Enjoying a night of college football
With BYU embarking on a bye week, I totally enjoyed Thursday night’s Oregon State upset of USC.
ITEM: USC coach Pete Carroll, pacing the sidelines, rapidly chewing gum, an Army of five-star recruits surrounding his flanks and he can’t get a lead on 25-point underdog 1-2 Oregon State. Priceless.
ITEM: OSU Players dump Gatorade on their head coach with 2:39 left in the game. Priceless.
ITEM: Trojan quarterback Mark Sanchez, walking off the field and down the tunnel to the locker room, throwing his mouth piece at the wall after USC threw away a gift No. 1 ranking. Priceless.
ITEM: The Pac-10, reeling to find a leader, some continuity, some semblance of accountability for the millions and millions of BCS and Rose Bowl dollars horded through its golden parachute, as its league teams underachieve while standing in a puddle of entitlement after member after member loses to MWC and WAC schools and the bottom of their league. Priceless.
ITEM: Might mite RB Jacquizz Rodgers, a tiny 5-foot-7 freshman from Texas, brings USC’s hyped, worshipped and acclaimed defensive front seven to its collective knees from beginning to end, gaining 186 yards and reading OSU coach Mike Riley say: “I guess they have about five first-round picks in their front seven, but our guys blocked them OK tonight.” Priceless.
ITEM: A vision of former OSU coach Dave Kragthorpe, sitting in his living room in Logan, watching his the program he previously coached, pull down the pants of USC football on ESPN. Ditto for former OSU coach and player Bronco Mendenhall. Priceless.
ITEM: A vision of several high school recruits courted by USC and BYU, guys like Manti Teo, watching the Trojans look very ordinary and vulnerable with the best coaching staff money can buy; looking impotent to change momentum for a sustained period of time after dropping behind OSU 21-0. Priceless.
ITEM: Hearing an ESPN broadcasting crew, time and time again, make excuses for USC injuries, from missing secondary people to a brace worn on the QBs leg, sounding empty egg shell hollow because the Trojans are four-deep with the best players on the planet. Priceless.
Now, it may not sound like it, but I am a USC fan. I respect the Trojans in many aspects. I’ve had them ranked No. 1 all year. But I loved watching this game as much as any in some time.
USC is not a top five team. I was wrong. And how bad was Ohio State two weeks ago?