COLUMN: Trojans can still salvage season
As the final seconds ticked off the clock in USC’s surprise victory over No. 3 Utah, the aura of the Coliseum felt different than in week’s past.
The stadium was still full, besides the small section of Utah fans that abandoned their seats early and still rocking as Cameron Smith led the band, somewhat nervously, after his breakout performance.
The Coliseum torch burned strongly into the night, maybe signaling a sign of hope for this Trojan season. As it stands, the Trojans are just one loss back of a Pac-12 South title, holding the tie-breaker over Utah and Arizona State.
After a month highlighted by more downs than ups, the Trojans got back to their winning ways with a 42-24 whooping of No. 3 Utah. For the first time in the post-Sarkisian era, the Trojans came off the field as victors, a hopeful signal that this talented squad has left the drama of the past month in the past.
These athletes, especially the seniors, have endured more change than any program over the past four years. In fact, this year’s seniors have played for four different head coaches — Kiffin, Ogeron, Sarkisian and Helton.
Despite all the drama that has surrounded the Trojan program over the past few years, the team has responded exceptionally well. In 2013, the Trojans responded to Kiffin’s firing by ending the season 7-2, including a standout win over No. 4 Stanford at the Coliseum.
The Trojans battled hard and lost at Notre Dame last week and then returned home to defeat the Utes — an identical situation to the 2013 squad. That win over Utah in late October sparked a five-game win streak that thrust the Trojans back into the Top 25.
While this season may be lost in terms of making the College Football Playoff, the team still has a lot to play for. The Trojans, after all, control their own destiny should the Utes lose one more game to the likes of either Washington, Arizona or UCLA.
This Trojan team has all the talent to compete with the best of the best.
After all, the Trojans were 6.5 point favorites over the No. 3 Utes despite being at 3-3 on the year. Even more, when the Trojans were up big on the Utes, I know I wasn’t the only person who wasn’t surprised.
In fact, I felt that the Trojans should win that game with ease. Utah is great and all, but they field nowhere near the same talent level as the Trojans. Their big wins came over Michigan in their first game and at Oregon — a vastly overrated team as we’ve seen with its subsequent loss to Washington State.
USC doesn’t lose to schools like Utah. Now it’s time for the Trojans to reassert themselves with the Pac-12 elite and finish the season strong.
The way the Trojans’ schedule lines up won’t be easy, but with the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Adoree’ Jackson, and Ronald Jones II on our side, I’ll take us as favorites in every game.
This week’s game features a harder than usual matchup against in-state rivals, the Cal Golden Bears. The Trojans haven’t lost to the Bears since 2003, and if they can contain the Golden Bears’ Jared Goff at least somewhat, they should come out victorious with ease.
Following the Weekender, the Trojans will return home for a homecoming matchup against the Arizona Wildcats.
The Wildcats have little resemblance to their 2014 counterpart, which surprised everyone and represented the Pac-12 South in the championship game.
Should the Trojans win both of those games they will sit at 6-3 on the year with a good shot at making the conference championship. The back end of the schedule will prove to be the most daunting part of the Trojans’ season.
The Trojans will have to play back-to-back road games against Colorado and Oregon. While both of these games might not look intimidating at first sight, especially with Oregon’s early season trouble, playing on the road is always tricky, especially in cold weather stadiums. The Trojans will need to show a lot of resilience in order to come out as victors.
If the Trojans can escape from Boulder and Eugene victorious, that would put them at 8-3 on the year and would set up a crucial matchup against cross-town rivals UCLA.
The Trojans have lost three straight to the Bruins, getting outscored 111-62. It’s time to put that to an end.
A strong finish to the season will set up the next coach nicely in terms of recruiting. Now it’s time for Kessler and co. to go out play like we know they can.
The Trojans can still salvage their season. After all, we don’t give up. We fight on — we’re Trojans.
Nick Barbarino is a senior majoring in business administration. His column, “Beyond the Arc,” runs Thursdays.