Time For USC Fans to Face The Ugly Truth; Trojans Just Aren’t Very Good
Any confusion USC fans had regarding their beloved Trojans has just been cleared up in resounding fashion today at the coliseum.
With Stanford’s 55-21 thrashing of USC, clarity has been made evident as to the quality of this years version of the men of Troy.
They just aren’t very good.
Its one thing to lose road games to an improved Washington and a very good Oregon team and quite another to get thrashed by Stanford at your homecoming game.
USC suffered from a bad case of the “too’s” today.
As in:
Too many turnovers.
Too little effort from the defensive front seven.
Too good of an opponent.
Couple this with a true freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, who has played like one the last three games and it is easy to see how this game got out of hand so quickly.
Barkley, who was personally responsible for the Trojans four turnovers, played marvelously for his first five games but now has become just another young quarterback trying to find his way.
However, the fact that Barkley is interception prone should not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the young quarterback’s career.
Coming out of Mater Dei, the knock on Barkley was that he tried to force too many balls into coverage, which resulted in an inordinate amount of picks.
A good example of this was Barkley’s attempt to force a screen pass to Joe McKnight when McKnight was covered by three Cardinal players.
Result?
Interception that led to a Stanford touchdown.
But for the Trojans, this goes far beyond a young quarterback making silly mistakes and not protecting the ball.
For the second time this year, the USC defense has given up a record amount of points.
After Oregon rolled the Trojans up for 47 points two weeks ago in Eugene, excuses were made that this was due to the Trojans playing an option team with a running quarterback and that the Trojans always have problems with those kind of teams.
All of that was true.
So what do you make of today’s game?
Stanford is not a fancy, tricky option team.
They are a straight forward, hard nosed team who features a bruising 235 pound tailback, Toby Gerhart, who would just as soon run over you as run around you.
They are also led by a redshirt freshman quarterback, Andrew Luck, who is known for an accurate arm, not blazing speed.
Yet, there was Luck rushing for 61 yards, mostly on third downs, to keep Cardinal drives going.
And breaking Trojan hearts.
When it was all over, the Stanford Cardinal had scored more points on the Trojans than any other team ever in their storied history.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Now the Trojans have two weeks to get ready for their cross town rivals, UCLA, who must be licking their chops at the prospect of facing this woeful Trojan defense.
Two weeks to let this embarrassing historic defeat to simmer and percolate.
With all hopes gone for playing in an BCS bowl game, the Trojans must now hope to recapture some Trojan pride and prepare for 2010 by winning out.
This will be a tall order for a Trojan team that just isn’t very good.
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Comment by pkcourt on 15 November 2009:
It’s not ugly it is just a fact in time my friend, they will get back up and compete it is their nature. The first 2 turnovers where not Barkleys fault Missed block by #4 on fumble and tip by #4 on pass. For one thing these kids don’t play as a team and the coaches don’t coach as a team hell they might not win another game the rest of the year. I don’t think they will lose out but they need to get back to basics, the coaches need to come together first though.
Comment by Rick McMahan on 15 November 2009:
Good points PK, but remember, “ugliness” is a subjective term and to this Trojan fan, it was (and is), indeed, ugly!
Comment by Scott on 15 November 2009:
Yeah, I’d say the most points allowed in school history is “ugly.” And it’s not like this was a really good team USC got lit up by.
Comment by Rick McMahan on 15 November 2009:
Hi Scott, I agree. Stanford is a “nice” team but by no means a juggernaut!
Comment by pkcourt on 15 November 2009:
Well gee didn’t they put up 45+ on the Ducks but they you two talk I guess I will give Pete his Pink Slip
Comment by Rick McMahan on 15 November 2009:
No PK, but on the other hand, I am not some myopic fan who blindly looks the other way when my team is playing like crap.
I prefer to call it like it is and preserve my credibility.
Comment by Scott on 15 November 2009:
You can only lose so many good assistant coaches before the continuity and high level of play starts to fall off. Carroll has always been a brilliant recruiter (of coaches and players) and a good coach. His own coaching is not worse than before this year, it’s just that his players aren’t good enough to overwhelm like previous years. Firing him is obviously a ludicrous idea. It just points out the importance of the coaches around him, that’s all.
Comment by Rick McMahan on 15 November 2009:
Hi again Scott…I agree that continuity is extremely important but I also think that there is a maturation process that the defense needs to through as well..
Comment by Joey Kaufman on 16 November 2009:
Yes, if the defense was actually going through a maturation process than wouldn’t they be maturing/progressing as the year went on as opposed to getting worse? That’s the way it seems with this bunch. Throughout the season and even throughout a game they get progressively worse…it’s not a good sign at all!
Comment by pkcourt on 16 November 2009:
Rick is this really about your creditability, because last time I looked you are not on the team.
Well I guess the next thing is that USC just drop FB from its athletic department, will that help your EGO.
Comment by Rick McMahan on 16 November 2009:
Hi Joey, I think the ability to translate coaching into progress relies more heavily on the players ability to accept that coaching which is a process of maturation.
Consistency, which is another hallmark of maturation, allows a younger player to improve week to week as well.
Having said that, the coaches need to take a long look at themselves as well!
Comment by Rick McMahan on 16 November 2009:
Gee PK, I didn’t know that in order to have an opinion, I needed to be on the team. That’s interesting…sort of.
Like I said, your choice to be myopic about the Trojans is fine with me but you chose to comment and I choose to disagree.
If defending my position makes me “egotistical,” then so be it.
Comment by pkcourt on 16 November 2009:
Thats cool Rick
Comment by pkcourt on 16 November 2009:
Saying I am narrow minded because I believe in the trojans is really not right. Listen I am not happy or sad about the outcome in this season so far, but it’s a game thats all. I have played competitive sports at all levels and I realize one team wins and one loses, can’t change that. In the Stanford game it wasn’t the point total or lost it was the fact that there was not any competition going on after half time (see the defense that lost 3 starting Nfl LBs and 1 Cb). Thats what makes me question the worth of even wasting my time to watch it, but after 40+ years I will always pull for USC.
Again thanks for taking the time to write your stuff I like it, believe it or not. Please visit us at Conquest Chronicles as does Joey for we value input.
Comment by Rick McMahan on 16 November 2009:
PK, I am just trying to say that we are all entitled to our opinion. I choose to look at things a bit different than you but it doesn’t mean I am right or you are wrong.
Thanks for the kind words and I will indeed check you out at Conquest Chronicles!