Buffaloes Feature Stories

College Football Hist-O-Graph Project - #11: USC Trojans

By Ash Jackson Nov 2, 2011, 9:00am MDT

Examining Colorado, Pac-12, and Big XII Football over the last 10 years using the Hist-O-Graph...and then saying stuff.

USC was (and is!) in the mainstream college football news for so long that few can claim ignorance of the team that was declared by ESPN to have 'won the decade.' (Can they even do that?) Aside from that, we've actually already talked about this week's teams, albeit under a different lens. So for the sake of the 7 people still reading, an outright copy-paste will be avoided.

But first, a correction:

The USC Hist-O-Graph: The King ~~Dethroned~~ De-Pantsed

In hindsight, de-throned was too strong a word. The NCAA didn't really de-throne USC, instead they just erased one of the crowns off their head and have imprisoned them in the Tuileries for the next two years. It's not like they were banned from television (Oklahoma State) or exiled to Waco (Baylor, Napoleon).

No, they get the dual power of the pity-party and a nothing-to-lose attitude. They literally have nothing left to lose. At that point, why not do your best to wreck everyone else's hopes and dreams?

We all know the underlying story of USC's last ten years; Pete Carroll comes in, works magic*, wins big, recruits well; rinse and repeat. Then at the end, just like any other coach possibly facing disciplinary action for massive NCAA violations; retreat to the Seattle Seahawks.

*alleged

Through the years USC has been prone to dropping a game that they shouldn't have. Observe:

'03: Lost at Cal (8-6) by 3 points. '06: Lost at UCLA (7-6) (the Rose Bowl is hardly a road game for USC, but whatever) team by 4 points. '07: Lost at home to Stanford (4-8) by 1 point. '08: Lost at Oregon State (9-4) by 6 points.

The moral of the story is that the Trojans aren't unbeatable. I'm now convinced that half the magic* of Pete Carroll was getting his team to wake up for each and every game for that 34-game win streak over '03, '04, and '05. But they don't have Carroll anymore. Now they have the Kiffin clan and the Cover-2, and no signature wins.Or pants.

In '00, we only lost by 3, which is the number of field goals we missed in that game. I know we're not the same team as eleven years ago, but I think this team could rise to get three wins.

The Oklahoma Hist-O-Graph: Never Not Good

Along those same lines; depending on who you ask, Oklahoma shouldn't be losing any of their games. But they do; and we managed to steal one from the Sooners just like we stole one from West Virginia. As last weekend showed, a few other teams have, too. Enhance:

'01: Lost to Oklahoma St. (4-7) by 3 points. (Perhaps the very reason we played, and beat, Texas in the Big-12 Championship that year). '02: Lost to A&M (6-6) by 4 points, and Oke St (8-5) by 10. '06: Lost to Oregon (7-6) by 1 point. '07: Lost to Colorado (6-7) by 3.

Giants? Yes. Unbeatable? No. If we play well in all three phases and strong in all four quarters, we might be able to beat the Trojans, who have no pants.

Go Buffs!