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USC football: Trojans won’t lose again this season
November 3rd, 2009, 7:00 am · 63 Comments · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer
Here’s how the rest of USC’s season will play out:
- The Trojans will win the rest of their regular-season games to finish 10-2.
- They will earn an at-large BCS berth, in the Fiesta Bowl, where they will meet Boise State.
- USC will win that game, extending its streak of 11-plus-victory seasons to eight.
- At that point, memories of the Oregon debacle — and the notion that the dynasty is over — will have faded.
Of course, I don’t know that all of this will happen. But I have a pretty strong suspicion it will.
Despite USC’s rash of injuries, the final four regular-season games are very winnable — at Arizona State and home against Stanford, UCLA and Arizona.
The Cardinal and Wildcats are up-and-coming Pac-10 contenders, but the Trojans have lost all of one game at the Coliseum since 2001.
Plus, after the beatdown in Oregon, they will be highly motivated to finish this season strong and prove the growing crop of USC doubters wrong.
If they do end up 11-2, that would be right in line with the expectations for a team that lost eight defensive players and its starting quarterback to the NFL draft.
We’re talking realistic expectations here, mind you. Those who were envisioning a national championship this season were kidding themselves.
Think about it this way: The Trojans are not as good as a year ago, when they went 12-1. Their schedule is considerably more difficult, with four road games against ranked teams and six road games among the first nine overall. It was highly improbable this USC team would match last season’s accomplishments, let alone exceed them.
The challenge in the coming weeks will be to repair a leaky defense, restore some lost confidence and overcome whatever personnel deficiencies the Trojans’ growing injury list will cause.
It’s all doable. They have rallied before. They will again.
POLL: YOUR CHANCE TO TELL US HOW THE SEASON WILL END
More from the USC blog:
- USC football: Have opponents ‘caught up’ to the Trojans?
- USC football: Carroll, Galippo point fingers — at themselves
- USC football: Galippo should be available for ASU
- USC football poll: What is the worst loss of the Carroll Era?
- USC football: Kickoff time set for Stanford game
- USC football: Can the Trojans bounce back?
- USC football: At least Matt Barkley was OK
- Report card: Grading the Trojans (vs. Oregon)
- USC football: Insight into the defensive breakdowns
- USC football: Trojans plummet to 12th in BCS standings
- USC football: Malcolm Smith likely is ‘out for a while’
63 Comments
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Wow, an optimistic, measured, calm response. I concur.
I concur with Brett.
Good luck with that one. Doubt it will play out that way, but if it makes the SC fans buy your paper then go with it.
Amen to Michael Lev!
I like it! Except, I am thinking TCU instead of Boise. TCU beat Boise last year, and has a much stronger schedule. I think they’ll finish higher in the BCS. But, maybe they’ll go Sugar. Going to Tempe/Scottsdale will be a wonderful change from the Rose Bowl.
That is mighty nice of Lev to offer Trojans fans a soft blankie to make them feel better after last Saturday’s crippling 47-20 loss. He could’ve been bluntly honest and said USC will probably win out because they have a weak schedule and are destined to go to a who-cares-bowl. Remember that next time you guys decide to attack him for not unconditionally praising the Trojans.
Mario keeps rattling his chops…
OC30, which by the way is his IQ, can’t handle the truth. Typical Trojan.
Mario; take a break…
Actually, I think USC will go 10-2 and play in the Sugar Bowl against the loser of the SEC Championship game. And if the loser is Florida, the USC/Florida Sugar Bowl would get higher ratings than ANY bowl game incl. the National Championship.
USC will not outrank THE BCS championship game. All the other Bowl games are for pretenders, not contenders. That includes USC. USC’s championship game was last Saturday and they choked big time. BIG TIME.
I like your optimism Lev. 10-2 and the Fiesta Bowl are a distinct possibility. We shall see.
I see Mario is as clueless and classless as ever.
Lev’s vision is plausible but not likely. I, along with others, have been soberly and accurately detailing the immense deficiencies (gap responsibility, discipline, focus, solid tackling, penbalties, etc.) of SC’s defense over the last month and on Halloween we saw the dam break. Nothing happened in the weeks preceding the Oregon catastrophe, or since, to convince SC fans that the defense will suddenly emerge to salvage the season because there is no evidence to suggest that.
Some observations on Lev’s vision:
*SC has faced one of the most difficult schedules, playing road games at #8 Ohio St., #10 Oregon, #25 Notre Dame, and #24 Cal. Another test awaits with current #18 Arizona. A 10-2 finish is generous but possible.
*This USC team would do well to avoid Boise St. In case facts matter, Boise St. handled the Ducks with relative ease both this year and last, not to mention going undefeated last year (lost to TCU by 1pt in their bowl game), and looks to go undefeated this year. We all remember what Boise did to a very good Oklahoma team a few years back. ESPN and others can continue their elitist indifference to Boise St., but on the field, Boise is dangerous to ANYONE.
*Even in the unlikely scenario that THIS SC team defeats a Boise St. or other top ranked team in a bowl game, nothing about losing the Pac-10 title and yet again coming up short on an NC, will make Halloween 09 fade away.
*The loss to Oregon will have longstanding affects, which will be analyze elsewhere.
The notion that we who envisioned another NC this year were unrealistic is very self-serving for pundits (Lev, Colin C., Petros P.) that until Wash and even afterward where firmly on the SC bandwagon and passing out the Kool-Aid, only now preaching “realism” to the rest of us after it has become abundantly clear that SC is not what we had hoped. This is so, not because SC lacks talent or has a difficult schedule, but because they lack discipline and will, as PC confirmed in the wake of the Oregon embarrassment, stating that his team failed at the “fundamentals” and “basics,” then ran out of “juice.”
Insight and analysis is shown by a command of the facts and adherence to the truth, not unqualified support during times of success and disingenuous calls to “realism” by pointing to the obvious state of affairs.
Thanks,
Greg
Many good points, Greg.
I’ll only differ on the assertion that I jumped off the NC bandwagon after USC lost.
Going all the way back to spring football, I predicted a 10-2 record. Here’s the very first reference to it:
http://usc.freedomblogging.com/2009/05/14/usc-football-10-things-we-learned-in-spring-no-10/14369/
I see Qbert is still spewing nonsense. Shocking. I don’t think many Trojans fans are going to be proud of a 10-2 season when you consider they lost to UNRANKED Washington and then got absolutely manhandled like a prison bride by Oregon. Oregon didn’t just beat the Trojans in the first half, they came back for seconds and had their way with the team in the second half. The Trojans were lucky to get out of there with a 47-20 score, to be honest.
We all saw the game Marie. We know what happened, so there’s no need for redundancy.
Just remember that this is a REBUILDING year. No sensible Trojan fan expected SC to win a national championship.
I believe it is a certainty that USC will win out and make it to a BCS bowl for the 8th year in a row, while making a strong case to be considered the #1 team for next season. Make no mistake this team is very talented, and we won’t lose as much talent to the draft this year as in years past (knock on wood D-Will, Joe, Stafon, and RoJo stay another year.) We will lose Mays and probably Everson Griffen, but Matt continues to grow every week and I have no doubt he will lead the Trojans to a NC very soon.
Quintiam LOL!!
I was right franklymydear.
As we post here, Lev is deleting all of my responses to Mario.
Mario brought up the fact that he knows what it’s like to be “manhandled like a prison bride” yet when I point that out, Lev deletes my post.
Why are you deleting my posts again Lev and allowing Mario’s to stand? I merely returned the same insult Mario made to me.
Quintiam: It’s because this “marie or mario” character works for the OC Register.
I suspected that. Maybe they are trying to generate traffic?
I hope that’s not true. I expect more from journalists.
Your accusations are ridiculous. Just because I point out USCs shortcomings, and this season there have been some doozies, does not make me a Register employee. But if you really believe I am, maybe you should on to a different blog. I’m here to discuss football. I predict USC will win out because they have a weak schedule. Still won’t get them t the Rose Bowl though, because that’s for PAC 10 champions like the Oregn Ducks. Can’t wait to see the Ducks in the Rose Parade on January 1st! It’s like they get a victory parade on USC’s home turf!
Your accusations are ridiculous. Just because I point out USCs shortcomings, and this season there have been some doozies, does not make me a Register employee. But if you really believe I am, maybe you should move on to a different blog. I’m here to discuss football. I predict USC will win out because they have a weak schedule. Still won’t get them to the Rose Bowl though, because that’s for PAC 10 champions like the Oregon Ducks. Can’t wait to see the Ducks in the Rose Parade on January 1st! It’s like they get a victory parade on USC’s home turf!
Let’s see, SC has already played three top rated teams, who has a tougher schedule than USC?? Please enlighten us.
franklymydearI, don’t confuse Mario with the facts. He likes living in his own bitter, delusional world.
marieimtoostupidtolive, You of all people talk about limited intelligence - if that isn’t the kettle calling the pot black I don’t know what is. And no, you’re not just talking about the remaining schedule since you claim the entire PAC-10 is easy - nice try bozo. Again I ask you to please enlighten us with your facts. Oh that’s right you don’t have any.
Is that play on my name a threat, frankly?
Quintiam; yeah I know it, you know it, heck even Lev knows that he/she lives in it’s own bitter, delusional world. Sad and pathetic world it must be, but hey fools like that reap what they sow.
A threat?? Only someone with very limited intelligence would even think that. You like to play the game - lets play!
LOL play the game? Wow, you have really gone off the deep end since your team got their butt handed to them by Oregon. It really was a pounding. Final score was 42-20 and the Trojans only scored a field goal in the second half. Did you see the game frankly?
LOL you’re soooo stupid you can’t even keep the score right, but that’s ok, we expect nothing less from a fool like you. Did you watch your beloved Bruins get spanked by Oregon State?? You know the same team USC beat a week earlier. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Mario is a broken record.
Have you decided on your team yet Mario?
Or are you going to wait until after the BCS game to decide who you’re rooting for, like the good little bandwagon fan that you are?
Have pity on poor little Mario. Reality is a deadly place for him.
Sorry if I got the score wrong. The Oregon Ducks just scored SO MANY points against the lowly Trojans, I got confused. I do know that Oregon scored on all five of their drives in the second half and that the Trojans couldn’t do more than kick a single field goal. Did I get that part right? Hmmm did I?
No doubt Quintiam, though I’m not sure reality is ANY place for him. Poor thing can only say the same thing over and over - proof of a limited intellect. Later - I can’t waste anymore valuable time on this fool tonight - got better things to do. Remember you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
If it walks like a Duck and talks like a Duck, it probably scored 43 points against the USC Trojans.
Have you decided who you’re rooting for this year Mario?
Oh that’s right, you will wait until the BCS game before you jump on the bandwagon.
All out of new material, Qbert? You already said that. Speaking of which, it’s about time for the other bopsy twin to chime in and pretend I’m a Bruins fan, isn’t it?
Still not answering the question are you Mario.
Personally speaking, I cannot wait to see the Oregon Ducks’ victory parade through the streets of southern California on New Year’s Day. It’s gonna be priceless.
You know the BCS championship teams will be marching later that week in Pasadena too.
Let me guess, that’s when you pick your team right Mario? When it’s down to 2, you pick the favorite?
Nope. I know who my favorite is, the same team it has been for years. Actually they still have a shot at marching through Pasadena for the BCS Championship game, thanks for bringing that up. How about Trojans, what are the chances they’ll be marching through Pasadena in January?
Still not telling huh Mario?
Maybe you don’t want us to know who your team is because you do not want to receive the same type of mindless criticism that you’ve heaped upon USC all year.
As I said before, you can dish it out but you can’t take it. Anytime anyone stands up to your crazy, hate-filled rantings your run crying to the Mods. Classic baby.
Way to stand up for your team Mario. Coward.
Still not telling what you think the chances are that the Trojans will be marching through Pasadena In January huh Q-bert? That’s probably smart.
Answer the question Mario.
You first Q-bert.
You two should get married.
Poor little Mario doesn’t want to name his team.
They might be the butt of endless, tasteless insults like the ones Mario throws at USC.
Hey Mario, told anymore funny jokes about injured USC players?
http://usc.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/02/usc-football-galippo-should-be-available-for-asu/23911/
http://usc.freedomblogging.com/2009/10/31/usc-football-postgame-injury-update/23755/#comment-13421
Mr. Lev,
It’s become quite apparent that you have a malignant cancer running through your blogs, and we all know the source of the disease. Basically you can do one of two things: 1) You can continue to treat the symptoms by selectively removing individual comments, however it will continue to spread and eventually kill your blogs, or 2) You can eradicate the disease by removing the malignant tumor. I’m willing to bet that after removing the tumor the rest of the cells will return to normal. Just a thought.
Lev will not do anything about Marie er Mario.
But Lev did remove quite a few of your posts, didn’t he Qbert. Kinda makes you think.
Hey Mario, have anymore funny jokes about injured Trojans?
Q: What do birthday candles and the USC Trojans have in
common?
A: They get blown out every year.
Funny Mario. How about more jokes about injured players? Those are always so cute.
Time for some USC jokes everybody!
Q: What’s the difference between the USC Trojans and Cheerios?
A: Cheerios belongs in a bowl.
Q: Did you hear that someone purchased the USC Trojans and is going to move them to Alaska?
A: They are going to rename them the Arctic Chokes.
Q. What’s the difference between a dollar bill and the USC Trojans?
A. You can get four quarters from a dollar bill…
The Seven Dwarfs were marching through the forest one day and they fell in a deep, dark ravine. Snow White, who was following along, peered over the edge of the steep chasm and called out to the fallen dwarfs. From the depths of the dark hole a voice returned, “The USC Trojans are BCS contenders.” Snow White thought to herself, “Thank goodness… at least Dopey’s survived!”
Oh so funny Mario. Let’s see, you like to make jokes about:
1. Injured Trojan players
2. Special education children
Are you sure you don’t have a cute little diddy for us about kids on chemo therapy?
You’re so funny and classy, you must have some jokes about them?
Don’t see any jokes about Injured Trojans or children in the post there, Qbert. Maybe you are imagining things again, like when you thought USC had a shot against Oregon?
Oh no Mario. You can’t weasel your way out of this one. You were making fun of injured players and special needs kids. You are a real ace pal.
The Trojans absolutely CHOKED last week at Oregon, losing 76-20, which means it’s time for more USC football jokes!
Q: How are the USC Trojans are like a possum?
A: Both get killed on the road.
Q: What does the average USC football player get on his IQ test?
A: Drool!
Q: What’s the difference between a BCS Championship USC team and a UFO?
A. Someone has seen a UFO.
Q: What do you call a USC Trojan with a BCS Championship ring?
A. A thief
Q: What do you call a Trojans fan with half a brain?
A: Gifted!
LOL!!! Maybe next year, Trojans. But probably not!
Well Mario, when you can’t defend the indefensible, I guess the only thing you can try to do is change the subject.
How about one of your patented injured player jokes? Those really demonstrate your level of class.
What’s wrong quintiam, trying to shift the focus away from your 2007 arrest for having ‘relations’ with your neighbor’s dog? You are a SICK man and should be locked away.
Oh no, poor little Mario has ran out of jokes about kids in wheelchairs and he is now bringing up dark, dark memories from his past.
Hey Mario, regale us again with your stories about “prison romances.”
Oregon 43, USC 20. Enough said.
Marie, er Mario:
In the last 3 months, you have:
1. Wished death upon all Trojan players and alumni
2. Made jokes about injured Trojan players (twice)
3. Made jokes about special education children
4. Made jokes about “forced prison romances”
5. Made jokes about bestiality
The Mods and other maggots may tolerate your disgusting humor here but I will not.
Please take your childish banality elsewhere.