History Lesson?

George Farmer, Kevin KavalecShould USC fans expect the Trojans to lay an egg every now and then? Washington fans seem to think so. They point out last year the Huskies going to Tempe and giving up 585 yards in total offense during a 53-24 loss to Arizona State.

Washington was 4-17 on third down. USC was 2-11 against Boston College.

35 thoughts on “History Lesson?

    • Fans sometimes amuse me on several levels. Here we are after 3 games and there are those calling for Sark’s head. I spend most of my time on Bruin websites and there are people actually requesting that we fire the Offensive Coordinator right now, in the middle of the season with a 3-0 record because the team has not looked as good as they should.

      SC had a big win at Stanford and fell on it’s rear end in Boston. Perhaps the expectations had gotten a bit unrealistic after the Stanford game with some predicting that SC would run the table all the way to the UCLA game. UCLA was built up with a ton of hype in the preseason and when they have 3 close games, people are ready to throw in the towel.

      Personally, I have no clue what will happen this year. Oregon looks to be head and shoulders above everyone else in the PAC-12 as long as Mariota stays healthy. SC still has the inside track in the South as they have beaten Stanford already and do not play Oregon. However, nothing is assured. It should be a roller coaster ride the rest of the way.

      • Yes, that’s true. Smith’s teams were decent until Tollner’s recruits graduated.

        But Sark is like Smith in that he was a mediocre coach poached from a mediocre Pac-10 program under the idea that the only thing holding him back was not having access to USC’s talent level.

        And that he was hired by a short-term AD hired after the fallout of NCAA sanctions (the Marv Goux ticket scandal that forced Robinson out? I am not sure if it was that one, or a subsequent one).

        There are a lot of parallels. Mike McGee was more a politician than an athletic director, the alumni never warmed up to him, and Smith was a “safe” but ultimately gutless choice.

        Now replace “Mike McGee” with Pat Haden, and “Smith” with Sark.

        • I’m not claiming that Larry Smith was a great coach but he did have a nice three year run of conference titles. Until Carroll came along and won an unthinkable seven straight that was an accomplishment.
          It did end very badly for Larry though.

  1. UW sitting pretty at 3-0 despite the mess Siete left. SC fans gotta be pleased the the Siete hire at this point!

  2. “Lay an egg” sounds as if it is solely the fault of the party supposedly “laying the egg” i.e. losing the game

    Not so at Boston College. BC simply played a real good game, probably its best in years, and won fair and square.

    Next!

    • People are concerned because this was a total breakdown reminiscent of 2012 and 2013.

      I think that is the concern.

      Note that a Sark called offense took a dump in 2008 versus OSU, 2007 versus Stanford.

      And Fresno State has given up 50+ points in every game they have played.

      Oregeron gave a toughness to this team. Sark/Wilcox does not.

      Right now, every single game on their schedule looks loseable. Just like when Kiffin was coach.

      Sark needs to give up play calling, and be a real head coach, not a glorified offensive coordinator.

    • BC got beaten at home the game before against an average Pitt team. USC should have blown BC out of their own stadium, but they got run over. They laid an egg.

  3. Have you forgotten that the great Pete Carroll teams would also “lay an egg” on the road against less talented teams that played inspired football? I don’t think Sark will have the same success as Carroll but it’s still not fair to judge him by his first three games at SC.

    Also, give BC a little bit of credit. They played with a lot of purpose and took it to the more talented Trojans. It happens from time to time (see Seahawks vs Chargers).

  4. ASU is your “lay an egg” example? They only went 10-2, beating Wisconsin, SC and UCLA to win the South. Get a grip people, BC was a perfect storm, tough road game the week before, long trip, late game, SC was gassed from the get go. Schedule should be more favorable for SC going forward.

      • Reality is no excuse just the facts. New England “laid an egg” in Miami last week, guess Belichek and Brady should be sacked!

    • Excuses, excuses, excuses. Pyrite SUCC conveniently forgets SUCC was up 17 – 6 in the 2nd Qtr.

      Here’s a new SUCC excuse, up 17 – 6 SUCC lost interest and allowed BC to win. LOL

      • Bruins have struggled on the road as well. They have the depth to overcome that SC does not. We will know in 10 weeks. Wouldn’t write off SC or Sark, yet.

        • This is true, but there is one big difference: UCLA hasn’t been up 17 – 6 to an unranked opponent and lost.

          UCLA took a mucho heat from SUCCster’s because our defense had to win the Virginia game.

          SUCC’s defense yielded 452 rushing yards and SUCC’s offense NYR was 20 yards in the Boston Massacre. SUCC was punked for a reason – “bad team man, bad team man.”

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