Pete’s on the Hot Seat

“Nothing special.”

That’s how the Boyish One described USC’s performance last Saturday in our over-hyped matchup with Ohio State. For once Pete and I couldn’t agree more.

For those of us who demand excellence from Mr. $4.4 million there was nothing special about the Men of Troy hanging less than 40 points on a defense missing TWO starters from last year’s team, at home, on national television. ‘Special’ isn’t a word I would use to describe a punchless running attack that never found paydirt, only averaged a little over five yards a carry, and did nothing to resolve the Trojans’ crippling running back controversy (more on this in a later post).

This game represented an unprecedented opportunity for Coach Carroll to tell an indifferent nation that USC was back, and that after three frustrating years in the cellar of the Bowl Championship Series, we deserve another chance in the big show, a chance to play for the ADT Security Services National Championship Trophy rather than have to settle for another^[1] irrelevant engraving on an ancient trophy from yesteryear’s formerly prestigious Rose Bowl game.