It's easy to forget, but 2001, Pete Carroll's first year at the helm, was not exactly an auspicious beginning to Carroll's tenure at USC. The team opened the season at 1-4 with losses to Stanford and Washington, and appeared headed towards a last place finish in the conference with bowl eligibility seemingly out of the equation. But instead, the team went on to win four out of its next five games, earning a 5-5 mark heading into its final regular season game against UCLA, notching a 27-0 victory over the Bruins and earning a trip to the Las Vegas Bowl.
The 2001 victory jump-started USC's string of success over the coming years on the national level and against UCLA, where it has won seven out of the last eight games, all under Carroll's watch. Hopefully, the run of success continues under Kiffin.
FIGHT ON!