USC Blowout: Calling Out the Media

A number of commentators on this board have accused USC of being loved by the national media. That may be true. On the other hand, they certainly have their detractors as well.

Saturday’s game against Washington State is a case in point. Some in the national media have accused Pete Carroll and the Trojans of running up the score. Obviously, these detractors simply heard or read the score and made their comments without having watched the game.

While it’s true that their were more competitive games being televised at the same time, these sportswriters and commentators could have at least checked the facts before spouting off.

First of all, a few regular players didn’t even make the trip. Joe McKnight, who did travel with the team, did not dress for the game.

You could not have seen a more vanilla game plan if Baskin and Robbins had called the plays. The Trojans ran simple off tackle right and off tackle left. Nothing fancy. Nothing that any high school defensive coordinator couldn’t defend. Whether they could stop it is another question.

The passing game was just as simple. Post routes and sideline fades.

At the end of the half with USC up 41-0 and a full compliment of timeouts, Pete Carroll had his offense run out the clock. Going into the locker room, Carroll commented that the Trojans would run the ball in the second half.

And that’s exactly what the Trojans did.

Mitch Mustain taking over for Mark Sanchez threw just one pass. Aaron Corp and Garrett Green didn’t throw any. Everything else was off tackle left and off tackle right.

Carroll used all four quarterbacks and most of his reserves on both sides of the ball in the third and fourth quarters. He even said after the game that he felt bad for the Cougars and admitted it was a hard day for them.

The fact is, if Carroll wanted to run up the score, the Trojans could have put up over 100 points. It’s not the Trojans fault that they are one of the better teams in Division 1-A and the Cougars may just be the worst. But you can’t expect players, whether they are regulars or reserves, to go half speed or not play their hardest.

I’ll be the first to admit that certain members of the media give Carroll and the Trojans a lot of love—perhaps more than they deserve—but they have just as many detractors who care only about their own opinions and not the facts.