When the USC Trojans take the field this afternoon to secure their first PAC12 championship since 2008, they will be fighting an uphill battle.
Their opponent, Stanford, has already defeated them once this year. That’s a Stanford team that has dominated the championship in the last three years, winning two conference titles.
The “experts” in Vegas are picking the Cardinal to prevail yet again, and this morning, the ESPN Game Day crew all but closed the lid on USC’s coffin with their unanimous selection of the boys from up north. Even the Mayans predicted that they will lose this game (or at least Adam Maya has).
Those are just the headlines for USC’s challenge on this day; other landmines could blow their hopes sky-high. First, in order to compete with Stanford this afternoon, USC has to venture deep into enemy territory as the supposedly neutral site sits a mere 15 miles from the Stanford campus.
To make matters worse, any victory for the Trojans will have to be pried from the powerful clutches of the nearby PAC12 head office, which will be casting a protective and watchful eye over their favorite sons. The Conference will be pushing hard to get academic poster-child Stanford into the college football playoffs. It couldn’t care less about a USC team whose tradition of dominance it has tried to so hard to suppress.
To top it all off, USC has a “loser” at the helm in Clay Helton. For the foreseeable future that starts with today, the Trojans will be led by a coach who just “lost” his “interim” tag (a title he couldn’t hold onto for even a half-season). History says that no one has ever been named interim head coach mid-season and gone on to win the conference championship. Or have they? We don’t know; that just doesn’t happen.
…so, against all challenges, the embattled Trojans enter Levi’s Stadium this afternoon looking for glory and redemption. Their spirits seem high. What do they know? Why do they think that the sun will be setting on the darkest period in their history? Do they not understand their challenge?
I think that they do, but something new and profound gives them hope. In the midst of an embattled season, these young men have found strength in three simple words:
Fight on! Beat the Cardinal.
Their opponent, Stanford, has already defeated them once this year. That’s a Stanford team that has dominated the championship in the last three years, winning two conference titles.
The “experts” in Vegas are picking the Cardinal to prevail yet again, and this morning, the ESPN Game Day crew all but closed the lid on USC’s coffin with their unanimous selection of the boys from up north. Even the Mayans predicted that they will lose this game (or at least Adam Maya has).
Those are just the headlines for USC’s challenge on this day; other landmines could blow their hopes sky-high. First, in order to compete with Stanford this afternoon, USC has to venture deep into enemy territory as the supposedly neutral site sits a mere 15 miles from the Stanford campus.
To make matters worse, any victory for the Trojans will have to be pried from the powerful clutches of the nearby PAC12 head office, which will be casting a protective and watchful eye over their favorite sons. The Conference will be pushing hard to get academic poster-child Stanford into the college football playoffs. It couldn’t care less about a USC team whose tradition of dominance it has tried to so hard to suppress.
To top it all off, USC has a “loser” at the helm in Clay Helton. For the foreseeable future that starts with today, the Trojans will be led by a coach who just “lost” his “interim” tag (a title he couldn’t hold onto for even a half-season). History says that no one has ever been named interim head coach mid-season and gone on to win the conference championship. Or have they? We don’t know; that just doesn’t happen.
…so, against all challenges, the embattled Trojans enter Levi’s Stadium this afternoon looking for glory and redemption. Their spirits seem high. What do they know? Why do they think that the sun will be setting on the darkest period in their history? Do they not understand their challenge?
I think that they do, but something new and profound gives them hope. In the midst of an embattled season, these young men have found strength in three simple words:
“Family”
“Faith”
“Football”
“Faith”
“Football”
Fight on! Beat the Cardinal.
Last edited:
