Last year at this time we were facing the possibility of a "3-Pete". Expectations were running high as USC were on the brink of history. We all know what happened. This year we are facing a different type of 3-Pete, one that would b a hard bitter pill to swallow.
This sort of nervousness is what makes college football great. SC fans have gotten used to winning, and while we fell short last year this program has shown us that we are always in the hunt for a title. Yes, there were some dark years before Pete Carroll was hired but those were quickly forgotten once the wins began to pile up and the country took notice that SC was back.
The predictions for this season were all over the map. There were opinions that this was a rebuilding year for SC and that there would be a significant drop off in production with all the new talent coming in. Some thought that SC would continue to thrive with the possibility to make it back to the title game. Regardless there were a lot of unanswered questions. Some we got the answer to right away others took a little bit more time.
Monday's game against Michigan in the Rose Bowl will be another test for this storied program. Losing will bring us the 3-Pete we don't want. Winning will take some of the sting away from the loss on December 2nd. Winning on Monday restores some pride back and allows us to finish the season on a positive note and will enable us to put Dec. 2nd behind us as we head into the recruiting season.
From the Daily Breeze:
USC rushed for only 55 yards. Right tackle Kyle Williams alone jumped into three illegal procedure calls. Booty suffered two sacks.
Suddenly, a team that looked like it was riding a wave of momentum into the BCS championship game now has an offensive line that will be judged solely on its last performance.
To prove the world wrong, USC's gang of five must negotiate one of college football's most stout defenses.
"Our attention to detail is higher than ever,'' Kalil said. "There's a lot of things we're working on for this game to kind of fix from throughout the season that we've seen that we'd like to get better. But for the most part, we've done a great job.
"The expectations are always at the highest, especially since we've done what we've done in the past. The bar is always going to be that high. The fact of the matter remains that we're very capable of doing what we want to get done.''
Displaced Trojan had a great take on why he would like to see all Pac 10 teams lose their bowl games, except for USC of course, and how they influence the always challenging recruiting wars.
We also have ride out the next 11 months of hearing our rivals from across town touting their win and their claims of ruling the City of L.A. Winning gets us back on track and by beating a very good and very tough Michigan team we get rid of some of the bitterness of not living up to the standards that I know Pete Carroll has for this team.