USC once again followed a tired pattern Saturday, losing its Pac-10 road opener to Washington thanks to a bevy of offensive problems. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, starting in place of injured freshman Matt Barkley was ineffective, tossing a pair of interceptions inside the Washington 30-yard line as USC fell to the Huskies 16-13. Washington kicked a 22-yard field goal with seconds remaining to eclipse the No. 3 Trojans.USC's Pac-10 troubles are well established, having lost to Oregon State in 2008, Stanford and Oregon in 2007, UCLA in 2006 and Cal in 2003. The road openers have been predictably troublesome, with the Cal and Oregon State losses in that mix. Of particular embarrassment, USC coach Pete Carroll lost to disciple Steve Sarkisian, who only last week snapped a 15-game losing streak for the troubled Washington football program.
In the pantheon of strange USC conference losses of the Carroll era, this is right up there with the UCLA and Stanford games, as the USC offense yet again wasted an above-average defensive outing to total just 13 points.
After an outstanding open to the 2009 season when USC rushed for over 300 yards against San Jose State, back-to-back road starts with inexperienced quarterbacks were just too much, barely escaping Ohio State last week before turning in that 18-point effort into an even worse 13-point showing this time around. Keep in mind this is the program that once set an NCAA record for most consecutive games with 20 or more points.
Massive credit of course must be directed at Washington, which stood toe-to-toe with a deeper, more talented opponent. Husky quarterback Jake Locker's scrambling and well-timed passes kept drive after drive alive. On the other side, Husky defensive coordinator Nick Holt, last seen as USC's defensive coordinator, got his revenge in holding the Trojans to 360 yards and a ridiculous zero-for-10 conversion rate on third downs.
The Trojans are in desperate need of a staycation, and they'll have it with a get-well home game next week against hapless Washington State in their near-impenetrable fortress that is the Coliseum. Once again USC wasted a great opportunity, as it was gaining ground on No. 2 Texas in the rankings only to falter like everyone anticipated it would. Nobody knew when or where, but the Pac-10 stumble was inevitable, and here it is. Soak it in.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-19-2009 @ 7:20PM
ashleigh said...
Why didn't they use Mustain in the 2nd half??? Clearly Corp was not up to the task...
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 9:58PM
comtox said...
Trojans POP under pressure!!
9-21-2009 @ 10:09PM
Ted Clark said...
It wouldn't have mattered who the3 QB was! The dawgs were fired up, the fans were fired up and the coaches as well. When you're facing a three prong attack against you, the odds just aren't pretty. After being down and kicked around for sooooooo long and against UW's winning tradition, mark my words....the dawgs are back and are out for blood (figuratively) and revenge now that there's a coach in place that they believe in and visa versa. UI'm going to enjoy the ride for now.
9-19-2009 @ 7:47PM
Dick and Sue said...
In spite of the talking heads, it is clear that this kind of a loss (to one of the worst teams) will be a stinger that can't be removed -- i.e., no national championship for this year. It's gone. As a visitor to our house today said, "SC's players will be upset. They'll probably cut their salaries."
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 7:58PM
altollew said...
God I love to see the look of defeat on that smug face of pete carroll. he is the a hole of a holes
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 8:05PM
Clay said...
Wow. Seems like only a month or two ago you lectured me about how USC doesn't choke games away. At least you're willing to acknowledge that they even lost. I don't care what excuses you throw out there, with the talent USC has there is no way they should lose a single game to a PAC 10 team. Please don't throw out anything about inexperienced qbs either. With the stable of rbs they have that more than makes up for the lack of experience at the qb position. I guess USC needs to adopt the mantra of Chicago Cubs fans everywhere...Next year is our year. Just do us all a favor a don't bitch when you get left out of the MNC game this year.
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 8:10PM
zemog44 said...
To the comment by "Dick and Sue" that Washington is one of the worst teams. No they clearly are not! Not anymore, Dick and Sue. This same Huskie team completely outplayed LSU in their opener and were very unlucky to lose that game 31-23. In fact, even though the game was played at Washington, the penalties at halftime were 10-1 against Washington! The Huskies should have won that game. This Washington team is no longer going to be a dormat and pushover against anyone! Two weeks from now will be interesting when they travel to Notre Dame. Regardless, the Huskies are back on the map again and watch out to all opponents. This is definitely NOT one of the worst teams! I live in SoCal and am not a Huskie fan but credit where it is due, it's good to have you back again Huskies!
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 8:26PM
melee627 said...
Too many turnovers, only one misdirection play, 85 + yards in penalties and not one pass deep down field. I have not been impressed with USC's offense since the Reggie Bush/ Matt Leinert era. Watching Pete Carroll offense and defense today was like watching someone owns a Ferrari but doesn't know how to use it - Painful.
Aaron Corp is best when he is outside the pocket. PC knew this when he recruited the kid yet he kept him inside the tackles the majority of the day. OSU and UW both over played to the stretch side yet PC did not have one Counter play. UW rolled up their corners and dared USC to go deep and USC did not. By the way is their something wrong with having Joe Mcknight and Stefon J on the field at the same time? I guess PC doesn't want teams to worry about more than the under utilized Damian Williams and 1 running back. Lastly, why recruit the best athletes in the country on defense and make them play very little man with limited blitzing packages.
USC better watchout for Notre Dame they may not play defense but it doesn't look like they need to against USC
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 11:13PM
Mr. Squirrel said...
It'll be surprising if ND can actually beat USC this year. ND just needs to work on their defense and stop getting so many damn penalties. This is the year for everyone who plays against USC to take them down. They're not so explosive and dominant like they were last year. They have two not so good quarterbacks and their bad ass defensive line from last year is gone.
It's obvious now why Pete Carroll didn't want Mark Sanchez to go to the NFL just yet. It's also obvious why Matt Barkley is the starting quarterback too.
9-19-2009 @ 8:58PM
ginodp said...
Another early season PAC 10 loss by the Trojans. Another shot at a BCS title down the drain with the season barely started. Getting to be a habit. Hats off to Washington but USC was all around pathetic. They rolled out Sanchez, they rolled out Barkley, now they have a running QB (who we saw can't throw) and they keep him in the pocket. And where were the QB sneaks on 3rd and short? The defense could have stepped up but couldn't make a stop when they needed to. Why was USC #52, Luther Brown, celebrating on the play before the game-winning FG? Because he finally made a tackle? USC keeps winning the big ones but can't beat the doormats. Their last six losses have come in games where they were a combined 119 point favorites (and that includes the 2007 Oregon game where they were 6 point underdogs). Polls aside, they have been the pre-season betting favorite to win the BCS title five years in a row yet only won it once, the first year. The bettors finally got smart this year as they were 6-1. Don't know why that writer took so much abuse for saying they've under-achieved the last four seasons - they have!
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 9:27PM
rquick1590 said...
What is with pete Carroll? since he won his last national championship he has become stupid! By that I mean he cannot or will not adjust his offense or change quarterbacks or use different people. clearly Aaron Corp was in wayyyyyy over his head. Hey Pete, just because you say he's qualified doesnt mean he is. You got outcoached by your student and AAroncorp is a NAIA Caliber QB. Another wasted season!
Reply
9-29-2009 @ 12:50AM
dowgrowth said...
What a waste of Corp's talents. If Carroll was in love with Barkeley, he should just have just asked Corp to transfer. Carroll set up Corp to fail for what reason? Corp is an exceptional individual and athlete from a fine ethical family. What Carroll did to him was just wrong! I hope he goes somewhere else and makes a fool of Carroll.
9-19-2009 @ 9:38PM
Paula said...
So glad to see USC fall to Washington. I have detested USC since 2004 when they claimed half of our national championship. We beat Washington in the opener of our season, but not as well as we thought considering their record last year. Now we see Washington is not last year's team. We beat Washington and Washington beat USC so LSU is greater than USC. Geaux Tigers!!!
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 10:51PM
sleddog said...
This story is 6 paragraphs. 5 about USC, One discussing that UW played well. National media will all be talking about "USC losing " and not about Washington winning. Washington was a couple mistakes away from beating LSU and now they eliminate some of those errors and beat USC. So what USC had to play with thier 2nd string QB, who was there starter til he got hurt. USC as he are always told is 2-3 deep at every position. UW Huskies are for real!!! That is the real story of the day.
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 10:58PM
hafttwo said...
makes you wonder how good osu really is.
Reply
9-19-2009 @ 11:06PM
Clay said...
No it doesn't. They suck.
9-20-2009 @ 1:42AM
celtsic said...
The Men of Troy have turned into the little boys of Troy.....night Fighting on these days.
Reply
9-20-2009 @ 2:06AM
timjofred said...
Notre Dame can NOT beat SC! Period. This is like any PAC-10 team playing any over rated Big Ten, Big 12, or SEC team. Pac-10 was 5-0 in bowl games last year and is already ahead of any other conference in non-conference games this year. Bow down to the Conference of Champions!
Reply
9-20-2009 @ 8:25AM
rjw6683 said...
LOL conference of champions. Conference of junk + one good team maybe. Cal barely beat a horrible minnesota team this weekend. If the Big 10 is so overrated and minnesota is junk in the big 10, what does that say about how good Cal is. I'm from Ohio and a life long buckeye fan, but let's be honest here. The SEC is by far the best in college ball hands down. Tenn once again has the best defense and Florida is the best all around team. Sorry USC fans but I watched what you guys have in Mays and he isnt half the player Berry is. We may lose the big game but I would rather lose to a good team then be a good team that chokes to junk.
9-20-2009 @ 8:15AM
shepardtrent said...
No way the mighty USC Trojans didn't lose. It must not be their fault. IIt was probably the refs who made a mistake or was out to get them. I wouldnt drop them in the polls. They are the better team, it was just a fluke they lost. Maybe drop them 1 spot r move them up because they are so great!. I mean come on Pete Carroll is a genius. Where are all the BIG MOUTH USC fans now?????
Reply