Dan Wetzel Off-Base in Recent USC Recruiting Article

I was reading an article today that Dan Wetzel published on Yahoo! Nov. 4. The article itself was good because it was going over the recruiting trends of USC and whom they went after even though they already had two talented running backs in LenDale White and Reggie Bush.

That is fine by me that, even with the two running backs, Pete Carroll was looking for a third in Adrian Peterson, who we all know went to the University of Oklahoma instead. The issue I had with the article, though, was one huge mistake that just can't be ignored.

The mistake was that Wetzel wrote that the 2004 USC Trojans had "the best running back tandem in the country." I'm sorry, Dan, but you're wrong. The Trojans didn't even have the best running back tandem in the Pac-10.

What team had it, might you ask? That is the California Golden Bears, with the combination of J.J. Arrington and Marshawn Lynch. Arrington in that 2004 season rushed for 2,018 yards with a 7.0-yards-per-carry average and 15 touchdowns. Lynch had 628 yards with an 8.8-yards-per-carry average with eight touchdowns. So, in total, between the two the Bears running backs, the tandem ran for 2,646 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Now compare that to the USC tandem of White and Bush. White rushed for 1,103 yards with a 5.4-yards-per-cary average and 15 touchdowns. Bush rushed for 908 yards with a 6.8-yards-per-carry average and six touchdowns. In total, the USC running backs ran for 2,011 yards and 21 touchdowns.

So, let me hazard a guess on what happened with Wetzel. He only looked at the fact that the Trojans won the national championship game against Oklahoma that year. The Trojans were 13-0 and 8-0 in the Pac-10. The Bears that year were 10-2 (7-1 in the Pac-10), their only conference loss of course coming to USC.

The second loss came in their bowl game; the Bears should have been in a BCS game that year, but Mack Brown's politicking kept them out. That is why I can't stand Brown, but that's a different story.

So, in the end, Wetzel really drops the ball by not doing research. The team with the best combination that year was California with J.J. Arrington and Marshawn Lynch.