Weekly Musings - Cal Edition

I do love beating Cal, and I have gotten very used to it. I still remember the Hackett-led debacle in the Coliseum (1998) when a 22-point 4th quarter lead turned into a loss, which almost led to riots at the hands of their barbaric fans (that night). I also remember the 2003 game in Cal (the last time they beat us - a triple OT loss that served as our last loss for almost three years), and having to shield senior citizens as we walked out from the flying glass objects being thrown at them. So yes, I love beating Cal, and I am even getting into the REAL reasons. But there is a lot to say about the game this weekend and the overall state of college football, so here goes ...- Sorry, but to get a fumble recovery off a strip on the first possession of the game, and then to have a deep pass to the five yard line on our first offensive play, but then to end up with ZERO points because of that indefensible fourth down call is just, well, indefensible.- My brother equated it to a basketball coach instructing his players to shoot from half-court every time they have the ball- The two forced turnovers by our defense in the first half of the first quarter were the most impressive!- Matt was really out of sync in the first quarter as far as the passing game was concerned, and the gameplan was not really focused on running. But as the game continued, Matt stayed out of sync (with a couple exceptions), but we did have more luck running the ball (I have a feeling that if Tyler is missing the trip to South Bend we may be just fine; McNeal is very effective, and Notre Dame has very little to look at in terms of preparing for him)- Notice what happened when we began running in the second quarter ... Down field. Down field. Down field. And then boom - sets up the touchdown pass to Lee (which was a thing of beauty, by the way)- I loved loved loved our defense in the first half, and the turnovers were a lot of fun, but boy is Cal's offense bad. I mean, bad. It is understandable that USC bitches (I am referring to those who pretend to be USC fans) are much more focused on how bad Cal played than how well our defense played, because, well, it may be somewhat true. But it is also true that people who have to find the negative in everything are a waste of human oxygen.- USC has a NFL kicker. Absolutely. No question. How did UCLA let this recruit get away?- Kal's fake punt in the second quarter made Lane's 4th and 7 call look much better. Kal fans are the most tolerant in the world. Tedford being considered a top coach is just silly. Aaron Rogers, anyone?- After seeing a few tweets from that big dope, Petros, I made up a hashtag for him on Twitter in my reply: #jealousfaketrojanwhocouldntwalkonatuscnow- It is just silly how much the refs dislike USC. Barkley got hit three yards out of bounds and they call nothing. Cal holds our pass rushers all night and they call nothing. It lacks subtlety.- One of the things that should be said is that the team won 30-9, could have won by more, and Barkley really didn't have a great game. We also took on injuries to three of our best players. I completely agree that Cal is not a good team (as is the case with all of the teams we have thus far defeated), but I am pleased with our control of this game, and certainly pleased with the whoopin' we have put on Cal for a million years in a row.- Notre Dame is beatable, but we are going to have our hands full next week in South Bend. Their loss to South Florida was somewhat bizarre (crowd evacuations, red zone turnovers, etc.), and that Michigan loss was on the road, and still took a historical last minute sequence of events to come about. I think Kelly is finally using the right offensive personnel, and I am not expecting an easy game. However, Robert Woods had a bad night in San Francisco, and I would be shocked if he had another. Matt is chomping at the bit to beat Notre Dame for the second time in a row (he missed the game last year at the Coliseum). And Notre Dame's one weakness I have observed this year is their secondary. So if Matt and Woodie put on a clinic, and our defense can get the football a couple times from the Domer offense, I think we can do something good out there. And a Notre Dame win ALWAYS means a good season for USC, if you ask me.- I wanted to be excited that Stanford was only up by 3 at halftime against Washington State, but I turned away long enough to send a couple emails on my blackberry, and the next time I hit refresh on my iPad it was 31-7 (with a lot of time to go).- I was all ready to type about the imposters that are Clemson when they were getting creamed by Maryland at halftime. But that comeback was something else. Nothing says ACC drama like over 100 points being scored in a football game.- LSU and Alabama look positively awesome. I imagine that match-up will live up the hype, but a couple Big-12 teams, and one Big-10 team, may just be the spoiler of this whole thing. We shall see ...- That Oregon State loss to BYU was shocking and really has me wondering if that 4' tall Running Back (Rogers) was really THAT key to their success. It sure seems like he must have been.- I have watched a lot of football this year, and I suspect that USC is not one of the better 5-1 teams in the country, and that Notre Dame is one of the better two-loss teams in the country. Still, we can play with Notre Dame, and we can beat them. The last time we lost in South Bend was ten years ago. I don't know what will happen next Saturday, but I do know that me, my wife, and my oldest child will be there to breathe in the mystique that is USC-Notre Dame. It is Mitchell's first time attending the greatest rivalry in all of college football, but it will not be his last. See you all in Chicago, Trojan family. Fight on, and Beat the Irish.