2007 Cal Edition - 11/12/07
I would like to blame my inability to complete this week's musings by Sunday night on the fact that I was waiting for Monday Morning Quarterback today to draft them (my weekly luncheon with Pete Carroll), but the truth is that I failed to complete it on time because I played 54 holes of golf this weekend, and I was eating up an evening with my family last night. Nothing reinforces how truly beautiful life is like a weekend at my condo in the desert, time on the most beautiful golf course you can imagine, taking my son out to dinner for a little man-to-man time (he is not quite three), and a Saturday spent watching college football from the time you walk off the 18th hole, until the second you go to bed. A delightful weekend, indeed. Now, let's see if I can deliver some delightful musings ...
- It would be very difficult for me to put into words how much I love beating Cal. Though my musings the week before the UCLA game will lay out an extensive background to my animosity for UCLA, and the context to how that situation unfolded for me, I will simply say this about Cal: having traveled the country extensively watching college football games, visiting every conference multiple times, and observing some truly heinous behavior in my time, I have never, ever seen football fans that systemically behave like the students of Cal Berkeley. And though I will argue that UCLA is as bad as it gets when their team wins, their fans are harmless (and absent), when they lose. Cal, on the other hand, has earned the distinction of being the worst fans I have ever seen win or lose. Now, in fairness, every team's fan base has bad apples, and Cal certainly has some good ones. But as generalizations go, and as a torrid slew of flying beer bottles at senior citizens on Telegraph Avenue goes, I think what I say here is reasonable. I was dismayed in 2001 when they were 0-11 and we beat them by 50 up there, and I was dismayed in 2003 when they beat us in triple overtime, and they did their best to re-create the 1960's magic of their fine anti-establishment tradition by rioting incessantly. Actually, I think the worst I ever saw them was at the Coliseum in 1998 when they came back to beat the Hackett-coached Trojans despite a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter. They did not celebrate their heroic come-from-behind victory (or more accurately, our inexplicable fall from respectability), but rather sent their players to all corners of the Coliseum to taunt and yell and curse profusely at the wounded crowd. So yes, I do plead guilty to holding a grudge against Cal, and so far I am only talking about their fan base. I am not including ancillary causes of resentment, like their head coach being the highest paid employee in the state of California, their nearly annual insistence of embarrassing themselves in bowl games, the tree-vermin who have wasted oxygen and valuable state court time suing to block the building of new facilities where they live in trees, etc. I could go on and on with irrational and unrelated issues as to why I feel the way I do, but I will bring it to a conclusion with this - I am very, very happy we beat them. And this four game winning streak can go on forever, and I will never be bored with it.
- Okay. Just one more thing. The coaching staff's enabling (and I can only assume, supporting) of their wide receivers barking and talking and taunting on every single play, is one of the ugliest things about the state of their program. Deshaun is a talent, but he is his own worst enemy. I think Tedford is a bright (but not excellent) coach, but I would respect him a lot more if he benched these guys until they acted like grown-ups.
- I am very proud of Booty's effort. His fumble was disastrous, but so was Chauncey's. He made up for the fumble with that pristine pass to Turner on 3rd down to save the drive. He also put two passes on a dime in a row off play-action (the first to Turner was taken back after a phantom holding call; the second was the very next play to Fred Davis to set up the go-ahead touchdown). He has not thrown an interception since the game-losing pick against Stanford, and he looks poised, accurate, and mature. Coach was very high on some of the balls he thre today, and even laughed with all of us at the pleasant shock of his ten-yard scramble for a first down ... Mark Sanchez is a much better runner (since Mark does it, and JDB does not), but he gets out of the pocket too hastily, and John is more disciplined. If he can put together two more good conference games, followed by a bowl win delight, I will be very impressed with his two years at USC.
- It hit me today what a bizarre conundrum USC has right now with Oregon. If Oregon loses two more games (which I consider impossible), and we win out, we would be sole Pac-10 champs, and headed straight to the Rose Bowl. If they win out, and we do, they would likely be in the national championship game, they would be sole Pac-10 champs, and we would be invited to the Rose Bowl. However, if they go 2-1 to finish out, and we win out, it would have the mixed result of making us "co-Pac 10 champs", yet probably in the Holiday Bowl (though a Fiesta Bowl invite would be possible). I do not agree with the co-champ rule of the Pac-10 (the winner of the head-to-head goes to the Rose Bowl, but both teams are given co-champions title), and I want to play in the Rose Bowl. I tend to think that Oregon losing twice is a virtual impossibility (their remaining schedule is UCLA, Arizona, and Oregon State), and them losing once creates a scenario I don't fully care for. Trojans are probably better off rooting for Oregon to run the table, but we can always pray for a two-loss miracle.
- It is all moot if we lose another game, and we certainly have our work cut out for us. I do not think Sam Baker (All-American first team offensive lineman) or Keith Rivers (All-American middle linebacker) will be able to play against ASU (though both are possible). ASU is a tough place to win when they are terrible, but when they are good, it is really hard. And this team is very good ... I expect to go to bed that night thankful for a lot of things, and I expect one of them to be another Trojan win. But I won't bet my Thanksgiving Turkey and gravy on it ... We have to re-affirm our run defense, pressure Rudy Carpenter like we have shown we can, and refuse to turnover the football. Most importantly, we have to again demonstrate our running game that is clearly the prerequisite to any Trojan success.
- Chauncey Washington made a believer out of me, and certainly convinced me that I have been right regarding the need for "one, major running back". I love Stefan, and I know there is room to get Joe McKnight involved in some stuff, but Chauncey needs to be the man. This performance against Cal probably earned him a second round draft pick, and tripled a future signing bonus. Fight on, Chauncey, and do it again.
- On the flip side of that, the rain notwithstanding, I did not like seeing this Forsett kid rush for 170 yards. Even Marshawn Lynch was held to under 60 yards by the Trojans ... I believe the front seven need to be fully on track for the next three games. We do a lot of good things defensively, and our secondary is playing very well, but the staple of Carroll-coached teams has been the simple reality that no one runs against us. We need to keep that in check.
- Don't under-estimate the change it makes to a USC game when Ronald Johnson is getting the ball to the 50-yard line (or beyond) on kickoff returns. It is one of the hugely different things about the last few games of the season - the potential for a big play in the kick return game (punts, Joe, and kickoffs, RoJo).
- Did I mention that ME-Shaun Jackson is a pompous ass who has gotten schooled by USC three years in a row?
- If I were a Bruin, and you know I am not, I honestly would have to admit that Dorrell does not deserve to be fired in a year where they have suffered the kind of injuries they have this year. I might have fired him after the 2005 loss at the Coliseum, or the 2006 bowl loss to Florida State, but not this year. That Notre Dame loss may end up being the most historical loss in Bruin history, but there is no denying that this team has lost a plethora of talented players. With that said, I am not crying over their demise, and I will be shocked if they win another game this year.
- Navy, Air Force, check. Duke, Stanford - it's your turn. If Charlie's compensation package was commission-based, he would be slumming it at the Hometown Buffet right now.
- I am happy to stick with my Oregon-Oklahoma prediction in the championship game, but I would not be surprised if it were LSU ... The SEC picked a bad year for Les Miles to go bragging about it, and I don't see anyone beating LSU (of the remaining cream-puffs in their schedule).
- Watching Florida against Tennessee earlier in the year, and South Carolina on Saturday, and yet seeing what Georgia and Auburn did to them, it is clear to me how mediocre the bulk of the SEC now is. Tennessee would be lucky to finish fourth place in the Pac-10 (in fact, they got decimated by the fifth place team), and yet they are likely to play LSU for the SEC championship ... =)
- Florida will be very good next year, with or without Percy Harvin.
- I would like to get a group of my friends together and play in the Big-10. It would be fun to win over half our games, and know we have a chance to win the conference. Good job, Ohio State. I can't believe you let Stanford, I mean Illinois, beat you at home!! =)
- Special congratulations to the Miami Hurricanes, for commemorating the final game played in the historical Orange Bowl, by losing 23,000-0 to Virginia. I am not kidding about that USC-Virginia game next year (at Virginia) to start the season - get tickets now ...
- Coach Carroll held nothing back today. It was classic Pete. If anyone alive has more fun doing what they do than Pete, I have to meet him. Pete and I have this in common - a genuine love and passion for what we do professionally. Beyond that, the similarities stop as he begins to run the second of his daily four or five miles .... But his 22-0 record in November, if extended, to 23, is becoming one of the most coveted records in all of college football.
USC is off next week, but the musings will continue. I can't help the Trojan flavor these musings take, but I do mean them to be a genuine commentary of the national world of college football. This sport is so special, that I don't take "bye weeks", even when my beloved Trojans have to. Enjoy your week, savor the SC' magic, and get ready for the most special holiday of the year. Every day should be a day of Thanksgiving - especially for those of us who have found the sheer thrill and joy and beauty of the greatest sport of them all ... Fight on!