The Losses

Posted by hotseatpete

Details of each of Pete Carroll’s SIXTEEN losses. (updated periodically)

Stanford, coached by Tyrone Willingham

September 29th, 2001

Imagine being a wide-eyed freshman, recently exposed to the spectacle of college football, the special kind of exposure that you can only experience as a student at a big football school.  You join your friends hours before the game is scheduled to start to get in line so you can get great seats in the student section.  You make a day of it.  Despite being a newbie, you know that your turn is more than capable of pounding a team like Stanford, so you’re ready to cheer on your players and witness a massacre.  And you do, except it’s your team that gets slaughtered.  You just wasted the entire day.

I know what you’re thinking.  It’s a wonder that the whole experience didn’t turn me off to football completely, or at least USC football.  As disappointing as it is to follow your team on the road and watch them lose, nothing is worse than the horrible sensation of getting beaten in your own backyard.  No one should ever have to endure that.

It’s bad enough that it was Stanford, but it was coached by Tyrone Willingham.  The same Tyrone Willingham that got fired from Notre Dame.  AND from Washington after NOT WINNING A SINGLE GAME ALL SEASON.  How did that man beat us?

And it’s not as if he squeaked out a victory.  The Cardinal jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and the only way USC even made it close was by returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown.  The Trojan special teams also had a 47-yard punt return and blocked a Stanford punt.  Even without the benefit of Carroll alloting the unit a specific coach, special teams nearly won the game for him.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to call the plays on offense.

The worst part is that Pete Carroll lost by more than a field goal at home to a Ty Willingham-coached Stanford team, and it’s not even his most embarrassing home loss to Stanford.

Oregon, coached by Mike Bellotti

September 22nd, 2001

Every coach likes to start new traditions, and Pete Carroll is no different.  This was the game where he started the yearly tradition of losing in the opening PAC-10 road game.  It was also where he solidified his reputation as a coach unable to win at the supposedly hostile Autzen Stadium, where he has a losing record.  (If you want real hostility, go to the SEC.  Those fans would literally kill the players if given the chance.)

Losing to Oregon (the Texas Tech of the PAC-10) is never a good thing, but this was especially bad considering they were led by Joey Harrington at QB.  Yes, that’s right, THE Joey Harrington, whose name is synonymous with failure.  So LOSING to him is something worse than failure.  No one yet knows what that word is, but when it’s discovered, Pete Carroll will be synonymous with it.

Oregon’s performance against USC led USA Today to write the following sentence:”Joey Harrington is living up to his nickname as ‘Captain Comeback.’”  The only thing worse than losing to him is losing when you already had the lead.

Meanwhile, Carroll’s repetitive play calling led to the same Oregon defender getting three interceptions.  Despite his coaching, USC still had a chance to go up by three points late in the game but failed to make a two-point conversion, which seems to be another tradition that Carroll is starting in the state of Oregon.

USC’s one point lead was of little comfort as Carroll’s defense was incapable of stopping the “mighty” Oregon offense (a team that later lost to Stanford at home) from moving down the field to kick a winning field goal.  It just goes to show that with Pete Carroll at the helm, no lead is safe, even when you’re playing Joey Harrington.

Kansas State, coached by Bill Snyder

September 8th, 2001

After an auspicious beginning to his USC career in which Pete Carroll lead the Trojans to a humbling 11-point win over San Jose State (a win that proved only that Coach Carroll has both a pulse and the foresight to give the players a playbook), the stage was set to make a statement against a non-conference BCS opponent in the Coliseum.

Apparently, that statement was that USC couldn’t score touchdowns against real compeition, as the eager fans gathered to give Carroll a second chance only to watch their Trojans get physically destroyed by the Kansas State Wildcats.  Adding insult to injury was the fact that Coach Carroll apparently never taught Carson Palmer how to throw a hail mary into the endzone, probably because he was conceited enough to believe that it would never be necessary.

What many people remember from this game was the vicious, illegal hit that Troy Polamalu put on a Kansas State player during an attempted punt return.  I don’t fault him.  He was just playing hard and emotions got int he way.  He was just a kid, after all.  But he should have gotten more drills on avoiding players while running full speed when they opt not to call a fair catch.

The anger behind that hit fueled the Wildcats to a win in that game AND the following year.  Carroll needs to learn to discipline his players.  Not only did he fail to prevent it from happening but also he neglected to suspend Polamalu for playing that kind of football.

Permalink | September 17th, 2008

4 Responses to “The Losses”

  1. Andrew Pitman Says:
    September 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm

    Let’s put it in these terms. Many folks say “wow, look at Pete Carroll’s record of 80-something & 14.” True fans know the real score.

    Number of undefeated seasons = 1
    Number of seasons with AT LEAST one loss = 6

    Consequently, as Coach Carroll enters his 8th season with the Trojans, his SEASONAL record is 1-6. And for our overly optimistic readers out there…What matters more, games or whole seasons? The prosecution rests.

  2. Kevin Says:
    October 1st, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    I gotta tell ya, I never heard so much pissin and moanin about a winning program. A program that gets loads of top recruits every year. A program that makes it to a BCS game every year. A program that has flurished under Pete Carroll.

    I being a longtime Penn State fan find it very funny that you are unhappy with Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll has lurd several great prospect out of the hands of PSU and other football programs. I read here that you are losing several blue chip prospect every year but look at the players in your program? Do you think you really need another five star tailback? You have 5 excellent tailbacks now. Maybe you need another DT? Hell, you have 4 great ones now. I’m not sure what you think you need but from my view, you have a great team.

  3. Blitz2k Says:
    December 20th, 2009 at 12:28 am

    I LOVE the math in the first response! So simply put because Pete Carroll has only had ONE undefeated season he should be fired? And I thought Philly Eagles fans were tough…yeesh.

    I guess ALWAYS being in a BCS game, and almost always being guaranteed a berth in the Rose Bowl isn’t enough for you huh?

    Maybe we should have you guys removed

  4. James Says:
    January 10th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    I agree Andrew. Pete Carroll got worse as he went along. The players are over him. He was great for awhile. USC’s 1 national championship in 2004 will probably be revoked anyway. Any college could win a championship in football if the players are being treated like owners. Good riddance Petey! You won’t be missed!

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