Huskies Howl Past USC
Updated September 22, 2009
Washington becomes the latest unranked opponent to upset mighty USC. Chris Preston has a theory as to why the Trojans continue to overlook inferior opponents.
By Chris Preston
Oregon State started the trend in 2006. UCLA kept it going later that fall. Most improbably, Stanford followed suit in 2007. It was the Beavers again in '08. And last Saturday it was Washington – just two games removed from a 15-game losing streak.
For the fourth year in a row, USC has fallen to an unranked opponent. I predicted in this space last Friday that the Trojans would have their hands full with the much-improved Huskies, and that was before it came to light that starting quarterback Matt Barkley would be unable to go. USC was also missing outstanding safety Taylor Mays.
Still, given the depths to which Washington had plummeted during last year's winless campaign, the Huskies' last-second 16-13 win on Saturday qualifies as a major shock.
It shouldn't. Since Pete Carroll arrived in 2001, Southern Cal has been the preeminent program in college football. They have won the Pac-10 and finished in the national top four seven years running, won back-to-back national championships in '03-04 and came within a Vince Young touchdown scamper of winning three in a row, and produced three Heisman winners – all this decade.
The L.A. Coliseum is the epicenter of the college football world the way South Bend was for most of the 20th century. USC is the new Notre Dame.
However, the Trojans have developed a nasty – and undeniable – habit of losing to teams they should beat. Yes, Barkley and Mays were key losses, and backup QB Aaron Corp is clearly not ready for primetime. But the talent gap between USC and Washington is such that two absences should not have made the difference between winning and losing. Nor is the fact that former USC offensive coordinator and new Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian is someone who knows how to stop the Trojans' run-oriented offense better than just about anyone.
The reason USC routinely slips up against the Washingtons and Stanfords of the world stems from the very reason so many blue chip prospects want to play for the school in the first place. Carroll is a fun-loving, eccentric personality who keeps things fresh by playing good-natured pranks on his players and by bringing in celebrity guest speakers like Will Ferrell and, as the Sports Center cameras showed us last week, "Lean On Me" singer Bill Withers. Carroll is the ultimate players' coach. Truth be told, he is a breath of fresh air in a college game whose best coaches are historically no-nonsense hard cases like Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Nick Saban.
But the lax atmosphere Carroll has created in Los Angeles lends itself to occasionally forgetting the little things – like not overlooking a seemingly inferior opponent. Just look at the results. When the Trojans are "up" for an opponent – i.e. a ranked foe with a big-time reputation – they almost never lose. Ohio State (twice), Michigan (twice), Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Arkansas – all have fallen victim to the Trojans in the last six seasons. Texas was the only top-10 team to take down the Trojans in recent years. Basically, if a USC game is billed as a major showdown, the Trojans win.
When the public largely sleeps on a USC opponent, so do the Trojan players. And that falls on the coaching staff. When Florida State had it rolling under Bobby Bowden in '90s, do you remember the Seminoles costing themselves a shot at a national title by losing to an unranked opponent? What about Tom Osborne's Nebraska teams? Or even the '80s Miami Hurricanes, teams that would have never been accused of being particularly disciplined?
As evidenced by the growing laundry list of impressive teams USC has left in its wake – a virtual Who's Who of college football goliaths, when the Trojans play to their full capabilities almost no one can beat them. But these slip-ups against unranked opponents (and it should come as no surprise that the Washington loss came a week after USC won at No. 7 Ohio State) have derailed too many otherwise championship-caliber seasons. Since its epic loss to Texas in the 2005 BCS title game, USC has lost a grand total of six games. All but one of those losses have come at the hands of opponents outside that top 25.
I'm sure playing for USC during the Pete Carroll era is every bit as fun as it looks. But I bet it would be a lot more fun if the Trojans didn't keep losing to teams they should beat.
For the fourth year in a row, USC has fallen to an unranked opponent. I predicted in this space last Friday that the Trojans would have their hands full with the much-improved Huskies, and that was before it came to light that starting quarterback Matt Barkley would be unable to go. USC was also missing outstanding safety Taylor Mays.
Still, given the depths to which Washington had plummeted during last year's winless campaign, the Huskies' last-second 16-13 win on Saturday qualifies as a major shock.It shouldn't. Since Pete Carroll arrived in 2001, Southern Cal has been the preeminent program in college football. They have won the Pac-10 and finished in the national top four seven years running, won back-to-back national championships in '03-04 and came within a Vince Young touchdown scamper of winning three in a row, and produced three Heisman winners – all this decade.
The L.A. Coliseum is the epicenter of the college football world the way South Bend was for most of the 20th century. USC is the new Notre Dame.
However, the Trojans have developed a nasty – and undeniable – habit of losing to teams they should beat. Yes, Barkley and Mays were key losses, and backup QB Aaron Corp is clearly not ready for primetime. But the talent gap between USC and Washington is such that two absences should not have made the difference between winning and losing. Nor is the fact that former USC offensive coordinator and new Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian is someone who knows how to stop the Trojans' run-oriented offense better than just about anyone.
The reason USC routinely slips up against the Washingtons and Stanfords of the world stems from the very reason so many blue chip prospects want to play for the school in the first place. Carroll is a fun-loving, eccentric personality who keeps things fresh by playing good-natured pranks on his players and by bringing in celebrity guest speakers like Will Ferrell and, as the Sports Center cameras showed us last week, "Lean On Me" singer Bill Withers. Carroll is the ultimate players' coach. Truth be told, he is a breath of fresh air in a college game whose best coaches are historically no-nonsense hard cases like Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Nick Saban.
But the lax atmosphere Carroll has created in Los Angeles lends itself to occasionally forgetting the little things – like not overlooking a seemingly inferior opponent. Just look at the results. When the Trojans are "up" for an opponent – i.e. a ranked foe with a big-time reputation – they almost never lose. Ohio State (twice), Michigan (twice), Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Arkansas – all have fallen victim to the Trojans in the last six seasons. Texas was the only top-10 team to take down the Trojans in recent years. Basically, if a USC game is billed as a major showdown, the Trojans win.
When the public largely sleeps on a USC opponent, so do the Trojan players. And that falls on the coaching staff. When Florida State had it rolling under Bobby Bowden in '90s, do you remember the Seminoles costing themselves a shot at a national title by losing to an unranked opponent? What about Tom Osborne's Nebraska teams? Or even the '80s Miami Hurricanes, teams that would have never been accused of being particularly disciplined?
As evidenced by the growing laundry list of impressive teams USC has left in its wake – a virtual Who's Who of college football goliaths, when the Trojans play to their full capabilities almost no one can beat them. But these slip-ups against unranked opponents (and it should come as no surprise that the Washington loss came a week after USC won at No. 7 Ohio State) have derailed too many otherwise championship-caliber seasons. Since its epic loss to Texas in the 2005 BCS title game, USC has lost a grand total of six games. All but one of those losses have come at the hands of opponents outside that top 25.
I'm sure playing for USC during the Pete Carroll era is every bit as fun as it looks. But I bet it would be a lot more fun if the Trojans didn't keep losing to teams they should beat.
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