College Football

So, I take a lot heat from friends about being a loyal USC fan. I am not a bandwagon fan. I am a die hard Trojan through and through. I have lived through...

* the deplorable Paul Hackett era...I just read that a Pro team was considering hiring him as a coordinator or head coach - how exactly does he have a job?
* Curtis Conway being a coward and quitting on his team in the forgettable Freedom Bowl (Fresno St spanked SC 24-7)
* Shawn Walters being the "go to" running back
* Kyle Wachholtz/Brad Otten QB experiment
* Todd Mari"juana"vich
* Dropping 11 straight to Notre Dame
* the 90s!

But, along came Pete Carroll and his unceremonious beginning with USC. No one wanted this guy. Mike Garrett asked everyone (Dennis Erickson, Mike Riley, etc...) to come to USC, but no one wanted USC. Then the 2001 season started with a bang, 2-5. Now, Pete Carroll is the most successful college coach over the past 7 seasons. USC gets beat up from every angle - weak conference, poor schedule, losing the wrong games. Having said all of that - USC is in a class all by themselves.

* 7 BCS games with a 6-1 record
* 7 straight Pac-10 titles
* 7 straight top 4 finishes
* 3 Heisman trophies in 7 years
* No losses by more than 7 points in 7 years

I have to admit that I am loving Ole Miss dismantling Texas Tech (fraud) and 'Bama getting trounced by Utah (the only undefeated team 13-0) - it shows that the SEC isn't all that great. The only teams that can hang with USC are Florida and LSU (however they got BLOWN OUT twice this year). Don't tell me Texas or Oklahoma - the Big XII is a fraud (they play no defense - and this year they have no Vince Young to save them). Scott Van Pelt of ESPN said it best, "Oklahoma and Oklahoma St scored 10 touchdowns in the second half on Saturday, who is to say that either of these schools could score on SC's defense?" Penn St found out how hard it is to move the ball on USC's defense. The 38-24 score was not indicative of how much USC dominated. Penn St racked up 200 yards of offense and 17 points after this thing was over - in the 4th quarter.

In the end we are left with routing Big Ten teams (sweet poetry would be Ohio St beating Texas) and the Pac-10 completing a 5-0 bowl season. And, of course, Pete Carroll's words, "With all due respect, those are two great programs (Oklahoma and Florida), I don't think anybody can beat the Trojans."

He just might be right!