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Make that a fútbol upset.
#14 USC took down #2 Portland, 2-1, in women's soccer on Sunday. One service had the Pilots ranked as high as #1 coming into the match, though they also lost, 2-1, at UCLA on Friday.
This was the Trojans' biggest victory since knocking off third-seeded Santa Clara in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last season, but Coach Ali Khosroshahin was quick to put the win in perspective. "It's early in the year still. [Portland] had some injuries on their side, and they're still trying to find themselves. It's a good win, but I don't want to put it up on a pedestal yet because we still have work to do. We shouldn't be really satisfied. There are some things that we did poorly today that we need to address in this next week of training."
Specifically, Khosroshahin said USC needed to get "better with our possession." From the stands, it was easy to agree with his assessment. The Women of Troy weren't checking to the ball on set plays in the second half, struggled to apply consistent pressure on Portland's defense, and gave up the ball on some sloppy passes.
On the bright side, Kristin Olsen had another solid performance in the net, making some clutch saves and falling just short of a sixth consecutive shutout. Alyssa Davila came off the bench for her fourth goal of the season, and Amy Rodriguez notched the seventh game-winner of her USC career.
The Women of Troy have nearly two weeks until their next game. Though there are no specific injuries on the team, Khosroshahin is glad to give his players an opportunity to overcome fatigue. "Our season is so condensed that it's nice to have a little bit of a break to give their legs a chance to recover."
The next match will be at home against Oregon on Oct. 12. Looking forward to league play, Khosroshahin repeated a familiar refrain in USC athletics. "We just want to take it one game at a time and hope to improve each day."
A crowd of 665 enjoyed what may be the best-kept secret of USC spectator sports. Athletes from other USC teams tend to come out (swimmers and football players were in attendance today) and enjoy the sunshine. The furthest seats at McAlister Field are a short throw-in from the touch line. The crowd is usually spirited, and players, referees and other fans are known to engage in good-natured heckling.
Unlike larger venues, rowdy spectators don't get drowned out. After one Portland booster futilely screamed at the referee for a card, a Trojan supporter turned around and yelled for everyone to hear, "It's not Mother's Day!"
Photo courtesy USC Athletics/Jeff Sipsey
Prior to Saturday's game in Seattle, I posed a few questions about the Trojans and said that they were probably "nitpicky." Apparently, they were more important than I thought. Though a win is a win (Rich Perelman and I are in total agreement on that one), USC barely escaped against Washington. At the end of the day, the Trojans survived thanks to amazing talent and depth on both sides of the ball. The defense was impressive, holding much-hyped QB Jake Locker to 90 yards passing and a team-high 50 yards rushing. But nobody is going to argue it wasn't closer than it should have been.
Here's a look at the same questions a couple days later.
- Can anybody make the BIG play? [On the ground.] This was the only question that USC half-answered. Chauncey Washington emerged with a big 53-yard rumble, mostly in open space. He showed great speed considering he's USC's power tailback. It's impossible to knock a guy who did that AND carried the team on his back by grinding for yards between the tackles. But -- and there's always a but -- I think I was more impressed by Stafon Johnson. He ran for more yards on fewer carries than Chauncey Washington and continued to show off his elusiveness that could break games wide open. His 45-yard run was the second longest of the game. I was hoping USC would give #13 more touches, especially in the third, but I was happy to see two backs gain over 100 yards in the same game. That hasn't happened since Thunder and Lightning.
- Can anybody make the BIG play? [In the air.] This is where USC fell short, literally. Once again, the longest reception of the game was made by the tight end (Fred Davis, 32 yards). USC couldn't stretch Washington vertically and Booty had a rough game despite passable passing stats. His timing was clearly off with his receivers, though word is he wasn't thrilled with the wet balls.
- Can USC turn around turnovers? Nope. USC coughed up the ball three times and it hurt. They did get two turnovers of their own, one of which (on special teams) may have been the biggest play of the game.
- Will the Trojans survive a game? Nope. More Trojans were lost in battle, and it REALLY hurt. Center Kris O'Dowd dislocated his right knee, and with original starter Matt Spanos still struggling with a triceps injury, this was terrible news for USC. On the same play O'Dowd went down, right tackle Chilo Rachal injured his right knee (sprain). The offensive line sputtered for a while and has a long road ahead. Shareece Wright suffered a hamstring injury and other players seemed to get dinged up.
- Can Greg Woidneck punt? Does it matter? Woidneck's 38.3-yard average wasn't great. His blocked punt at a critical time in the fourth quarter was bad. He wasn't the only kicker to struggle. David Buehler was 3/3 on PATs and hit two important field goals, but missed one that would have taken a lot of stress off of the Trojans.
- Is USC's schedule the toughest? Let's see what the rankings are like, but it's safe to say Cal is #3 and Oregon might be as high as #5. Overall the Pac-10 acquitted themselves well, and Nebraska should move up, too. Notre Dame lost their fifth in a row, but there's no saving them, anyway.
- Will it rain? The weather wasn't as bad as it could have been, but bad enough to contribute to a very sloppy game. It's obvious USC prefers a nice, dry Coliseum.
Now, the biggest question is the mental game. Besides all the other errors, USC had 16 penalties for 161 yards. That's just terrible. Even though Rey Maualuga wasn't called for "disconcerting" this week, that word describes the entire game for the Trojans.
The Trojans had a bad day on the gridiron, but it could have been worse. They could have done what half of the top 10 teams in the country did on Saturday -- lose. Here's a quick look at what used to be the nation's finest, and what it means in the land of Troy.
- USC couldn't breathe easy until the final minute of the game. The entire contest was ugly: 16 penalties for 161 yards, 3 turnovers, 1 blocked punt, 1 missed field goal -- and that was just the Trojans. They did not play like the nation's #1 team, but it's OK. Nobody did.
- LSU won 34-9, but it took them a long time to pull away. Though they'll probably gain a smidge on USC in the polls, they didn't look like the best team in the nation, either. They trailed Tulane, 9-7, and held a feeble 10-9 lead at halftime.
- Oklahoma was the highest ranked team to crash, by a 27-24 margin in Colorado. They may have cleared the way for another Pac-10 team (Cal) to crack the top 3. If nothing else, Bob Stoops' career record fell to 90-20. Though still third in winning percentage on the list of top active coaches, he's now a little further behind Pete Carroll (69-12). But he didn't lose any ground to the coach at ...
- Florida, who, like the Sooners, fell on a last-second field goal. Auburn won, 20-17. Urban Meyer's career coaching record, though still second in active winning percentage, fell to 65-13. Pete Carroll has a little breathing room at the top.
- West Virginia fell to #18 South Florida on Friday. Though this game had no immediate impact on the Trojans, some pollsters (Kirk Herbstreit, for example) are talking about putting Oregon in this spot. That would mean three of their top five teams are from the Pac-10. Les Miles probably isn't too concerned since not enough voters will place the Ducks this high, but so much for SEC supremacy.
- Cal escaped with a victory in Oregon, making it clear who will be the Trojans' top challenger for their sixth straight Pac-10 crown.
- Texas fell to Kansas State. USC fans still bitter from a couple of years ago might be happy about that. What's more interesting is that Kansas State is such a major spoiler. Who can forget 2003 when they tripped up Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game? Or 2002 when they were one of just two blemishes on USC's record? Now the Longhorns will limp into the Red River Shootout to face an equally embarrassed Sooner squad.
Instead of droning on about each team, let's just cut to the chase. The following teams from the AP Top 25 lost TO UNRANKED TEAMS: 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 21, and 22. Numbers 5 and 11 were also beaten, but at least by decent competition. Number 9 escaped an unranked squad, but barely.
There'll be plenty to talk about in the polls on Monday.
There have been some murmurs about a new USC football facility for a couple weeks, and now there's some detail from the inside -- but no official pictures.
We noticed this sketch lying around Heritage Hall but won't be able to confirm until Monday whether it's the latest drawing. Based on the description on USCRipsIt.com, it seems like a good possibility.
A lot of people thought USC answered all the big questions after going to the air last week to take down the Cougars. There may not be many questions for this Trojan squad to answer at this early stage of the season, but there are some. These are nitpicky considering how embarrassingly good the team is, but still need to be asked ...
- Can anybody make the BIG play? Some people have started grumbling that Booty hasn't hit any deep bombs this year. Truth be told, nobody has busted out with any mind-numbing long play in the first three games. While there have been a few big, exciting gains, nobody has gone more than half the field in one down. The longest run of the year was a 50-yard rumble by Stanley Havili -- a fullback. The longest reception of the year was a 35-yard pickup by Fred Davis -- a tight end. The longest interception return was 24 yards by Kyle Moore -- a defensive end. Those are three positions you wouldn't expect to make the team's longest plays, especially considering the speed and talent USC has at their other positions. On special teams, Desmond Reed has a 44-yard punt return and a 14-yard punt return, both team highs. There haven't been any fumble recoveries run back to date. Will anybody make a Reggie Bush-style highlight?
- Can USC turn around turnovers? About a month ago, Art from Trojan Football Analysis taught us about the significance of turnovers. So far, USC hasn't given him many more data points -- and the ones he has aren't pretty. With just four takeaways (3 interceptions, 1 fumble) to six giveaways (4 interceptions, 2 fumbles), the team is on pace for its first negative turnover margin in the Pete Carroll era. His teams have been legendary thanks to a +1.5 per game margin in his first five years. Last season, his sixth, it was a mere +0.3. This year, it's an ugly -0.7.
- Will the Trojans survive a game? Without injury, that is. It's a good thing this team is so deep, because their training room is stocked with more talent than many other teams have in their entire locker rooms. Football is a grinding, physical sport. But how many teams could lose four starters in their first three games and barely blink?
- Can Greg Woidneck punt? Does it matter? Nobody can fault this guy for wasting opportunities -- he's barely had any. He didn't get to take the field against Washington State and is averaging just two kicks per game. With a respectable 41.7-yard average, long of 51, and 33% inside the 20, he may be on pace for a decent season. A few years ago, lack of opportunity made Tom Malone ineligible for NCAA record books -- and derailed his faux Heisman campaign.
- Is USC's schedule the toughest? People are starting to rethink the SEC hype. Here's another fact for your next debate with a Southerner: Only five NCAA Division 1-A schools have never scheduled a lower-tier patsy since the divisions were established. Those schools are USC, Washington, UCLA, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
- Will it rain? OK, maybe there aren't many questions! The answer to this one is yes. And USC is 20-21-2 all-time on rainy days. Things should even up this weekend.
... Men's Vogue, that is. This month's special American Visionaries issue salutes the Trojans football coach as one of 13 leaders who "are reshaping our world and the way we think." The magazine hit newsstands today and will be available for about a month.
The magazine will also add some website commentary about USC's chances this season. Look for Brian Curtis' insights in the next day or two.
Photograph courtesy of John Huba for Men's Vogue
I didn't get a chance to ask snapper Will Collins why he was juggling a soccer ball after practice on Tuesday, but hey ... football is football. Except when it's fútbol.
I guess snappers are important if you want to kick a field ¡gooooooooooooooooooooollllllll!
Trivia: The announcer who invented the famous soccer cry is USC alumnus Andrés Cantor. He majored in Journalism.
Back to Collins. From his official USC bio: Some people are rocket scientists. In my case, I'm a long snapper...If you're a good snapper, no one knows you. If you're a bad snapper, everyone knows you. Personally, I'd prefer to remain anonymous...If they announced my name at a game, I think I'd laugh. Either that or I'd start shaking...The brief time I get in the game, I'm seeing the action upside down and between my legs.
No need to adjust your TV on Saturday.
When USC ventures into Washington, the Huskies will be wearing throwback uniforms to honor their 1960 national championship team. Along with lace-up pants, decal-less helmets, and gray facemasks (usually purple), the most noticeable change will be blue jerseys.
Even though purple and gold have been the school's colors since the late 1800s, uniforms were blue up until 1972. The first game in their true colors was against the Pacific Tigers and a little-known safety named Pete Carroll.
According to Washington Sports Communication Director (and USC alum) Jeff Bechthold, they used the so-called Northwest Purple "mainly due to the fact that purple just wasn't available from the makers of athletic apparel, or what they could find wasn't good (as in, it faded quickly, the colors ran, etc.)."
Washington's letterman jackets are still dark blue, and the rowing team still regularly uses the old color.
Jerseys used on Saturday are being auctioned off on the Huskies' website. Unfortunately for Washington, they will not be able to use a throwback team against the #1 ranked Trojans.
It must be a good weekend for Uni Watch blogger (and ESPN contributor) Paul Lukas. Another purple and gold team, the LSU Tigers, will be tinkering with their threads on Saturday. Iowa State also just announced a new scheme which looks strikingly similar to USC's. Then again, maybe USC is looking like that other team from Iowa.
Photo courtesy Univ. of Washington. From left to right: Don McKeta, Chuck Allen (both all-conference players in 1959 and 1960) and Coach Tyrone Willingham.
Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably seen Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy go off on a local columnist (video above) for this article in the Daily Oklahoman. USC coach Pete Carroll saw the video, and even joked around with the media by mimicking Gundy and waving around a newspaper before starting his regular Tuesday press conference. Later on, I asked him for his take on everything.
Had you been in a similar situation [to Gundy], what do you think you would have done?
It depends. I don't know the circumstances. I'd have to read the article that he was referring to, but I assumed that he saw it in a way that caused him to be passionate about the way he needed to respond to it. So, I support him on his perspective. I don't know the circumstances, but I'm going to assume that it really upset him, it bothered him, he thought it was terribly unfair and uncalled for. He said what he needed to say.
One thing we need to do is protect the stature of the college football game in terms of the media and how they deal with our players (and how they deal with every aspect of it) to keep it different than the NFL. The NFL's got it's own way. They're pros. They get paid a lot of money. The scrutiny is sometimes ruthless.
In college football it shouldn't be like that. These guys are amateurs. They're doing the best they can. They're going to school and they're on scholarship playing football. And that's for all athletes in college. What I love about college football is the spirit of the game is still well intact. We play for the right reasons and we don't want to lose that by making it too serious. I think Coach Gundy made that stand and I hope that it reverberates. It's a clear statement of "let's be conscious of protecting these guys -- and protect the stature of the game." So I'm really in support of what he did. I don't know anything about the article or the writer. I'm just assuming that he needed to do that, so he did it.
Do you read a lot of your own press or press about your team, or do you have anybody who keeps an eye out there for you?
Yeah, we have a ton of people that are watching it and keeping track of stuff, but I don't know everything that's written.
Do you have anybody who's specifically in charge of monitoring that? Do you rely on the Sports Information Department?
Yeah, they're on it at all times. They're on it around the clock. If there's something that I need to know -- articles or references or whatever -- then I hear about it. I really think it's important for me not to read the newspaper and not to stay on it on a daily basis. I don't need the information that's coming out of there. I don't want to have it dictate what my mentality is at any time, so I don't pay as much attention to it as some other guys.
Continue reading Pete Carroll on Mike Gundy and the Media »
Next time you visit the University of Southern California, remember to walk an extra hundred yards. It's worth it.
The on-campus parking meters (above) are 700% more than the city's off-campus meters (below). They're hardly a football field apart. Even better, city parking is usually free after a certain hour, while campus is enforced 24/7.
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