An on-campus pep rally is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Galen Center. Admission is free.
Spirit packs will be sold at the rally for $20. They include a t-shirt designed by a USC student (click here to see a photo), a USC towel, and temporary tattoos. Proceeds benefit Student Activities. The packs are normally sold on weekdays at Topping Student Center, but NOT on game-day. You can also order by calling 213-740-5693.
The TrojanBookstore will host an art exhibit from 5 P.M. to 9 P.M. with alumni Dave Hobrecht, who will be premiering a new line of original USC artwork and limited edition prints. RSVP by emailng rsvp@uscbookstore.com.
Friday
Women's volleyball is having alumni night at the Galen Center when they take on UCLA at 7 P.M. Former players are flying in from all over the world -- literally.
Women's soccer will host Arizona at 3:00pm.
The Trojan Diving Invitational will take place in McDonald's Swim Stadium on Friday and Saturday.
Saturday
The football game kicks off 5 p.m. The ticket office was sold out as of Tuesday, except for a few solo seats (no pairs). The school's official resale partner is StubHub.
USC is 55-24-4 in homecoming games and has won the last five.
Trojan great Richard Wood will be honored at halftime for being voted into the national College Football Hall of Fame.
Campus will be packed all day long. "Frat Row" will be in McCarthy Quad again, so expect it to be a total zoo. Click here for a map of all official on-campus booths.
This weekend's homecoming opponent (Oregon State) will be clad in orange and black, but last week's loss gets our Halloween theme ...
USC Obituaries
CBS's Dennis Dodd penned, "In lieu of flowers, loved ones suggest you send Holiday Bowl ticket orders."
The Sporting News' Matt Hayes pronounced, "I come not to praise Oregon ... but to bury the Trojans." Sorry, Matt. You're not the first one to say that this season.
Some Farkers think USC is headed for the depths of ... scratch that, it froze over when they lost to Stanford.
Ouija Board Bowl Projections
There's a surprising amount of BCS optimism out there for Trojan fans:
WeAreSC's Jeremy Hogue sees a way for USC to make a BCS Bowl.
If you miss Coach O, read this semi-intelligible, R-rated parody of "A Day in the Life."
There were a lot of Trojans involved when former coaches Chow and Lane Kiffin faced off this weekend in the NFL. Chow's Tennessee Titans won on the shoulders of LenDale White's career game. Mike Williams of Kiffin's Oakland Raiders dropped the final pass of the game. Later, Williams was cut by Kiffin.
Other Sightings
The wildest action in Autzen on Saturday may have been in the press box.
The Ducks' sound bites are sounding a lot like the Trojans' used to. From the second paragraph of an AP recap: "Rose Bowl, national championship. You can't look ahead though ... we gotta take it game by game, which is what we've been doing. We got ASU this week. Our goal is always to win the Pac-10, and we're on the road for that."
Even the Old Gray Lady had a writer covering U.S.C. and Oregon.
Jerseys representing the retired numbers of Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart were finally hung in Heritage Hall on Tuesday, the same day Bush was sued in a scandal that threatens to strip him of his Heisman (the reason his number was retired in the first place).
BCS media guides were handed out at Pete Carroll's regular press conference this week, a few days after USC was practically eliminated from the BCS bowls.
Popular college football blog Everyday Should Be Saturday is running a weekly column titled Pete Carroll's Enchanted Gridiron Grotto, even though life in Troy is anything but Enchanted.
Three different sports are on a philanthropic roll this month ...
Women's soccer is making efforts to provided clean drinking water and save lives in Africa. Spearheaded by recent transfer Amy Massey, the program will collect water bottles and donate the proceeds from recycling to Water Wells for Africa. Bins are at all soccer home games and in the lobby of Heritage Hall. If you can support the effort in other ways (ex: large donations of recyclables), e-mail Massey at aemassey@usc.edu.
Women's volleyball is having a canned-food drive to support victims of the Southern California wildfires. This Friday when USC hosts UCLA at the Galen Center, each person who donates at least one can of food will receive $3 off of general admission. It should be a good crowd, as this is the first time USC has hosted the Bruins in the new facility, combined with homecoming weekend and Alumni Night.
Last Sunday, the men's basketball team held Dribble For The Cure. The event, involving basketball-related games and activities, awarded prizes to participants who raised the most money for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
[UPDATE: THE CARDINAL AND GOLD SERIES HAS BEEN MOVED UP. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.]
They say baseball season is like a marathon, but maybe it's more like an ultra-marathon. The MLB World Series just ended and USC is already ramping up its pre-preseason events ...
The Cardinal and Gold Series, an intrasquad scrimmage comprising two games,takes place this week at Dedeaux Field. Opening pitch is Thursday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m., followed by a second game on Friday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. Both are free and open to the public ... The series mark the end of fall practice. The team will regroup February and start the season later that month. A full schedule is available here.
Head Coach Chad Kreuter will speak at Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel on Thursday, Nov. 1, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The first 200 baseball fans who RSVP get free admission, food, drinks and maybe even a couple of rounds of golf. Kreuter will discuss the 2008 season and the Trojan Baseball Classic Golf Tournament -- then he'll raffle away a couple of free entries. RSVP by 8 p.m. on Oct. 30 (that's today) to (213) 740-2733.
The Sonora Cafe Hot Stove League is a speaker series that provides fans an intimate encounter with key figures in baseball history. Pete Rose will be at the first one on Nov. 5. At $500, it's not cheap, but seating is limited to 55 guests and the package includes three events. Proceeds will be put toward new facilities being built for the school's baseball team. More information is available on USC's website.
USC's next recruiting class will be announced on Nov. 14.
It was a rough weekend in Troy, with a few bright spots sprinkled in ...
Women's Volleyball - The Women of Troy provided some of the best results for USC this weekend, taking down #9 Cal and #3 Stanford. USC surprised the Cardinal with a come-from-behind victory at the Galen Center ... Asia Kaczor was named the national player of the week, with a combined 52 kills and 30 digs against the NorCal schools. It's the first time a Trojan has earned the honor since November 2003, and 5th time in the program's history ... USC is riding a 20-match winning streak at home, and are undefeated in the Galen Center since dropping the first match played in the facility against Stanford ... Friday is alumni night, with about 25 former players scheduled to attend (including Leslie Nelson, flying all the way from Paris).
Men's Water Polo - UCLA's Chay Lapin would fail an underwater fire-prevention class. The Bruins' goalie was on fire in the pool on Sunday, stopping 15 shots (including two penalties) to break the Trojans' 13-game winning streak. The 9-5 loss is USC's worst since falling to Stanford by the same score in 1997 ... There was something very idyllic about the game: palm trees, a pool, temps in the mid-80s, and a packed house working on their collective tan. Very SoCal.
Women's Soccer - USC lost, 2-0, on Friday to UCLA. Amy Rodriguez showed some of her international-level skills by trying to sell the ref on a penalty kick. After a hard tackle she remained face-down in the box for several seconds and tossed her arms in the air. She got the whistle, but the kick was placed just outside the 18. It was a good metaphor for the Trojans -- so close, yet so far. USC played tough, but UCLA put away two far-post goals in the second half. You can read more notes on the game in this post.
Women's Cross Country - The Women of Troy finished 8th in the Pac-10 championships -- a marked improvement from last year (10th) but still falling short of expectations for the promising young squad. Despite this weekend's result, USC will be sending six runners to NCAA regionals ... Sarah Cocco was the top finisher for USC and second among freshmen in the Pac-10.
Women's Swimming and Diving - In a meet where each team was restricted to 8 participants, USC came in fourth at the SMU Swimming and Diving Classic. Rebecca Soni was named Swimmer of the Meet, winning three individual events and one relay ... Both the men and women have the Trojan Invitational this weekend.
Women's Rowing - USC owned the water at the Head of the American Regatta in Sacramento, featuring mostly West Coast competition (including Cal and Stanford). The Trojans won every event, including 10 of the top 11 in pairs (Cal had a team in 8th).
Football Watch Lists - Several players were named to semifinalist lists for postseason honors ... Sedrick Ellis and Keith Rivers are among 17 players up for the Lott Trophy, awarded to the defensive player with the biggest impact on his team both on and off the field ... Rivers is also one of 10 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's premier linebacker ... Sam Baker is one of just four offensive players among the 12 Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalists, given to the top lineman in the nation.
After this weekend, the Trojans are wishing some of these guys were still on campus ...
LenDale White (RB - Tennessee) set a career high with 133 yards on the ground and added an eight yard reception to power the Titans over Oakland 13-9.
Reggie Bush (RB - New Orleans) may not have impressive rushing totals considering he's the Saint's feature back, but he's still a good fantasy pick. Stats from Sunday's 31-10 drubbing of San Francisco: 10 rushes, 64 yards, long of 20; 7 catches, 49 yards, long of 25.
Matt Cassell (QB - New England) rarely sees much action backing up Tom Brady, but the Patriots are so good (think USC a few years ago) that he was given a chance to make some plays. He connected on 21- and 7-yard passes and ran 15 yards for a touchdown. The Pats decimated Washington 52-7.
Carson Palmer (QB - Cincinnati) cracked a passer rating of 100
for the first time since week 2, but the Bengals dropped against rival
Pittsburgh 24-13. Palmer was 23-of-31 for 205 yards and a touchdown.
Keary Colbert (WR - Carolina) had 4 grabs for 35 yards but the Panthers fell to Indianapolis 31-7.
Justin Fargas (RB - Oakland) was the second leading rusher in the game to LenDale White, with 61 yards on 12 carries. He added three catches for 36 yards.
Sammy Knight (S - Jacksonville) made an interception and six tackles in a 24-23 win over Tampa Bay.
Willie McGinest (LB - Cleveland) made three tackles and also participated in three interceptions (though didn't make them himself).
Billy Miller (TE - New Orleans) had grabs of 5 and 12 yards to help the Saints beat the 49ers.
Troy Polamalu (S - Pittsburgh) made six tackles and participated in an interception against former teammate Palmer.
Mike Patterson (DT - Philadelphia) made four tackles in a win over Minnesota.
Junior Seau (LB - New England) made four tackles in the victory over Washington.
Kenechi Udeze (DE - Minnesota) made one sack and two tackles in a 23-16 victory over Philadelphia. Mike Williams (WR - Oakland) had two grabs for 20 yards while falling to Tennessee.
Against Oregon, Mark Sanchez looked like a quarterback starting just the third game of his career. He was.
The biggest crowd in Autzen history, 59,277 strong, seemed to shake him -- especially early on. It was clear that 80,000 in South Bend had not fully prepared him, despite his claims to the contrary.
Two interceptions and the first loss of his career are not stats he's proud to come home with.
Despite the downside, Sanchez was fun to watch. He scrambled. He made a shovel pass. He led a high-flying late touchdown drive, and almost did it twice. He was the anti-Booty.
And what about John David Booty? When polled this week, 54% of you said he should have started the game against Oregon. Pete Carroll disagreed, citing concerns with Booty's broken finger and resulting lack of touch on the ball.
This week, it seems likely that even more of you will want Booty back. It also seems likely that Carroll will agree this time.
Controversy is here for the foreseeable future. If Booty returns to the helm, people won't be satisfied unless he shows the same spirit and leadership that Sanchez has provided for the past three weeks. Booty is a good quarterback, but he's not a chameleon. He can't change his personality.
If Sanchez remains USC's signal caller, Booty will be breathing down his neck on every play. With each false step, the former Heisman candidate will be a more attractive choice to come in off the bench. Even if Sanchez performs well, there will be questions over how a senior team captain can lose his starting job due to an injury.
The Pacific-10 Conference has agreements with six bowl partners. The lineup is led by the Rose Bowl, which is the destination for the Pac-10 champion, unless said champion is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings. If that were the case, the Pac-10 champion would play in the BCS National Championship Game, which this year will be played in New Orleans following the Allstate Sugar Bowl. In addition to the Rose Bowl, Pac-10 bowl partners include the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Brut Sun Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl and Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. Pac-10 bowl assignments are determined by the final conference standings. If there is a tie for the Pac-10 championship, the head-to-head winner among the tied teams shall be awarded the conference’s top bowl position. In the event of a tie for any position in the standings other than the championship, the affected bowl may choose its participant from among the tied teams. Following is a summary of the Pac-10 bowl arrangements for the 2007-08 season:
Bowl Game (Site); Pac-10 Team; Opponent; Date; TV
Rose Bowl presented by Citi (Pasadena); Pac-10 #1; Big Ten; Jan. 1; ABC
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (San Diego); Pac-10 #2; Big 12; Dec. 27; ESPN
Brut Sun Bowl (El Paso); Pac-10 #3 Big 12/BE/ND Dec. 31 CBS
Emerald Bowl (San Francisco); Pac-10 #4 or 5; ACC; Dec. 28; ESPN
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas); Pac-10 #4 or 5; Mountain West; Dec. 22; ESPN
