"It's a big game, everyone. And this means two things: USC wins, and Pete Carroll outcoaches the poor schlub on the other sideline.
"Are we all on the same path? Good, because now I'm driving so far off the road they'll need JoePa's Coke bottle glasses to find me.
"Penn State will beat USC in the Rose Bowl. And that, of course, means Joe Paterno -- all eight decades of him -- will outsmart the hippest, hottest coach in college football."
Matt Hayes, 12/30/08 - http://www.sportingnews.com/
Rey Rey
When I was a student at USC, nothing was bigger for the football program than to earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. That continued to be true through the BCS era until Pete Carroll arrived. From his second year forward, nothing has been bigger than the Rose Bowl except the BCS National Championship game. For each of the past three seasons, USC has coughed up a single, ugly conference "L" on the ledger, by a total of 11 points, to keep them at "home" in Pasadena.
Three years ago, all SC had to do was beat UCLA in December at the Rose Bowl. "L." By four points.
Last year, all SC had to do was beat Stanford at home, carrying a Las Vegas line of -41 points. "L." By one point.
This year, SC drew Oregon State in a Thursday night game, especially rescheduled for the benefit of ESPN. "L." By six points. Nothing looked right from the opening snap and stayed that way for four quarters.
So, when USC took the field yesterday afternoon against a team from the Big Ten that was 'one point away from the national championship game,' I knew what was going to happen. It's happened this way for three consecutive years.
The Trojans can't run the table in their beleagured league (that went 5-0 in post season bowls this year, however). But, they can open the nose of whatever big game opponent they meet at the end.
This year was supposed to be different. Penn State wasn't just another, "three yards and a cloud of dust" team. This was a top ten team, that took a stupid conference loss like SC had done, losing by one point on a last-second field goal. This was a team coached by a living legend. Their own fans may not like his age, chair location, inability to quote current events, or unwillingness to wish everyone a happy new year. But, there was no mistaking the outstanding character and playmaking ability of his quarterback and the serious tone the players adopted from their leader.
The USC coaching staff needed only one quarter to make the kind of adjustments they normally don't make until halftime. A month of film-watching always seems to offer up the Achilles Heel. The soft spots. The obvious cover-three defensive system that was never going to keep USC's offense off the field.
They opened the play book for a quarter. They closed it in the third quarter. Then, when Penn State scored again, they opened it again. Four plays, touchdown. Then, they closed it again.
There was no reason to run up the score. Nothing was going to change the fact that USC had already lost the opportunity to play for the national championship in September.
Other teams across the nation can lose late in the season, even lose the very last game of their season, and go on to the BCS title game.
It won't keep another 10 USC players from being drafted into the NFL in April. That's not going to change either.
Fight ON!!!!
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