Pete’s on the Hot Seat

Well here we are, a day away from another dreaded PAC-10 opener.  Pardon me if I avert my eyes from the screen.  I don’t expect this to be pretty.  Not because the competition is tough (actually, just calling it ‘competition’ makes me chuckle), but because Pete Carroll has shown a clear disdain for opening the PAC-10 season with a win.

I for one am tired of Carroll’s blind adherence to his bankrupt ideology “finish strong.”  How about starting strong?  Or better yet, playing strong the entire season?

The spread on this game is 24 points.  Boi From Troy says to take the points.  Coaches Hot Seat goes a step further and predicts that the Trojans will lose this game.

I couldn’t agree more.  Under Pete Carroll, USC has lost FIVE times in September, causing the Trojans to slip in the polls during the early weeks of the season when first impressions are made and forcing the players to rally in the later half of the season in order to get USC back onto the radar.

In ‘honor’ of those five losses, I present five reasons we will likely lose tomorrow night.

After USC’s win over Ohio State, everyone (well, almost everyone, more on that later) is talking about how USC is the clear #1 team and will be in the national championship game come January.  We’ve heard that before, only to have Pete Carroll screw things up.

Ohio State was clearly overrated.  They got blown out by LSU and Florida the last two years.  It would have been a disappointment for USC NOT to blow them out.  In fact, failing to score 40 points on them is practically a loss.

Sure USC gave them their most lopsided loss under Jim Tressel and held them without a touchdown for the first time in 140 games.  Big deal.  They were missing their leading rusher, Chris “Beanie” Wells, a extraordinary talented running back who surely would have won the Heisman this year if not for his unfortunate injury.