Its time…. we’re ready to chisel this one in stone: Tis easier to get to the top than to stay at the top. Pete Carroll and his Trojans cemented this proclamation with their inexplicable 24-23 loss to Stanford last night at the Coliseum. This curious phenomena which we observed here, appears to have some legs. Its as if the initial surge of momentum and excitement that a new coach such as Pete Carroll can bring to a big-time program can not be maintained and thusly, in the hyper-competitive world of college football, the next Young Turk is always just around the corner.
We won’t pretend to know what is going on right now inside the USC program but something ain’t right. Going back to their Rose Bowl loss to Texas two years ago, USC is 15-4 and has dropped 3 of their last 8 conference games going back to last season. Whether the players on this roster have let the press clippings go to their head or they show up on campus as freshmen with a sense of entitlement, we aren’t sure. What we do know is that this program can officially be termed “under-achieving” and it certainly appears a degree of stagnation has settled in.
In terms of epic collapses, this upset even gets the nod over the App. State win at Michigan in the first weekend of the season. Forget about the 41 pt. spread - All one needs to know about how this match-up was perceived need only know that USC which has pretty much owned the prime time slots on ABC for the last couple of years was relegated to the Versus network (Versus?) for their game against Stanford. And the L.A. Times which usually reserves the left-side column of their front page Sunday print edition for Bush-slamming “news analysis” pieces, ran a story on the game in that space adjacent to a large color photo of Cardinal Mark Bradford’s winning touchdown grab.
This site predicted that USC would not go undefeated and in fact thought that a 2-loss regular season was in the offing, however, we will take zero credit for predicting what went down last night. We figured the losses would come on the road at snake pits like Autzen Stadium (Oregon) or at Cal later in the season…. not at home to…. Stanford….?
And feeling like they could not be outdone , UCLA allowed Notre Dame to get off the schneid in their 20-6 loss to the Domers out at the Rose Bowl to complete what has to be the most shocking and disappointing day of college football ever in Los Angeles.
College football has always been somewhat the comfort food of American sports. Long-standing traditions and rivalries are the pillars of the game and for the most part, the big-time programs have been that way for a very long time. That is why this season has been so bizarre and admittedly disconcerting as we have had to re-evaluate some long-standing beliefs of our own. To wit, LSU’s come-back win against Florida last night was proof that head coach Les Miles is indeed capable of getting out of his own way and is indeed capable of winning a big game.
So we will take a double serving of the mash potatoes with Texas’ loss to Oklahoma yesterday in the Red River shootout. No shame in losing by 7 to Oklahoma but to Longhorn fans and Mack Brown-doubters who enjoyed a brief respite from the perceived perennial underachieving while Vince Young was at QB, its still…. another loss to the Sooners and a 2nd straight conference loss.
We won’t pretend to know what is going on right now inside the USC program but something ain’t right. Going back to their Rose Bowl loss to Texas two years ago, USC is 15-4 and has dropped 3 of their last 8 conference games going back to last season. Whether the players on this roster have let the press clippings go to their head or they show up on campus as freshmen with a sense of entitlement, we aren’t sure. What we do know is that this program can officially be termed “under-achieving” and it certainly appears a degree of stagnation has settled in.
In terms of epic collapses, this upset even gets the nod over the App. State win at Michigan in the first weekend of the season. Forget about the 41 pt. spread - All one needs to know about how this match-up was perceived need only know that USC which has pretty much owned the prime time slots on ABC for the last couple of years was relegated to the Versus network (Versus?) for their game against Stanford. And the L.A. Times which usually reserves the left-side column of their front page Sunday print edition for Bush-slamming “news analysis” pieces, ran a story on the game in that space adjacent to a large color photo of Cardinal Mark Bradford’s winning touchdown grab.
This site predicted that USC would not go undefeated and in fact thought that a 2-loss regular season was in the offing, however, we will take zero credit for predicting what went down last night. We figured the losses would come on the road at snake pits like Autzen Stadium (Oregon) or at Cal later in the season…. not at home to…. Stanford….?
And feeling like they could not be outdone , UCLA allowed Notre Dame to get off the schneid in their 20-6 loss to the Domers out at the Rose Bowl to complete what has to be the most shocking and disappointing day of college football ever in Los Angeles.
College football has always been somewhat the comfort food of American sports. Long-standing traditions and rivalries are the pillars of the game and for the most part, the big-time programs have been that way for a very long time. That is why this season has been so bizarre and admittedly disconcerting as we have had to re-evaluate some long-standing beliefs of our own. To wit, LSU’s come-back win against Florida last night was proof that head coach Les Miles is indeed capable of getting out of his own way and is indeed capable of winning a big game.
So we will take a double serving of the mash potatoes with Texas’ loss to Oklahoma yesterday in the Red River shootout. No shame in losing by 7 to Oklahoma but to Longhorn fans and Mack Brown-doubters who enjoyed a brief respite from the perceived perennial underachieving while Vince Young was at QB, its still…. another loss to the Sooners and a 2nd straight conference loss.
... and this wacky college football season marches on.
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4 comments:
Sorry USC Fans, as colossal of an upset that this game was for you, App. State beating Michigan is still bigger in that category.
Anon, do not concur. Stanford does not possess the talent to be two-time defending Division I-AA champ as App. State is. Also, Stanford's QB was making his first start ever against the "best defense in the nation".
Like comparing whose #2 offering to the Porcelain Palace is the bigger/better. - Mongo
Mongo, Don't make me whip mine out.
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