Any word on how the USC Trojans’ football team looks going into this year? Any chance USC can actually upset the defending national champs, Alabama?
Lots of athletes and speed. Talented running backs and wide receivers. Unfortunately, their defensive line has been decimated by injuries and graduation. They are also breaking in a new QB. When you play against Alabama with their strong offensive line and power running back and Usc has a vulnerable defensive line, it’s a recipe for a comfortable win for Alabama. Although no team is invincible and SC has a proud football tradition, I say USC’s chances of beating Alabama is comparable to the chances of a high school senior chances of getting admitted into Stanford or Princton.
@booboojr Yikes! So only a 1 in 20 chance of stopping the Tide? At least both teams are having to break in new QBs again. Realistically, USC may have better QB prospects too. Agree that USC has stud receivers with blinding speed and 3 really good running backs, but overall - Bama does seem to win in most other comparisons, especially in the trenches. Clearly, if I had to wager, I would have to bet Bama’s way. But… they are playing on turf, so that could add to the Trojans’ speed differential somewhat. It will all come down to whether the USC O-line can give the QB time to throw or open up some running lanes. Because you know that Bama is going to score, and USC will have to try and keep up and hope for some UA mistakes.
I’ll be kind and up the chances to 39% USC / 61% Alabama.
Good Luck, Trojans!!!
I will go out on a limb and predict 3 turnovers and a special teams TD that leads the way for the USC upset.
Here’s hoping…
Fight On
As a Stanford fan I would normally cheer against USC in Pac-12 play. Today I am cheering for the Trojans although I don’t think they have much chance against an excellent, veteran Alabama defense. Fight on.
For the record I cheer against the Trojans because I see them as the biggest rival for the conference championship. USC is an outstanding school; love the school.
My hopes weren’t high for this season, but you never know until they start playing. They’ve got the groin-stomping down pat.
I stopped watching about 10 minutes into the third quarter. Now I don’t feel so bad about not buying tickets for their game here at Stanford in two weeks.
It was brutal. Gonna be a long season…
Oh well
Should have kept Orgeron.
USC should have went hard ($$) after Chris Petersen before he accepted the job at UW, after Sarkisian left UW for the USC job.
The program isn’t quite in disarray, but it’s getting there. They were grossly underprepared and once Alabama calmed down and started playing football, the talent and coaching gap was painful to see. They were clearly, clearly the better team. I don’t mind that so much as the kick to the groin that got the USC player (rightly) thrown out. That’s ridiculously unsportsmanlike and no one wearing the cardinal and gold should ever be doing anything like that. Losing is painful enough, but such a crass lack of class is humiliating to anyone affiliated with the university.
I had an “uh-oh” moment when I saw the USC players coming out of the tunnel at the start of the game. The way they were crawling along the ground made me think SC was going to have a very undisciplined, undignified team this year.
As someone who played the game myself, albeit many years ago, I place the primary focus for blame clearly on the shoulders of the players themselves. Coaches can only do so much in terms of preparation and game-planning. And then the players need to execute.
The Trojan players were able to come out, score quickly and control the game in their favor for a quarter. If you can do so, it is then up to you to follow through and control the balance of the game. Yes… there was a clear disparity in talent level being exhibited, but if you can win a quarter, you can win a game. FSU was down 22 in their game with Ole Miss, but they showed heart and determination… fighting their way back to a victory. They looked like a totally different team during that comeback. That was primarily due to their grit and determination. They chose to execute and then did so.
When a team collapses as USC did, that is on the players on the field… far more than on the men on the sidelines. At least that’s my opinion. Coaching only gets you so far. Players have to then execute.
What I am wondering now is what kind of an impact something like this has on the # of applications received thereafter. Are there actually seniors out there who are swayed one way or another based on the perception of something as central to the school’s identity as the football team and its success or failure? I do not know the answer… but I would be curious to know if a college winning the national championship, for example, sees an uptick in applications thereafter. And maybe the opposite is true when a program is in decline.
In USC’s case, I doubt that it will dissuade applicants. There will still probably be 54K+ applying again this cycle. Here’s hoping that the Trojans can rally and salvage the remainder of this season.
I’ve seen lots of stories that say when a university wins a national championship in football or basketball, applications go up. A couple of examples -
http://time.com/money/4282412/villanova-ncaa-championship-student-applications/
http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/07/11/can-we-measure-the-effect-of-national-championships/
In 2009, the year before Alabama’s first Saban championship, they had 19,518 applicants. Last year they had over 36,000.
@simba9 @chardo Well, there you go. I guess that answers my question. Since my D2 is a HS Senior trying to join her sister, D1, at USC next year, maybe she will now face less competition in terms of applicants… lol But I doubt it. I still expect USC to see a new record # of applicants for this cycle. The Common Application just makes it all too easy to apply to a # of schools… and USC’s popularity is on the rise - despite a football program in decline.
Well, the UA scholarships are a big part driving the increasing application numbers.