It was supposed to be sort of a rebuilding year, so I guess we USC grads and Trojan fans can’t complain too much about the final win-loss record our football team posted this year.
I mean, lots of colleges would kill for an 8-4 record at the end of their season.
Hell … who am I kidding. The Trojans were the most disappointing major college football team in the nation this year, dropping games to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and of all teams, Stanford.
True freshman quarterback Matt Barkley had a fine start, showing maturity beyond his years until injury and his inexperience caught up with him midway through the season. The offense showed flashes of brilliance before becoming slightly inept, and the defense played well enough to keep USC in games until they too suffered lapses.
I can understand the Oregon loss – the Ducks ended up as Pac-10 champions. But we shouldn’t have lost to Washington or Arizona. Definitely not Stanford, who set records in their trouncing of the Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
We’ve been spoiled in the Pete Carroll era, and have come to expect at least being in the running for the national championship.
Two bright notes: We beat Notre Dame and UCLA, our biggest rivals.
However, instead of winning the Pac-10 for the eighth consecutive year, we finished sixth, thanks to a four-way tie for second place. And instead of playing the Big Ten champions in the Rose Bowl for the umpteenth time, we’re headed for the Emerald Bowl to face Boston College.
Frankly, I’ve never heard of the Emerald Bowl, so I looked it up. It used to be the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl (snicker) when it was launched in 2002. The game is played in AT&T Park (home of the San Francisco Giants), the only bowl game to be played in a baseball specific park.
I was right. It’s pretty much a hinky-dink bowl.
Hopefully this year is an anomaly and next year will be a better year for the Trojans. I’m counting on it.
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