Weekly Musings - Washington Edition

These are the kinds of losses that hurt the worst.  The losses where you just get it handed to you - those are what they are, and of course no one likes them, but, well, they happen.  The losses where you just blow it against a team you should beat - those are terrible, too.  And in a sense, this was one of those losses.  But the category I put this loss in is a bit more nuanced: "Those where you played the whole game, and a lot happened along the way both good and bad, but the bottom line was after playing 58 minutes of football you completely had the game wrapped up, and then you GAVE it away like a Christmas gift".  Those are impossible to forget.- There is a sense in which this game does not belong in the second category I mentioned above, because USC can hardly be called that much better than Washington.  Our offense is a lot better than their swiss cheese defense, of course.  But clearly their offense was a lot better than our defense as well.  And when you give up over 500 yards of total offense, you do not deserve to be up with the ball on their 23-yard line with two minutes to go.- But I do understand the frustrations.  No matter how much our defense struggled, the fact of the matter is that we had the game in our hands, and lost.  I wish we would talk more about the 58 minutes in which our defense got beaten time and time again for long third down conversions, but that 3rd and four play of our offense and the subsequent missed kick  is going to go down as one of the most talked about moments of the season.- Contrary to popular opinion, it is absurd to pin this on the kicker.  If he had made that kick, which he certainly should have, we would have still lost.  Their offense was driving on our defense at will.  The way to win the game, or at least insure we won the game, was to get one more first down.  I would have run the ball on 3rd and four, where we were averaging roughly 8 yards per run, and if we did not get it (which we would have), I would have run again on fourth down.   And we would have won the game.  A touchdown off of a pass was another viable option, but it was lower percentage, bad clock management, and just not necessary.  As a big fan of Lane Kiffin's, I still have to say this was just head-scratching bad.- People are not being realistic about how talent-deficient this defense is.  The losses from the 2008 defense are not absorbed yet, as I think I saw about everyone of those starters on TV today (i.e. Sunday).  There is something going on (as it went on last year with Oregon and Stanford) that makes it crystal clear to me that we are not just simply struggling in schemes and match-ups.  These guys are not good enough to compete on a championship level in the Pac-10 - not yet anyways.- I need to see the game footage at MMQB tomorrow, but I am very curious to hear who in the secondary the coaches are most down on.  It can not be Shareece Wright, who is the bright spot on the whole D right now.  Could it be all three of the other guys?- Some bright spots: The offense is better than last year's, and I am positive of this.  Barkley had a couple missed passes, but he also made some championship plays.  He is rock solid.  And the O-line is spectacular in run-blocking schemes right now, only letting down in pass protection a couple times.  The receiving corps is solid, particularly RoJo and Woods.  Havili is an All-American.  Andthe running game is going the way it should always be going at USC: Downhill ....  (in a good way).  We have the ability to run the ball, and we have a quarterback who can (but does not have to) move it downfield.  This is missed, but needed.  However, the offense will not win games on their own.  Defense always and forever wins championships.- Kudos to Allen Bradford for a monster breakout game.  He deserved a win.  Over 200 yards of rushing - and we lost????-  As has been the case in every year people have jumped on this bandwagon, but more so this year than ever, the people who insist USC's offense should be of a "pass first" variety are just wrong wrong wrong wrong.  This team has the ability to run on ANYONE in the country.  We need to establish that consistent running threat - presumably around the major threat of Bradford with the patient Marc Tyler and the elusive Dillon Baxter also loaded into the weapon.  And the Barkley to RoJo threat should be there ...  But Carswell and Butler and Ausberry are not top tier receiving talent - not yet anyways.  Matt can go to Woods and RoJo, and we can be a balanced offensive team, but we are a running program, and this needs to be a running team.- If you don't think defense and running win championships, please explain that to John McKay.  And now that you just thoughts some smart aleck thought to yourself about how old and out of touch he would be if he were still alive, please explain it to Nick Saban and Alabama.- You can give Alabama their rings for this season NOW.  Bank it.  That joke of a Florida team was never going to be in that game, and everyone at ESPN knew it all week.  Seeing Texas without McCoy and Florida without Tebow makes me all the more appreciative for how Carroll did the Palmer-Leinart-Booty-Sanchez quadfecta of championship football.- In all seriousness, unless Nebraska is much more legitimate than I thought, Alabama can lose a game (and maybe even two) and still be in the BCS final.  They are very good (not blow your socks off good - just good), and more importantly, better than everyone else.- Now, could Oregon score 40 points on Alabama?  Maybe.  Could they score 40 on my Trojans?  In the first half.- Can USC beat Stanford?  Yes.  Will they?  It all depends on our team's leadership.  This is about pride and tenacity.  Is Stanford going to be demoralized after getting whallopped 42-0 by Oregon (that is, 42-0 after having a 21-3 lead)?  Stanford will have a chip on their shoulder.  But I just can not help but believe that the Wrights and Bradfords and RoJos of this team have got to have something to say about USC laying down.- And, I am watching the game from ESPN Zone in New York where I have watched USC win road games in four consecutive seasons (going back to 2006, including a win over Stanford).- This annual 10-day+ trip to New York City means 14 consecutive hours of college football on Saturday, so count on a long and highly opinionated bonus edition of the musings next week- As impressive as some of my Trojan friends' temper tantrums have been, you do not give up on a coach after five games, even the 2-5 Trojans of 2001.  Lane does deserve a lot of blame in this game.  The test of a coach is always how he responds to adversity (and that is actually, by the way, the test of all people, in all walks of life, which is what makes me a Trojan, and not a punk loser piece of trash sitting on a chat board as I fail in my job calling for Kiffin to be fired with a 4-1 record less than halfway through a season that has been haunted by an NCAA atrocity).  I don't know if he will make it happen or not, but I do know he will get the chance at USC. - Not sure I believe in Ohio State any more.  Or Oklahoma.  My top three right now is Alabama, Oregon, Nebraska.- Stanford used to be the only other respectable school in the Pac-10, filled with outstanding student-athletes and a strong commitment to west coast academia.  Now, they are a sham of a school, desperate to fit in with east coast ideologues who long ago sold out this country and with it their own souls to a cause so immoral and reprehensible it is unspeakable.  Does Harbaugh going for two last year piss me off?  No.  Does the anti-American filth of Stanford University?  You bet.  Run the ball down their throats.  Take no prisoners.Marv Goux.  Paging Marv Goux.