I’m starting to wonder if we really are seeing the fall of an empire as it happens. Sure, Southern Cal is ND’s one and only rival, but I hate to see the walls crumble before ND could go and knock the Trojans off the pedestal.
Still, the Southern Cal fans are starting to see patterns that they don’t like. One of the founders of one of the most popular SC boards, Wild West Sports, has this to say (Hat tip: ugoirish)…
…when the adults (Orgeron, Chow, Davis) left the staff USC began exhibiting poor play in a number of ways. Undisciplined play.
He pointed out the turnovers. Pete Carroll said when he took over “it’s all about the ball” Remember last year when USC was not winning the TO battle anymore and Carroll was befuddled and confused? Said basically “well, we’ll keep doing what we do and it will turn around” Guess what? It really hasn’t. It didn’t last year and has not this year.
Turnover margin is the result of taking care of the ball on O but on D being in proper position, trusting the guy next to you, reacting at the right time, shutting down lanes and getting pressure on the QB. pressure on the QB as we know has been missing for a number of years. Started with problems in 2005 and got worse in 2006. Now it’s just as bad.
He pointed out close calls against Fresno, WSU and UW, then this year’s games. Games where teams that play disciplined ball don’t find themselves in dogfights week after week.
He would not go so far as to say USC is poorly coached because he has interviewsd to get and a staff to work for, but it’s pretty obvious that when you have more talent than the other team, but have this many losses or close games, it’s on the coaches.
[…]
One other thing I noticed and am noticign. The stadium is no longer full. Oh, it’s VERY full, the crowds are still large, but check it out. The buzz is gone. The anticipation not there. Idaho did not sell out, neither did WSU. I know, not attractive opponents and they don’t travel well. But Stanford, whoa, Stanford had probably 75,000 there. Good crowd by PAC-10 standards but USC has been selling 92,000 for games against anyone. I imagine that was likely the smallest USC crowd in 2-3 years. That thought occured to me in aobut the 2nd quarter Saturday.
I know, I know. The rah rah’s will tell me PC is now 62-7 or whatever and trust the coaches and he’s not an idiot. No, he’s not. But he has an ego and pride goeth before the fall. I believe the bible teaches that and it is right. PC has now lost to Stanford, UW, Oregon State, UCLA in the last 8 games. That would make them 4-4 in their last 8 PAC-10 contests. Clearly PAC-10 teams are onto PC and USC.
If anything, it looks like the bloom is off just a bit for the fans.
It also looks like the the “Pete Carroll to the Chargers” rumors/speculation doesn’t even bother to wait for the end of the season any more.
And one has to wonder if, on top of rumors and speculation about Carroll’s future, the news that the NCAA has had a “major breakthrough” in the Reggie Bush investigation might be getting a bit distracting.
At least the Southern Cal players know how to get away from it all.
No doubt this post reads like nothing but schadenfreude, but really it’s simple curiosity at this point. ND still hasn’t beaten SoCal since Bob Davie (!) was at the helm. And I’d just about kill for an offensive line that could do this…
And while the prospect of a currently 1-5 ND knocking off a high-performing Southern Cal seems improbable, I, for one, would prefer to finally end this recent streak of Southern Cal victories over the Irish when Southern Cal is at their best. Just another reason the Bush Push breaks my heart.
- HLS Tweets for the Week of 2009-11-15 - November 15, 2009
- HLS Tweets for the Week of 2009-11-08 - November 8, 2009
- HLS Tweets for the Week of 2009-11-01 - November 1, 2009
The Biscuit
Les Deux is so last year. Those USC guys are tools for going out. And tools for their lame clubs.
domer.mq
Les Deux has nothing on Bennigan’s. Talk about a wild Saturday! They’ve got potato soup!