Dodgers Baseball!

So I got to go to a few more Dodgers games this year, probably due to having a car and a little more money to spend on baseball tickets, not to mention a couple of free box seats from NGC. Quick rundown of the games I've attended:

• April 18, 2009 - Dodgers 9, Rockies 5. Notable: My buddy Kenny's first trip to the all-you-can-eat bleachers in right field. Andre Ethier went 2-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI on his way to a 30-100 season. Manny Ramirez went 2-3 with 2 HR and 2 RBI about three weeks before he was suspended for 50 games for a fertility drug.
• June 28, 2009 - Mariners 4, Dodgers 2. Notable: First of three games this year where Hiroki Kuroda was the starting pitcher. Pretty average game otherwise as the Dodgers were cooling off from their hot start.
• August 5, 2009 - Brewers 4, Dodgers 1. Notable: First of two games sitting in the Baseline Box Seats at Dodger Stadium, which included all you can eat food at the Baseline Restaurant and preferred parking. Came day after Prince Fielder tried to enter the Dodger locker room after he was hit by a pitch in a 17-4 L.A. win. Crowd was hot for Fielder throughout the game. Trevor Hoffman picked up the save, first of two future Hall of Fame closers I saw this year.
• August 9, 2009 - Braves 8, Dodgers 2. Notable: Braves are 2-0 in games I've seen in person. Atlanta won the series 3-1. Jeff Weaver pitched three innings of perfect ball. Manny Ramirez hit a bloop double over Adam LaRoche. Braves scored 5 in the ninth to put the game away.
• August 20, 2009 - Dodgers 7, Cubs 2. Notable: Second game sitting in Baseline Box Seats. Jeff Weaver was the starting pitcher, but did not figure in the decision. Russell Martin, in a slump all season, hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to break open a 2-2 tie.
• September 6, 2009 - Padres 4, Dodgers 3. Notable: Picked up the first Manny Ramirez bobblehead after the game. Kuroda started and got the loss, Weaver pitched two innings of shutout ball in relief. Other than that, nothing too interesting.
• September 16, 2009 - Dodgers 3, Pirates 1. Notable: Picked up the second Manny Ramirez bobblehead (Curtain Call) at the game. Kuroda started and got the win, Broxton with the save. Matt Kemp homered to lead the Dodgers "B-team" (Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Manny Ramirez, Russell Martin all got the day off).
• September 18, 2009 - Mariners 3, Yankees 2. Notable: First game saw out of state of California (Dodgers, Angels, Padres). Mariner fans still despise Alex Rodriguez. Mariano Rivera with a rare blown save as Ichiro hit a walk-off home run to end the game. Felix Hernandez pitched a complete game for the win.
• September 20, 2009 - Dodgers 6, Giants 2. Notable: Bizarre game as we arrived in the bottom of the fifth due to traffic and late arrival from Seattle, missing Tim Lincecum, who was pulled after four innings. Ethier eclipsed the 30-100 mark with a home run in the 3rd.

Maybe I'll get to go to more baseball games next year. Looking forward to the Clippers starting at the end of October!

Air Corp grounded, Locker drives Huskies to upset

QB Jake Locker drove the Huskies on a 10 play, 63 yard drive over the final four minutes of the game, leading to a Erik Folk 22 yard field goal with three seconds remaining as Washington upset #3 USC, 16-13. Not much went right for the Trojans, as QB Aaron Corp, in his first career start, went 13-22 for 110 yards and an interception, though he was lucky not to throw more as Corp consistently locked on to his first option, and RB Joe McKnight had 11 rushes for 100 yards and USC's lone touchdown, but also fumbled twice. USC committed 8 penalties for 75 yards and fumbled the ball four times, with FB Stanley Havili and RB Stafon Johnson losing one each. The 110 yards passing by Corp was the lowest total in the Pete Carroll era.

I guess I'll look at the good before diving into the ugly. The defense, save for the final drive, did well without its leader, S Taylor Mays, holding the Huskies to 56 yards rushing. DE Nick Perry was the player of the game, with four tackles and two sacks. MLB Chris Gallippo continues his steady play, as he had 8 tackles and one pass breakup. And the other bright spot? K Jordan Congdon, who hit a 42-yarder to put USC up 10-0 early in the game and tied the game late with a 25 yard field goal. He also had the range on the field goal after time expired in the first half. But other than that? Ugh.

So what went wrong? Let's start with the QB, Air Corp. 13-22 for 110 yards is unacceptable for a USC QB. Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty, and Mark Sanchez were rolling in their graves. Probably didn't help that he had to step into freshman Matt Barkley's shoes after his game winning drive at Ohio State with a sprained shoulder. But no more second guessing on my part. Carroll was right on in naming Barkley the starter to start the season, as Barkley showed that he could lead a team, while Corp puttered around against a Washington team that gave up 349 yards passing to Idaho. IDAHO! But the guy named starter out of spring camp could only muster 110 yards against the same defense. Unreal. Can't really put much on the receivers, as Corp would force the ball to his first option, even if the receiver was covered well, but Damian Williams has to step up and be a leader on offense, because Steve Smith, Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, and Fred Davis aren't walking through those doors.

But all can't fall on Corp's shoulders. At least he wasn't a heralded group of running backs who combined for four fumbles. Fumble McGee McKnight had two fumbles, at least one of them he was stripped on, including on the Trojans' final drive, but USC recovered both. But the usually reliable Johnson fumbled on a 4th-and-1 run that he converted, which was a scoring drive, and Havili tried to make a play which he fumbled on as well. The most damaging thing about these turnovers, including Corp's turnover, was that they were all committed inside the UW 35 yard line, meaning those are points we fumbled away. I guess that would lead to the team scoring only 13 points against a Husky defense that was giving up 27 per game.

Penalties were killer as well, committing 8 for 75 yards. Remember last week when after the Ohio State win that I was happy with the fact that USC did not have too many penalties and only one turnover? Well BANG BANG, those things really came back to bite us in this game, and some of that has to go on the coaches, especially the minus-3 turnover ratio. What happened to the ball hawking defense? It seems we've gone vanilla on defense, the bend but don't break mentality leads to no big plays (only one play of more than 20 yards by Washington on offense), but no turnovers, and giving up a 3rd and 15 which would have given USC the ball back with a chance to win the game (or at least go to overtime). USC is minus-3 on the season in turnovers, a number which has to improve. But why the lack of takeaways? Is it the coaching? Is it the lack of ballhawking players on defense? Even the great Taylor Mays doesn't do much in the turnover game. Was it Nick Holt who took his strip play on defense with him to Washington? How could we not force one fumble, or turnover in this game?

But I guess in the long run, this game goes on the coaching. Carroll for not naming Corp the starter during the week. Brian Schneider for not improving the special teams, as it seemed on every single return, we would get a blocking in the back penalty, and our punter, Billy O'Malley, fails to punt the damn ball longer than 40 yards, I guess because it would hurt our punt coverage, which is terrible anyway. Not to mention our non-existant punt return game, outside of Williams' Reggie Bush-like return in the fourth quarter to set up Congdon's game tying field goal. Hey Pete Carroll, can I get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to coach special teams? Or even just a $100,000, as I have only one thing to coach the special teams units on: If you can see the opposing player's name on his jersey, DO NOT TOUCH HIM, DO NOT BLOCK HIM, JUST RUN AWAY. You already fucked up by letting him get past you on the return game. Good lord, these players may have talent, but not much for knowledge of the game. And having Jake Harfman just focus on kickoffs, when he hasn't had one touchback this season? Oh yeah, Schneider now has a chance to fuck up Mitch Mustain's future by having him punt as well. Fuck you guys.

Oh, but I haven't got to Jeremy Bates yet. I think I could have got more than 110 yards passing out of Air Corp. After three games, I've got Bates' offensive strategy down pat. Game one, find something that works, go with it, then dump it for the rest of the season (boot slide with a full back or tight end as the QB's safety valve). Game two, go with a QB sneak on every single 3rd- or 4th-and-1, then go with a HB dive with your FB on 3rd-and-1 with time running out in the first half with no timeouts left. WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE QB SNEAK THERE!?! Or even better, Pete, why not kick the field goal on third down? We lost yards anyway, and Congdon nailed the field goal that didn't count as time expired. On a play that was so successful against a more stout Ohio State defense, why not do it once? On a play that is deemed safe for our young QBs, why not call the boot slide more often? The boot slide is so safe because you have the FB or TE short, and if he gets open, the WR deep. But I think we've called that play twice in the past two games. For game 4, I don't know what Bates can neglect, as nothing went right on offense. Even the run game, which did net 250 yards, most of it in the first quarter, was nullified by the crafty Holt putting eight in the box, daring the shaky Corp to throw deep on them.

But even with all my complaining, I can't take away from the coaching performance put on by Coach Steve Sarkisian. He did a tremendous job getting his guys ready, and has transformed Jake Locker into a perfect dual threat QB. They deserved this win, and too bad he had to get his first marquee win over us. I will "Bark for Sark" the rest of the season. Though I will be thoroughly pissed if they shit the bed at Stanford next weekend. Just saying.

Oh well, here's the top 10:

1. Florida (3-0) - Tennessee did all it could to not get blown out by the Gators, always dangerous
   
2. Texas (3-0) - a win is a win in revenge games, even over an average Tech team
   
3. Alabama (3-0) - Arkansas showed spunk against Georgia, but won't be able to hang with Bama
   
4. California (3-0) - finally took care of those road woes, though they have to travel to Eugene next, always a tough place to play, just ask Utah
5. Penn State (3-0) - revenge game part deux! Lions should roll to a 21-3 win...
6. Mississippi (2-0) - good test at South Carolina in a short week
7. Louisiana State (3-0) - creeping up the polls, scrappy Bulldog team next
8. Boise State (3-0) - lone BCS buster team remaining, fun shootout against Fresno
9. Miami (Florida) (2-0) - astronomic rise up the polls, top 5 material if they beat Va Tech and:
10. Oklahoma (2-1) - next week, should be the game of the week (enough of College Gameday going to revenge games, unless they go to Oregon State/USC later)

And the Pac-10 rankings (yeah, no continunity, whatever):

1. California (3-0) - don't mess this up Bear fans, this is your year to make the Rose Bowl, especially with USC limping up to Berkeley next weekend
2. UCLA (3-0) - the defense is super scary, and I see more special teams touchdowns in their future
3. Oregon (2-1) - recovered from the Boise game, can make some waves with win over Cal
4. USC (2-1) - offense has shown nothing: "USC made Jay Leno's monologue last night when he said it stands for Unable to Score Consistently." Ugh
5. Washington (2-1) - please don't have a USC hangover and lose to Stanford
   
6. Oregon State (2-1) - P.S. to unranked Pac-10 teams who knock off USC, please do SOMETHING in OOC play, like beat Cincinnati at home. 
7. Arizona State (2-0) - Georgia rolls here
8. Arizona (2-1) - Fun fact: QB Willie Tuitama is now a waiter at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Tuscon
9. Stanford (2-1) - can they catch the Huskies snoozing? I think Sark is too good of a coach
   
10. Washington State (1-2) - nice comeback against SMU, and my lock of the week: they will cover the 44 spread at USC this week.

One final note, other than the loss to the Huskies, had a wonderful time in Seattle. People are so nice there, as we were wearing our USC gear and received nothing but well wishes for the game. Even walking back from the stadium to where we parked our car, we didn't get much hecklers or any fans trying to instigate anything. And the day we arrived was a beautiful day, sun shining and temperature in the 80s. Of course it had to rain on gameday, but that was expected. Good experience, hopefully I'll be able to go back and spend more time there, without the stress of a football game attached to it. And also got to strike a few things off my MLB list: see the Yankees, see Mariano Rivera pitch, and see a walkoff home run (Ichiro!). But I think the loss will make the Cal trip a little better, as we don't have to stress about losing anymore, since a national championship is no longer in reach, and Cal is the better team this year. And it's always nice travelling to the Bay Area.

Barkley, McKnight drive USC to comeback win against Ohio State

USC freshman QB Matt Barkley went 15-31 for 195 yards, including going 6-8 for 97 yards in drives that ended the first and second half, RB Joe McKnight had 105 all-purpose yards, including 54 in the game-winning drive and catching a 2-point conversion swing pass, and RB Stafon Johnson scored the game's first and last touchdowns as the Trojans overcame an sputtering offense for a come from behind win, 18-15. The offense was so bad, in fact, that when USC fell behind 12-10 on a high snap that sailed through the end zone, a lot of Trojan faithful felt like that could be the deciding margin.

I guess look at the bad first. Barkley didn't show much of an arm against San Jose State, rarely throwing down field. In this game, he didn't show off his arm either, and even then he only went 15-31. Not sure if it was the play calling, as a lot of the "safe" rollout plays that QB Coach Jeremy Bates called for against the Spartans were not seen against Ohio State. And there were no sustained drives either, other than the ones to end each half. USC's first touchdown was gift wrapped by MLB Chris Gallippo, who returned a Terrell Pryor pass 51 yards to the OSU 2, but even then it took the offense 4 plays to punch it home. In the second half, the Trojans had a miserable time trying to turn the field around, as it seemed the Buckeyes were always starting their drives in USC territory. But part of that could be on the dismal punting unit. P Billy O'Malley averaged 37.6 yards per punt with a long of 41, which was actually a touchback. So we have a punter who can't get distance and who can't coffin corner a team from 40 yards away? If he only has a 35 yard punt in his leg, why can't we have the punt unit get down there in time? And that's the second problem. The punt coverage and return units were terrible as well. They only allowed 14 punt returns, but that's back to O'Malley's weak leg. But the more telling stat was USC getting 0 punt return yards on 6 chances. There were several times where OSU P Jon Thoma "pooched" his kicks inside the 20, landing four of his punts there and still ending up with a higher average than O'Malley, who found himself trying to kick the stuffing out of the ball from his own endzone. But on every OSU punt, there were several Buckeyes surrounding Damian Williams before he could catch the ball, leaving him no choice but to signal for a fair catch. And staying with special teams... how can the #3 team in the nation not get a kicker that can kick a field goal from 44 yards straight away? And even if we did know that Jordan Congdon doesn't have a leg outside of 40, we do have a long distance kicker in Jake Harfman... where was he? We need to hire a special teams coach... oh wait...

But now for the positives... the defense, save to two long pass plays in the first quarter, we solid all game long. In fact, outside of a 54 yard pass to Dane Sanzenbacher and a 36 yarder to DeVier Posey, Pryor threw for only 87 yards. Both teams struggled to run the ball, due to the dominant defensive lines of both teams, as the longest run by an Ohio State running back was an 8 yard run by Dan Herron. But the defense had to play with a short field throughout the second half and gave up only 3 second half points. Another positive was that despite the struggles of the offense, the unit wasn't sloppy. Aside from Barkley being picked off in the second half, the offense stayed (relatively) penalty free, with 4 penalties for 30 yards, and no fumbles. That's a big plus, as in past games the Trojans have struggled in, it was due to numerous turnovers and penalties, so seeing USC not shoot themselves in the foot was nice to see, especially with a freshman quarterback in a hostile environment. Hmm, another positive... oh yeah, how 'bout those two drives to end each half? Nothing flashy, yet both were still things of beauty. It was part Barkley managing the game, part the running backs taking over, and part the offensive line parting the Buckeye defensive line. Barkley made a couple of throws to start the drive, but USC rode the back of McKnight, and Barkley snuck his way to two first downs behind Kris O'Dowd, and Johnson finished the drive from two yards out.

There has been a lot of criticism of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who many said he was too conservative and called bad plays on offense. First, I agreed with him punting before USC's final drive, as the Trojan offense showed nothing all game, and pinning them on the 14 yard line was better than going for a 53 yard field goal. But I can't agree with his choice to kick a field goal on 4th-and-goal from the 1 to start the second quarter. That's the game right there. The Buckeyes convert, they win. If they don't, well, they lose anyway. Tressel had to answer Big Balls Pete, instead he let his shrivel up as he sent out his kicker for an 18 yard field goal. And on offense, having Pryor pass the ball at all in the fourth quarter when they should have been trying to run out the clock instead of trying for the knockout punch. I cringed every time Ohio State ran the ball because of the precious time we lost on each run.

So even with the negatives about a sputtering offense and a horrific special teams (who wouldn't trade USC's special teams unit for UCLA's in a heartbeat?) I love this win. USC did not give away the game as much as yanked it away from Ohio State's grip. Barkley managed the final drive so beautifully. As much as the 14 play, 86 yard drive over 6:10 of the fourth quarter played with my heart, watching it again and again makes me smile:


But now on to Washington, or USC Northwest. Another tricky game with another mobile quarterback, this time with a better arm in another hostile environment. Another Pac-10 road opener... ugh I don't even want to relive that, but I guess I should:

• 09/25/08 - Oregon State 27, USC 21 (Oregon State led 21-0 at the half)
  
• 09/29/07 - USC 27, Washington 24 (3 turnovers, 16 penalties)
• 09/23/06 - USC 20, Arizona 3 (game was 10-3 to start fourth quarter)
• 09/24/05 - USC 45, Oregon 13 (Oregon jumped out to 13-0 lead)
• 09/25/04 - USC 31, Stanford 28 (Stanford led 28-17 at the half)
• 09/27/03 - California 34, USC 31, 3 O/T (Cal led 21-7 at the half, USC had 4 turnovers)
• 10/05/02 - Washington State 30, USC 27, O/T (10 penalties)
• 09/22/01 - Oregon 24, USC 22 (10 penalties, 4 fumbles, 3 interceptions)
• 09/30/00 - Oregon State 31, USC 21 (snapped USC's 26 game win streak over OrSt)
• 09/25/99 - Oregon 33, USC 30, 3 O/T (21! penalties)

 Ugh. Oh well, here's my top 10:

1. Florida (2-0) - won't have a test until Alabama/Ole Miss in the SEC CCG
2. Texas (2-0) - had the USC memorial slow start against Wyoming
3. Alabama (2-0) - cruising until Ole Miss game for chance to play Florida
4. USC (2-0) - still too many questions on offense and special teams
5. California (2-0) - I'm terrified of Jahvid Best
6. Penn State (2-0) - now the solid (if unspectacular) face of the Big Ten
7. Mississippi (1-0) - weak OOC schedule
8. Brigham Young (2-0) - another big test in first home game against Florida State
9. Boise State (2-0) - can we get BYU and Boise to schedule a home-and-home already?
10. Louisiana State (2-0) - by default, ugh

And the Pac-10 rankings

1. USC (2-0) - has Washington and Washington State to get ready for Cal
2. California (2-0) - can they finally win on the road? Minnesota will be a good test
3. Oregon State (2-0) - big test against Big East favorite Cincinnati
   
4. UCLA (2-0) - huge win over Tennessee, could be 3-0 entering Pac-10 play
5. Oregon (1-1) - rebounded against Purdue, Utah will be a test
6. Arizona State (1-0) - bye week hurt, but can't snooze on La-Monroe before Georgia
7. Arizona (2-0) - Iowa will show if Arizona will return to a bowl this year
8. Stanford (1-1) - blew 14 point lead at Wake, must recover against San Jose State
9. Washington (1-1) - finally broke that 15 game losing streak, but USC comes into town
10. Washington State (0-2) - 0-12 may loom for Pullman...
    

Freshman Barkley leads Trojans to romp

USC true freshman QB Matt Barkley went 15-19 for 233 yards and a TD as the Trojans relied on a heavy but balanced running attack to blowout the San Jose State Spartans 56-3. USC slept-walked through the first quarter, as RB Joe McKnight and TE Anthony McCoy both lost fumbles, and P Billy O'Malley shanked a punt 24 yards, which led to a Spartan field goal to give them a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Barkley struggled with his reads, though to his credit, did not make any bad decisions out there.

The offense exploded behind the ground game, as RB Stafon Johnson scored on two short touchdown runs and RB Allen Bradford exploded for a 43 yard scoring run as well. McKnight redeemed himself with a short score to extend USC's lead to 28-3 at the half as the rout was on. McKnight added a 54-yard touchdown run two plays into the second half, and Barkley tossed his first touchdown pass to TE Rhett Ellison midway though the third at the Trojans led 42-3 after three quarters. RB Marc Tyler scored from one yard out after ripping off a 63 yard run, and backup QB Aaron Corp converted a late fourth-and-goal with a 13 yard scoring pass to D.J. Shoemate to end the scoring at 56-3.

Besides the first quarter, could not really find a fault with the play-calling, which included a heavy emphasis on the run game with McKnight, Johnson, and Bradford getting most of the early reps, and safe passing plays, which meant a lot of boot slide plays where Barkley was moved out of the pocket as the outlet receiver, whether it be a fullback or tight end, would slide into the open area. The defense, with a lot of new faces, was suffocating, though that probably was partially due to the playcalling by the Spartans. The Trojan D held the Spartans to 121 yards of offense, including a paltry 9 yards rushing, for an average of 2.0 yards per play. San Jose State called a lot of QB read plays, where the running back would run in front of the QB, who had the option to hand off or keep the ball for a run. But the QB always would hand off to the RB, and the defense picked up on that right away.

Nice to see a solid win by the Trojans, but there were a lot of intriguing stories in the first week of the 2009 college football season.

• #14 Boise State defended their home turf by defeating a sloppy #16 Oregon team, 19-8, in a game that will be remembered more for LeGarrette Blount's antics after the game, where he sucker-punched a Boise State player and got into an altercation with some Boise fans. Blount's defenders will say he was provoked, but those same people will also say the punch was an overreaction, and I applaud the University of Oregon for acting quickly and swiftly, suspending Blount for the rest of the year. I hope USC would do the same if any of our players behaved in a similar fashion, as it reflects poorly on the university, and Oregon will have to do a lot to reverse the perception that the nation has of the school for a long time.
• In the game of the week, #5 Alabama flexed its SEC muscle over #7 Virginia Tech, 34-24, in a game that the Tide dominated in offensive yards. A valiant effort by the Hokies, but it was just another black eye for the ACC in a poor showing by the conference. One game remains on the week 1 ACC schedule, but the damage has been done. A quick look at what has happened:
• #5 Alabama defeated #7 Virginia Tech 34-24 in Atlanta.
  
• Baylor, the perennial basement dweller of the Big 12, defeated Wake Forest on the road, 24-21.
• Division 1-AA (FCS) William & Mary defeated Virginia in Charlottsville, 26-14.
• Another FCS school, Richmond, defeated Duke in Durham, 24-16.
• Maryland failed to showup to Berkeley as the Golden Bears rolled, 52-13.
• #15 Georgia Tech, #21 North Carolina, and Boston College defeated their FCS opponents, meaning the ACC went 3-2 against FCS competition, worse than Pac-10's 0-4 banner day against the Mountain West last season.
• South Carolina defeated North Carolina State on the road, 7-3 in the first game of the 2009 college football season.
• Clemson holds the ACC's lone win over FBS competition, a 37-14 victory over something called Middle Tennessee State.
• Speaking of those pesky FCS teams, remember when scheduling an FCS team meant an automatic win? Not so fast my friend:
• @ #22 Iowa 17, Northern Iowa 16 (Iowa blocked two UNI field goals in the last seven seconds)
• @ Central Florida 28, Samford 24
  
• Richmond 24, @ Duke 16
  
• @ East Carolina 29, Appalachian State 24
• @ Hawaii 25, Central Arkansas 20
• @ Indiana 19, Eastern Kentucky 13
  
• @ Kansas State 21, UMass 17
  
• @ Marshall 31, Southern Illinois 28
• @ Southern Methodist 31, Stephen F. Austin 23
• Villanova 27, @ Temple 24
  
• William & Mary 26, @ Virginia 14
  
• @ West Virginia 33, Liberty 20
• @ Wyoming 29, Weber State 22
• @ Air Force 72, Nicholls State 0 (ok, maybe not...)
  
• #20 Brigham Young pulled off the upset of the week, rallying for a 14-13 win over a shell-shocked #3 Oklahoma in the gorgeous Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.  The Sooners lost the reigning Heisman Trophy winner QB Sam Bradford with a shoulder at the end of the second quarter, and lost all of the swagger they had entering the game. Another early season blunder by coach Bob Stoops, and it will take a lot of repairing by Oklahoma for them to return to the Big XII title game.
• Washington gave #11 LSU all it could handle in Seattle in coach Steve Sarkisian's coaching debut. The Tigers won 31-23 after the Huskies scored a touchdown as time expiried, but LSU looks far from being a national title contender.
• #6 Ohio State almost got caught looking ahead to their date with USC, as Navy almost pulled off the shocker, instead they fell 31-27 after the Midshipmen's attempt to tie the game on a two point conversion was intercepted and returned for a safety. But despite Navy's heroics in closing the game to a two point game, their playcalling on the conversion was terrible, calling for a drop back pass instead of running from their base triple option offense. Ugh, the Buckeyes knew that was pass all the way. But Ohio State, who needed a late punt return to pull away from Ohio last year, 26-14, again struggled with their opponent before the USC game. And USC looked terrific against San Jose State. That said, I still give the slight edge to Terrell Pryor, who made some big legs with his arm and legs today.

And my top 10 (too early to know how to rank 25 teams...)

1. Florida (1-0) - failed to cover that 73 point spread, but Urban Meyer knows there are bigger fish to fry down the road, say Tennessee in two weeks
2. Texas (1-0) - giving up 20 points to Louisiana-Monroe probably not a good sign for the defense, and McCoy only converted 72% of his passes. Weaksauce.
3. Alabama (1-0) - give them credit for showing up huge in a big game in the first week of the season. The defense, despite the score, shut down the Hokies all day.
4. USC (1-0) - looks more like the #4 team than before today's romp. I had them slightly lower.
5. Oklahoma State (1-0) - the best team in Oklahoma? Gasp. But shut up those SEC supporters, so they get some extra points.
6. California (1-0) - are they the real deal this year? They looked like it in a romp over Maryland today
7. Ohio State (1-0) - very shaky against Navy, but could get back on track with a huge win over USC next week
8. Penn State (1-0) - jumped out 31-0 and went on cruise control, though may have to start impressing voters with their weak schedule
9. Mississippi (0-0) - ditto here, a blowout over Memphis on Sunday will keep them in top 10, if not, other teams will come knocking, like
   
10. Brigham Young (1-0) - Has a much bigger win on their resume than Boise State, and could be in the national championship hunt with their formidable schedule (Florida State, Utah, TCU remaining)

And the Pac-10 rankings

1. USC (1-0)
2. California (1-0) - though more like 1a. Very impressed with them. October 3rd can't get here fast enough for them.
3. Oregon State (1-0)
4. Arizona State (1-0)
5. Stanford (1-0) - finally get to a bowl?
   
6. UCLA (1-0) - looked promising when they fell behind 14-3, but proved to be too much for the Aztecs by scoring the game's final 30 points
   
7. Oregon (0-1) - ugly offense, uglier post game antics
   
8. Washington (1-0) - great effort should translate into a win against Idaho
   
9. Arizona (1-0) - struggled to score against Central Michigan
   
10. Washington State (0-1) - not expected to leave this spot all year
    

NCAA Football Week 1

A look to the opening week of the college football season (with picks! though they are poor ones...) (lines taken on Tuesday, September 1):

Thursday, September 3
#16 Oregon (+4) 42, #14 Boise State 38
#19 Utah (-22.5) 35, Utah State 10

Saturday, September 5
#1 Florida (OFF) 76, Charleston Southern 0
#2 Texas (-41.5) 66, Louisiana-Monroe 14
#3 Oklahoma (-22.5) 56, #20 Brigham Young 31
#4 USC (-34) 31, San Jose State 6
#5 Alabama (-6) 20, #7 Virginia Tech 16
#6 Ohio State (-22) 31, Navy 10
#9 Penn State (-27) 45, Akron 3
#11 Louisiana State (-17.5) 42, Washington 17
#12 California (-21.5) 31, Maryland 17
#13 Georgia (+5.5) 21, #9 Oklahoma State 19
#15 Georgia Tech (OFF) 56, Jacksonville State 7
#21 North Carolina (OFF) 49, The Citadel 7
#22 Iowa (OFF) 42, Northern Iowa 14
#23 Notre Dame (-14.5) 24, Nevada 14
#24 Nebraska (-22.5) 38, Florida Atlantic 13
#25 Kansas (OFF) 52, Northern Colorado 21
Arizona (-13.5) 45, Central Michigan 35
Arizona State (OFF) 31, Idaho State 13
Oregon State (OFF) 45, Portland State 0
Stanford (-16.5) 42, Washington State 17
UCLA (-20) 31, San Diego State 14

Sunday, September 6
#8 Mississippi (-16.5) 38, Memphis 10

Monday, September 7
#18 Florida State (-6) 10, Miami (Florida) 7

Against the Spread: 5-11 (this is why I don't bet on sports...)

And my prediction for the Pac-10 standings:

1. USC
2. California
3. Oregon
4. Oregon State
5. UCLA
6. Arizona State
7. Stanford
8. Arizona
9. Washington
10. Washington State

Yes, it's a slow day at work...

2009 USC Football Preview

Less than a week away from the start of the 2009 college football season! With the return of the NFL a week later, and the NBA at the end of October, the dog days of summer and baseball are nearing an end. What better time for a quick look to the reigning 7-time Pacific-10 conference and 3-time Rose Bowl champions, the USC Trojans? Hopefully I'll keep up with the Pac-10 ratings week in and week out like last year, baring another Stanford-like collapse. The Trojans have one of the toughest road schedules in the nation, travelling twice to the midwest to take on The Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, OH and the resurgent Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, IN in out of conference action, not to mention going to Berkeley, CA to take on the California Golden Bears, the chic pick for the Pac-10 crown this year, and Eugene, OR to face the Oregon Ducks, a state where USC has not won since 2005. A weak finish to the season means that for USC to win their eighth straight Pac-10 championship and make another appearance in the Rose Bowl game, they need to take care of business against Cal and Oregon.

Quick look back at last season, where the Trojans finished 12-1 (8-1 Pac-10) to win their seventh straight Pac-10 championship and third straight Rose Bowl game. The season started with high expectations behind a defense returning 10 of 11 starters and the start of the Mark Sanchez era. Things started off well for USC, going all the way to Charlottesville, VA to take on the Virginia Cavaliers, where the Trojans scored early and often en route to a 52-7 romp. Mark Sanchez went 26-35 for 338 yards, 3 TD, and an INT while seven different players scored a touchdown.

After a bye, the class of the Big Ten, the Ohio State Buckeyes made a rare trip west to play the Trojans. The Buckeyes struck first with a short field goal after marching down the field under the direction of both senior QB Todd Boeckman and true freshman QB Terrell Pryor. But after that it was all USC, as Sanchez went 17-28 for 172 yards, 4 TD, and an INT, Damian Williams hauled in two third quarter touchdowns, and Rey Maualuga had a game-changing 48 yard interception return for TD. USC would go on to win 35-3 as things looked promising for USC, having passed their biggest test of the year.

But the Trojans' fast start was quickly derailed in Corvalis, OR by the Oregon State Beavers, who came into the game with a 1-2 record. USC struggled to move the ball in the first half and sustain any drives, while Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year Jacquizz Rodgers ripped the defense for 186 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. The Trojans found themselves down 21-0 at the half, but was able to cut it to a seven point game before a Sanchez interception was returned to the two yard line, which was quickly cashed in by Rodgers to put the game out of reach, which the Beavs won 27-21. While this loss did not look as bad the rest of the season as Oregon State finished the season with 9 wins, USC could not recover from this loss and were never really considered for the BCS National Championship the rest of the season. In fact, their string of conference championships were in doubt as Oregon State continued to defeat other teams in Pac-10 play.

USC did not have much time to lick their wounds as the always dangerous Oregon Ducks made their way down to Los Angeles. A quick start by the Ducks, down to their third string QB, Jeremiah Masoli, jumped out to a 10-3 lead, silencing the home crowd. But the Trojans were able to regroup, scoring 24 unanswered points heading into halftime to send the stunned Oregon team down 27-10 at the half. USC scored 17 more points in the second half to win 44-10 and start an unprecedented streak of unanswered points scored over the course of three games. Sanchez recovered from his poor game in Corvalis, going 19-28 with 332 yards and 3 TD while David Buehler scored 14 points and kept the Ducks with poor field position with his booming kickoffs.

The downtrodden Arizona State Sun Devils next came to the Coliseum, not having recovered from their upset at the hands of the UNLV Rebels and the spanking they received from the Georgia Bulldogs. USC rushed out to a comfortable 21-0 lead after Kevin Thomas returned a Rudy Carpenter pass 46 yards for a touchdown, but sloppy play dominated the rest of the game, as the Trojan special teams blocked two Thomas Weber field goals, USC committed five turnovers, including four on four consecutive possessions, Sanchez threw three interceptions, and both teams struggled to sustain any drives. At the end of the day, a shutout (28-0) is nice, but lack of consistency with the offense would rear its ugly head in future games.

But nothing the Washington State Cougars could do would prevent their demise, a 69-0 shellacking in Pullman, WA. Sanchez carved through the porous Coug defense, throwing 15-20 for 253 yards and 5 TD in the first half before coach Pete Carroll decided to pull back a bit. C.J. Gable had 16 rushed for 104 yards and 3 TD and Broderick Green rumbled for 126 yards on 18 carries and 2 touchdowns before he decided to transfer to Arkansas. That impressive streak of unanswered points mentioned in the Oregon paragraph? Add the 41 points to close the Oregon game, the 28 points in the ASU game, and 69 more against Wazzu, and that streak was up to 138-0. Not to shabby.

But also remember the lack of consistency in the offense from the ASU paragraph? It happened in Tuscon against the Arizona Wildcats, as they again came oh-so-close to knocking USC off its Pac-10 throne. Sanchez went 21-36 for 216 yards, a TD, an INT, and a fumble which led to Arizona tying the game at 10 midway through the third quarter. USC did just enough to win, though, as Sanchez found fullback Stanley Havili for a 30 yard bomb for the final margin of 17-10, and the defense held the prolific Wildcat offense to 188 yards and made a key fourth-and-1 stop late in the final quarter to hold on for the win. By the way, that unanswered scores streak ended at 141 after Jason Bondzio kicked a field goal in the second quarter.

The Washington Huskies would be the cureall for the Trojans' offensive woes, as they were in the midst of sleepwalking through a 0-12 season, which showed in a 56-0 USC win. USC jumped out to a 42-0 halftime lead behind Patrick Turner's 6 catches for 100 yards and 2 TDs and Gable's 10 carries for 108 yards and 2 TDs. The final true test of the season would be against the Cal Bears, knocking on the door for the lead in the Pac-10 after defeating Oregon the week before.

The defense would hold its own again in Los Angeles as the Trojans held off the California Golden Bears 17-3, the eighth time USC held their opponents to 10 points or less. USC milked their 10-3 halftime lead until a late score by Ronald Johnson in a game mired by Trojan penalties (10 for 105 yards), but allowed only 165 yards of offense, including a paltry 27 rushing yards to a team that featured Jahvid Best, the "best" running back in the conference. While the Trojans passed their final test of the season, they still had to wait for Oregon State, the team who started the season 2-3, to lose to another Pac-10 foe, as they held the slim lead in the conference by virtue of their win over USC.

But USC almost overlooked the team that made them human in 2007, the Stanford Cardinal. Sanchez had trouble passing against the second worst pass defense in the Pac-10 (Wazzu was last), and the Trojans needed a 93 yard kickoff return by Gable to tie the game heading into halftime. USC went to the ground game to wear out the Cardinal behind Stafon Johnson's 14 carries for 115 yards and 2 TDs, and Sanchez hit Havili for a 50 yard bomb to blow the game open. Stanford scored as time expired for the final margin of 45-24.

The weekend of November 29th was a perfect one for USC, as their archrivals UCLA lost to Arizona State 34-9 after the Sun Devils scored four defensive touchdowns, USC won their seventh straight against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and Oregon knocked off Oregon State in the Civil War, meaning USC was a victory over UCLA away from returning to the Rose Bowl game. But to the game itself, USC flexed its muscle against the Irish, downtrodden after their upset to lowly Syracuse in South Bend the week before. Joe McKnight ripped off a 55 yard run to blow the game open as the defense held the Irish to without a first down until the end of the third quarter and allowed 91 yards of total offense on the way to a 38-3 win.

The feisty UCLA Bruins, under new coach Rick Neuheisel, was the only thing standing between USC and the Rose Bowl, a similar scenario to 2006, when the Bruins upset then #2 USC 13-9, keeping the Trojans out of the BCS National Championship and starting Florida's reign of terror. And it looked like history would repeat itself, as UCLA turned a Gable fumble into a reverse pass from Dominique Johnson to Kahlil Bell for a quick 7-0 lead. But this time, the Trojans responded quick and often. Wearing their home cardinal in the Rose Bowl as a visitor for the first time in decades, USC scored three times to take a 21-7 lead into the half. By then, UCLA's offensive woes combined with USC's suffocating defense meant little the Bruins could do would change the outcome of the game. The Trojans held on to the ball for over 36 minutes as they won 28-7, clinching their fourth straight Rose Bowl berth and seventh Pac-10 conference championship, fourth outright.

Waiting for USC would be the Big Ten champion Penn State Nittany Lions, coming off a strong 11-1 campaign where they fell 24-23 at Iowa for their only set back. Featuring their HD offense, Penn State hoped to end the Big Ten's failure to appear in big games. But after trading first quarter touchdowns, USC scored 24 second quarter points to take a commanding 31-7 lead. Sanchez went 28-35 (setting a Rose Bowl completion record) for 413 yards and 4 TD and rushed for another score as the slow Penn State defense could not keep up with the speedy Trojan receivers, especially Williams, who had 10 catches for 162 yards and a TD. Penn State showed some fight late as USC was sloppy at the end of the game, making the final score a respectable 38-24. USC finished the season ranked #2 behind BCS champion Florida.

Ok, so maybe not so quick look back at the season. In the offseason, Sanchez declared early for the draft, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian took the head coaching job at Washington and took defensive coordinator Nick Holt with him, causing a lot of shuffling in the coaching ranks. Taylor Mays opted to stay in college, hoping to have some continuity in the defense. Matt Barkley headlined another top 10 recruiting class that made more news for the players who signed elsewhere than the actual haul made by Carroll. So a look at the team that will take the field on Saturdays this year:

Offense

Quarterback
#7 Matt Barkley - Barkley will be the first true freshman to start the season opener in USC history. At least he will have a game to get his feet wet before the test against Ohio State. Checked him out at the mock game on Saturday, and I would give him an average grade. He obviously has the tools to be a four year starter here, but his decision making must improve quickly. There were several time he tried to force a pass when the obvious choice was to throw the ball away. Carroll had a quote saying that Barkley has the same problem that Sanchez had last year, trying always to make the big play, which led in part to John David Booty being a two year starter at USC, since Booty played smarter, even if he didn't have the big play ability of Sanchez. Aaron Corp was the save choice here, as he made better decisions with the ball and has the ability to scramble for yards when no receivers are open. Hopefully Corp will be able to get some reps in against San Jose State in case he is needed for Ohio State. Mitch Mustain and Garrett Green round out the depth chart.

Running Back
#4 Joe McKnight OR #2 C.J. Gable OR #13 Stafon Johnson OR #21 Allen Bradford - McKnight starts because he has that big play ability, as in he can break away for a touchdown on any run. But there are sometimes that a hole is open for a 5-7 yard gain that McKnight declines in hopes for a big play that just isn't there and runs in the wrong direction. Oh and there's that fumble issue that needs to be resolved pronto if he wants to be the next Reggie Bush. Gable should be the every down back along with Johnson (since we must insist on a stable of running backs), as Gable can block and catch out of the backfield. Johnson is the workhorse, especially near the goal line as he has a nose for the endzone. Bradford will most likely be in on kickoff coverage and as a fullback on those bootleg plays where he leaks out for a catch, but he showed his ability in the scrimmage, when he was in beast mode. If I had my wish, Johnson would bet 20+ carries a game and the rest would just take it, but it's awfully hard to keep such talented backs on the bench. Marc Tyler and Curtis McNeal should see mop-up time in blowouts.

Fullback
#31 Stanley Havili - Was academically ineligible for the Rose Bowl game against Penn State, but we need him back there, as a threat to catch the ball, and for those fullback dive plays which almost always seem to work. The only problems with him are to stay eligible for the season and stay healthy. D.J. Shoemate should share some time with Havili.

Flanker
#18 Damian Williams - Note to Barkley, look for D-Will early and often. Williams has the chance to be one of the best receivers in the conference, if not the nation, as long as Barkley uses him as a security blanket out there. Williams looked really smooth at the scrimmage, both as a receiver and punt returner. Barkley definitely has a lot of options at receiver out there, as will be noted soon enough, and if the offensive line can gel in front of him, all he would need to do is improve his decision making. Back to Williams, as he led the team in receptions (58) and yards (871) and scored 9 times last year. Travon Patterson and true freshman De'Von Flournoy should see time at flanker as well.

Split End
#8 Ronald Johnson #9 David Ausberry - Well this one hurt, as RoJo broke his clavicle in the mock game, which will keep him out of action for at least two months. Gone is Barkley's deep play threat and probably the fastest receiver on the team. Oh well. Ausberry is in the Mike Williams mold: big, physical receiver, and should be able to show his skills with ample playing time. Brice Butler is his backup, but should see a lot of time in three receiver sets.

Tight End
#86 Anthony McCoy - Quite the reverse from 2007, when Mackey Award winner Fred Davis led the Trojans in receptions, yards, and TDs, on a team that lacked depths at receiver, as in 2008, McCoy finished fifth in receptions and yards with only one TD. Could have been due to the QB too, or the drop off in talent from Davis to McCoy. Regardless, McCoy, now a senior, should provide a short range target for Barkley and another set of reliable hands for the true freshman. Looking at the set of receivers the Trojans do have, Williams, Havili, McCoy, and even Ausberry all can catch the ball and should help Barkley's transition to D-1 football.

Offensive Line
#71 Charles Brown (LT), #68 Butch Lewis (LG), #53 Jeff Byers (C), #56 Alex Parsons (RG), #70 Tyron Smith (RT) - A lot of experience, except at RT on this line. The O-line took a slight hit when USC lost C Kris O'Dowd with a knee injury for about a month, but Byers, on his Hershel Dennis memorial sixth year of eligibility, should hold down the center position until O'Dowd's return. This group should give Barkley ample time in the pocket, hopefully not long enough to make a bad decision out there...(yeah, still not feeling the Barkley decision...). Zack Heberer and Nick Howell are fifth year seniors who should be able to plug any holes on the line when needed.

Defense

Left Defensive End
#96 Wes Horton OR #97 Malik Jackson OR #8 Nick Perry - These three should do a decent job filling in for the injured Armond Armstead, who is out a couple of months with a broken foot. Shouldn't take a huge dropoff here, but big things were planned for Armstead.

Nose Tackle
#44 Christian Tupou - I guess Carroll saw a lot in Tupou to burn his redshirt to play him on a handful of downs in his freshman year. His wild hair flowing out of his helmet reminds me of Rey Maualuga, in that he will be a tenacious force on the D-line, but I also envision a couple of personal foul penalties on the opposing QB which may hurt us down the road. Another beast mode player, Hebron Fangupo, should cause trouble in the backfield as well.

Defensive Tackle
#91 Jurrell Casey OR #99 Averell Spicer - Man it seems like Spicer has been at SC forever. Casey made several plays in the scrimmage, and paired with Tupou in the middle, should keep pressure on opposing QBs all season.

Right Defensive End
#93 Everson Griffen - Is this the year Griffen makes the transition to LoJack like DE? Not sure, as his backup, freshman Devon Kennard, looks to be the most touted DE since, well, Griffen. Griffen made a splash in 2007 when he had 3.5 sacks against Oregon State, but hasn't made much noise since. Maybe Carroll should make Griffen read the Inner Game of Tennis like he made Jackson read. Or maybe he can just start another true freshman...

Strong Linebacker
#17 Mike Morgan - Wow, when I saw we signed Morgan a few years back out of Texas, I never saw him becoming a starter. I think this group of 'backers have a combined 0 starts between them (I could be wrong). But apparently what they lack in experience, they make up in speed. And hopefully intelligence. Because speed minus football smarts will lead to a lot of running past the guy with the ball, especially against those shifty running backs (seems like there's a shifty running back at Arizona, Oregon State, California, and a power back at Stanford and Oregon... ugh). Not much depth behind Morgan, as there are two more true freshman ready to step up, including Jarvis Jones.

Middle Linebacker
#54 Chris Galippo - Another highly regarded recruit who has come in and done nothing but get hurt... two back surgeries later, ladies and gentlemen, your starting middle linebacker for the USC Trojans, Mr. Chris Galippo! Well, I guess it's better than his backups, who don't look to be ready either. But these guys are fast! Maybe this team can tackle Jacquizz Rodgers this year!

Weakside Linebacker
#6 Malcolm Smith - Gets extra points for being former WR Steve Smith's little younger brother. Steve is my favorite receiver of the time I've been following USC football (2003-present), narrowly edging Keary Colbert, since I was able to follow all four years he was a Trojan. As for Malcolm? He looks to be ready to step up into Keith Rivers and Kaluka Maiava's shoes. Jordan Campbell, another member of the Beast Mode team, is one of Smith's backups.

Cornerbacks
#15 Kevin Thomas and #24 Shareece Wright #36 Josh Pinkard - All I remember when I see Kevin Thomas is that ball he tipped in the end zone that was caught by James Rodgers at the end of the first half of the Oregon State game. And now he's our number one CB. And Shareece Wright fell half a grade short of being academically eligible for the fall. Ugh. Not saying I don't like Josh Pinkard... I LOVE Josh Pinkard. But I heart him even more as a safety than cornerback. Too bad he won't be able to show his stuff in his Hershel Dennis memorial sixth year of eligibility at safety. Thank you Shareece Wright, you can go back to getting into more fights... T.J. Bryant and Brian Baucham should also see some time at corner.

Strong Safety
#26 Will Harris - The only good thing about Wright being lost for the year is that Harris will be able to play a lot more. I was thinking that we could even go with three safties (Harris and Pinkard deep, Mays playing much closer to the line, almost like the third linebacker the safety would replace).

Free Safety
#2 Taylor Mays - Saved the best for last. By the end of the season, may be my favorite Trojan defender of the Pete Carroll era. Could be hampered a bit by the new rule that prohibits big hits on "defenseless" receivers, but if Carroll allows him to be more of a playmaker (like Troy Polamalu) instead of being the safety net on defense, Mays could have a monster year. Or get hurt (shudders at the thought)...

Special Teams

Coach
Brian Schneider - The biggest move of the offseason was the hiring of a dedicated special teams coach, probably due to all of the loses the Trojans suffered when Sarkisian took half the staff up north to UW. Still some problems in the return game, as one play in the scrimmage, two blockers failed to block the gunners, Brandon Carswell decided to take a kickoff from deep in the end zone and took it out to the five yard line, and our newly minted kicker, Jordan Congdon, missed a PAT, and "Big Balls" Pete decided to not try any field goals in the scrimmage, so we were not able to see Congdon's range (limited to 40 yards) nor JC transfer Jake Harfman's big leg. Sigh.

Place Kicker
#38 Jordan Congdon - Beat out Joe Houston and Harfman to be the kicker. Seems like a safe, solid pick (a la Booty of Sanchez), as Harfman has the bigger leg (like David Buehler), but Congdon seems very reliable inside 40 yards and on PATs (hopefully). Harfman will handle the kickoff duties, and was thought to be the punter too, as he had some booming kicks at the scrimmage, until Carroll named

Punter
#39 Billy O'Malley - the punter. Ugh. I'm having flashbacks of Greg Woidneck here. Does Tom Malone still have any eligibility left?

Punt Returner
#18 Damian Williams - I'm over joyed by this one. Just stay healthy out there D-Will.

Kick Returners
#2 C.J. Gable and #6 Curtis McNeal - Gable was solid on returns last season, and McNeal should be a Darren Sprolles type out there. Ronald Johnson would have been here sans his broken collarbone...

As for the season outlook? 10 wins may be below the standard for USC these days, but it could happen this year. A tough second week game in Columbus with an outstanding duel threat quarterback at the helm for Ohio State could end the Trojan's reign over the Big Ten, which looks like this:

September 7, 1996 - W @ Illinois (55-3)
August 30, 1998 - W vs. Purdue (27-17)
August 27, 2000 - W vs. Penn State (29-5)
January 2, 2003 (Orange Bowl) - W vs. #3 Iowa (38-17)
January 1, 2004 (Rose Bowl) - W vs. #4 Michigan (28-14)
January 1, 2007 (Rose Bowl) - W vs. #3 Michigan (32-18)
January 1, 2008 (Rose Bowl) - W vs. #13 Illinois (49-17)
September 13, 2008 - W vs. #5 Ohio State (35-3)
January 1, 2009 (Rose Bowl) - W vs. #8 Penn State (38-24)

USC will probably split the Oregon/Cal road games, both of which could decide the Pac-10 crown this year. Cal is a dangerous team with prolific runner Jahvid Best, and the Oregon schools always give USC trouble in the state of Oregon:

October 24, 1998 - L @ Oregon State (17-13)
September 25, 1999 - L @ Oregon (33-30, 3 O/T)
September 30, 2000 - L @ Oregon State (31-21, snapped USC's 26 game win streak over OSU)
September 22, 2001 - L @ Oregon (24-22, Oregon made field goal with 12 seconds left)
October 26, 2002 - W @ Oregon (44-33, trailed 19-14 at the half)
November 6, 2004 - W @ Oregon State (28-20, fell behind 13-0 to start game)
September 24, 2005 - W @ Oregon (45-13, fell behind 13-0 to start game)
October 28, 2006 - L @ Oregon State (33-31, trailed 33-10 midway through third)
October 27, 2007 - L @ Oregon (24-17)
September 25, 2008 - L @ Oregon State (27-21, trailed 21-0 at halftime)

3-7 in the last 10 games in the state of Oregon, and trailed in every game? Not good...

What do I expect? Always expect great (ew, WNBA motto for the year...). This is truly a rebuilding year for the Trojans, replacing 10 of 11 starters on defense and Sanchez on offense, as well as the entire kicking and punting units. The forgotten loss would also be the loss of the coaching staff that went up to Washington, as the Trojans have unproven offensive and defensive coordinators, though Carroll should stay in charge of the defense, and former Denver Broncos OC Jeremy Bates will be calling the plays. And the biggest question will be how Barkley will react in a game scenario? Will he be smart enough to either hit the dump off pass or throw it out of bounds rather than go for the big play? A Trojan QB has not had more than 10 interceptions in a year since Carson Palmer's sophomore season... will Barkley change that? Will he still be at the helm if it comes to that point? Will Aaron Corp become healthy enough to take the starting spot back? So many questions, and less than a week away from them being answered.

The different scenarios for the season: What should happen: A close set back in Columbus to Ohio State as Terrell Pryor scampers on 4th and goal from six yards out for the winning score with 19 seconds remaining as the Buckeyes win 31-28 and a loss to Oregon as Barkley throws a pick-6 as the Ducks win 24-17, with USC finishing 10-2, 8-1 Pac-10. The dream season would be 12-0, 9-0 Pac-10 with an upset over Florida in the BCS Championship game at the Rose Bowl. The worst that could happen? USC loses to Ohio State in a blowout, falls short at California and at Oregon, Notre Dame pulls a major upset en route to a 12-0 season and a spot in the BCS Championship, and UCLA pulls some trickery to shock USC as the Trojans finish 7-5, 6-3 Pac-10, then fall to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. Ugh. I've been thinking about the latter scenario waaay too much... Anyway, regardless of what happens to the team, it should be a great college football season, and I'll back the Trojans all the way. Fight on!