Tag Archive for: rose bowl

USC playing unfamiliar role in BCS title hunt


It’s safe to say that, at this point in the season No. 18 USC was expected to be a major player in the Bowl Championship Series national championship race. And guess what? They are, still. Not in the way people expected the Trojans to be, though. Not an undefeated team on a collision course with […]

Reasons abound for USC’s missteps


USC coach Lane Kiffin is disappointed because of well, you know, his team’s record. “With the players that we have, we should not be 6-3,” he said during his weekly conference call with reporters Sunday night. That’s rather clear. Once ranked atop the Associated Press top-25 poll, the Trojans are now nearly out of it […]

Trojans’ run defense back where it started


Well, we had a shoot-out on our hands last night, didn’t we? Oregon defeated USC 62-51 in what was as exciting a game as the Coliseum has seen in a while (or, at least since last year’s triple-overtime Stanford game). But the Trojans’ defense was unable to make stops on a Duck offense that refused […]

Don’t give up on the Trojans quite yet


Something important got lost in all the disappointment and frustration and anger after USC’s loss in Arizona last week. BCS national title hopes dashed; flights to Miami unbooked. People more or less said the season was over. But it’s not: USC still controls its own destiny to the Rose Bowl. Yes, the Rose Bowl. The […]

Frustration grows with USC’s lack of flashiness


USC mounted an early 10-0 lead at Washington last Saturday and prevailed to improve its overall record to 5-1 at the midway point of the season. But as the Trojans trotted off a damp CenturyLink Field in Seattle, the overwhelming mood was that of frustration. They didn’t score enough — held without a point in […]

Trojans’ bye week is a good thing for fans


The night of Stanford’s latest upset victory over USC is not my fondest memory. After missing our return flight to Los Angeles that night, fellow editor Michael Katz and I slept over in San Francisco International Airport, sprawling out on a couple of benches beside a 24-hour Subway. Though sleeping beside vats of tuna fulfilled […]

USC fans are wise to not get excited yet


Trojan fans, I’m proud of you. I thought, after USC’s 49-10 blowout of Hawai’i in which sophomore wide receiver Marqise Lee took the first play of the entire season for a touchdown, you would all start booking flights to Miami and talking about how you couldn’t wait to beat down Alabama. I was all set […]

USC to pay tribute to Seau at season opener


During Saturday’s season opener against the Hawaii Warriors, USC will honor deceased All-Pro linebacker and former Trojan Junior Seau by distributing upwards of 80,000 wristbands in remembrance of his life and football career. The wristbands say “Trojan Pride 55,” a reference to Seau’s jersey number while a member of USC’s football team. Seau passed away […]