2008 Ohio State Edition - 9/14/08
These weekends are the reason I love college football more than anything else I do besides my family and my work. It is a perfect weekend that involves leaving your house at 4:30 in the morning on a Saturday so that your tailgate will be set up in a perfect location by 5:30 in the morning. It is a perfect weekend that involves nearly 12 hours of tailgating with your best buddies. It is a perfect weekend when the USC Trojans smack around perennial powerhouse, Ohio State, on national television. And it is a perfect end to the weekend to be able to "muse" about the whole weekend of college football.
Upon getting my tailgate set up Saturday morning, my dear friend Jason Carson and I worked our way to the site of the ESPN Game Day festivities (on site at the incomparable Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - the greatest stadium in all of college football). Besides being treated to complimentary Chick Fil-A sandwiches, this was my favorite Game Day experience for a lot of reasons (the energy, the comedy, the people, and the signs).
- Favorite signs I saw in the crowd at ESPN Game Day on Saturday morning:(1) "Free Clarett"(2) "Remeber when the Big 10 was good? Me neither."(3) "Lee Corso could start in the Big-10"(4) "Sanchez/Palin 08"(5) "Welcome 2-time BCS Runner-Up"(6) "Winner buys loser a sweater vest"
- The whole build-up to whether or not Beanie Wells was going to play has to have been the most annoying and overdone story since Favre's retirement and Barry Bonds' steroid use. Tressel acted silly, and the media acted like themselves. If there is some chess playing going on with the whole thing as to whether or not an injured starter is going to play, I don't see it, and apparently either did the players.
- Those who watched the 35-3 game know that the score does not tell the real story of the game, and not because it was actually closer than that. In fact, 56-3 is about what this game could have been. USC took the gas off big time in the 4th quarter, and also threw a pick in the end zone during one scoring drive, and got tackled on a bad 4th down scramble on another. This game was a devastating conquest of a team that has been in the BCS championship game two years in a row, with virtually all starters back.
- But why should anyone be surprised? Carroll has destroyed the best of the allegedly elite SEC every time he has played them (4-0 record, including wins over their own conference sectional champ and #3 team in the country another). And his domination of the SEC does not even compare to what he has done to the best of the best in the Big-10. He has beaten Michigan by about 70 points in his two Rose Bowl conquests of them, he beat Iowa by over 30 points in the Orange Bowl disintegration of them, he beat Illinois by about 40 points in the Rose Bowl shredding of them, and now this Ohio State conquest. SC' is in a class of its own, and the rest of the country only hates them because they know it is true.
- I don't know where to start in describing the game. I actually agreed with Sanchez's view of his own performance: while it was extremely remarkable, he actually has a lot of room for improvement as well. If four touchdown passes and that kind of poise and leadership and precision represent "a place where there is still room for improvement", the rest of SC's opponents ought to be truly scared.
- I was disappointed that CJ Gable was not more involved in the offense, but if McKnight is going to run for over 100 yards, and our passing game is going to rip the opposing secondary to pieces like that, there is no need to force the run. Sark's play calling was fantastic, and I am still deaf from the silence of his past critics who don't have the intellectual honesty or guts to admit they were completely and hysterically wrong.
- Did I say I was worried about our offensive line? Wow. Complete physical domination. And speed, to boot.
- This stud transfer from Arkansas is a team-changing development, and I am not talking about their former star QB, Mitch Mustain (obviously), but Wide Receiver, Damion Williams. He has some incredible days ahead as a Trojan. Mark's pass to him in the back of the end zone (Damion's second TD of the night) was a thing of beauty. The long ball is back at USC.
- There is no rational reason to talk about a national championship after only two games. A college football season is an eternity, and letdowns, upsets, injuries, and all sorts of maladies are part of the game. I do believe we are probably the best team in the country, and it is hard to see a Stanford or Oregon State letdown ever happening again under Carroll, but there are still good teams in the Pac-10, and every one of them share one thing in common: The only thing they live for is to beat USC.
- Now, when I say "good teams in the Pac-10", I guess I should be a little more precise. I think Oregon may be good (though they needed a big comeback and a double OT miracle to beat a mediocre Purdue team). Other than that, Cal getting beat up by Maryland and Arizona State getting shocked by UNLV (yes, in football, not basketball), are just appalling. But nothing is more horrific than UCLA's ridiculous effort in Utah for s second year in a row. Last year, Utah University had the honors of whooping the powder blue by a billion points. This year, it was BYU, only they didn't stop at 50. A 59-0 demolition has many wondering if Norm made the trip or not. For me, I just wonder what it is that makes UCLA fans continue to talk about their unbelievable world-beating defensive coordinator. I know, I know - one good win in his entire career (a 13-9 fluke against SC). Perhaps a more objective and timely review of his performance is in order. This guy is shaking down the taxpayers of our state big time if you ask me.
- I just wish my SC' brethren that insist on defending the whole conference would adopt my worldview here. There is no need to defend the enemies we play week by week in the Pac-10. We already play the toughest non-conference schedule in the country year after year after year. Unlike the patsies in the SEC, we agree to play anyone, any time. Our bowl game performances speak for themselves as well. And, if anyone has given us trouble, it has been mediocre or poor teams in the Pac-10 (Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, etc.). It is perfectly consistent and cogent to claim that USC has been the best team in the country the last seven years, and that we hate the other conference teams that also live to see our demise. I feel need to defend these people.
- But if I were a "conference" partisan, I would be embarrassed by the Pac-10, the Big-10, and especially the SEC this year. The only conference that may be doing some neat things is the Big-12 (Oklahoma and Missouri and Texas Tech all look terrific). Kansas lost Friday night, but it was a thriller of a game with a good South Florida team.
- SEC dominance? Auburn: 3; Mississippi State 2. Yes, that is a final score.
- SEC dominance? UCLA: 27; Tennessee 24. Fast forward. BYU: 59; UCLA: 0. The real loser in Utah on Saturday was Tennessee. That is just pathetic. Fulmer should now really, really be fired.
- SEC dominance? South Carolina had to fumble with one yard to go for Georgia to squeak out a 7-point win against them. Last week, South Carolina lost to Vanderbilt.
- I like that USC has another bye week, but I hate this Thursday night game in Corvalis. Carroll should have us ready, but even Oregon State in September can not be taken lightly.
- Charlie Weis's Notre Dame Irish are clearly ready for the national spotlight again, and he has put this storied tradition back on top. By dominating the Michigan Wolverines Saturday, he has shown that a man three times his healthy bodyweight can coach in the big time, and prove the critics wrong. Sure, they have not had a run play over 16 yards in a year, and sure, their opponents have had 11 unforced turnovers in the first two games, but who is paying attention to that? What is shocking is that a man of Weis's athleticism and competitive experience was not able to dodge that disaster at the sideline the other day. As a former ACL tear victim myself, I do feel bad for the guy. I know what the hospital food tastes like after surgery, and this guy is going to be MISERABLE. In the meantime, I would love for an 11-0 Irish team to come to the Coliseum in November. I am not holding my breath.
- One of the things that people have a hard time getting their arms around with my beloved Trojans is the nearly incomprehensible depth of this team. Hazelton and Turner were not real involved Saturday, and yet the receiving corps did what they wanted. Ronald Johnson is as big of a playmaker as there is in college football, and yet he is maybe 4th or 5th on our depth chart. The linebacker making the hardest hits and forcing the most turnovers so far this year is not the soon-to-be-Butkus-winner, Rey Malaluga, or the future NFL star, Brian Cushing, but actually the never-mentioned-in-the-press, Clay Matthews. Besides the QB position, and the continued health of our future Heisman winner, Mark Sanchez, is something we must continually pray for, we have surreal depth and ability in our second string and third string. Carroll's recruiting work is a thing of beauty.
- I am really curious what happened to Cal on Saturday. I did not see the game, so it could be a fluke thing, or it could just be a meltdown, but I am glad I don't bet sports.
- These are exciting times for Trojan fans, but there is nothing to be cocky about yet. One week at a time. I love where we are, and I wouldn't trade our coaches and players for anyone in the world. But pride goes before a fall. Ask Lehman Brothers. Onward and forward.
Until we meet again,
DLB4USC - the biggest college football lover of all time