Does defense really win championships?

I guess USC will find out the answer this year. Another impressive performance for the Trojan defense, which had pitched shutouts in 3 of the last 4 games, and probably would have if two penalties had not wiped out two interceptions. Four gripes about the game (save for the offense, thats for the next paragraph...) Penalties started to rack up again, with SC being flagged 10 times for 105 yards. Josh Pinkard showing that the Trojans do not know how to play the game, trying to return an interception 5 yards deep in the end zone instead of downing it for a touchback, which ended up in him being tackled at the 3 yard line. And apparently, if you can average 27 yards on your punts, you too can be USC's punter next season. Ugh Greg Woidneck. We need another Tom Malone type punter... There has been a lot of flack given to UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel saying punting is winning, but in this game, where the offense had a hard time sustaining drives and the defense failing to stop Cal's drives early, special teams would have really helped turn the field around and maybe given the offense good field position to get into field goal range. And what happened to Big Balls Pete? Punting from the 39 on 4th-and-5? What the hell!!! And worse, Woidneck kicked the ball only 20 yards!!!! FUCK!!!!


As good as the defense was, the offense had a hard time sustaining drives in the second half, especially in the third quarter. Hard to tell what the problem really was, but in the Mark Sanchez era, the Trojans have failed to score 20 points 3 times, something that didn't happen very often. One thing that has to go is Joe McKnight. He has been spectacular at times, but his fumbles, including one in the fourth quarter, have come at the worst of times and killed promising drives. He also only has one touchdown on the year, which came in the Virginia game. Please, keep the ball in C.J. Gable and Stafon Johnson's hands Sark. Geez looks like we've already lost another tailback, Broderick Green, due to lack of playing time. One thing that did improve was Sanchez going to the underneath receivers, be it the tight end or the fullback, and those were open most of the night. Also have to give credit to the Cal defense, which kept the Bears in the game.


But if the Trojan offense can score 10 points, it looks like USC should be in good shape all year. The defense has allowed 60 points all year, and if you take out the Oregon State game, USC has allowed a mere 33 points in eight games. Whoa. USC has only allowed one touchdown at home, and only two touchdowns all year in the second half, both on drives that started in the red zone.


Hmm, weekender next week...will SC exact revenge against the Cardinal? Will Pete Carroll extend his streak to 26 games in november? Will the Trojans score more than 20 points? If they don't, there goes the cover, which SC has done a decent job of doing this season... here's a quick look:


W @ Virginia (-20.5) 52-7
W vs. Ohio State (-12) 35-3
L @ Oregon State (-24) 21-27
W vs. Oregon (-16) 44-10
T vs. Arizona State (-28) 28-0
W @ Washington State (-42) 69-0
L @ Arizona (-15.5) 17-10
W vs. Washington (-45) 59-0
L vs. California 17-3
Record: 5-3-1

Oh well. Here's a look at the Pac-10 rankings:

1. USC (8-1 overall, 6-1 Pac-10) - Remember that key three game stretch two years ago, when SC hosted a top 25 Oregon team, top 10 Cal team, and top 6 Notre Dame team? Everyone was saying how if they got through that brutal stretch, the Trojans would be in the National Championship game. But we all forgot about the UCLA game. Darn. Anyway, this year's game should be fun, with the vaunted Bruin offense going up against the Trojan defense allowing 6.7 points per game. LOL. But first things first, revenge against Stanford, who has a physical running game which could cause trouble for the USC defense, and shutting down Tavita Pritchard, who burned USC for the game winning TD.
2. Oregon State (6-3, 5-1) - Mike Riley finally got a win over UCLA after 9 tries. Now, the Beavers enter a brutal stretch against Cal, Arizona, and Oregon. Lose one game and their Rose Bowl shots go down the drain. After the Trojans took care of Cal, Oregon State is the only team remaining that controls their Rose Bowl chances. And you know what, I'm kinda half rooting for them to win out, cause that makes the Trojans' loss to them seem not so bad. I mean look at their resume, outside of the egg they laid against Stanford, the Beavs have played relatively well. They got blown out to a Penn State team that is 9-1 in Happy Valley, always a tough place to play, and got screwed in their loss at Utah, who is 10-0, but other than that, just a string of solid wins. Look for them to finish down the stretch strong, as they have done in the past few years.
3. California (6-3, 4-2) - A season of what could have been for the Bears after a loss to Maryland and giving up a huge third quarter to Arizona. They can do SC a favor and do something USC has not done since 2004 and win in Corvalis, which would open up the chance for SC to make it to the Rose Bowl. Nate Longshore actually played well, especially when penalties wiped out two interceptions. But the Bears need to prove that they can finish strong after their poor finish last year, and can do so with a win over Oregon State.
4. Arizona (6-3, 4-2) - Finally became bowl eligible, and with 7 spots for 5 bowl teams (lol), save to say the Wildcats will go bowling for the first time in a while. Now to climb the bowl ladder to head to the Sun Bowl or even the Holiday Bowl, as the Cats still have to play Oregon and Oregon State, and holds any tiebreaker with Cal. And their climb up the ladder starts at Oregon next week, against a Ducks team that had problems putting away Stanford.
5. Oregon (7-3, 5-2) - Maybe they weren't who we thought they were? Really had problems with the Cardinal playing at home. And they need to pass the ball if they have any hope of finishing strong against Arizona and Oregon State.
6. Stanford (5-5, 4-3) - Will lightning strike twice for Stanford? USC fans certainly hope not. The Cardinal were thisclose to getting win number 6 and heading to a bowl game, but will have to beat either the Trojans (25-0 in November + 24-23 loss last year = motivated Trojans, hopefully) or the Bears, which after last year's upset in the Big Game, doesn't seem too far fetched.
7. Arizona State (3-6, 2-4) - Finally ended that six game losing steak, even if it take playing Washington. The Sun Devils still have a chance to make a bowl game, as they could potentially be riding a 3 game win streak heading into the season finale against Arizona, and those games the last few years have gone down to the wire, so anything can happen there. But first things first, oh well, who am I kidding, take care of UCLA after Thanksgiving (Wazzu is a lock for the Devils) and they could be playing for their bowl lives and a return trip to Honolulu against the Wildcats.
8. UCLA (3-6, 2-4) - Not only because they lost, but how they lost. Just completely shut down by the Beavers in the second half. But they should take care of business against Washington in Rick Neuheisel's homecoming (lol) to keep their long shot chances of a bowl game alive, but it may be hard for the Bruins, as they still host a hungry Arizona State team looking for their own bowl game shots, and a USC team, which frankly, has to stop overlooking teams, and will probably not overlook UCLA. Hopefully.
9. Washington (0-9, 0-6) - It would be hilarious if the Huskies could beat the Bruins. Other than that I got nothing for Washington and
10. Washington State (1-9, 0-7) - Washington State, but they did show some spunk in their blowouts this week. Baring any upsets, this should be how the Pac-10 should settle out at the end of the season...

And for the top 25...

1. Alabama (10-0) - Dammit LSU!!! I just started to like you guys again. Oh well, nice win in a hostile Death Valley for the Tide, who should roll into Atlanta to get blown out by Florida in the SEC championship game.
2. Texas Tech (10-0) - Solid win over Okie State quelled my doubts about this team, but their game in two weeks at Oklahoma might be a quarterfinal game for the national championship.
3. Florida (8-1) - Smacked around a helpless Vandy team. Maybe Pete Carroll needs to take a page out of cum, er, Coach Urban Meyer's book and run up the score on some teams, as it seems like something Meyer loves to do. What a jackass. And unfortunately, it looks like this asshole will be playing for another national championship, unless Florida State or Alabama (and another asshole Nick Saban) beats him in the next few weeks.
4. Texas (9-1) - Looks like that loss to Texas Tech might not be too damning, especially if the Sooners can beat the Raiders in a couple of weeks. I had something witty here with Mark Mangino and Vince Gill, er, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, but I got too frustrated with blogspot's picture attachments...
5. Oklahoma (9-1) - Huge game against Texas Tech in two weeks. But seriously, no defense in the Big 12!?! 94 points combined between them and Texas A&M!!! Seriously!?!
6. USC (7-1) - So when the Trojans play defense instead of blowing out teams with offense like the old days, USC is struggling? Gay. And speaking of defense, what happened to the SEC? I mean we don't want 3-2 barnburners, and shootouts are fun, but I thought the SEC was built on defense. Just saying.
7. Utah (10-0) - Played some close games recently, but still has big wins over Oregon State (who saw that coming?) and TCU, with the season finale against BYU in a couple of weeks. Still has the inside track on making another BCS game, as long as they take care of business.
8. Penn State (9-1) - Iowa is a good team, but Penn State was sooo close to making it to the national championship. Now? A loss to Michigan State and no Rose Bowl...
9. Boise State (9-0)
10. Ohio State (8-2)
11. Missouri (8-2)
12. Oklahoma State (8-2)
13. Texas Christian (9-2)
14. Brigham Young (9-1)
15. Ball State (9-0)
16. Georgia (8-2)
17. North Carolina (8-2)
18. Michigan State (9-2)
19. Louisiana State (6-3)
20. Pittsburgh (7-2)
21. Florida State (7-2)
22. Oregon State (6-3)
23. Tulsa (8-1)
24. South Carolina (7-3)
25. Western Michigan (8-2)