USC's "Danger Zone": The biggest bumps on a road to an undefeated season

Rivaled only by the mancrush we have on Nick Saban, the mancrush we have on bashing USC will be discussed here more and more as the season approaches. I rifled through Phil Steele's mag yesterday and read up on the Troy Boys a bit, and here are my thoughts on their schedule.

They do have one rather interesting stretch during the season all of us should watch closely this fall: a five game in five week run (Sept. 24-Oct. 22), four games on the road, two traditionally good teams with high profile coaches looking to "make their season" by knocking off numero uno.

Sept 24= at Oregon. Autzen Stadium is still regarded a sketchy place for a high profile team to play (ask Michigan, 2003), so you can't disregard this one out of hand if you're looking for a Trojan loss. Ducks should improve on last year (7 starters return on each side), but odds are still against the upset happening here.

Oct 1=at Ariz ST. If our Tigers are undefeated at this time, look for the first "LSU/USC common opponent" talk to start here as talk of a possible Rose Bowl clash begins to heat up. All of us here will be very familiar with the Sun Devils by the time this USC game kicks off, so I won't go into details. Again, not the likeliest spot for an upset b/c by this time the Devils will be a little worn out (4th of 5 straight weeks with games against LSU and USC in that mix), but a road game is still a road game for USC...

Oct 8=Arizona. Okay, okay, it's USC at home. No upset, but Mike Stoops will have his guys fired up and, if nothing else, should not be an easy touch for USC. Wear 'em down a little in preparation for...

Oct 15=at Notre Dame. Here's where I call my shot. Charlie Weiss will hang this as a big target for his team this season. ND gets off to a tough start, with four of their first five games on the road (especially at Pitt, at Michigan, at Purdue). This could be an improved team over last year and still be 2-3 going into the USC game.

That USC game, which comes after an Irish off week, will only be ND's second home game of the year. With the exception of Tennessee later in the year, an SC upset could set them up to run the table and finish bowl eligible. Gonna be a good game, I say.

Oct 22=at Washington. Of all these teams, the Huskies may be the least talented of the bunch, but it's still a conference road game for USC. If ND doesn't get 'em the week before, a flat SC team could struggle the way they did versus Stanford on the road last year.


I think too many prognosticators are too quick to give SC 11 wins for the year. Their schedule is more difficult than it was in 2004, as I've just outlined here.

One final note: SC plays at Cal on November 12.

 

this isn't related to the thread, but also doesn't warrant a separate thread of it's own: word is Perrilloux gets his ol' number 11 this season (well, we figured it would happen, but...).

Good! I don't have to change my avatar for the time being.

 

I think USC is A LOT better than what (some) LSU fans (including myself at one point) are giving them credit for. Last season they DISMANTLED a pretty good OU team, of course Norm Chow isn't there anymore, but Leinart is Anyone ever visit this site? :hihi::hihi::hihi::dis: http://www.mattleinartblog.com/

 

You make a very good and true point. But, we as Tiger Fans would like to think that we are just as good, if not better, than USC. That is why we love to hate them.

It is going to be a long tough road for LSU this season and the fans. I have no doubt in my mind that LSU can make it to the Rose Bowl. It's just getting them to believe that they can and that would be Les’s job.



Heather

:geauxtige

 

This thread is wrong-headed. We LSU folks are not obsessed with USC. Hell, we don't care to know anything about USC or their players, because, we just plain don't like them.

We have no "mancrush" on bashing USC. We leave all that to the Bauburn fans.

 

No Chow = 2 losses

Bank it

 

Care to wager on that, Jean? I won't start any more USC-oriented threads the rest of the season myself, but I bet that, come December, you'll have dozens of "USC and the PAC-10 are overrated/they shouldn't be #1" threads on this site.

If that's not "mancrush"-ish---mutliple threads on a non-SEC team that does not appear on LSU's 2005 schedule---I don't know what is.

 

We all ended our college football viewing season with fUSC trouncing a hapless Oklahoma... and the press did their bandwagon thing about how they knew all along the Trojans were unbeatable, God-like, a team for the ages, etc.

How soon they forget:
Virginia Tech - USC wins 24-13 (neutral site) as Bush "takes over" after a game changing offensive pass interference call late in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford - A 31-28 win at Palo Alto... fUSC overcomes a 28-17 halftime deficit. Stanford finishes the season 4-7.
Cal - Aaron Rodgers goes 29-31 (267 yds) until the last series late in the 4th qtr... with a 1st and goal from the USC nine, Rodgers gets sacked, then throws three incompletes to the endzone, fUSC wins 23-17.
Oregon State - Reggie Bush's 65 yd punt return in the 4th quarter gives fUSC the lead, they add another score and win 28-20. OSU ends the season 6-5.
UCLA - A lackluster 29-24 conference ending win against their crosstown foe. UCLA finishes at 6-5.

Now, fUSC is most deserving of their BCS trophy (singular)and their #1 preseason ranking for 2005, but this invincible crap does wear on the soul, doesn't it?

 

Amen! Great post brother!

USC could have easily had 2-3 losses, but to be the Champ in anything, you have to have the breaks go your way.

In our title, it was the same way. We needed Syracuse to upset ND to even get in the game, and we needed an All-American Georgia and Ole Miss kicker to have an off night.

 

The problem that I and many other people have with USC is that fact that they have it so easy... they play in the weakest bcs conference (yes, below the big least), while LSU plays in the toughest conference. A one lose season int eh SEC is more than equal to an undefeated one in the Puss-10.

I think USC loses to Oregon. Oregon is putting in what is basically Utah's offense from last year. Like iwht the triple option teams like Navy, this offense is such a change up from the pro-style offenses that most schools run, that many teams will have trouble with it.