldn’t he try for a second two-point conversion after the final touchdown?

But maybe someone should ask you what was your deal last season, Peter.

With USC up 38-10 against Oregon at the Coliseum, Mitch Mustain came in at the 11:25 mark of the fourth quarter along with Broderick Green, a reserve tailback.

Against ASU USC led 28-0. Mustain, Green, and the entire second unit came in with 6:27 left in the game.

At Washington State, with USC up 41-0, the reserves started coming in at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter.

The same thing against Washington, with USC up 42-0, the reserves were in with half of the third quarter still remaining.

Later in the year, at Notre Dame, with USC up 31-3, the reserves started coming in at the 12 minute mark of the fourth quarter. After making it 38-3, Mitch Mustain replaced Mark Sanchez with seven minutes remaining.

But what was the deal when USC went up to Stanford?

That day Tabitha Pritchard was 9-for-22 with no TDs and an interception. With USC up by three touchdowns, 38-17, the first unit remained in the game at the six-minute mark and went on a 10-play, 64-yard march to inflate the score to 45-17.

With a little over a minute left, the Cardinal ran back the kickoff 44 yards. Harbaugh yanked Pritchard and put in Alex Loukas who drove the Cardinal in for a touchdown to make the score look just a bit more respectable, 45-23.

So, who actually fired the first shot?

Maybe Harbaugh should have asked what the deal was after the USC starters pushed up the lead to four touchdowns with a little over a minute left in the game.

But Harbaugh knew what the deal was. Carroll was paying him back for upsetting the Trojans at the Coliseum the year before. And not one USC fan complained about that.

Maybe Pete Carroll should ask himself what was the deal last January when he threw all sorts of figures at Mark Sanchez in front of the national media. He claimed that 60 percent of all third-year quarterbacks who opt for the NFL never make it.

But here’s another statistic that Coach Carroll over looked. No team with a true freshman starting quarterback has ever won the BCS Championship. That’s zero percent for anyone who is academically challenged.

So, what’s the deal with falling in love with a true freshman quarterback? What’s the deal with putting so much time and effort into grooming Matt Barkley and depriving the defense of the attention it deserved?

What was the deal in recruiting Aaron Corp when Pete Carroll never intended to adapt his offense to a running quarterback? Or Garrett Green for that matter?

What’s the deal that teams like Cincinnati and Oklahoma can have excellent backups when their starting quarterback gets injured, but USC can’t?

No there are so many deals that went down, flipping out over a two-point conversion is just diverting attention away from this year’s incompetence at the top.

Some may blame Pete Carroll for jacking up his players and telling them that they played hard despite the 55-21 pasting. I don’t. It was never a question of the Trojans not practicing hard or playing hard.

What was the deal then? Not playing smart.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Pac-10 vs. SEC : Why the Pac-10 Deserves More Respect

Mitchell Golden — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:38:30 -0500

Hold up. Before the crazed comments and skewed rationale flood the boards below this article, read my disclaimer:

I am not trying to present one solution for all time. I am not trying to say that the Pac-10 is the greatest conference ever, and year after year.

This diatribe could be about the historical merits of each conference, and how the modern Pac-10 (since 1998) is 11-8 against the SEC. Or perhaps, how the SEC’s supposed “bowl dominance” leaves them tied with the Pac-10 in all-time bowls.

But for this commentary, let’s flip the bird to history, and look at the here and now.

Because here—and now—the Pac-10 is light-years ahead of the SEC.

Here and now, three out of six BCS computer rankings have the Pac-10 at No. 1.

“But wait,” the devoted SEC fan will say, “We have undefeated Florida and Alabama, and No. 8 LSU. That’s three of the top 10 teams in the country. What does the Pac-10 have? A bunch of multi-loss teams. SEC FOREVER!”

My question for you, devoted SEC fan, is this: who do you have under those three high quality teams?

I do not deny that Florida, Alabama, and LSU are excellent football teams, and deserve to be among college football’s highest ranked teams.

However, Florida and Alabama’s undefeated records do not accurately reflect their talent level. By playing cupcake teams both inside and outside the conference, the SEC’s finest are able to inflate their overall records to astronomical levels. Simply put, the SEC’s finest teams are not challenged week-to-week, sometimes not even for several weeks at a time.

As a result, they have a much higher likelihood of going undefeated in the regular season than teams in the Pac-10, and thus a higher likelihood of artificially placing themselves among the BCS top ranks.

The Pac-10 has no undefeated teams. The top team in the Pac-10, No. 11 Oregon, has two losses overall. Some will use parity as an explanation. Although, some will claim Pac-10 weakness.

1. Why Undefeated Does Not Necessarily Mean Better

“Clearly,” my favorite SEC fan will say, “Oregon is not as good as Florida, or they would be undefeated.”

Watch out when making that claim, SEC. Oregon has played six teams that are currently ranked in the BCS—Boise State, USC, Oregon State, California, Stanford, and Utah. Florida has played LSU. From ranked teams alone, Oregon has been challenged five more times than Florida.

Perhaps, if Florida challenged themselves week-to-week, they would have at least one more loss. If they can almost lose to Arkansas, how would they fare against five more BCS-worthy teams in one season?

2. Which Conference is Better at the Bottom? Who Really Has the Best Depth?

They say a team is only as good as its weakest link. The same could be said of a conference. But if the Pac-10 was as good as Washington State, and the SEC was as good as Vanderbilt, both conferences would be in trouble.

Attack me for this if you want, but I chose to compare the second weakest teams in Oregon/Florida’s schedules, instead of the guaranteed conference wins at the bottom.

Oregon’s second easiest opponent is Washington. Easy? This team has a win against one currently ranked USC team, another against a team (Arizona) that just dropped out after a loss to No. 25 California, and an overtime showdown with Notre Dame.

Not to mention, they came very close to dismantling No. 8 LSU. “Close is not a win.” True, SEC fan. However, when the Pac-10’s second weakest team is LSU’s strongest out of conference opponent, shouldn’t that turn some heads? Looks like record inflation to me.

Mississippi State is Florida’s second weakest opponent. Now this team is a huge step up from Vandy, right? At 2-4, 4-6 overall, Miss. St. has no wins against ranked opponents. They did come within one score of beating No. 24 Houston, but that is the closest they came.

As far as pure strength, and real upset potential, Oregon’s “weak” matchup proves more of a challenge than that of Florida.

3. Why the SEC Championship Has More Weight than it Should

In my studies, I had to keep in mind my argument: the Pac-10’s round-robin schedule forbids teams from inflating their regular season records, and guarantees the conference five more overall losses than the SEC. Not only does the round robin guarantee five more losses, but it forces every team to play each other.

Sure, the SEC has a “championship,” which forces the best team in each SEC division to play each other. Yet this is nothing more than clever marketing. Florida and Alabama inflate their records during an easy SEC regular season, and then meet in a contest that is bound to create a national championship bid.

Basically, they are hyping a matchup between the best two teams in the conference. Something that happens every year in the Pac-10, no matter what, in the regular season.

Imagine if Florida and Alabama had to play earlier in the season. One of those teams would take a loss, and be forced downwards in the standings, instead of having the ability to sit on their perfect records until the very end. It’s a similar situation to Oregon-Boise State. If they had waited until the end of the year to play, Oregon would be much higher in the rankings, instead of having to climb their way up.

Add that marketing ploy to the fact that the Pac-10 is deeper in talent, and provides a tougher week-to-week challenge than the no-name SEC teams, and it makes the SEC look like the most brilliant marketing ploy ever.

4. Quality Opponents vs. Cupcake Record Inflation

Don’t believe that the Pac-10 offers better competition? Want to cite the fact that all but two of the twelve teams in the SEC have winning records, and the Pac-10 has three out of ten with losing records?

Remember, the round-robin schedule guarantees five more losses. But dig deeper, and you will find a disparity that has been overlooked thus far this season.

Of the teams in the SEC with winning records, they have played an average 1.78 games against currently ranked opponents. Translation: the SEC is challenged about two games a season.

The one team with three ranked opponents? Georgia, and look at their record. Not as stellar as Florida’s, that’s for sure. Take Georgia’s record (6-4, 4-3 conf) and they would be just about UCLA in the Pac-10, in seventh place rather than fourth.

Of course, Georgia would potentially fall even further after playing in the Pac-10. All the teams with winning records have played an average 4.17 games against currently ranked opponents. That is a two-three game swing.

Not coincidentally, the top teams in the Pac-10 have losses. Football is a sport prided on parity. One quality opponent can defeat another on any given week.

But for that situation to occur, both teams need to be quality. Florida may be undefeated, but put them against three more of the currently ranked BCS teams in one season, and I would put a bet down that they would lose at least one of those games.

Basically, put them in the Pac-10, with round-robin scheduling, and they do not go undefeated.

The SEC has four teams with three or less losses. The Pac-10 has six teams with three or less losses. But because of parity, none are undefeated. Because they challenge themselves, all have lost at least one conference game.

And I thought it was the SEC that beat each other up, not the other way around. SEC fans argue that an SEC champion is worthy of a national bid because of a strong conference schedule—that SEC teams beat up on each other. Clearly, this is far from the truth.

Unfortunately, the current system in place will not allow a Pac-10 team a national championship bid. It rewards cupcake scheduling. When a conference is as strong as the Pac-10 (and I mean beyond the top three), round-robin scheduling greatly hurts national championship hopes.

While the decision is yours to make, consider the information I presented.

With Oregon State upcoming, Oregon has the potential to be 4-2 against currently ranked teams, and 10-2 overall.

Florida has the chance to be 2-0 against ranked teams, and that is only after the conference championship.

Who deserves the championship more? A team that went 10-2 against six quality opponents during the regular season, or a team that played one quality opponent during the system, picked on cupcakes both inside and outside the conference, and then took advantage of a favorable scheduling system and the “conference championship” marketing plot?

Football prides itself on parity. The Pac-10 prides itself on parity. The SEC avoids it at all costs. Should they be rewarded for that? I think not.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Jim Harbaugh Incites Rivalry, Pete Carroll Finds New Enemy

Greg Huntoon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:24:33 -0500

If you grew up in Ohio, chances are you still reserve a good deal of hatred for Bo Schembechler; it's Woody Hayes if the tables are turned.

These days, the Red River Rivalry brings the collective Oklahoma and Texas blood to a boil hotter than their chilies, with Bob Stoops and Mack Brown hanging over the pot.

This weekend, Pete Carroll and USC fans found a new Public Enemy No. 1: Jim Harbaugh and his Stanford Cardinal.

USC fans will surely have Harbaugh firmly held in a special cold, dark place in their hearts after making the classless decision to embarrass Pete Carroll and the USC Trojans.

With a victory clearly in hand after a fourth-quarter thumping of USC on both sides of the ball, and on the heels of a pick six, Harbaugh sent his Cardinal offense back to the ball for a two-point conversion with the score 48-21.

We knew why. Pete sure as hell knew why.

The only reason for Harbaugh to go for two points in that situation is to throw up 50 points on USC. To be clear, that was not the sportsman-like thing to do.

It's rubbing USC's worst loss in 43 years (and most ever points surrendered) in their face. There's no other conceivable purpose in calling that play.

But it also might be the smartest thing that Harbaugh has ever done.

Harbaugh has never been accused of being brilliant. He was a great high school and college quarterback and was fairly successful in the NFL.

He's a great motivator, a good football mind, and right now he's making the sort of decisions that impress the check-writing alums and inspire new recruits to choose Stanford over other competing powerhouses.

He surely guarantees himself a better recruiting class for this year as a result of that play call, whether you like it or not.

But Pete Carroll does not forget these things. He takes losing personally. He takes it to heart. If you've paid any attention over the better part of the last decade, you know that Pete (and every single person on Earth with Cardinal and Gold in their veins) will be gunning for Harbaugh and the Cardinal next fall.

As USC's rivalries with Notre Dame and UCLA continue to be unimpressive (this year in South Bend was actually fairly interesting), the Stanford Cardinal are responsible for the last three losses at the Coliseum (in 2001, 2007 and 2009).

Even with Oregon's drubbing of USC two weeks ago, and Oregon State's recent successes against the Trojans, Harbaugh's call puts them at the top of the USC "Must Kill" list.

Watch Pete's lips move, and you can even listen to what he says, but I guarantee you it took a great amount of personal restraint for Pete to avoid telling Harbaugh where he can shove that two-point conversion as they shook hands in the middle of the field.

In the end, the two-point conversion didn't matter. In fact, the final score would've been one point worse had they kicked the PAT.

And Harbaugh wasn't running the score up on the Trojans (even the second- and third-string players were running through the Trojan defensive front seven), they scored 55 points by outworking and out-hustling USC to close out the game.

It's the same way Carroll has put up gaudy numbers over the last seven seasons from time to time. Florida consistently puts up north of 50 points, as do Texas, Oklahoma and a slew of other teams with high-powered offenses.

But rarely do you see one of the coaches from those storied programs make a call simply to insult and slap the other team.

It's simply a matter of principles, and this weekend proved that Palo Alto is home to a coach without many.

The gauntlet has been set, and Oct. 9, 2010, all eyes will be on the Stanford campus to see what the next installation of the budding (and bubbling) rivalry between Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll will hold.

One way or another, it's sure to be exciting.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

In Pete Carroll We Trust: Why USC's Dynasty Isn't Dead

Amy Lamare — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:41:44 -0500

Hello Football Fiends!

Did you know Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh is a giant flaming stinking pile of isht? You didn’t? Well, now you do, and trust me, I’ll remind you again and again.

Look, I give the guy all the credit in the world for the coaching job he’s done at Stanford over the past three seasons. Stanford is a difficult program to get to succeed what with the school’s pesky academic requirements, yet Harbaugh took a 1-11 team and three seasons later had them pull off back-to-back upsets of top 10 ranked teams. Impressive.

However, the man needs a giant personality transplant. What a nasty piece of work he is. He seems to have a giant chip on his shoulder where USC football and Pete Carroll are concerned.

Well, his sh*t talking, rudeness, and mocking will be tolerated no longer. The USC Mafia will call him out, and He. Will. Pay.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s address all these ridiculous “The Fall of Troy: The Dynasty is Dead” statements the press has been screaming from their pulpits.

People. Let’s get real. USC has the talent, it has the depth, it has Pete Carroll. After seven years at the top of the Pac-10 pile, and with coaching attrition the likes of which no other major collegiate program has (a whole post dedicated to that will go up this week), Carroll’s Trojans were due a rebuilding year.

Three losses is not the end of the freaking world, folks. Nor is it the end of the elite status of USC football. Let’s take a look at what Carroll has accomplished in his years at USC:

2001: 6-6-0 (5-3-0 Pac-10) Loss in the Las Vegas Bowl to the University of Utah, Not Ranked

2002: 11-2 (7-1 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champs, finished the season No. 4, Carson Palmer Heisman, beat Iowa in the Orange Bowl, lost to Kansas State and Washington State

2003: 12-1 (7-1 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champions, AP National Champions, beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, finished season ranked No. 1 AP No. 2 BCS, only loss was to Cal by three in triple overtime

2004: 13-0 (8-0 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champions, AP and BCS National Champions, Matt Leinart Heisman, beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl for the BCS Nat’l Championship, wire to wire AP No. 1

2005: 12-1 (8-0 Pac 10) Pac-10 Champions, Reggie Bush Heisman, played Texas in the Rose Bowl for National Championship and lost, end season ranked No. 2, only loss of season to Texas in Nat’l Championship game

2006: 11-2 (7-2 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champions, beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, finished season No. 4, lost to Oregon State and UCLA

2007: 11-2 (7-2 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champions, beat Illinois in the Rose Bowl, finished season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches' Poll, No. 3 in the AP, lost to Stanford and Oregon

2008: 12-1 (8-1 Pac-10) Pac-10 Champions, beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl, finished season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches' Poll and No. 3 in the AP, lost to Oregon State

Folks, those are some pretty consistent numbers. So we have three losses so far this season—so what?

Consider the case of the University of Florida football program. Urban Meyer took over the Gator football program at the start of the 2005 season. They went 9-3. The following year, in 2006, Florida won the SEC and the BCS National Championship game.

Then 2007 rolled around, and the Gators lost four games. They lost to Auburn, LSU, Georgia, and Michigan (in the Capital One Bowl) and ended the season ranked No. 13. Tim Tebow won his Heisman that year.

Did anyone cry “end of an era,” “the dynasty is over” back then? Hell no.

In fact, for years after the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Seminoles started dropping off the national radar, they were also still given the benefit of the doubt. Words like rebuilding and phrases like “a down year” were bandied about. The media stressed the rich recruiting in the state of Florida and stated that the Gators (or Hurricanes or ‘Noles depending on the year) would be back.

So why not cut USC some of that same slack, folks? We’ve got a true freshman at QB who has a bad habit of throwing balls into coverage. We’ve got a new offensive coordinator who has shown some of the worst play calling in FBS football. Our defense is...bizarrely slow and out of position most of the time. We’ve got discipline and chemistry problems. Sometimes those things take a season to work out.

Sure, that hasn’t really happened in the Pete Carroll era of USC football yet—but let’s face it, all those John David Booty-led teams, while successful, didn’t really set the world on fire. Matt Barkley will mature, and with that maturity he will become a stronger player, and USC will rise to the top of the Pac-10 and BCS once again.

And you know what? It’s just one season. So stop rubbing your hands together in glee celebrating USC’s fall from grace. While many streaks do die this year (seven straight Pac-10 championships, seven straight BCS bowls, seven straight 11-win seasons, etc), this is no cause for true alarm. Carroll and the Men of Troy will work the kinks out.

When they do, boy, I wouldn’t want to be Jim Harbaugh or the Stanford Cardinal. The complete lack of class they showed on Saturday will be paid back to them. You can’t keep USC down for long, especially not with Big Balls Pete at the helm.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

A Season Of "Firsts" Spells the End for the 2009 USC Trojans

Rick McMahan — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:12:16 -0500

With the 55-21 thumping the Stanford Cardinal put on the USC Trojans Saturday at the Coliseum, also came a number of "firsts" for the Trojans in the Pete Carroll era.

Although many of these milestones, none of which was desired by any good Trojan fan, were expected long before Saturday's debacle, the loss only served to emphasize the futility that USC has offered in this trying season.

So, without further delay, here are the "firsts" that the Trojans have managed to serve up in the 2009 season:

For the first time in seven years, the USC Trojans will neither win nor share the PAC-10 title.

This will end an NCAA record, one of two that the Trojans have acquired in their record run from 2002 to 2008.

Also for the first time in seven years, the Trojans streak of finishing in the top four in the BCS officially came to an end.

This too is an NCAA record and one which might stand for some time.

Also, for the first time in the Pete Carroll era, the Trojans lost in November.

This record also included the 2001 season when the Trojans only managed a 6-6 record but still had an unblemished November record.

Finally, the Trojans managed, not only for the first time but also the second, to lose a game by more than the 11 points which represented their worst loss in Carroll's tenure.

These "firsts" were bound to happen some time and the Trojan faithful can still take heart in the fact that other good teams have suffered the same slings and arrows of fate that the Trojans face this year.

Following the 2006 Florida Gators championship run, they went 9-4 in Tim Tebow's first year at the helm after taking over for Chris Leak.

As has been described by this author and others, this year's team was thought to have limitations going into the season.

A very young defense and a turnover of special teams players made the 2009 season tenuous going in.

Although the offense will graduate most of the line, which has been a disappointment anyway, the Trojans look to be in pretty good shape for the 2010 season.

So as the Trojans suffer through a series of firsts in the 2009 season, Trojan faithful can look forward to better times ahead.

Perhaps the 2010 season will the first in a new set of records.

And more importantly, these records will be of the sort that the Trojans will desire.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

NCAA Pac-10 Race Clearing Up...a Bit: Random Ravings

Jared Wright — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:06:24 -0500

The thing about great conference races is that they're never decided until the very last game.

Despite the dominance of the USC Trojans during this decade, the Pacific-10 Conference has seen some great finishes recently, the most memorable (to me, anyway...being a resident of Oregon is cool sometimes) being the Oregon Ducks' Civil War dismantling of the Oregon State Beavers last year...which handed USC another Pac-10 title.

This year, however, the Trojans are on the outside looking in.

The conference standings have Oregon sitting at 6-1, the only one-loss team in the Pac-10. They have two tough games at Arizona and against Oregon State remaining; These last two contests will tell people whether the Ducks actually have the stones to finish a season strong.

One thing's for sure: If they botch this golden opportunity, Chip Kelly won't hear the end of it for some time.

The Stanford Cardinal , fresh off their savage beatdown of USC, stand at 6-2, with the tiebreaker over the Ducks. Despite their great success recently, however, they have already lost to the other two teams with two losses in conference play.

They only have the Cal game remaining in conference play, so they'll need a little help to even make the Holiday Bowl, let alone smell the Roses. Overall, however, I have to like their position.

Arizona sits at 4-2. The Wildcats have the tiebreaker over both Oregon State and Stanford, and control their own destiny. With the loss to the California Golden Bears, however, their road becomes much bumpier; even if they do beat the Ducks Saturday, they'll still have to contend with Arizona State and USC.

For them, it's win out and go to the Rose Bowl. If they lose again...well, it could get messy in Tuscon.

Oregon State , at 5-2, perhaps has the easiest road ahead. Sure, they have the Ducks in Autzen at the end of the season, but first the Beavers have to go up to Pullman for the auto-win against the Washington State Cougars.

They'll be rooting for Oregon this week: With an Arizona loss, and OSU's tiebreaker over Stanford, the Civil War could become a Rose Bowl play-in game...poetic justice, since the two Oregon schools have been USC's main challengers the last several years.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen...Southern Cal , at 4-3, has seen their season become a mockery of what they expect from their who's-who of high school studs. While they do own wins over Oregon State and Cal, they have virtually zero chance of going back to the Rose Bowl this year, due to their losses at Oregon and to Stanford.

The best the Trojans can hope for is a trip to the Sun Bowl, but even that will be a chore.

They'll have to beat Arizona and UCLA, and Stanford will have to beat Cal and make it to the Holiday Bowl (Oregon State went to El Paso last year, and the Sun Bowl has a no-return clause). All scenarios are very possible, but one has to wonder if the Trojans really give a damn at this point.

California, also at 4-3, is in a pretty weak position at this point: Oregon, OSU, and USC have already beaten them. They have a game against the suddenly unstoppable Cardinal upcoming, and their big win over Arizona might be rendered moot.

To top it all off, Jahvid Best is still feeling shaky after his terrifying mid-air spin-out against the Beavers.

Making the Emerald Bowl—which I believe is played in San Francisco, close to where Cal's campus is—might be a nice consolation prize for them, but getting to play that game will require hard work and plenty of help.

As for the other teams in the Pac-10...the UCLA Bruins and Arizona State Sun Devils both face an uphill battle to become the seventh Pac-10 team to be eligible for a bowl, but UCLA may be more likely to achieve that.

The Bruins still lack much of an offense (beating Washington State doesn't count), but their defense has been solid. Even if they don't make a bowl, they should still be able to get some in-game experience for Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut, while ironing out their myriad personnel (player and coach) issues.

The Sun Devils are similar to UCLA in that they, too, have little offense to speak of, but they may have stumbled upon a ray of hope: third-string quarterback Samson Szakacsy (pronounced, I believe, Sis-ack-ski).

This young man came into tonight's Oregon game after Brock Osweiler was injured, and drove ASU down the field for a touchdown in the third quarter. Szakacsy did some good things with the ball, and put the Devils to within 10 before Oregon put the game away.

If he doesn't get the start next week, I'd have to seriously question Dennis Erickson's coaching skills and general sanity: Szakacsy is the only Sun Devils QB that has shown he can get points from drives that don't start in an opponent's side of the field.

While the Washington Huskies have had some great moments this year, I know Steve Sarkasian is disappointed that his squad didn't become bowl-eligible in 2009. After the stunner they pulled on Southern Cal, the Huskies have either been competitive in conference play (the Arizona schools) or been blown out of the water (the Oregon schools).

Whether or not Jake Locker bolts for the NFL, Sark will look to improve on this year as he tries to attract better recruits to his program.

As for Wazzu ...what can you really say? The Cougars have been outmatched, out-manned, and defeated by everyone they've lined up against.

This team needed some experience this year in order to start their development. If they can keep plugging away, work hard and protect Jeff Tuel, Wazzu could win a conference game next year!

Well...we can all dream, can't we?

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

USC Loses Grip on Pac-10; Rose Bowl Race in Chaos

Todd Williams — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:56:34 -0500

For the past seven seasons, USC has either shared or won the Pac-10 title outright. With the Trojans unable to simply reload this year, the Pac-10 title chase is in chaos.

Five teams still have a legitimate shot at making the Rose Bowl this late in the season. So much for the Pac-1 Wac-9!

Going into the season, the Trojans were heavily favored to repeat as champions. They were dealt their first conference blow by a Washington team led by USC’s ex-coordinators.

It was a just a bump in the road, perhaps? After all, the Trojans have notoriously given up a game they were heavily favored in the past couple of years.

Then along came the Oregon Ducks, who simply put ran all over the Trojans defense and embarrassed Pete Carroll’s squad.

Putting up over 600 yards of total offense, the Ducks destroyed the Trojans in Eugene 47-20. It appeared as if the Ducks had ripped away the Pac-10 crown, and it was all theirs to lose.

A confident Oregon squad traveled to the Farm to take on the Cardinal. What they found was a hungry squad ready to prove that they the real deal this year.

In a display of two impressive rushing offenses, the Cardinal outlasted the Ducks to take home the 51-42 victory.

For a Stanford squad that had hiccups against Oregon State and Arizona in conference it was a chance at redemption, and to once again set the Pac-10 title race into chaos. Still, it had the feeling that maybe it was a fluke.

That proved incorrect, as the following week the Cardinal traveled south to LA to take on the wounded Trojans.

Once again the Trojans were susceptible to the run and were pounded even worse than they were by the Ducks, losing 52-21 in a game the clearly stated that this was not the same USC teams as years past. Also, this Stanford team just might be for real.

What that leaves us with is a Pac-10 race where the Oregon Ducks still control their own destiny, but are one loss away from putting the Pac-10 title race up for grabs again.

With games coming up against Arizona and Oregon State, it is not all that far fetched to think the Ducks could lose again.

What about this Stanford squad? With only the big game against California left in conference, the Cardinal look to finish out the year strong, and hope for a few upsets along the way.

They need Oregon, Arizona, and Oregon State to all lose a game at this point. It will take a certain sequence of events; Arizona over Oregon, Oregon over Oregon State; and USC over Arizona for Stanford to go to the Rose Bowl again.

Regardless of the outcome of the season, Stanford is going to be bowling again for the first time since the 2001 season, and coach Harbaugh should be up for coach of the year with the job he has done at the farm.

With only the Ducks and Wildcats controlling their own destiny with tough games ahead, it looks to be a wild finish to the Pac-10 season that could conceivably put Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, or USC in the Rose Bowl.

If nothing else, it is great to see a season where it is truly competitive and not just USC and nine teams scrambling for second.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Cardinal Beats Trojans While Catholics Fall to Panthers: Week 11 Thoughts

Alex Ferguson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:29:00 -0500

A monster of a weekend it was in the world of college football. The Stanford Cardinal trashed USC, while Charlie Weis' job prospects are looking increasingly dark after a loss against Pitt. Ohio State won the Big Ten title, while doing some favors for Penn State's BCS chances (not that they should have any mind...but we'll take it!). Oh, and the Nittany Lions won 31-20, despite a first half that was more 2004 than 2009.

The Fun Award for Great Games

1. Georgia 31, Auburn 24. A ballsy, exciting that changed momentum every time. A superb atmosphere played in great spirit.

2. Ohio State 27, Iowa 24. Usually we'd have an OT game at the top, but both sides displaying stunning decisions NOT to go for it in FT.

3. Pittsburgh 27, Notre Dame 22. Watch to see how a chop block, and a terrible fumble call changes momentum. And may provide pink slips.

4. Stanford 55, USC 21. Because we didn't see the bloodbath happening. The hottie co-eds will be upset.

5. Cincy 24, West Virginia 21. Provided a ton of Friday Night highlights. The heart attack Bearcats continue on.

6. Michigan State 40, Purdue 37. If you get the chance, watch it again. An absolute cracker

The Appalachian State 2007 Award for Unexpected Results

1. Cardinal hammering Trojans.

2. UCF 37, Houston 32- Case Keenum for Heisman?

3. TCU battering Utah 55-28. We thought it would be closer. Hello BCS!

4. Penn State to be so incredibly awful in the first quarter of the Indiana game. The special teams were, er, special.

5. Florida State beating the crap out of Wake Forest. From the way College Gameday was talking, you'd have thought Bobby Bowden was dead.

The Mark Ingram Players of the Week Award

1. Dexter McCluster - Over 300 all-purpose yards and FOUR TDs in a win over Tennessee. Wow.

2. Toby Gerhart - 178 yards rushing all over USC. He's a big boy

3. Ingram - We're bored of the Heisman chat. Give it to him already!

4. TCU's offense - 549 yard put up in woodshedding of Utah

The Al Groh Pink Slip Award for Those Coaches in Trouble

1. Al Groh (Virginia) - End his tenure already!

2.Weis - Great comeback, Charlie, but you still lost.

3. Rich Rodriguez (Michigan) - Suddenly the locals are getting very unhappy. We are though!

The SEC Officials Award for Crap Refereeing

1. "The fumble" at the end of the Notre Dame game. Turned the ball over to Pitt and effectively won the game for the Irish. Problem was, Clausen's arm was going forward. After replay, a terrible turnaround call.

2. Wisconsin's John Clay getting the TD call in Wisconsin's beat-down of Michigan. Completely changed the game. On a replay, the ball didn't cross the plane. Awful

The Lee Corso Best College Gameday Moment Award

Chris Fowler on the Tennessee Situation: "Tennessee players...holding up a convenience store...one wearing team gear...". Everyone laughs. So do we.

The Penn State Award for Good Fans

The silence when Georgia player Dacarri Rambo was hit and lay on the ground motionless in the Auburn game at Sanford was deafening. No-one—not even the ESPN commentators—said a damned thing. In other countries, you would probably have heard cheering, or talking as the player lay on the ground. But on this night, you heard nothing. A pin dropped, and I'm sure we heard it. Both Georgia and Auburn fans get a standing ovation for both sets of fans from the VFA. Makes you realise why you love college football. The game wasn't bad either.

The Michigan 2008 Award for Terrible Performances

1. Syracuse 10, Louisville 9. I'm asleep. Seriously. To the tune of the punter's boot.

2. Penn State's first half against Indiana. Truly. Sucked. On. Senior. Day.

3. Almost all 60 minutes of LSU's tight win over mighty Louisiana Tech. Jarrett Lee should never quarterback again. Seriously.

4. Utah's first half against TCU, when they were 38-14 down at the break. Thanks for showing up Utes.

5. USC. We've said everything, right?

By the numbers

0. How many Penn State fans bothered to show up to the student section for Seniors Day against Indiana (not really zero, but you get my sentiment).

1. Alabama

2. Texas

3 . Florida

4. TCU

5. Cincinnati

42 . Colt McCoy has evened David Greene's NCAA record for wins after slapping Baylor. After the Longhorns slap A&M, the record will be all his.

55. Points "That" USC defense gave up. Giggles.

10. Florida has now gone PERFECT in SEC play for the first times since 1996. Pretty impressive huh?

80. Tons of trash they probably picked up on the North Campus at Georgia from tailgaters at the Auburn game (maybe that's a little high!)

$3 Probably the price of a 50-yard line ticket to the USC-UCLA game now that both teams suck.

$300 Suddenly a terrible seat for the SEC Championship Game's looking pricey

$3,000 As is the weekend in LA with flights, booze, tickets and gear for the National Championship Game

103,000 How many showed up—and bribed their way—into the Horseshoe again for the Big Ten title game.

The Loving the Southland Cheerleaders of the Week

1. TCU

2. Georgia

3. Mississippi State

4. Ole Miss

5. Pitt (I'd never normally, but did well this week)

Next week, we're looking forward to

1. Oregon vs Arizona. Oregon loses, then it'll be Stanford stepping up to the Rose Bowl. Wow.

2. Penn State vs Michigan State. Sniff! Sniff! Last game of the regular season

3. Virginia vs Clemson. Tigers can wrap up spot in ACC title game. They'll make it look tough. They always do.

4. Cal at Stanford. Suddenly the hippies are out in force again. A Stanford win could get them into the Rose Bowl if Oregon loses to Arizona. Let's hope Gameday's in Tuscon.

And in Two Weeks....

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

USC: For Pete's Sake, What's Next?

Paul Peszko — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500

‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” as the quote goes. And USC has certainly fallen with a thud.

How can one of the most superlative stretches in the Trojans’ storied history end in such devastation?

It’s one thing to have an off season and lose three or four games. But to have teams like Oregon State, Oregon, and Stanford lay 138 points on your defense in three games is a total embarrassment.

But the real question now is what are they going to do about it.

"I'm not sure I have the right words to describe being humbled like this," Carroll said today after the 55-21 drubbing by Stanford. "I don't really know where to put it...We have fallen apart and given our opponents the opportunity to do whatever they want."

Well, for a start, he could practice what he preaches and open all the spots to some real competition. Why not let it be known that whoever does the best job over the bye week gets to start in the annual city championship game against UCLA?

That includes the quarterback spot, the o-line and the entire defense and especially the safety positions. Let it be known that whoever misses a block or is late getting over in coverage sits, whether it is Joe McKnight or Taylor Mays.

However, except for saving face, this season is all but over. So, let’s talks about next year.

What do you think Pete Carroll needs to do to restore the swagger? Here are some choices. Let’s hear your thoughts.

Maybe Carroll needs to stop promoting from within and all this on-the-job training of offensive and defensive coordinators. How do you feel? Should he hire experienced offensive and defensive coordinators?

Matt Barkley never really felt the heat of competition. No matter how poorly he threw, he was never lifted for a backup, not even for a series or two.

Should Pete Carroll open up the quarterback spot to competition and let the chips fall where they may? Or should he and Jeremy Bates continue grooming Barkley without the threat of being replaced in a game?

Most of the starting secondary will graduate. Are you satisfied with their backups? Or should the coaches hit the recruiting trail looking for the best secondary players out there?

Except for Michael Morgan, the linebackers and their backups return. Do you think this year of experience is enough to sharpen them for next season? Or should the coaches look for a recruit or two who can move right into a starting assignment?

Tight end Anthony McCoy also graduates. Do Blake Ayles and Rhett Ellison have the skills to exert themselves at this vital position?

Jeremy Bates has not been successful in getting Barkley to stop forcing the ball into coverage. Barkley has 11 TD passes and 10 interceptions. Should they keep Barkley on a short leash?

Also, do you think Bates has done anything to develop Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain? Or has the coaching staff more or less given up on them?

Should Pete Carroll consider changing his offensive system? Should he institute a system that requires more mobility from the quarterback?

These are not necessarily my personal suggestions, but points that fans have brought up throughout the season. What are your thoughts?

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

USC and Michigan: A Tale of Two QBs, A Tale of Two Programs

Paul Peszko — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:25:45 -0500

They were both powerhouses in their respective conferences. They last met in the 2007 Rose Bowl. USC beat Michigan 32-18.

Lloyd Carr would coach the Wolverines one more season, winning the Capital One Bowl, 41-35 over the former national champion, Florida.

Carr then turned the reins over Rich Rodriguez, the former West Virginia head coach. Rodgriguez took over a team that had been on the decline for several years, playing in the shadows of Ohio State.

But under Rodgriguez, who instituted a new offensive scheme, the bottom quickly dropped out as Michigan wound up 2008 with a 3-9 record, 2-6 in the Big Ten.

USC, on the other hand, had not finished any lower than fourth place in the BCS polls for seven consecutive years. They had won at least eleven games in seven consecutive years and were Pac-10 champions for seven consecutive years.

This year, both Rodriguez at Michigan and Pete Carroll at USC handed their offenses over to true freshmen quarterbacks.

The season started off on a high note as the Wolverines won three straight non-conference matchups with true freshman Tate Forcier at the helm, including a last second 38-34 victory over Notre Dame.

Michigan then opened its Big Ten season with a closely-fought 36-33 win over Indiana. But since then they have suffered six straight conference losses and sit at the bottom of the Big Ten in danger of not making a post-season bowl game.

USC is not in danger of missing a bowl game. However, their string of sevens has abruptly ended and with it their string of BCS Bowl appearances.

Like Michigan, USC began the season with a true freshman, Matt Barkley, under center and won its first two non-conference games including an 18-15 win over Ohio State in Columbus.

But Barkley suffered a bruised shoulder and missed the next game, a 16-13 defeat at the hands of the rebuilding Washington Huskies.

After Barkley’s return, the offense had strong showings against Cal, Notre Dame and Oregon State. But the defense began to show trouble signs barely holding off the Irish and the Beavers.

Then the bottom fell out as the offense sputtered and the defense completely caved in at Eugene in a 47-20 rout by the Oregon Ducks.

The following week in Tempe, the offense did not run one play in the Arizona State red zone the entire game, which the USC defense won 14-9.

Today has to be considered one of the worst losses in USC history, especially before a home crowd at the Coliseum. The true freshman quarterback that Pete Carroll and USC had pinned their hopes on threw three interceptions as the Stanford Cardinal spoiled the Trojans homecoming 55-21.

It was the worst home loss since 1966, a 51-0 loss to Notre Dame and the most points ever allowed by the Trojans. The 111 points the Trojans have allowed in three games is also the most over three games in the school’s history.

For Barkley, who was totally outplayed by red-shirt freshman Andrew Luck, the game represented a new low in his young career.

"This isn't what we grew up watching," Barkley said. "I'm not used to this...I don't know what to think right now."

Part of his confusion is that he has been coddled all season long by Carroll and his staff and told how great he is, but his on-field performance hasn’t come close to matching the hype.

Barkley has very little mobility in the pocket and very little competition from backups Mitch Mustain and Aaron Corp. Except for Aaron Corp starting the Washington game, neither one has seen any real time on the field even when Barkley has faltered.

Forcier, unlike Barkley, has been criticized at times by Rich Rodriguez and has also been benched a few times in favor of another true freshman, Denard Robinson.

But in today’s 45-24 loss to Wisconsin, it was Forcier who kept Michigan in the game, converting a 4th-and-9 play to set up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree to cut Wisconsin's lead to 28-24 in the third quarter.

However, like the USC defense, Michigan’s defense could do little to stop Wisconsin from that point on.

But Forcier, unlike Barkley, remained unfazed by the loss and determined.

"If I have to spend 10 hours this week watching film, I'm going to do that," Forcier said. "We're going to get the seniors to a bowl game. We're going to come out and do what we need to do to beat Ohio State."

Rodriguez, on the other hand, had no idea how he could right the ship and keep it afloat. "Defensively, we are reaching to find an answer to stop people," Rodriguez said.

Still, Rodriguez hasn’t given up all hope. "There's no question we've got one more chance (against Ohio State)," Rodriguez said. "I've asked the team to be extra focused. We've been focused all year, but this is the biggest game of the year. Our guys know that."

Pete Carroll’s sentiments after the total embarrassment at the hands of Stanford were very much in line with those of his despondent quarterback.

"I'm not sure I have the right words to describe being humbled like this," Carroll said. "I don't really know where to put it...we have fallen apart and given our opponents the opportunity to do whatever they want."

So, where do these two storied programs go from here? Which one will best be able to pick up the pieces of a disappointing season and regain its former glory in 2010?

Michigan under Rich Rodriguez with Tate Forcier at the helm or USC under Pete Carroll with Matt Barkley taking the snaps?

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Trojan Mediocrity: Bizarro World Descends On USC

Marc Halsted — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:29:58 -0500

Bizarro World has come to college football.

When the lights go out on this weekend's action, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Notre Dame will not be ranked.

Oklahoma has five losses, Michigan (barring a miracle against Ohio State) will not go to a bowl game for the second year in a row, and Notre Dame will continue to stumble around in the dark as they attempt to manage their miserable stretch-run against Pitt, UConn, and Stanford.

But sadly, one under-achieving marquee programs will still get some attention from the disillusioned voters.

Face it pollsters, the Trojan Age is over.

USC is barely a Top-40 team. Their once-vaunted depth chart looks shallow and broken and their pro-tough and pro-ready team image has crumbled with their soft and indifferent play over the past month of the season.

The results don’t lie. The Trojans have lost to a two-loss Oregon team, a three-loss Stanford squad, and a seven-loss group from the University of Washington.

Worse yet, the Trojans have given up 119 points over the last four games. They’ve also surrendered half-a-hundred to a freshman quarterback from Stanford, 482 yards and 36 points to Oregon State, and a over 600 yards to the Oregon Ducks.

And those numbers aren’t even the really bad news.

The Ducks racked up nearly 8 yards per carry and out-gained the Trojans by a 2-to-1 margin.

Stanford out-gained USC by 135 yards and became the second team in two weeks to rush for over 300 yards against the Pete Carroll’s four- and five-star front seven.

Oregon State was the first of three straight teams to put up more yardage than Joe McKnight, Damian Williams, Matt Barkley and the USC offensive “Juggernaut.”

To top it all off, USC was one play away from losing to Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Arizona State. A few bounces of the ball and the Trojans could be a five or six loss team fighting for a chance to play in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl.

Now look Trojan fan, don’t tell me about injuries because I thought your second units could win 10 games in the Pac-10.

Don’t tell me about a freshman quarterback because Andrew Luck, Zach Collaros, and a handful of first-year signal callers are getting it done around the nation.

And don’t tell me about a tough conference schedule when you’re losing to two teams that didn’t have winning records last year.

Oh, and you got crushed in your own backyard by Jim Harbaugh and lost to Coach Sark up in Seattle. Now that's harsh.

Coach Carroll and his program must now deal with the ignominy of being a middle-of-the-pack Pac-10 team that’s losing games, recruits, and their reputation.

The fact that the AP poll had them at 11 and the BCS ranking placed them ninth going into this weekend was an embarrassment to the college game.

With TCU, Boise State, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, half of the SEC, and a number of Big East and Big 12 teams proving that parity has become a reality in the game today, USC has no place in the top 25.

The luster is gone. The shine has worn off. The reputation has faded, and the LA-sized ego should not be far behind.

Illustrious college football powers like Notre Dame, Michigan, and Oklahoma have been force-fed their humble pie over the past three months.

It’s time for the Trojans to take their seat at the dessert table.

Welcome to parity, big-U mediocrity, and the realities of the modern game.

Welcome to Bizarro World, USC.

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

USC vs Stanford: Well That Was Depressing

Amy Lamare — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:28:54 -0500

I am sure, Football Fiends, that I will have a whole lot to say about tonight’s loss to Stanford tomorrow. Right now, well, Jim Harbaugh is a big fat steaming pile of...well you get the idea. Going for a two point conversion when up by 27? Way to show good sportsmanship.

See? This is why I need a little distance from tonight’s debacle before I can write about it.

We’re 4-3 in the Pac-10. Gah!

Am going to go watch bad romantic comedies now. Then I can convince myself the tears are for the shmaltzy movie, not my beloved Trojans’ third loss of the season.

Reports of the dynasty being over are greatly exagerrated. More on that later. But hello, Florida lost three games in 2005 and no one crowed about the crumbling of their program.

OK, really I need to not think about this right now.

-Your Gridiron Goddess

Read more USC Football news on BleacherReport.com

Time For USC Fans to Face The Ugly Truth; Trojans Just Aren't Very Good

Rick McMahan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:40:01 -0500

Any confusion USC fans had regarding their beloved Trojans has just been cleared up in resounding fashion today at the coliseum.

With Stanford's 55-21 thrashing of USC, clarity has been made evident as to the quality of this years version of the men of Troy.

They just aren't very good.

Its one thing to lose road games to an improved Washington and a very good Oregon team and quite another to get thrashed by Stanford at your homecoming game.

USC suffered from a bad case of the "too's" today.

As in:

Too many turnovers.

Too little effort from the defensive front seven.

Too good of an opponent.

Couple this with a true freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, who has played like one the last three games and it is easy to see how this game got out of hand so quickly.

Barkley, who was personally responsible for the Trojans four turnovers, played marvelously for his first five games but now has become just another young quarterback trying to find his way.

However, the fact that Barkley is interception prone should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the young quarterback's career.

Coming out of Mater Dei, the knock on Barkley was that he tried to force too many balls into coverage, which resulted in an inordinate amount of picks.

A good example of this was Barkley's attempt to force a screen pass to Joe McKnight when McKnight was covered by three Cardinal players.

Result?

Interception that led to a Stanford touchdown.

But for the Trojans, this goes far beyond a young quarterback making silly mistakes and not protecting the ball.

For the second time this year, the USC defense has given up a record amount of points.

After Oregon rolled the Trojans up for 47 points two weeks ago in Eugene, excuses were made that this was due to the Trojans playing an option team with a running quarterback and that the Trojans always have problems with those kind of teams.

All of that was true.

So what do you make of today's game?

Stanford is not a fancy, tricky option team.

They are a straight forward, hard nosed team who features a bruising 235 pound tailback, Toby Gerhart, who would just as soon run over you as run around you.

They are also led by a redshirt freshman quarterback, Andrew Luck, who is known for an accurate arm, not blazing speed.

Yet, there was Luck rushing for 61 yards, mostly on third downs, to keep Cardinal drives going.

And breaking Trojan hearts.

When it was all over, the Stanford Cardinal had scored more points on the Trojans than any other team ever in their storied history.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Now the Trojans have two weeks to get ready for their cross town rivals, UCLA, who must be licking their chops at the prospect of facing this woeful Trojan defense.

Two weeks to let this embarrassing historic defeat to simmer and percolate.

With all hopes gone for playing in an BCS bowl game, the Trojans must now hope to recapture some Trojan pride and prepare for 2010 by winning out.

This will be a tall order for a Trojan team that just isn't very good.

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USC vs. Stanford: Keys to the Game

Amy Lamare — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:20:47 -0500

So yeah, USC vs. Stanford. I can’t say I’m looking forward to this game. In fact, I dread it.

I am about as big a Trojan fan as they come. My car’s license plates are LOVSCFB (Love SC football). I passionately rooted for my team throughout the dark days known as the 1990s. I plotted ways to take Paul Hackett out. Anything to help my Trojans. So it pains me to say this, but: We very well could lose this game. I would not be surprised if we do.

We’ve been riddled with injuries. We have no true team leadership. We’ve played six of our nine games on the road. We’ve played five ranked opponents. We now come home to the Coliseum to face Stanford. And we’re beaten up. And the rose colored glasses have been ripped from the eyes of both fans and players alike.

We face Stanford, who has handed USC its last three losses in the Coliseum and is coming off a big win over Oregon. However, we have one big fat advantage going into this game: Some of the key injuries that have hampered the Trojans all season are healing. The biggest advantage for the Trojans is the return of the powerful and dynamic fullback Stanley Havili.

Havili gives the offense a big boost in firepower and playmaking. Tight end Anthony McCoy is expected to play this weekend. Linebacker Malcolm Smith and defensive end Everson Griffin return and look to restore some of the power to their Trojan team that was lacking last week against ASU.

WR Damian Williams is still doubtful for Saturday, which could present an issue for this young offense. Center Kristofer O’Dowd is still out. USC is starting true freshman Devon Kennard at strongside linebacker. You can’t underestimate the loss of Williams, as he’s been the most consistent play maker for Matt Barkley. The biggest evidence of chemistry on this Trojan team is between Barkley and Williams.

The Trojans are not lacking in talent or depth. They never are. But where this 2009 team differs from other Trojan teams of the Pete Carroll era is in discipline and chemistry. Last week at ASU the Trojans had nine penalties for 98 yards. That’s inexcusable. Where is the leadership on this team? Surely the revolving door on the coaching staff can’t help (and will be addressed in a future post). QB Matt Barkley is 19 years old. Basically, Trojan fans are spoiled and this is a rebuilding year that has been nearly a decade in the making.

On Twitter last night, a friend asked me if Carroll has hit the end of his prime. I don’t believe he has. He’s only been at USC since 2001. I believe the true problem lies in the new coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates is an NFL guy and has sucked calling plays for the Trojans. It makes one wonder if he’s reviewed the tapes from 2001-2008. Because this 2009 offense is not a Trojan offense. Rocky Seto, the defensive coordinator, has some truly odd schemes going this year. Odd and ineffective.

I said last week that this Trojan team bore an eerie resemblance to the Paul Hackett teams of a decade ago. And for any Trojan fan that lived through that dark era in history, it was enough to make you sick. But this isn’t a Paul Hackett coached team. It’s a Pete Carroll team. We don’t call him Big Balls Pete for nothing.

Can we win this game? Of Course We Can. The only thing beating the Trojans right now is themselves. The penalties, the lack of chemistry and discipline, the anemic play calling, and the injuries. We have the talent. We’re just lacking in experience.

I predict it will be a close one in the Coliseum on Saturday. It’s Homecoming for USC, and I really don’t see this team dropping a game at home especially on Homecoming. Look for another ugly win by the Trojans.

Follow me on Twitter @GridironGoddess

(This post was originally posted to Buster Sports )

-Your Gridiron Goddess

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