Three Things USC Needs to Do to Stay Undefeated

Being in LA, most of my friends are USC fans. A few like a team from out of the area, and the rest fit into the category “not a college football fan” (usually they would have said UCLA, but they’re embarrassed to admit that right now).

Right now, all of us USC fans are on a high.  We just demolished the No. 5 team in the country, and just about everyone is “penciling us in” for Miami this January.

As much as I hope that happens, there is still plenty of season to play.

I fully expect at least two games where we struggle.  It could be Cal and Oregon, or it could be Oregon State and Arizona.  You just never know.  These players are college students with a lot on their minds.

I don’t think USC will lose, but it wouldn’t surprise me.  I learned after the Stanford game last year that college football is more about “any given game” than most other sports.

So how does USC avoid the upset? 

1. Treat every opponent as Ohio State and act like they have something to prove.  If they can win every game easily, it may make the conference look weak, but there is no way the pollsters will drop them if they continue to win by three-plus touchdowns.

2. Mark Sanchez needs to stay untouched.  Ohio State got to him once, and that was in the fourth quarter after the outcome had been decided.  When Sanchez has time, even if he has to scramble a bit, he is at his best.  Imagine a young Brett Favre: He’ll make some mistakes, but most of the time, he’ll make a big play.

3. The defense needs to continue to shine and get takeaways.  I like 10 points allowed in two games much more than 87 points scored.  Heck, I like it better than Oklahoma’s offense averaging 50-plus a game.  USC should score plenty in every game, and if they can keep their opponents under 10 points, even better.

Also, when USC dominated in '03 and '04, they led the country in takeaways.  If they can get back to that, they’ll be hard to beat.

Other than beating themselves, USC’s biggest challenge seems to be their seemingly weak schedule.  Well, college teams schedule their non-conference games years in advance.  You can’t blame a school for scheduling a traditionally strong opponent if they are weak in a given year—unless you’re a computer.

USC scheduled three BCS opponents.  They are one of only five schools in the FBS that have never scheduled a FCS or D-II team.  Obviously Virginia and Notre Dame (and maybe Ohio State) are down this year, but when scheduled, they looked like they’d be tough opponents.

Also, Pete Carroll and USC can’t be concerned about how poorly the other teams in the conference are doing.  They have no control over it.

So what if the Pac-10 is 0-5 against the MWC this year?  USC is 2-0 against BCS schools.  Schedule quality FBS opponents and win your conference—that’s all you can control.

I think the Trojans will end up in Miami.  I just don’t have my head so far up my a** to say it’s a forgone conclusion.