USC's loss to Oregon State: The morning after

Every sports outlet in the country seems to have plenty of reaction to USC's stunning upset at Oregon State on Thursday night, and many comments aren't too flattering of the Trojans. A sampling:

From columnist John Canzano of the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, writing about the 186-yard rushing performance of 5-foot-7 running back Jacquizz Rodgers, a freshman who didn't get a sniff from USC recruiters :

This was a night that couldn't be spoiled. It belonged to Oregon State. But it was delivered by the guy USC didn't bother to recruit because it didn't think he was good enough.

Rodgers, who endured lots of trash talk about his size from USC players during the game, said, "I didn't feel like I had their respect, even by the end of the game.

"It's something you have to earn, I guess."

ESPN.com's Ted Miller had a harsh evaluation for USC and the Pacific 10 Conference in his column on the game. This one seems just a bit over the top:

It means lessons from 2007 about no gimmes in college football weren't learned.

It means a team needs to exhibit more than talent alone if it wants to compete for a national championship.

It means the Pac-10's shocking spiral into the muck of irrelevancy is complete.

And Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com was even harsher in his evaluation of the Trojans:

The heartening thing is in USC's world, this was no monster upset. Oregon State was only a 25-point underdog Thursday night to the Trojans. Stanford, now that was an upset. And part of a disturbing trend. The No. 1 Trojans just ruined their national championship chase with another inexplicable gag job against an inferior opponent.

Ruined their national championship chase? That's an overstatement in the fourth game of the regular season. Teams from the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 may face tougher competition the rest of the season than USC will in the Pac-10, something that will help their Bowl Championship Series rankings. But as any student of the BCS knows, late losses are more hurtful than early ones.

USC's title hopes certainly took a hit. But over? Not yet.

--Mike James

Photo: Jacquizz Rodgers puts a move on USC's Will Harris. Credit: Kirby Lee / US Presswire

Comments

[Jerry Weskirchen]

It's the same old thing! You never know which USC team will show up to play. Maybe Notre Dame has a chance.

[Orenthal James]

The worst part about SC is they gave up after the 4th quarter interception. If you look around you see the offense standing watching #44 run. They showed no heart, they showed no perseverance through adversity. They are spoiled rotten pre-madonnas that got run over by a Yugo (Quizz). If they are out of it or not depends where their head is.

[gerrrg]

They used too much of their speed to make up for mistakes, except that their speed wasn't able to compensate for all the mental mistakes and missed assignments.

No team is above competition, and USC just wasn't out there to compete.

[omar]

lololololollolololol usc lost to oragon

[Captain Obvious]

It still amazes me that USC can spank Ohio, and that commentators still push the tired old line that the PAC10 is somehow an inferior conference. I wouldn't be too surprised if Oregon State wiped the floor with LSU, and this STILL made no dent in their anti-reality helmets.

[d]

USC has been over rated for like 10 years now who cares

[shanana]

GO BEAVS! this is the first time we upset USC, this isn't anything new!!!

[David Harrison]

Just another example of poor judgement exercised annually by those who rank teams by geography and feel good Public Relations. For the last several years USC and Ohio State were simply over rated and demolished in embarassing fashion. The Top 10 will be (and should have been pre-season) all SEC and Big 12 teams. They are simply far better teams from far better conferences.

[AAA]

@Omar - Learn to spell Oregon...

Well...not as bad as UCLA's 59-0 loss.

Ohio St suffers even more with USC's loss.

Anyway... it appears that USC doesn't care abt the national championship. Rose Bowl is what's important

[Mark]

Thanks a lot USC...you kick our butts 35-3 looking unbeatable, and then lose to a mediocre conference foe...we can say good bye to the top 25 --an Ohio State fan

[Nick]

Why is it that USC almost always beats the "superior" conferences, yet stumbles in the Pac10?
And how do people think that proves how bad the Pac10 is?

[Robb Walsh]

I missed the after-game interview where the quarterback says,
"We are still the better team." Isn't that a USC tradition?

XOXOXOX from Austin

[Ron]

USC quarterback Matt Leinart said they were the better team when they lost to Texas for the National Championship. Do the math USC and Matt...Texas 41 USC 38 says different! Must be USC tradition as XOXOXOX from Austin said.

[Dark Horse]

The O-line didn't do its job. Sanchez was blitzed too much, and he gets predictable in that situation. He's too short too look over the defense and doesn't have the strongest arm. So he missed open receivers, instead opting for the safe short pass.

I expected strong halftime adjustments by USC, but they didn't last past the third quarter. It is one thing to be caught flat-footed against an unimpressive opponent. Happens all the time. But this game was lost with the Trojans behind 14-21 and with all the momentum. Where was their will to win then? There can be no question that Oregon St wanted it more.

[Dark Horse]

The O-line didn't do its job. Sanchez was blitzed too much, and he gets predictable in that situation. He's too short too look over the defense and doesn't have the strongest arm. So he missed open receivers, instead opting for the safe short pass.

I expected strong halftime adjustments by USC, but they didn't last past the third quarter. It is one thing to be caught flat-footed against an unimpressive opponent. Happens all the time. But this game was lost with the Trojans behind 14-21 and with all the momentum. Where was their will to win then? There can be no question that Oregon St wanted it more.

[bearbevrfab]

face it usc, and any other fans that want to make fun of usc,, Oregon state is also one of those college teams moving up in the world. We're no longer a team you guys think you can just beat up on,,,, Why do you think we have the nick GIANT KILLERS!!! Just because all the espn's, cbs's and abc's wanna worship any team from the east coast except usc doesnt make what they say true. Is it in the air this weekend why all the teams this sat were "upset" or is it that they cant get past their own rank they smell to rank college teams. I mean come on a cinderella team does well like south florida for 1 YEAR ( who by the way was spanked by oregon last bowl season) and their all sudden gods the next year in the top 20,, Oregon State can kill a giant every year,, yeah im talkin to u CAL last year and oh yeah USC 2 yrs ago and everybody wants to justify it that they diff show up, but if an east coast "power house" gets spanked by a lower life college but in their conference it gets a pass? All u elites need to GET A CLUE

[bill long]

Pete Carrol was out-coached!