USC vs. Stanford: Lane Kiffin Should Blame Himself for Loss

USC and Stanford played a triple overtime thriller Saturday night in which the Cardinal won 56-48, preserving their perfect season and hopes of playing in the BCS title game.

After the game had ended, Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin was irate with the officials for not stopping the clock when they determined that USC wide receiver Robert Woods was tackled in bounds as regulation time expired.

Instead of blaming the officials, Kiffin should look in the mirror and blame himself.

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"I'm really disappointed in the officials," he said. "Extremely disappointed....I had asked for a timeout with one second left before the play. We could have kicked a 50-yard field goal to win the game. I'm not complaining. I'm just giving you the exact facts."

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Not complaining? Come on Lane, you know you're using the officials as an excuse to why you blew a great opportunity for an upset.

Kiffin has to make sure that the play call is to the outside of the field so any player making the reception can get out of bounds.

What happens? The play is a short pass over the middle of the field with nine seconds left prior to the snap.

That's a terrible call, and even if Kiffin isn't calling the plays, he has to make sure they have a play working the outsides.

Also, on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter with the Trojans clinging to a seven-point lead, Trojans safety T.J. McDonald gets called for an unnecessary roughness penalty when he hit Stanford wide receiver Chris Owusu  after the ball fell incomplete.

Although McDonald has to share much of the blame, Kiffin has to have his players playing more disciplined than that so late in games.

That's not a penalty a Pete Carroll USC team of the last decade would have committed.

Kiffin has always been an overrated head coach, which is why his tenure at Tennessee and in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders did not go so well.

Instead of blaming the officials, Kiffin should blame himself for this loss and costing his team a chance for an amazing upset that could have sparked them to a winning run to close the season.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for the latest sports news and updates.  Follow @NicholasGoss35.