Trojans come out on top

College football is underway, but you're still seven days from the first game at the Coliseum. The bye week is building the anticipation. You can't wait ... to tailgate. Emily Nerland, USC grad student (with future aspirations of one day being an employed American citizen) gives you a taste of things to come with a report on her trip to Virginia.

For anyone who watched the game on TV and possesses the observational skills of at least a toddler, you could tell by the shots of profusely sweating fans that Virginia was hot and humid. I would liken it to being in a mouth. A hot, sticky, Southern mouth. 

You could also gather after watching the first quarter that the game was going to be a blowout. Sitting in the comfort of an air-conditioned room you could switch channels to another game while not losing half your body weight to excessive perspiration. Hey, you could have gone surfing at halftime! That is the beauty of Southern California. A team you are proud to cheer for and a climate where 72 and sunny is the rule rather than the exception. 

So what did Virginia have to offer other than a tune-up game that, in retrospect, served as a spring board to the top of the polls? In the ways of football I’d say not much more. The only passionate exchange of words about football came at 4 in the morning at a Waffle House and it was regarding fantasy football draft picks.

Always proudly introducing myself as an 'SC student, I prepared for an onslaught of attacks -- of the Stanford or Texas persuasion. Instead I was met with Virginia students sharing their excitement about getting to watch the Trojans live. As 19.5 point underdogs, Wahoo fans accepted their fate before the coin was ever flipped.

The smack-talk void was filled with $8 pitchers of beer and complaints about the uncomfortable nature of grassy hill known as the student section. I was guaranteed that by halftime there would be more garbage than students left in the stands. The prediction was more solid than the point spread. 

Back at the 9-0 I could imagine the stories being told, about the 1967 Game of the Century and reenactments of [insert any Reggie Bush highlight here]. At the bar in Virginia the legend was the bartender, a real life Van Wilder with seven metal plates in his face. It was different to say the least.

Although I enjoyed the hospitality of the friendly Southerners, I can’t honestly say that I will model their behavior when the Buckeyes come to town. If my recent screaming match over Pac 10 vs. Big 10 is any indication of things to come (which was resolved by my being "escorted" from the patio) I’d advise the city to put up their storm windows because this clash of the titans will be anything but hospitable.

-- Emily Nerland
Photo: Erika Shultz (l) and Ashton Uytengsu (r) making friends at UVA. Things won't be as friendly next week.