The Stanford win over USC was a shocker, but there was a reason everyone should have seen it coming.
USC Was Overrated … And Hurt
Compiled by Reese Jenniges
Let’s just come out and say it. USC was overrated.
None of USC’s victories have been remotely impressive. There’s the 38-10 win against Idaho that USC can’t brag about; it should’ve been a Roman trial…calculated, swift and brutal. Hawaii even put up better digits against the Vandals. Granted, Washington has looked particularly good this year, but if USC wants to play in the national championship, they cannot let unranked conference opponents come that close to victory. The Nebraska game proved one thing; USC doesn’t know how to finish games. Sure, USC was up and away coming into the fourth quarter, but the defense gave up twenty-one points late, meanwhile the offense could only muster a touchdown for the final quarter.
Take the same ideas and apply them to the Stanford game; 17 points in the fourth quarter (all offensive) and only 7 from USC. Before the collapse, the Trojans had only allowed a single touchdown which was from a magnificent interception return by Austin Yancy. USC can’t finish a game unless it’s a blowout the whole way through; their issue is that they have a tendency to only play for three quarters.
A win is a win though, and up until Stanford, USC was one of a handful of unbeaten teams and deserved to be in the top five in the nation. However, what makes these wins unimpressive and an argument for why they were overrated is their inability to keep their motor running for four quarters of football. Teams like LSU, South Carolina, South Florida, Boston College and a select group of others are teams that are rated high in the polls and can consistently finish a game strong on both offense and defense. Far too many times USC has lacked this key ability against weaker opponents.
Why did this happen? What’s the problem? Injuries.
USC is quite possibly the best team in the nation in terms of raw talent. Pete Carroll rolls in NFL skill every year and then dominates with it. What use is that when your team is banged up every week? USC’s injury woes are not easily ignored. They lost the best player on their team in safety Josh Pinkard and he’s out for the season. Center Matt Spanos goes down and then unproven freshman Kristofer O’Dowd comes into the game and plays good ball, until he also becomes an injury case. Let’s not forget about C.J. Gable making the depth chart at running back a little less deep.
And then there are the week in, week out injuries that kept the Trojans from putting up the big numbers against quality opponents. Like all teams, USC can’t lose depth at any position let alone the skill positions. It is a hallmark of their program in recent years that if one player goes out with injury another very capable player of the same position steps in. The Trojans are probably going to have to start shuffling the offensive line around in order to actually get a strong lineman to play center. There is no question that a dual backfield of C.J. Gable and Chauncey Washington would be one of the premiere ones in the nation, but despite the depth at running back for USC, Washington and any other player just won’t be as good. Combine all this with what people had hoped were fluke incidents in John David Booty’s passing and quarterback presence and all Carroll had on his hands is a time bomb waiting to blow. Stanford just set it off.
Now the slate is clean and USC has the duty to make people believe again. However, the Trojans need to dominate for four quarters, not three and not two and a half, they’re either losing steam or losing interest in games that can still be one or lost with the time left and they absolutely need to quit that if they want to get back into the fray again. Its time to start fresh and this time, Pete, expect the unpredictable injuries and keep on that squad. Carroll is to blame for why USC has such a tough time putting nails in the coffin in the last fifteen minutes of the game and until he solves that, injuries will not be the only reason for USC’s departure from the top five.
Source: cfn.scout.com
