More interesting questions on the Oregon game in this segment.
Q: gilligan said:
If USC beats Oregon, who big will this victory rank amongst USC? Thank you in advance.
A: I think it will automatically rank as one of the top victories of the past 25 years simply because Oregon is No. 1. USC’s defeated the AP-ranked No. 1 team only 7 times in school history and the last time was 1992 so the win is up there. But I won’t start ranking it over some of the classic victories over Notre Dame or UCLA that make up the tradition of the school or the bowl victories. So let’s say it’s a top 40 win if it happens.
Q: Ren Lopez said:
I’ve been hearing a lot about lack of conditioning being a problem for the defense. Why exactly is conditioning a problem? Are players playing more plays than normal in a game because of lack of depth? I don’t think we are having a problem with time of possession.
Also, what happened to Chris Carlisle? I thought he was always regarded as one of the top S&C coaches around and he got a lot of credit for the superb condition of the players during the National Championship years.
A: Carlisle is in Seattle with Pete Carroll. He had his fans and his detractors at USC. The conditioning is related to the lack of depth but I would be dishonest if I did not say I think the depth issue is overblown (mainly by the coaches). There are a lot of guys when you have 85 scholarships that stand on the sidelines and now there are less of those. But there should be enough to subsitute. How many guys need to play in the secondary normally? USC has enough there. And enough along the defensive line. The only thin spot is the linebacker position. So I think maybe they need to do more conditioning.
Q: I DIg Go Go Girls said:
Can USC hold Oregon under 50?
A: Yes. That’s a fairly low bar to hold the defense too. ASU did it. So can USC.
1992? Larry Smith’s (RIP) final year? I don’t recall beating any #1s that year. Or any year around that time. Fact check?
I vote for “If ASU did it, so can USC” to replace “Fight on” as the official Troxan slogan during the Kiffen years.
Before we annoint Oregon as the “Second Coming” perhaps we should recall only 10-months ago when a “lock” Duck team got schooled by a good but not great Ohio State team in the Rose Bowl– a team by the way that SC beat earlier that season.
Not sure what the Buckeyes did to corral the Quackers except I do recall that they shadowed quarterback Mosili, forcing him into a poor game. That made a huge difference in that game.
Now, this present kid is not a better passer than Masoli. If SC can force whats-his-name to throw on obvious passing downs, I bet he does not do too well.
Of course, the trick is to stop the Duckeroos’ running, forcing them to throw– a trick better suited for Halloween. But we shall see.
As for the Webfoot bettors, they better be right. Remember that ‘Vegas was built on your stupidity, chief among which appear to be bruins at the moment.
“Fact check?” We lost to #1 UW in ’92. Our last victory over a #1 team was in ’84 (also UW).
From SC’s weekly press release in case anybody’s interested:
VERSUS AP NO. 1
USC has a 7-11 record against AP No. 1-
ranked teams, including 4-4 in the Coliseum.
Ranked Trojan teams are 6-9 against AP No.
1 squads. USCs 7 wins over AP No. 1 teams
(most recently over Washington in 1984) are
second only to Notre Dames 8. Here is a list
of USCs games against AP No.1 teams:
YEAR OPPONENT RESULT LOCATION RANK
1937 California L, 20-6 A 11
1938 Notre Dame W, 13-0 H 8
1942 Ohio State L, 28-12 A
1947 Notre Dame L, 38-7 H 3
1949 Notre Dame L, 32-0 A 17
1951 California W, 21-14 A 11
1954 Ohio State L, 20-7 N (Rose) 17
1961 Iowa L, 35-34* H
1964 Notre Dame W, 20-17 H
1966 Notre Dame L, 51-0 H 10
1967 UCLA W, 21-20 H 4
1968 Ohio State L, 27-16 N (Rose) 2
1978 Alabama W, 24-14 A (Birmingham) 7
1979 Ohio State W, 17-16 N (Rose) 3
1984 Washington W, 16-7 H 12
1988 Notre Dame L, 27-10 H 2
1989 Notre Dame L, 28-24 A 9
1992 Washington L, 17-10 A 20
*USC failed on 2-point conversion with 48 seconds
to play
the weak, tired, slow-footed trOJies are going to make a fortune for the Cadre on Sat, thanks, suckers!!!
our Senior VP of Pension Management, Charlie Bucket, spent the day in a spa in vegas with cucumber slices on his eyelids, and is now riding up and down escalaters with Yoda in matching off-white colored suits, a-la Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman!!! tomorrow they will slather grey poupon onto their caviar sandwiches and wash it down with buckets of 1999 Bollinger Champagne!!!!
AUUUUUUUUUUUUU-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Time for some truth people.
“Not sure what the Buckeyes did to corral the Quackers except I do recall that they shadowed quarterback Mosili, forcing him into a poor game”
That is exactly what they did — they always had a spy on Masoli. And Masoli was not a great passer. And… the Duck offensive line did not play very well.
And the Blount fumble along with the missed tackles on Prior cost the Ducks the game.
The Ducks simply did not play their best the 1st and last games of the season.
When the Oregon offensive line does not play well, the offense stagnates.
Nobody knows how either team is going to play until it happens. USC could have a breakout game and Oregon could play flat. Or USC could come out with furious energy and burn out fast as Oregon breaks off consecutive plays with big gains.
the only we know is that whoever wins — it will be a huge win for that team and a big momentum boost to finsh the pac10 schedule.
And whoever loses – the pundits will all be saying “what is wrong with that team?” and all but write them off as being no good at all.
Nice, classy and intelligent comment by a fan of an opposing team. Thanks oregon111.
Funny how no one was talking about Oregon’s last game. How does it feel to be irrelevant bruin fans?
Agree with Rusty Buckets on Oregon 111’s intelligent post; it is a stark contrast to the Bruin garbage that is regularly spammed on this site.
Should be an entertaining game. The match up is a tough one for us but then again there really is no team this year that would match well with this Duck offense. Only chance we have is to get an early lead and get the crowd into the game. Winning the turnover battle is our only hope in my opinion.
here’s a news flash, trOJies: The Cadre is not here for you!! we are here in support of the wolfman!!!!
besides, how can Bruins trolling on here be wrong, when it feels SO RIGHT???
in any case, your over-the-top praise of Oregon111’s prose is nothing more than a palpable symptom of what is a clear case of Stockholm Syndrome…praising the school that is about to crush you into dust!! this situation is bordering on pathos….on second thought, no not bordering, it’s pathos alright!!