A few thoughts on one of the most disastrous occasions for a Trojan in living memory….
1. Despite the provocative title, while I think this is definitely the worst loss in USC football history, I believe the Michigan loss to Appalachian State was even more ignoble and pathetic. Michigan is the winningest program in collegiate football, was considered a strong national title contender, and lost to a "Hot, Hot, Hot" I-AA team with the lamest school promo video ever aired and which recruits kids from towns whose church leaders handle snakes.
As bad as Stanford is, they are a longstanding, hated rival of USC, they play us every year and are very familiar with our schemes and plays, and despite how horrible they have been the past few years, they still recruit classes ranked anywhere from 25-50 and regularly send players to the NFL (the League currently has 20 from the Farm).
2. I heard two things at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday evening that surprised me at first… but then made total sense. The first surprise came after USC failed to score at the end of the first half despite two tries from the one-yard line. A few scattered boos rained down from the crowd, and after a couple seconds, built into a modest crescendo. USC fans, booing their own team???
Predictably, an even greater number of USC fans booed lustily as the USC fans immediately ran off the field into the tunnel. But the second surprise came as Bea and I moved to the aisle and were held up until some of the crowd could clear. It took a few minutes to make any progress whatsoever down the Coliseum’s upper reaches, and just before we started moving, I heard clapping. Not just a few people here and there either — but virtually an entire section of USC fans around the tunnel at the east end of the Coliseum, as the Stanford players and coaches jubilantly walked, skipped, and jogged back to their locker room.
While I refrained from the booing, I couldn’t help but join in the clapping. And I’ve been pondering ever since just why that was so. As for the boo-birds, the fact is, I feel the booing was completely justified. While I couldn’t bring myself to boo anything USC-related not named Paul Hackett or O.J. Simpson, like my fellow fans that night, I couldn’t handle the sight of a team that played lethargically in Seattle and barely escaped a completely outmatched Washington Huskies team (unfortunately, I saw that disgraceful performance live as well), only to turn around and pathetically play even worse against the Stanford Cardinal and flat-out give the game away. Few things are as angering as spending upwards of $60 for a ticket to watch the team you love — one that is full of ridiculous talent and led by an amazing coach — drop easy pass after easy pass, refuse to block rushers, make mental mistake after dumb penalty after mental mistake, and throw interceptions at the worst possible moments. If Stanford actually outplayed us in any facet of the game save for playing with some heart and focus, I could forgive the loss, but the fact is Stanford had nothing to be proud of on that stat sheet except what showed on the scoreboard.
Yet the emotion that rose up in the fans and twice turned much of the Coliseum into a disgruntled flock of boo-birds is the same reason many of us who were still around clapped for the hated Cardinal players as they ran off the field. The Stanford band may be the ultimate disgrace, and goddamn that ridiculous, loser tree of a mascot, but those Cardinal players showed guts, focus, heart, and a refuse-to-lose attitude all because of a crazy, wacky coach believed in his players and made them believe in themselves. I’d trade half the talent on the USC roster for a few ounces of the character that Stanford team showed that night, and the clapping from my fellow Trojans showed I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The claps also showed that USC fans, in addition to having high standards and expectations for their team, can still display class to hated rivals even in the midst of utter humiliation — something some other tradition-rich fans completely lack (fUTLA has neither tradition nor class, and this is true of most of USC’s regular opponents save U-Dub and Notre Dame). The Stanford players just deserved a hand, that’s all there is to say.
3. John David Booty must be benched this week. In no way am I pinning the blame for the loss solely on Booty — as alluded to above, virtually everyone on the team made critical mistakes — but it’s apparent JDB just doesn’t have that special moxie that’s needed to pull a team out of a funk and will it on to victory. Actually, when it comes to lack of focus and heart, Booty not only isn’t part of the solution, he is part of the problem. It’s no coincidence that in the past two games which USC has looked horrible, Booty has thrown seven interceptions (one of them in the end zone, against Washington, was overturned on review). Teams rally to the quarterback, but this team simply doesn’t rally to John David Booty. And really, it shouldn’t be any surprise that this Evangel Christian star turned into a bust like the rest of his highly-coveted high-school predecessors. You don’t have to be a great quarterback to win a national title — see: Chris Leak, Florida, 2006 — but if you’re not a college phenom QB, you do have to command the fierce, outspoken loyalty of your team. And Booty clearly does not carry that type of swagger.
4. That being said, Pete Carroll has still backs Booty as his starter, if he is healthy enough to play this coming Saturday. Still, I say that, with or without Booty as our starting QB, I’ll be shocked if we lose another game. It is simply inconceivable we’ll come out this flat against ASU, Cal, Notre Dame, fUTLA, Oregon State, or Oregon. And while the team obviously didn’t learn its lesson after sleepwalking through the U-Dub game, I have to bet that the slap to their face this past Saturday finally woke them up. Indeed, if I’m PC, I’m handing out t-shirts to everyone on the team this week with big, bold letters that proclaim, "I LOST TO FREAKIN’ STANFORD!" The players should be forced to wear those shirts for the rest of the season under their jerseys, in practice, and in the games.
As for the chicken-littles who want to doubt USC and think we’re in deep, deep trouble, I call bullsh*t. Stats don’t win games, but they do speak to certain truths, and the truth is there isn’t a team on our schedule that can hang with us when we’re not beating ourselves. Really, who here wants to put their money where their mouth is and bet against the Trojans in Berkeley, in Eugene, or in Tempe? I’ll take that bet from each and every one of you, straight up. Despite three turnovers, Stanford couldn’t muster 100 yards on these Trojans through the first three quarters, and penalties (some stupid, some wrongly called) were the only reason Washington could keep a couple of drives alive against the Trojans. I’m not expecting USC to suddenly put it all together and play stellar for each of the next seven games, but no way do they have that many dropped passes, that many penalties, that many missed blocking assignments, and that many turnovers. Factor in getting some key starters back on our offensive line and on our defense, and we’re definitely due for a breakthrough.
5. Bitch about the polls all you want, but the reason USC is ranked 10 in one poll and 7 in the other is due mostly to the fact that, despite how badly USC killed itself, it barely lost this game, and most of the pollsters just couldn’t bring themselves to agree that there were more than six-to-nine teams that could beat USC if they played tomorrow. Few things are as predictable and as lame as whining about the placement of one-loss teams six weeks into the season. Words like "travesty" and "injustice" should be saved for the last couple of weeks of polling, when there are enough games played that more valid, unbiased comparisons can be made. I can’t help but point out that at this point in the season, even the recently-revered Stewart Mandel ranked South Carolina behind Georgia … two weeks in a row, after the Gamecocks handled the Bulldogs in Athens and then lost a brutally tough game in Baton Rouge to the now-unanimous #1 team.
My point is simple: If you can find a rational AP or Coaches’ ballot that lacks an obvious head-scratcher, you’re obviously not paying attention.
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Categories: USC, College Football
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October 9th, 2007 at 8:31:09 am
100% bullcrap! USC should not get sympathy points for narrowly edging a third class opponent like Stanford. Playing a team close is only relevant when the oppont is worth a damn, and giving the Cardinal accolades for being a team rich in heart and determination doesn’t mitigate USC’s pathetic performance. My view is that you cannot lose to Stanford and go to a national championship. There are still BCS hopes…but USC must play the difficult back end of their schedule perfect.
Injustice! Travesty! And I have a dozen other words to scream in the pollsters ears. This USC team has proved nothing this year to justify a top 10 ranking. Nebraska, the only opponent anyone would have thought was competitive, was exposed by Missouri. Moreover, because USC has achieved so little this year, the pollsters clearly factored in (consciously or unconsciously) the program’s reputation.
And let me just address the argument that complaining about rankings of one loss teams is petty. It is not petty; it is totally legitimate. Now that USC is ranked higher than Missouri (or similarly situated teams) it will be very difficult for those teams to jump USC unless there is another melt down (predictably, there will be). Time reinforces the rankings. If USC had beaten Cal or Oregon there would be some legitimacy to a top 10 ranking. However, USC has sputtered through the front end of a schedule that is hardly daunting. Teams like Missouri and Hawaii have done the one thing USC has not done…win all their games.
USC is a talented team, but they should have to fight back into the picture just like every other team that is embarrassed by a lowly opponent.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:07:18 am
9/11 ?
October 9th, 2007 at 11:19:17 am
If Nebraska was exposed, then USC had something to do with that too. In which case, Mizzou’s big win over the Huskers at home isn’t necessarily better than USC’s big win over the Huskers in Lincoln. The rest of Missouri’s schedule hasn’t been that impressive. Their best win before Nebraska was at Illinois, which came close to beating the Tigers despite having to play their backup QB. Missouri needed an interception at their own 1 yd line to save the game, one of 4 turnovers by the backup.
If Missouri beats Oklahoma in Norman this weekend, I bet they jump over USC. If USC and Missouri both win their remaining games, I’m not sure whether USC gets back ahead. Both teams will pass Cal and Oregon and Oklahoma, since that scenario requires those teams losing. For Mizzou to win out they not only have to beat the Sooners this weekend; they’ll have to beat whoever wins the Big 12 South… which could be OU even with 2 losses.
Similarly, Hawaii’s SOS hasn’t been overwhelming. Almost losing to La Tech hurt them given that they were starting from a position of being viewed with skepticism.
This is not to say that I think USC deserves to be as high as they are. If you want to complain about unbeatens lower than USC, Cincy and Arizona State (common opponent) have better cases than Hawaii, IMO.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:30:35 pm
True, you can’t be expected to beat yourself again in a similar manner as you almost did against Washington and did against Stanford, but isn’t there something to be said for the strength of your future opponents? The closeness of those two games was mostly due to USC’s poor play–but those two teams are also Pac 10 bottom feeders. Shouldn’t Oregon, Cal, and ASU be able to do something on their own to make life difficult for the Trojans?
This seems like confirmation-biased rationalizing to me.
October 9th, 2007 at 3:28:20 pm
That was classy to clap for the Stanford team. Quite a remarkable feat.
Yes, losing actually does suck, no matter how hard you try to rationalize it.
kcatnd
Notre Dame Fan
October 9th, 2007 at 4:21:05 pm
Doesn’t matter who is in this year. There will be more losses by Booty. Until Mustain steps in next year, SC will swirl downward into the toilet bowl. It will not be a Rose Bowl, let alone, the BCS Championship Bowl, this year.
I saw it coming when he 2nd string behind ML. He would come on in the 4th and play cleanup and instead would throw a pick and piss away a good lead. And I saw it coming last year when Booty became the starter and the all of a sudden the scoring was way down from the previous averages. Then he threw the farm away altogether, playing against Oregon ST. and UCLA.
This year he’s done nothing but stink the place up. If it wasn’t for our running game, we wouldn’t even be at 500!
October 9th, 2007 at 4:32:45 pm
1/28/86 vs. 12/7/41, or 9/1/39, or 6/12/94?
October 9th, 2007 at 4:50:18 pm
If you traded half your talent for some of standford’s heart, you likely would fall back to pack of the pac-10, and would no longer by a perenial top 5 team.
upsets are happening everywhere this year in football. yea this has to be hard to take for sc fans, but what can you do? the team has enough talent that they will be in the national title mix every year. if you’re an sc fan, enjoy watching the 30 or so NFL prospects you have on your team, and realize that when it comes down to it, your team got unlucky on one night. it happens to plenty of teams and luck goes both ways. think of how lucky florida had to get last year to win a national title. sometimes an inferior team comes out with some extra motivation and a good gameplan and get enough break to win the game. sc was in similar games the past few years but pulled them out. i really dont believe thats cause they were more “clutch” or anything, i think they just got the breaks. ive seen enough hearbreaking losses in sports over the past year all across this country that nothing raelly suprises me anymore. my point is that unlike fans of other teams that take ridiculously losses like this, sc is still in such a ridiculously great position to be successful for a long time, that while it sucks to deal with a game like this, this is something that should be able to be moved on from.
this post sucks but im gonna send it anyway
October 9th, 2007 at 7:13:05 pm
Stanford doesn’t deserve any praise. They didn’t put on an exceptional performance or play tremendous/flawless football (like UCLA last season). SC turned the ball over 5 times and couldn’t run a yard across the goal. The headline should read “USC defeats USC”.
The Trojans still control their own destiny despite what anyone thinks. If USC wins out they’ll get the vote with the humans and computers to go ahead of an undefeated Ohio St., USF or BC. They didn’t tumble far in the polls because anybody can slip. The voters KNOW SC has great talent. They know that Pete Carroll has never been blown out. They know that PC is 4-1 in the last 5 seasons in BCS bowl games and that his teams are the one’s that blow out the competition. Would any fan really want to see LSU blow out another crappy Ohio St. team if USC had 1-loss and wins over 4 top 25 schools? Ohio St. plays maybe 1 top 25 school the entire season and their schedule is a complete joke as is the fact that their BCS game was over after the 1st quarter last season against Florida.
That being said, if Booty continues to start for SC none of this post will matter (as if it did anyway).
October 9th, 2007 at 7:37:14 pm
Good post. Point #1 is exactly right. It has become fashionable to say that I-AA (FCS, whatever) teams are superior to BCS bottom feeders, but scanning NFL rosters tends to confirm that even those bottom feeders often have more talent than I-AA teams.
USC’s loss to Stanford was shocking but not as much as Michigan’s loss to App. State. It’s easy for people to talk about how “terrible” Stanford is because it plays a very tough schedule every year, with the Pac-10 slate and OOC games against Notre Dame and other tough opponents. I think it’s fair to say Stanford would post a decent record if it played a I-AA slate instead. This isn’t to suggest that it wasn’t a huge upset for them to beat USC, in LA no less, but I think a preseason poll of “which would be a bigger upset if it happened” would have favored App. State.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:36:47 pm
USC should not get sympathy points for narrowly edging a third class opponent like Stanford. Playing a team close is only relevant when the oppont is worth a damn, and giving the Cardinal accolades for being a team rich in heart and determination doesn’t mitigate USC’s pathetic performance.
Hmmm, not sure how you read my post as searching for “sympathy points” or saying USC’s performance wasn’t pathetic. Indeed, the last two weeks are the worst I’ve ever seen a PC-coached USC team play football, hands down. All the media stories have been glorifying Stanford this week, and while I am glad to see the hapless underdogs get a day in the sun, that doesn’t change the fact that “USC defeat[ed] USC”, as Sandy Underpants put it. I only brought up the stats point because it’s important to keep in mind that what we all knew is still true — that this team is scary loaded with talent — and the stats are bearing that point even in the last two games where we played atrociously.
My view is that you cannot lose to Stanford and go to a national championship. There are still BCS hopes…but USC must play the difficult back end of their schedule perfect.
I don’t necessarily disagree. I can see USC easily rising back into the top five, but they have to play up to expectations the rest of the way, and even then there are plenty of voters who will vote them no higher than #3 if it comes down to a BCS championship game beauty contest because of this lame loss to Stanford. But we need Stanford to not pull a Syracuse and instead pull a couple more upsets to show the world that Harbaugh is turning the Farm around and it’s time to start respecting the Cardinal again (similar to how Willingham made Washington relevant last year, even though they fell short of a bowl game). But if Stanford finishes 2-10, we’re freakin’ toast come BCS selection time.
True, you can’t be expected to beat yourself again in a similar manner as you almost did against Washington and did against Stanford, but isn’t there something to be said for the strength of your future opponents?
Have you ever seen a PC-coached team show up for a big game against a marquee opponent and not leave it all out on the field? Cal, Oregon, and ASU will be tough road games, but for sure Vegas will have the Trojans as favorites.
If you traded half your talent for some of standford’s heart, you likely would fall back to pack of the pac-10, and would no longer by a perenial top 5 team.
I think the 2002 Trojans disprove that thesis. We were not nearly as loaded as we are now, but guys like Palmer and Polamalu made us a killer team.
if you’re an sc fan, enjoy watching the 30 or so NFL prospects you have on your team, and realize that when it comes down to it, your team got unlucky on one night.
Talent, skill, focus, and execution make luck happen. We were not unlucky. The ball bouncing off the Boise State punt returner’s foot and into the Oklahoma player’s hands, that’s “unlucky”. PT dropping easy throws over the middle is not “unlucky”. Throwing four picks is not “unlucky”.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:08:24 pm
Pretty classless to compare the USC loss, however devastating, to JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster, and 9/11.
No one died when USC lost. Get a grip. Get a life.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:10:52 pm
Pretty humorless to anonymously waste 29 words slamming obvious over-the-top hyperbole. “Get a grip. Get a life.”
October 9th, 2007 at 11:50:06 pm
I think you make a lot of good points, Andrew, but I don’t think it’s fair to say, in Sandy’s words, “USC Beat USC”.
A lot of losses could have been victories for the defeated had they made one or two plays, not dropped a pass, or converted an extra point. Yet, we don’t always say, “that team clearly beat themselves” unless you’re acting like Notre Dame in September, sending the opening snap over the running back’s head…
Stanford completed some important passes at the end of the game - converting a 4th and 20, and then a tricky pass into the end zone. No one said that Notre Dame beat themselves when USC managed to convert a long 4th down and power across the goal-line in 2005. It was USC beating Notre Dame.
USC made a lot of mistakes in this game, but Stanford earned the victory. Taking advantage of an opponents mistakes is part of the game.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:35:05 am
Looks like Carroll will probably go with rapist Sanchez this weekend. I hope he can manage to throw less than 4 picks. I’m looking forward to witnessing the aftermath of the chaos he’ll bestow upon us this Saturday.
October 10th, 2007 at 5:04:35 pm
Bob gives me the chills
October 10th, 2007 at 5:58:44 pm
Sanchez is IN!! He should’ve been starting last year. (Unfortunately (because of Booty)) The Next USC Heisman Trophy Winner in action, finally.
Rape On!!!!!