A Chance at History

I don’t blame Rojo, Mustain, or any specific player for the loss. They are our Trojan family, and they obviously cared deeply about winning the game. That said, they didn’t play very well in their biggest game of the year. They either aren’t a very good team by Trojan standards, or they were poorly prepared. I’d have to say it was both. The game was not lost through poor game planning and poor play calling, it was lost by poor execution…throughout the entire game…which is not something that should happen to a good, well-prepared team this late into the season, at home, against a rival.

Let’s face it, Kiffin is no Pete Carroll when it comes to getting his teams ready to compete in big games. Even so, some of USC best and most experienced players didn’t make the critical plays that were necessary to win. The result was a discouraging loss to a rival that leaves you wondering and disappointed.

From my standpoint, I’m not going to dwell on it. Like Rojo said, “There’s really nothing I can do about it now”. That applies to this whole game, not just the last drive. Now is a time for us to reassess and accept what we have.

Kiffin will need to grow as a coach before USC will be able to again field the outstanding teams that defined Pete Carroll. But Kiffin works extremely hard, has assembled a good staff, and recuits well. In my mind, he deserves a few years to demonstrate what he can accomplish. I will appreciate his efforts going forward. Same with the players. College football has evolved over the past 5-10 years, and right now USC players are not performing at a dominant level. Nevertheless, these guys have been through a lot, and many have choosen to come to USC and/or remain at USC when other options were available. The attitude, fight, and perseverence of many of these players has been admirable, even if the product on the field hasn’t always been. We should appreciate them for that. They are only a few plays away from being 10-2 right now. We shouldn’t blast them or desert them because they weren’t quite good enough to get there.

 I admire our players for Fighting On! This was not a performance to write home about, but I bet Rojo could have packed it in and played this last year for any school in Michigan and be close to home and SC would be worse off for it. He stayed, as did Mustain.
 Also about Kiffin. he left a good coaching job to come here at a time coaches were bailing, not staying. For that alone we should give him some time to do his thing. I hope it works out and I think it will. If not hell be gone, don’t worry. This season and the next few will be a minefield.

Yeah, it is ridiculous to blame RoJo. Earlier in the same drive, Carswell dropped an even easier pass to catch that would have hit him right between the numbers, and it appeared on TV as if Carswell had 30 yards of open field in front of him. That would have given us much more time on that last drive.

And, let’s not forget Cameron’s crucial drop on a 3rd down drive in enemy territory. That drop likely cost us points.

Even RoWo had a bad penalty on a 20 yard gain.

The entire offense played tight, as if not to lose, rather than win. Conservative gameplan, rain, backup QB, Mustain’s shaky start, excellent play by the ND front 7, whatever the reason, our players didn’t execute.

After 8 in a row, ND was due for a lucky win. Might as well give it to them in our throwaway sanctions year. There has been a dark cloud over the program for quite some time, and it apparently is still lingering. But, it can’t last forever.