5 seconds from 7-0

I realize it is pointless to look back at what might have been but based on what we saw the USC defense do on Saturday that is exactly what Lane Kiffin is doing...

What if the Trojans had not lost their previous two games on last-second field goals? It was something Kiffin acknowledged thinking about 50 times a day.

"Up 42-0, on our way to 7-0, you know, potentially a top-five team in the country getting ready to play the No. 1 team in the country," Kiffin said Sunday during a teleconference with reporters. "So that's the difficult thing, the thing that's most glaring . . . as you think of the first half of the season: how close we were."

I don't blame him, I have been doing the same thing.

But it is what it is and we are where we are.

I could just imagine the conversation between Lane and Monte Kiffin when it came to discussing the defenses performance during the first 6 games of the season.

I guess my only question is why it took so long? It was evident after the Virgina game that defense needed some tweaking, yet Monte hung with what he knows. Those two last second loses will sting until the season is over. That Monte opened some things up and let the kids play what their talent dictates is a great first step.

If 'SC had lost this game based on the defenses poor performance Kiffin would have been gone this week....not at the end of the year.

It was that bad and anyone who pays attention would have said the same thing. This isn't some inside scoop I am reporting.

'SC out played Stanford on offense and they went toe to toe with UW. The defense (and the clock operator in the Standford game) were our undoing.

What could have been...