It Won’t Be A Cakewalk

September 23, 2008 by Dave C
Filed under NCAA Football, Pac 10

On Thursday night, the unanimous number-1 USC Trojans begin conference play against Pacific 10 opponents who have failed to live up to expectations thus far. The conference that began with four teams in the top 25 has been reduced to just number-1 USC in the AP Poll, while Oregon holds the 22nd spot in the Coaches Poll, despite losing at home to Boise St. last week.

To say that the weakness of the Pac-10 favors USC is an understatement, especially considering their “tougher” conference games (Oregon, California, ASU) will be played at the Coliseum.

But since when has conventional wisdom ever held true in college football!

Two years ago, the #2 USC Trojans were undefeated on Oct. 28, heading to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the unranked, three-loss Beavers. The Trojans were not only undefeated, but had won 38 consecutive regular season games and 27 straight games against Pac 10 teams. They looked poised to head to a third straight BCS Championship Game.

Things didn’t go as planned. The Beavers took an early lead and USC was forced to try and come back from down 33-17 in the 4th quarter. A USC touchdown and two-point conversion cut that lead to 33-25 and a late TD cut the lead to 33-31. That’s as close as USC would come though, as Jeff Van Orsow batted down John David Booty’s two-point conversion pass and the Beavers upset the conference bullies.

Looking back at that gigantic upset, I still think USC was prepared heading into that game. They executed on offense and special teams and played fairly well on defense. The difference was the Beavers treated this game like it was their BCS Title Game. They pulled out all the stops and took down the mighty Trojans.

This is the mentality that each Pac 10 team brings in their annual games against the Men of Troy. And it’s a smart mentality because in all likelihood, they won’t play a tougher team than USC.

These USC Trojans have been labelled by more than one expert as the best team of the Pete Carroll era. That’s a bold statement for a team that has only won two games - one against unranked Virginia, the other against overrated Ohio St. Granted they’ve annihilated both the Cavaliers and Buckeyes, but as far as I’m concerned, Carroll’s best team is still the 2004 Trojans — the team that went undefeated and obliterated Oklahoma in the championship game (ironically, the Sooners are number two again…). As good as quarterback Mark Sanchez has been, he’ll be the first to tell you that he hasn’t accomplished a thing yet. If it were up to him, he’d like to one-up Matt Leinart and not only go undefeated and win an outright title, but destroy everyone along the way. What he does realize, however, is teams like the Oregon St. Beavers will not just crown USC. They’re conference foes, not doormats.

Comments

2 Responses to “It Won’t Be A Cakewalk”

1
Kevin Lee Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 am
I hear ya on the fact that alot of teams will give them their best shot but when you are a 24pt. on the road like they are this week, you have to win these games going away I would say. If they were at home it would be at least a 30pt. line. Beavers have absolutely no business staying with USC. If OU can go into UW and win by over 40pts. then USC needs to put the wood to Oregon St. Just my 2 cents.
2
Zach Smith Says:
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Dave I have covered the Pac-10 for only a couple of years but I lived in Pac-10 country my entire life. This might be the worst the Pac-10 has been in over a decade. It really is below average. The Trojans should roll over opponents like the Beavers. No excuses, USC should run the table and do it with ease.