2007 Bye Week Edition - 9/10/07
As difficult as it is to draft this musings on a weekend my beloved Trojans do not play, it is important to keep them going. Admittedly, I have less musings when they have a bye week (not to mention less joy and fulfillment), but I digress ...
- What an interesting irony! In the season that Les Miles decided to pop off with his juvenile rant against USC and the Pac-10, we could (emphasis on the word, could) be facing a season where LSU is the only good team in the SEC (as USC has been the only truly impressive team in the Pac-10 in certain past years); simultaneously, we could be looking at a year where the Pac-10 is rather solid top-to-bottom ... It is too early to tell, but Coach Miles was already a horrificly dumb spokesman for southern football fans; it would be all too delicious if it proves to be the very opposite of what he intended.
- Why do I suggest such a bold thing so early in the season? Florida giving up 31 points to Troy in week 2 is not a positive sign. Auburn stank up the place en route to a defeat by Southern Florida Community College Girls Academy. Georgia is already out after a loss to South Carolina. Tennessee got outplayed and out-muscled and out-run by a better Cal team. The bottom half of the SEC looks very, very poor. So how does the Pac-10 look? Well, Oregon's blowout of Michigan in the Big House may prove to be not a big deal, as Michigan may be the worst team in D1 football this year. Cal did barely beat Colorado State, but is 2-0 with a whooping of SEC powerhouse Tennessee behind them. Washington shocked Boise State this weekend, and looks impressive. UCLA is 2-0, though they struggled at home with BYU. Arizona State may be the second or third best team in the Pac-10. Essentially, it is too early to tell anything, but I assure you Coach Miles is already thinking about it.
- Ironically, LSU certainly appears to be the top team in the country (or at least right up there). It may prove to be a total exercise in futility for him to insult other 19 year old kids in the middle of the summer before a new season had even begun. Like Coach Carroll has done since arriving on campus, he probably would do just fine to shut his mouth, and get out on the field and go.
- This next Saturday is a huge day for my Trojans. I do not think anyone knows if this team is roughly the same as last year's (still a damn good team), or more akin to the 04' team that was virtually impossible to score against. I do feel safe already predicting that the defense will be superior to the offense all season, but what I do not yet know is whether or not that is because the defense will be that good, or because the offense will be that inconsistent. A night time game in Lincoln, Nebraska should answer a lot of questions. Bring on the Huskers!
- Charlie Weis's agent is likely not calling as many NFL teams this year soliciting fake offers so as to pressure ND into offering more unneeded and above-market counter-offers to him. In fact, Charlie's agent may just want to laugh his way to the bank, and call it a day. I never in my wildest dreams thought that a Notre Dame-Michigan head-to-head match-up would be one of the least interesting games of the weekend. The only reason to pay attention is to see who is actually worse. I suspect, it is a tie.
- I have rooted for Notre Dame since coming out of the womb virtually any time they played a game against a school that was not USC. I hold their program, their tradition, and the pageantry of their football program in the highest regard. Unlike certain flash-in-the-pan programs, and certain thug-oriented programs, and certain bastions of debauchery, this school and football team has longevity, history, pride, and honor. However, I rail on Notre Dame week after week because Charlie Weis is a horse's ass, and I can't stand to see what he has done since arriving. He is classless to the core. He dresses like Rosie O'Donnell (and is actually in the same weight class as well). He strong-armed his way to a lucrative new contract when he has never once, ever, beaten a quality team (look it up). Ty Willingham learned the hard way that you can not lose to USC by 31 points three years in a row. Notre Dame fans are now learning the hard way that you can not have five head coaches in ten years.
- Lloyd Carr should resign now, and allow Michigan to name a big-time replacement early so as to salvage some chance of recruiting success. This team is very slow, and very bad. I have no idea what happened since last year, but I suspect USC had something to do with it on January 1. =)
- My first Monday luncheon of the season with Pete Carroll is tomorrow (annual event I have done with a group of Trojan friends for years now, dating back for me to 1996 with John Robinson) ... I hope to hear tomorrow that (a) The secondary is better than I am worried about, (b) The injury situation is improving, and (c) The offense is set to perform on all cylinders. I suspect my worry right now is more related to anxiety and the time off than anything, as I truly do believe that we know very little about the team thus far. I only know that I would rather have Pete Carroll coaching my team than any human being on the planet.
- Other notables: Oklahoma is quite possibly the best team in the country as well. I know Miami is over and out, but Oklahoma romped them good, and for the players on Miami that did not have ankle bracelets on, or probation officers present, Miami still has pretty good athletes.
- It is funny to look at the Big-10 standings and see Northwestern and Indiana among the top of the chart (is ESPN just being funny?)
That does it for now. Much more next week - hopefully basking in a convincing USC victory over the Cornhuskers. Thank God Tommie Frazier is out of eligibility.
Until we meet again,
David L. Bahnsen
DLB4USC