Washington 32 USC 31: For Trojan Fans, Payback Is Indeed a ....

A funny thing happened on the way to retribution for the Trojans yesterday against the Huskies.

The specter of inadequacy and bad habits reared its ugly head and when the dust had settled, Steve Sarkisian and his Washington Huskies had left Los Angeles with a smirk and a fortuitous 32-31 victory over the rattled USC Trojans and their disappointed head coach, Lane Kiffin.

In a game that USC should have won, all the Trojans are left with is a series of "what ifs," and a haunting feeling that this may be just the beginning of season-long nightmare.

Now USC prepares for another disappointed team, that being the Stanford Cardinal, who lost to Oregon in Eugene last night.

Except that this game will be played in Palo Alto, and the Cardinal, a much better team than the Huskies, will be less than charitable towards their neighbors from the south.

Good luck with that Lane.

Meanwhile, the Trojans are left to ponder how they could have lost against the Huskies.

The simple answer is that the Trojans just couldn't finish an opponent led by a quarterback who finally played like the Heisman candidate he was presumed to be before the season started.

But it goes much deeper then that.

On a night when USC rolled up 484 yards, including a career high 223 yards by running back Allen Bradford, the Trojans were found wanting for an eight yard pass overthrown by quarterback Matt Barkley.

Of course, if place kicker Joe Houston, who has missed far more than he has made this season, makes that last chip shot, than we are probably talking a different outcome.

It should have never come to that however.

The real culprit in this loss, as the suddenly revived Locker could tell you, was the so-called Trojan defense.

With the exception of cornerback Shareece Wright, who did his best to keep the Trojans in it, the USC defense was non existent.

After rolling USC up to the tune of 536 yards, the only mystery about the Trojan defense is just how bad it truly is.

When the season started, some, including the Trojan brain trust, thought the USC defensive line, led by tackle Jurrell Casey, could be the best in the country.

Instead, they may not even be the best in the city.

Of course, no such illusions were held about the Trojan linebackers.

Considered a weak link in the USC defense, the Trojan trio of Michael Morgan, Devon Kennard, and Malcolm Smith spent all night justifying that aspersion.

It should be noted that despite all that, as stated before, this was still a game the Trojans should have won.

That they didn't speaks volumes about the team.

Good teams not only find ways to win games they should, they find a way to win games they shouldn't.

This years version of the men of Troy could find neither Saturday night.

Now another villain looms in the distance.

Jim Harbaugh and his Stanford Cardinal, looking for the tonic to wipe last nights loss to Oregon from their memory, will meet USC this Saturday with evil intentions on their mind.

Can the Trojans find some way to rebound and get back on the winning track in Palo Alto?

Not likely if they are counting on the Cardinal just to roll over for them.

And not at all if they are expecting the defense that showed up against the Huskies to stop Stanford.

Maybe they can pull a close one out on a late field goal.

Oh, never mind.