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Dr. Saturday

Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:38 pm EST

Another Rose Bowl laugher, and the joke's still on the BCS

By Matt Hinton

Scroll down or click here for the Doc's New Year's live blog.

Southern Cal 38, Penn State 24. For the record, USC racked up as many yards (369) and more points (31) in the first half as any other team earned on Penn State all season. Mark Sanchez's yards and passer rating were more than double the averages of regular season opponents against PSU; his four touchdown passes nearly matched the number the Lions allowed through the air all season (six). Kirk Herbstreit was right that once you start talking about evidence of the Trojans' dominance, it's hard to stop, as he and Brent Musburger proved from the onset of garbage time in the second quarter.

This is not another line about USC against the Big Ten; I respect the Big Ten and I respect Penn State's near-perfect run through it, which is what makes SC's routine dominance so impressive in that context. Since 2003, the Trojans are 19-1 against teams from the other BCS conferences (including Notre Dame) by an average margin of 25.1 points per game, and since the '06 Rose Bowl loss to Texas have taken 12 straight non-conference games by at least two touchdowns. At least as impressive as the Pac-10's 5-0 bowl record is the fact that random teams from the conference are able to actually beat USC every now and then, because nobody else comes close.

Now: By far the highlight of this particular blowout (please, do not be deceived by the final score or Penn State's final yardage total, earned with the game well out of hand in the fourth quarter -- it was a blowout) was the open discussion of the Trojans splitting the mythical championship with the Florida/Oklahoma winner by taking the vote in the AP poll, as it did with LSU in 2003. This is not because I'd endorse USC for No. 1, necessarily; I hope the same discussion comes up on Texas' behalf when the Longhorns are on TV in the next few days, for the sake of the discussion and the general undermining of the "be-all, end-all" nature of the Florida-Oklahoma showdown. Nothing against the Gators or Sooners, who earned their positions at the top of the polls, but I can't respect the legitimacy of any game that excludes any team as overwhelming as this edition of Southern Cal. Its entire performance in the Rose Bowl was an air-tight argument against the absurdity of the two-team playoff.

Again, I'm not willing to say USC deserves to be the national champion. But I defy anyone who watched the Trojans methodically whittle another top-10 opponent into dust to honestly argue that they don't deserve a shot.

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  1. Gary
    1. Posted by Gary Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:14 pm EDT

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    Take USC out of the Rose Bowl and they would be average at best.
  2. JustWinBaby
    2. Posted by JustWinBaby Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:47 pm EDT

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    first. Happy New Year. The big ten should have its automatic BCS bid taken away. USC may have gotten jobbed out of another title,but after wrecking "THE" Ohio state university and penn state this year. All those yokels around the country that want to fight to the death saying that the Big ten is not overratted. Well.... It's safe to say that they will shut the F#*% Up for a little while at least.
  3. jhyatt
    3. Posted by jhyatt Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:06 pm EDT

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    for a team that had to backdoor their way into the rose bowl they definitely took advantage and looked good. but seriously, have they played a 'great' offensive team all year? i'm serious. we'll never know what would happen if usc played florida or texas or oklahoma (this year), but they would be playing their first opponent with speed to match and excellent offenses - and in the case of florida a strong defense.
    sc has the easiest road to the big game (at least since they have been good the last 7-8 years) with the big 10, so it bothers those of us who root for teams with more roadblocks along the way to hurdle. penn state is good, but they are not in the league with florida or oklahoma and therefore we just don't know how good sc is. a playoff would be a good start...
  4. Clay
    4. Posted by Clay Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:00 pm EDT

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    USC is a great team, and they deserve their Top 5 ranking.
    However, USC's tragic flaw is that they always believe their own hype way much. I think their lazy second half performance today is the same thing that causes them to lose so many conference games they should easily win. It happens every year, yet they refuse to learn their lesson.
    The Trojans have a lot of talent, but they also have a lot of hubris. That's why so many of us are always droning on about how over-rated they are.
  5. Paul
    5. Posted by Paul Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:13 pm EDT

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    Hate to say it but USC needs to play higher ranked teams (as in top 10, SEC,Big12, etc, not just pac10 Cal(21) and Oregon(23)) to get a higher poll number and get into the big game. As mentioned above beating Ohio State(5) doesn't really count much since they are from the overrated big 10. USC might be able to beat Florida or Oklahoma but those teams played much tougher schedules. Florida in particular beat LSU(4), Georgia(8) at Georgia!, Florida State(23) at FL State, and Alabama(1). If USC can get through that kind of schedule 10-1 then they might get ranked 1 or 2.
  6. pisgah
    6. Posted by pisgah Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

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    Hey bozo post #2... Do you REALLY think USC would be so great if they came and played in the midwest in January? Do you wonder why Reggie Bush is such a FLOP in REAL (i.e. NFL) football? Do you wonder why USC has NEVER produced a Super Bowl quarterback? All the Big 10 needs to do is STOP sending its best teams out to play in USC's dumping ground of stadium in January, and start having its best teams HOST bowl games HERE in NFL conditions. Then we'll see if USC players can SUCK as badly in college kiddie-joke ball as they do in REAL football.
  7. ruahogfan2
    7. Posted by ruahogfan2 Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:55 pm EDT

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    Simply put, USC won by 14, not by 40. Carroll talks about how his team finishes strong, yet they give up 17 in the 4th and only put 7 on the board themselves. If USC wanted to make a case for #1, they shouldn't have died in the 2nd half. USC is good, but they play a "home" game at the Rose Bowl each year and win. Big deal. We all know that Penn State had a good season, but weren't in the class of the elite that are playing in the championship game. Maybe USC should have beat Oregon State?
  8. Steve U
    8. Posted by Steve U Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    #6, First of all, there are no Big Game bowls that are played in the north. It will always be this way till the NCAA decides to change it. Also, when does the Big Ten play in December or January at home? So come talk to any non Big Ten fan when the Big Ten does play in the in those months.
  9. Dudly
    9. Posted by Dudly Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:49 pm EDT

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    once again joe pa gets his clock cleaned, and still makes excuses as to why they lost.
    how about just saying the lions got their asses kicked by a superior team?
    another reason why joe pa needs to go to the the "happy valley" old folks home.
  10. James P
    10. Posted by James P Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:28 pm EDT

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    According to Google maps it is 14 miles or about 25 minutes from USC's campus to the Rose Bowl. The only team with an easier commute to the game was Vandy, who played the Music City bowl all of 3.6 miles away. Surprise surprise, they both won. Wouldn't it be interesting to see USC vs Alabama? Too bad!
  11. Harry the Husky
    11. Posted by Harry the Husky Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:30 pm EDT

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    @ PaulB
    All the more reason to have a playoff. There are no 'cup cakes' or division II schools on Pete Carroll's non-conference schedule. A national championship should go to the best team in college football and I find it difficult to penalize how good USC is because of their conference. The strengths (or lack of) of the football programs in states like Washington and Arizona should not play such a huge role in determining the national champion of college football.
  12. TheDukester
    12. Posted by TheDukester Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    wow, #7, is I'm reading the "hogfan" part right, you're just looking to get a few cheap shots in a sad attempt to make up for those two USC blowouts over your completely over-matched collection of bozos.
    Hey, does anybody remember those scores?
    Oh, wait ... I do!
    2005: USC 70, Arkansas 17
    2006: USC 50, Arkansas 14
  13. LD
    13. Posted by LD Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:01 pm EDT

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    USC is a great team, but how many times were Trojan receivers catching balls without a Nittany Lion within 5-10 yards of the receiver? Sure, Turner and Williams are good receivers, not great, but PSU was making these guys look like Swann and Stallworth in their prime. How many other Top 10 teams would've dominated the Penn State team that took the field today? 6, maybe 7? I'm all in for a 4-team playoff, maybe 8-team if it makes sense, but all this talk of USC splitting the title stinks of hype.
  14. CuseFanInSoCal
    14. Posted by CuseFanInSoCal Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:48 pm EDT

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    #1 - You do realize that USC won its two non-Rose Bowl BCS games under Carroll quite handily, right?
    #6 - You realize that other than the Illinois in 2006, its BCS bowl opponent has never been ranked more than two spots lower than USC in the BCS rankings? They were not beating up on cupcakes; they were beating up on top-10 -- and usually top-5 -- teams.
  15. Colin
    15. Posted by Colin Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:21 pm EDT

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    It concerns me that the Trojans often take quarters or halves off when they're up by a comfortable margin -- and you could only sense by the play-calling in the second half that Steve Sarkisian was already mentally out the door and on his way to Seattle. You can only think of how many BCS title games they'd be a part of if that hadn't happened (I'd count 2 more using that logic.)
    But I don't much care to hear crowing about the Trojans' schedule, particularly from Big XII or SEC teams that schedule I-AA cupcake matches. Yes, it was Virginia, ND, and Ohio State. That looked rather good when those schedules were made.
    This doesn't get fixed until there's a playoff, and chaos ought to be the order of the day.
  16. Zachary K
    16. Posted by Zachary K Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:00 pm EDT

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    I'm, uh, no USC fan, but they're about the last team in the world that should get knocked for their scheduling.
  17. MOG
    17. Posted by MOG Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    Here's something to consider in regards to the current system justifying the need for a playoff system: So far as of today (01-01-09) there have been 9 bowl games in which at least 1 team had a ranking number associated with it. Of those 9 games, 7 of them have been won by the team with the worse ranking (or in the case of BYU vs Arizona, the non ranked team won... Arizona). We have to wait until ESPN's new t.v. contract with the BCS expires before we can even hope for a playoff (too much money tied to the contract for that to be severed) and yet this year's bowls so far justify why playing the games on the field, especially in a playoff, would be the best means of deciding who's the best team. In 7 of 9 games to date, the BCS had it wrong so far.
  18. akaBen
    18. Posted by akaBen Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:08 pm EDT

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    how is it that everyone so quickly forgets that USC killed my Oregon duck team 44-10. the same Oregon team that beat a top tier BIG 12 team 42-31. And who cares if Florida beat a #4 LSU a #8 Georgia and a #23 FSU that is like beating a #1Troy. those teams sucked they were way overrated. alabama had a good run game but got shut down. USC v. Florida is the ultimate Championship. Texas maybe could be in there. But OU play defense then you get in. OU is crap on defense. i hate UF and Tebow. but i respect them. we need a playoff!!!!!!!!!!!!
  19. MOG
    19. Posted by MOG Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    PaulB... just for your information, in regards to SC playing better teams because of your implication that the Pac 10 is so weak: Pac 10 teams are 5-0 in bowl games this year. Amongst those wins, SC beat Penn State; Oregon (ranked 15th) beat Oklahoma St (ranked 13th); Oregon St (ranked 24th) beat Pitt (ranked 18th); and Arizona (not ranked) beat BYU (ranked 17th). Cal beat Miami but they were a better team going in then the 'Canes, so that's not especially earth shattering. This year the Pac 10 wasn't the best conference but it was far from the worst. You have to play whose on your schedule so one can't hold the games within conference against SC and they sure as hell don't back away from playing high caliber teams to fill out the rest of their schedule. This is coming from a UCLA fan, so I'm definitely not a homer when it comes to SC but having the opportunity to see the Pac 10 games week in and week out, these teams are better than you seem to give them credit for. The bottom line in all of this.. there needs to be a playoff systems to make it fair for all schools to take care of things as they should be taken care of... on the field.
  20. BradDawg
    20. Posted by BradDawg Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:12 pm EDT

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    ESPN needs to stop clamoring for a "split national championship" every year USC beats a Big 10 team in the Rose Bowl. USC and the Pac 10 signed the BCS and agreed that it was the method that would be used to determine a national champion. Just because you don't like the rules now doesn't mean you are no longer bound by them. USC knew the rules before the season started, and failed to win a national championship under the rules it agreed to. That's the way it was in 2003, and that's the way it is now. Deal with it.
    Furthermore, the people promoting this are blatant hypocrites. USC tried to claim that they were "co-national champions" after LSU won the NC game in 2003. But did USC offer to split its national championship with undefeated Auburn the next year?
  21. reggie bush
    21. Posted by reggie bush Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:26 pm EDT

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    After watching the Rose Bowl and another "flawless peformance" by the Trojans against another team from the mighty Litle 10 conference, I have a possible solution to the BCS formula. The BCS should automatically put USC in the championship game every year. The Trojans should be rewarded to the championship without ever playing a game during the regular season due to their year in and year out dominace of such great perienial conference powers such as Oregan State, Stanford, Washington State and the Oregon Ducks (Quack, Quack!) They should also qualify to play the NY Giants, Kansas Jayhawks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Red Wings and Philidelphia Phillies in their respective championship games. Every year the Trojans are clearly the best sports team of all time. Their greatness is transcendant in all sports. WHAT A JOKE!
    Another year of would've, should've, could've we are the best team in the country not to be playing in the BCS game. Or maybe they should drop out of the rough and tumble, big bad PAC 10 conference and join a lessor conference maybe i.e. the Sunbelt or SWAC.
  22. MOG
    22. Posted by MOG Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    My previous posts, while they have hyped the Pac 10 teams, are more about the need of a playoff system. In fairness to the other conferences, one of the biggest obstacles for a playoff has been the commissioners of both the Big 10 and the Pac 10 in their insistence in fighting against a playoff because of the fact that the current system allows them and the Rose Bowl executives to find ways to get Pac 10 and Big 10 teams to still fill the spots for the Rose Bowl game, therefore allowing each conference a guarantee of each school in each conference to split the revenue. Not a bad deal if each conference is guaranteed around $17 million every single year to spit up between all the schools. Who wouldn't want that guarantee? The Pac 10 and Big 10 commissioners have stated that if a playoff was created their conferences would not take part. I'd say, call their bluff and proceed with a playoff. Before long, knowing that the air time that comes from these games in a playoff means big time exposure to the players, recruits will go elsewhere and when those conferences no longer get the best players they'll change their tune.
  23. jhyatt
    23. Posted by jhyatt Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:06 pm EDT

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    benjamin
    those teams from the sec florida might have 'sucked' and been 'overrated' but at least they were ranked! at least they had more than one win (hello washington and wazzu). i'll take florida beating lsu and georgia over usc beating wazzu and wash. is there a team usc beat besides ohio state we can say were overrated? no, because most were not good. and the one team that was underrated - oregon state - beat usc!
    so before everyone hates on florida because lsu and georgia were mediocre let's be sure to check that pac 10 schedule usc played. oh boy, they played notre dame, which is like playing... the citadel. when the pac 10 gets a few more teams in the top ten, overrated or underrated, then we can compare with a florida schedule.
  24. Hoops M
    24. Posted by Hoops M Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    USC obviously has a claim on being the best team in the country. Their lone loss came in September against a very good (9-4) Oregon State team, which could have ended up in the Rose Bowl themselves if their star running back Jacquizz Rogers wasn't injured late in the season. But then, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Utah also can make a strong case for the top spot.
  25. Hoops M
    25. Posted by Hoops M Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:20 pm EDT

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    Shouldn't the final score have been 38-26 though? USC intercepted a pass with 1 second left in the end zone, and the USC player voluntarily backed out of the end zone to avoid being hit -- his momentum didn't carry him out, because he had started going forward before that. It should have been a safety, and 2 points for Penn State, and their should have been 1 second left on the clock....

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