Well it finally happened....

We got caught. Oregon State blitzed us early in the third quarter and we did not have enough time to catch up. Texas fell behind to Texas Tech by 21 in the first quarter, but they had three quarters to come back to win 35-31. The Trojans fell behind 33-10 in the middle of the third, and the Trojan Nation was in stunned silence. It was worse when we did not get any points on the board from the 10 yard line with four minutes left. But at the time it seemed like the right move to go for a touchdown, but at the end, a Mario Danelo field goal would have given us the win. It seemed like an unusual move, Pete Carroll usually doesn't chase points, and any points at that point of the game was better than nothing. But it was really encouraging to see the team tighten up to rally for 21 straight points to close the game to 2 points, but at the end, we could not finish the deal. I think it was good for us to finally lose. We do not have the pressure of trying to remain undefeated for the rest of the year, and I think it will really loosen the team up. I think its the same thing with the Cal game three years ago, after that, the offense scored 40 or more points for 8 straight games and the team made the Rose Bowl and won the AP national championship, which also carried over for the next two seasons. I really hope the coaches will loosen their grip on the team and just let them have some fun. Stanford seems like a great place to start, but could also be a mini trap game with Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, and UCLA to finish up the season, but I hope USC wins that game 49-0. I can't say that I'm pissed about the loss, I'm glad that we didn't get blown out and were able to come within a two point conversion of overtime, and John David Booty really grew up in the second half. His only interception was a killer, but it wasn't the worst pass he's thrown, and Steve Smith will be making money on Sundays next year, with his 10 reception, 257 (!) yard game to go along with 2 touchdowns was really clutch. I guess something in the Northwest sets him off. After having a solid game two weeks ago, Chauncey Washington really disappointed with his two fumbles, but did atone for it a little bit by converting on our first two pointer. And the defense really wasn't that bad after the first touchdown drive by the Beavers. The defense gave up only one more touchdown (the other was on a punt return) and held Oregon State to six field goal tries. Too bad they also have the Lou Groza winner Alexis Serna on their team, who drilled a 53 yarder which was also a difference in the game. But its over now, the 38 game regular season win streak, the 27 game Pac-10 win streak, and so much more. But I'm not upset. I'm proud of the team. For a rebuilding team, they showed a lot of guts to regroup and rally together, and it took 4 turnovers on the road to defeat us, and with all that, we still lost by only two points. I know there's no such thing as moral victories, and I don't think this was one of them, but the second half shows a lot of promise for the team in the remainder of the year. We still have a shot at the Rose Bowl, though we'd have to beat Oregon, Cal, and UCLA to do it, as Notre Dame is not a conference opponent, so if it fell out that way, we'd finish 10-2 with a 8-1 record in conference (tied for first with Cal), but we'd hold the tiebreaker over Cal with a head to head victory. Not bad at all for a rebuilding year. Even in defeat, I'll give out the game balls:

Offense: Steve Smith may have had the big explosion, but I really admired QB John David Booty's poise and leadership to rally for the three late touchdowns. And for passing for 406 yards. His one interception was on a bad pass, but Dwayne Jarrett still had a shot to catch it, or at least prevent it from being intercepted.

Defense: LB Dallas Sartz hasn't played the best football this year, but he came up huge today, making 8 tackles, including 3 for loss, and 3 sacks which forced the Beavers to punt or go for long field goals in the second half which kept the game in striking distance for the Trojans.

Special Teams: Nothing really stood out again, especially with the bad punt coverage on the return, but for now I'll give it to DE Lawrence Jackson, who came up with his second blocked field goal of the year in the first quarter, which kept the game tied.

As for the season picks, I had USC (-10.5) 28, Oregon State 20. So much for that...

Season-to-date:
W-L - 6-1
Against the spread: 4-2-1

And my current Top 25:

1. Ohio State (9-0)
2. Michigan (9-0)
3. West Virginia (7-0)
4. Texas (8-1)
5. Louisville (7-0)
6. Auburn (8-1)
7. Florida (7-1)
8. Tennessee (7-1)
9. Notre Dame (7-1)
10. California (7-1)
11. Southern California (6-1)
12. Arkansas (7-1)
13. Boise State (8-0)
14. Rutgers (7-0)
15. Wisconsin (8-1)
16. Louisiana State (6-2)
17. Boston College (7-1)
18. Oklahoma (6-2)
19. Texas A&M (8-1)
20. Clemson (7-2)
    
21. Georgia Tech (6-2)
22. Wake Forest (7-1)
23. Oregon (6-2)
24. Tulsa (7-1)
25. Hawaii (6-2)