3rd game in a row where USC won by touchdown or less. And this one did not look close at the beginning. The first quarter or so, USC seemed to be on track like the last season and much better overall compared to earlier games from this season.
Then what happened? I don’t know, because I stopped watching because we went to someone’s house after the end of the first half. All I saw was the bloody interception which was returned for a touchdown to even the score at 21.
After seeing 21 points in just over a quarter I thought it was going to be a nice win like one of the big ones last year. But looks like the offense just went to sleep and the defense also started slipping against the ASU offense. Rudy Carpenter stepped it up and some of the dropped catches and stuff from the first quarter disappeared.
Whatever the case, this USC team is not going to get any style points. Maybe there is a case to make for USC that they do end up on the winning side rather than on the losing side, but at the same time, the closeness of these last few games gives the opposition some confidence and makes them believe they have a chance. It was not the case last year and it made a few opponents wilt before they should have, and handed the victory to USC.
But for the wins, I would be tempted to say that USC is loving to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Thankfully, I don’t have to say that. Not yet, at least :-)
Another escape from the jaws of a loss this weekend. This time it was Washington. After today’s performance, and the upset loss at Auburn by Arkansas, the polls are going to undergo some shakeup. Unfortunately, with the missing style points (where are the 40+ points days??) and some SEC wins by Florida means that USC may still be #3. Who cares? As long as USC is on track to win the Pac-10, it is good.
Now that Oregon lost to Cal, and that too badly, it clearly shows that Cal and not USC is the team to beat in the Pac-10. It is better to reset expectations at this point in the season - USC is not only rebuilding from the loss of Leinart, Bush, White but also banged up at a lot of places. The fact that they are surviving some close games just goes to show that they are lucky as well as resilient (in that order, if you ask me).
As for the game itself, it was great offense in the first quarter and some. It seemed like USC was finally getting to where it was last year - throwing at will, running long plays at will, and generally dictating the pace. The defense was suspect because Washington was also able to march down the field quite easily.
Of course, the trickulation for the field goal attempt was good and welcome at the point.
The second half was quite the opposite. The offense started sputtering and the defense stepped up. The defense should have had at least 4 INT’s, which went abegging. As a result, USC has been dropping in the turnover margin numbers. JDB had an INT and there were no turnovers forced by USC.
More injury news from USC - Steve Smith the superstar from the Wazzu game hurt himself and did not play much of the second half (if at all). What’s the deal with the USC athletes??? Man, I really hope USC is at full strength soon because the bigger games are coming up soon!
USC survived another Saturday away from home. It was quite a night for Steve Smith, who seemed like finally the #1 receiver on the team! He is one of the most underrated receivers USC has had, if not the country, and it was the perfect time for him to prove that he is legit.
Forget the final stats, his catches up the middle knowing a crunching hit is coming up, some of them for 3rd downs and 4th downs to keep drives alive, were fantastic.
I think the reason it was so close was because of the lack of penetration on 1st down runs. Last year, the first down runs (either by Reggie or by Lendale) gave USC 5 yards or so, if not more. That made 2nd downs short and 3rd downs rare. Last night, and pretty much all season so far, the breaks on 1st downs have been missing. The running backs have been rotated quite frequently, and they have not yet gotten the rhythm.
Chauncey Washington seems to have enough to replace the power running of Lendale White. He does have the capability to muscle through the middle. But unlike Lendale, Chauncey has fumbled the ball a few times, and that could get costly.
Even if there is no Reggie-like breakthroughs, USC does need a running game which can consistently break runs of 4-6 yards on 1st or 2nd downs. What that does, is open up the passing game and the play action game. Then, the long passes can burn the opposition. Once the long passes make up significant ground, and points are put on the board fast, the opposition is forced to be one dimensional. Then, they start making mistakes and then USC’s defense contributes some points.
The way they are playing today, with the run game essentially useless (except the one or two long runs, which tend to skew post-game stats), USC is in fact becoming one dimensional as opposed to forcing the opposition to be that way.
With Oregon and Cal destroying their Pac-10 opposition in the last couple of weeks, USC has its work cut out for going to the Rose Bowl. I don’t think USC the way it is playing today, has a chance of competing in the National Championship, even if the make it there. But Pete Carroll’s goal has always been winning the Pac-10 and that is not going to be possible if Oregon and Cal play like they are today, and USC does not improve.
Once again, I think the USC offense sputtered through a grinding win. Thanks to the defense, the win overshadowed some critical mistakes and lack of rhythm on the offensive side of the ball.
Dwayne Jarrett dropped at least 3 balls which he would routinely have caught and run for at least 5 yards after the catch. One was a sure TD, and the other two were first down gains. I hope it was because of his shoulder or something, because it was just not his typical day. I don’t know the latest on his injury but we sure need him to be healthy quickly.
The running backs rotation EVERY PLAY is probably causing more loss of rhythm than anything else. Yes, they are getting good, fresh legs every play, and yes, the coaches are able to evaluate the guys more and more, but in that effort there ends up being one or two simple but costly mistakes which against a better team could be game-ending mistakes.
Hopefully the freshmen running backs are enthusiastic enough to learn from all the small (and big) mistakes made and rectify them and become stronger for the next game.
And what’s up with the full back position this year? Seems like it is jinxed … Brandon Hancock and Ryan Powdrell are both out for the season. Last night, Stanley Havili walked off - and I don’t have the latest update on his situation, but I sure hope he is healthy enough to come back next week.
USC managed to somehow win the game against Nebraska. Yes, the score was 28-10 but at least early on, it was much closer than the score suggests. Chauncey’s miracle pickup of the big fumble by JDB was one good example of how fortunate USC was that day.
Of course, the defense was solid, but my concern was with the offense. We lost Powdrell right off the bat, and without a good FB, it could get a bit difficult for power running. JDB’s passes were not as accurate as I thought they could/should be, but I would give him this game as it was his first home game as a starter and the nerves could get to him.
DJ bounced back big time after a lackluster game against Arkansas and after being pulled up by his offensive coordinators.
In general a ‘W’ is good, but this was the game to make a statement, but I guess it is even more important to hold the serve and wait for the big ones that will be coming up soon.
Meanwhile, what a surprise Michigan threw against ND! Wow!
Welcome back, Carson Palmer. Some other folks from USC are taking the spotlight nowadays, but I do believe he is a stud and if his knee holds up, this Bengals team can go deep into the playoffs.
It was great to see him playing well and tossing TD’s at will. Very very heartening to see him get up in a blink after getting thrown down on the field.
I watched pretty much the entire game (except for a little bit of the 1st quarter) today - Dallas was kicking butt big time, and San Antonio, the champions that they are, came back fighting and got it to the last possession in regulation.
So many things I think could have been done just slightly differently to send the Mavs packing - worst of all was the foul on Dirk at the end to give him a 3-point play. If not for that, there was a good chance the 1-point differential would have sealed the deal for the Spurs.
Oh well, all the coulda-woulda-shoulda just reminds me of not too long ago in the Rose Bowl where we Trojan fans keep thinking … if not for x, if we could just do y, etc. Ultimately, we had to accept that it was over.
Similarly, the NBA season is over for me. I do not care much about the Eastern Conference, and I know now that Detroit has a clear path to the finals and will beat whoever remains from the Western Conference. Dallas has a chance to finally make it to the Finals, and most likely will.
A Detroit-Dallas finals matchup is the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on some reading - Da Vinci Code, some work-related books, etc.
I forgot to post about our weekend last weekend in Los Angeles. We had so much fun .. Friday night we went to The Standard hotel after dinner and it was quite a nice place to just hang out. We sat at one of the lounges there - the music was great, the drinks were great and we generally had a great time. We were absolutely the last people to get out of the place. And that too, we were in no mood to leave - apparently it is the law to get everyone out of the place by 2am and we were out of the place by 2am. Came home and chatted some more before finally sleeping at about 4am! When was the last time we did that? Not sure. Not in a long long time!
Anyway, Saturday was lunch at one of the Thali places in Cerritos. Oh my goodness - we had so much to eat! We were bloody full by the end of lunch. I met with a few USC friends for dinner and then went to this party, but did not get a chance to get in. So the rest of the people were going to hang out with, came out and we ended up going to be a British pub in Santa Monica. Once again, it was almost the end of the night when we left from there. Another fun-filled (except for the waiting in the biting cold) night.
Sunday brunch was at The Grove Farmer’s Market. It was a beautiful day to be there - sunny, warm and pleasant. It was Mardi Gras celebration pretty much everywhere there, and it was just a happy feeling all over. Good to be there to soak all that happiness.
And Sunday evening, the wife and some cousins flew out and I stayed back and drove back to work on Monday morning.
The biggest part of this trip was the non-visit to the USC Bookstore.
The USC alum received a letter from the PRIVATE company …
As you are aware, we have been bombarded with threats of vandalism if this board goes up in the Baton Rouge Market. Emails have even referenced burning the structure. Other emails have discussed climbing the structure and ripping the copy down.
This campaign has switched gears from a college rivalry to a public safety issue. With this in mind, I am making a decision to not accept this contract.
Thanks, Garth Roberts Vice President & General Manager Lamar Advertising - Baton Rouge
So there you go. Pieces of crap from LSU have decided to burn the place down but not let the state get $10K added to the economy. Ever wonder why those idiots stay poor?
I will not say much … I guess everyone knows why. One example seen above.
I was shocked to hear the news. Its not like he has been a superstar and a legend that he can retire. Its not like his body cannot take it anymore. He has to prove that he is capable of a long career and set some records before he can retire.
And the saddest part about it for Miami at least, is that he announced this right before training camp. Not two weeks back, when Eddie George was still available. Not before the draft, where several good running backs were available. He did it now.
I am listening to some sports talk shows on the radio and they claim that he may be running from some drugs issues. If that is the case, and if he comes back after a year or two, it would be completely unacceptable in my books. He has let the team down. He has let the fans down. He is quitting on everyone, for apparently no reason.
Why do we have to work 5 days in a week? I propose that we should have a 4-day week. I don’t care if I have to work on a Saturday, if I can get Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off.
And that means we have to just beat Sri Lanka. Not necessarily with a bonus point.
But the way the Indians played today, it does not seem like they are going to be able to win against SL.
A lot has been said about this team of late. The consistency being the main point of conversation. But in this tournament, they are hardly consistent. Hopefully this is the first tournament and hopefully they will only improve.
Well, we spent most part of Saturday in the city (San Francisco) trying to find a place for tatoos, and then, trying to find a good design.
Two people I know have successfully made it to the ‘other side’. I did not. The wife did. So did a cousin. The cousin got an ‘om’ symbol. The wife got a complicated ‘sun’ symbol with some streaks around it.
But it was not easy. First of all, I was not supporting my wife’s wish to get one. She’s been wanting one at least since the time we went to Venice beach in LA. I kept telling her to get a temporary one not only because of issues with the needles and all that, but also because it is so easy to get sick of the same symbol.
Then, as we started walking on the (in)famous Haight street in San Francisco, we noticed quite a few tatoo stores. We walked into the first one, which seemed to be a consensus choice as the cleanest and the most organized. The wife was still looking at me to tell her that it is ok to get a tatoo. I was trying to push it back to her. After a lot of such discussions, she decided to go for it. After spending quite some time there browsing the designs, a decision was made. Both of them knew what they wanted.
As they went to the guy to start the paperwork, he said that he had an appointment at 4.30pm and that it would be a 2-hour job after which he would gladly take us in. Since we knew there were other stores, we quietly walked out from there.
The next store was so-so, and there were some designs that they showed which looked better than the first one, but ultimately, they were also booked till much later in the evening. So we passed and went on to the next store.
These tatoo businesses look quite shady at first glance, but in the end, they are not so bad. So we entered one such shady-looking store and were brave enough to actually start looking at the designs and stuff to see which tatoo to get. The choices were made. The ‘om’ symbol was pretty simplistic, so there was no time to be wasted. My cousin signed the disclaimer and pre-paid and waited in line.
My wife was still not certain if she wanted to get a tatoo. I think she was certain that she wanted one, but she was not sure if I was ok with it. But in the end she said that she was going to go for it. She asked for some design suggestions from the lady at the counter, who gladly drew out a nice pattern for her after about 20 minutes. It was pretty good, and it was approved. Then, after some more waiting time, she filled out her disclaimer and prepaid.
Meanwhile, the ‘om’ was completed. The experience was not too painful, and it seems getting a tatoo is like getting a good high. As a result, after getting the ‘om’ done, my cousin has already planned out which other tatoos she wants to get (three, as of now). The ‘om’ took about 20 minutes to complete.
After some more wait, my wife took her turn and hers took about 35 minutes to get done. It came out well, and like my cousin, there is already a plan to get some more stuff done!
Both of them are quite proud of what they have done. Good for them. We got out of the store at about 8pm, after starting the tatoo-getting experience at about 3pm.
After all that apparent trouble, they want more. Is it worth it? Ask them. I did not think so before it started, and I still don’t think so :-)
I have noticed that as soon as a couple plans to have a baby they start thinking of buying an SUV. Out of the three couples I know who are expecting a baby soon, two already have SUV’s (Honda Pilot and Toyota 4Runner) and the third is looking at Subaru Wagons.
I don’t understand though, what the reasoning is to buy an SUV, if you have a decent-sized sedan. I understand that once the baby grows older, and has friends who will need to be picked up and dropped off, having an SUV is fine.
