Posted on 10/14/2005 10:14:54 AM PDT by Dog Gone
LOS ANGELES — Inside the lobby of Heritage Hall, under glass, sits the collection of national championship trophies won by all of the teams in the glorious past of the University of Southern California. Shining and majestic, they can almost take your breath away.
Outside in front of the building, coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Matt Leinart might be on the verge of running out of breath from all the talking they are doing.
On the right side of the steps, Carroll is sitting comfortably in a black polo shirt and tan shorts, sliding easily from a radio station interview over his cell phone into a one-on-one conversation with a newspaper reporter.
On the left side of the steps, Leinart, in a T-shirt and jeans, is making his way down a row of TV cameras set up on tripods, mixing bons mots with cheery analysis and casual banter.
If the two-time defending Associated Press national champions are in any way feeling the heat of a 27-game winning streak and 25 consecutive weeks at the top of the poll, then USC must have asbestos-lined helmets and veins. For a team that faces stratospheric expectations, the Trojans are looser than a screen door in a hurricane.
"I understand how other people might interpret all of that as negative or oppressive or distracting," Carroll said. "But we don't even talk about it. The truth is that it has no bearing on what we're trying to do."
Which is, quite simply, win the next football game. That's something USC has done 38 times in its last 39 tries heading into Saturday's glamorous showdown at South Bend, Ind., against ninth-ranked Notre Dame, which is rejuvenated under first-year coach Charlie Weis.
It will be the 17th time the Trojans and Irish have met with both teams ranked in the top 10, but it's the first time since 1988. USC, which has won the last three meetings by an average of 31 points, is an 11-point favorite.
There are, of course, so many reasons for the Trojans to feel squeezed by all of the attention that comes from living so long now in the cross hairs, the ones with the target on their backs.
For Carroll, this is his season to prove that he can continue to fly high even without a pair of assistants who received so much credit for what the Trojans had accomplished on both sides of the ball.
Before offensive coordinator Norm Chow left for the NFL's Tennessee Titans, his reputation as an offensive guru had grown so large as to virtually outshine the sun, let alone the head coach. On the other side of the ball, Ed Orgeron, now head coach at Mississippi, was the tireless recruiter and the loud, aggressive tough-guy defensive line coach who, it was said, put the muscle and ferocity into the USC defense.
"Pressure's on me?" Carroll asked with a smile. "OK, I'll take it all and just do what I do."
Which is to be head coach, father figure and middle-aged teammate all at once out on the Trojans' practice field. If he isn't instructing technique, Carroll might be diving into the middle of a pile to come up with a fumble or tossing a football around.
Loose.
For Leinart, this is his season to follow up on last year's Heisman Trophy performance by trying to take USC where no football team has gone before — to three AP national titles in a row. He's tall and good-looking with a fashionable scruff of beard. He's known to hang with the likes of Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Justin Timberlake and other Hollywood celebrities. That likely makes him more of a mark for opposing defenses.
Two weeks ago at Arizona State, Leinart was knocked out of the game for two plays in the first quarter and needed seven stitches to close a gash on his chin following a late hit by linebacker Robert James.
That's hardly the kind of contact he has been prepared for by his only class this semester — ballroom dancing. Yet Leinart and USC both got up off the turf and prevailed, as usual.
On Sept. 24, the Trojans fell behind 13-0 in the first quarter at Oregon and came back to stomp the Ducks 45-13. Against Arizona State, the Trojans trailed 21-3 at halftime and rallied for a 38-28 victory. While they rank No. 1 in the nation in total offense (640.1 yards per game) and second in points (51.4 per game), what might be most impressive is the Trojans outscoring opponents 168-42 in the second half.
"I've never once thought, 'Oh man, this is the game we lose,' " said Leinart, who is averaging 329.1 yards passing. "I just thought that it was going to be hard but that we could do it. That's my job and for some of the others on the team, to be leaders, to keep a positive vibe on the sideline."
It certainly is easier to hold onto that vibe when the Trojans have the two-headed monster of Reggie Bush and LenDale White living in their backfield. They are the top tailback duo in the nation with White already compiling 616 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and Bush 601 yards and six TDs. Between them, Bush and White accounted for 355 yards and four TDs against the Sun Devils.
On the loose.
When the coach finishes answering questions, Leinart might drop by to take a seat on a sofa and say whatever pops into his head. Or wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett will make the room glimmer with his large silver necklace and his smile. Or linebacker Oscar Lua, whose late interception clinched the Arizona State win, will show up on the front steps joking and chatting with anyone on hand.
While other major programs practice behind locked gates and keep the players sequestered like jurors in a murder trial, the Trojans invite you into their world to get to know them. Free. Relaxed. Call it campus cool, just the most fun place on the planet to play college football.
No wonder they can respond so brilliantly as in their Orange Bowl national championship thrashing of Oklahoma last January. Or when they fall behind at Oregon and Arizona State. Maybe it's just more fun that way.
"Other teams probably get a lead on us and think we're vulnerable," Jarrett said. "What it really means is now you get to see us do our stuff."
"Opponents might think that something big is wrong," Leinart said. "But it's usually little things like penalties. I'm never worried."
Carroll actually enjoys the anticipation.
"It's definitely more dramatic coming back," he said. "There's more tension and all of that. The exciting part is when you feel the shift occur. You can see it in our guys, sense it. That surge you feel, that crescendo, is really exciting.
"The other side is that we come out of those situations and it strengthens our resolve in what we're really all about. I wish I knew how to explain it to you, but I don't. I just know it's there. It's existed for a long time for us. We have found a way to have a tremendous surge to finish games. It's become a characteristic of our team, which I love.
"No question, a lot of it is mental. It's developed over the years. It's come through. It's bled its way through our program."
For the Trojans, loose is a perfect fit.
Fight On!
But they never have defeated USC when the Trojans are ranked #1 in the country, and I think they've had five tries over the decades.
Go ND!!!
Not that SC hasn't given plenty of teams (Oregon, ASU, Arizona) their chances.
But it says a lot for a team that basically spots their opponent the first half, and only really plays one quarter to blow them out.
Quite remarkable.
Fight on!
I guess ND does have a history of breaking long streaks of LA teams.
But the Trojans have three players, Leinert, White, and Bush, who could be starting in the NFL today and be franchise players. Notre Dame is a good team, but I don't think they can hold off USC for 60 minutes.
I tend to agree with you..but the game is in South Bend, and that is a very special place...Touchdown Jesus may work yet another miracle..
| BIG STOPS Notre Dame has had a knack for breaking long winning streaks. The Irish get another try Saturday when USC brings its 27-game streak into South Bend:
SCORING MACHINES Based on what Southern California and Notre Dame have done offensively this season, Saturday's combined scoring total could approach triple digits: USC
NOTRE DAME
|
Show Pete who's the new boss in S.B.!
Now, you can't root against that!
In South Bend, no one can hear your scream.
Trojans be warned.
WOOO HOOOOO REGGIE!!!!!!!! I love Leinart, but Reggie deserves the Heisman this year. What a game!
I have considerably more gray hair as a result of sweating the last 2 minutes.
Either team deserved the win - USC just happened to have the ball at the very end of the game to win it. Could've been ND's ball, too.
Tommy Trojan continues to Fight On!
Now, USC won't be tested really again (unless they choke) until UCLA - that game will be as tight as USC/ND was - and that's cross-town bragging rights to boot.
Right now I'm still savoring the Notre Dame game.
They could have kicked the tying field goal, but rolled the dice. What a game.
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