The Obvious – Like a nationally acclaimed Broadway musical, the No.1-ranked USC
Trojans (6-0, 3-0) conclude a highly successful three-week Coliseum engagement
with a Saturday afternoon Pac-10 matinee against the understudy Washington
Huskies (1-5, 0-3), a program that once provided the Trojans with some of their
greatest challenges.
The Not So Obvious – While these are not your
father’s Washington Huskies, these are still proud Seattle athletes that will be
coming to the Coliseum in an attempt to save their season. Of course, it won’t
help the Husky cause when the Trojan team sees that ADT National Championship
Trophy being displayed on the Coliseum turf come Saturday afternoon.
The
Obvious – The Trojans are now averaging 88,850 at home with three home games
remaining.
The Not So Obvious – With an increase of over 11,000 fans from
last year’s attendance record, the most intriguing question about Saturday’s
game IS attendance. With back-to-back sellouts, just how much star power do the
Trojans have in star-studded LA with the last place Huskies coming to town? The
expectations are for 78, 000 and with the "Westwood" school at Arizona State, it
will be interesting to see just how many local non-committed college football
fans will be at the Coliseum.
The Obvious – To the surprise of absolutely
nobody, the Trojans are a 35 1/2- point favorite to send the Purple and Gold
back to the Emerald City with their tails between their legs.
The Not So
Obvious – It figures that when SC scores 35.7 per game and the Huskies score
16.3 per outing, it makes for a large spread. For the Trojans, the season gets
down not to opponents but to goals and intense practices. With Troy firmly
entrenched at the top of Monday’s BCS poll, Carroll’s lads can see some light at
the end of the tunnel, and it’s a neon sign that reads Miami. There will be no
letdown and certainly not with the Trojans in firm control of their
destiny.
The Obvious – It has been a long time since the Trojans were
such a huge favorite to beat such a proud program as the Washington
Huskies.
The Not So Obvious – This is the largest point underdog for the
Huskies since 1975 when the Purple and Gold were 28-point dogs to Alabama in Don
James first year at Washington. Bama won the game 52-0.
The Obvious – The
weather forecast for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. (PDT) is 71 degrees and
sunny.
The Not So Obvious – The real forecast is whether another week of
practice with Reggie Bush learning the nuances of wide receiver and tight end
Dominique Byrd getting in better condition, just how much better will the
Trojans’ offense look compared to last week against Arizona State? There will
also be the challenge of defending the speed-option offense of UW, but this
Husky team is so banged up, they would need legendary QB Warren Moon, former
All-American DT Steve Emtman, DB Lawyer Milloy, and LB immortal Rick Redman to
hang with the Cardinal and Gold.
The Obvious – The Huskies suffered one
of their most humiliating losses last weekend as Oregon State broke a 19-year
Seattle losing streak by winning for the first time, 29-14, since
1985.
The Not So Obvious – Beavers’ freshman kicker Alex Serna, the poor
soul who blew a field goal in the almost upset at LSU, nailed five field goals.
The Huskies turned the ball over seven times in the Oregon State loss. Two of
the turnovers were on the Beavers’ 1-yard line. Husky fans were on suicide watch
near the Space Needle.
The Obvious – Saturday’s game with the Huskies
will be televised by Fox Sports Net at 3:30 p.m. with Barry Tompkins and Petros
Papadakis.
The Not So Obvious – This will be the Trojans first chance to
be analyzed on national television by Papadakis, the former Trojan running back.
Should you find the game results to your Trojan liking, you can catch a UW Fox
replay on Fox Northwest on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. with Jim Watson, former Los
Angeles local Fox Sports West voice and USC alum, and Husky legendary
quarterback Sonny Sixkiller providing the color.
The Obvious – Should the
Trojans defeat the Huskies on Saturday, it would assure Washington their first
losing season since 1976.
The Not So Obvious – Washington coach Keith
Gilbertson has a 0-5 record against the Trojans, with four of those losses as
Cal’s head coach. Gilbertson knows Saturday is going to be a tough challenge.
The Husky mentor said, " They (USC) function at an unbelievably efficient rate
and do a lot of things with people that are multi-talented. They probably have
the best line in the country and Reggie Bush."
The Obvious – The Huskies
have tried three different quarterbacks and none has really set the world on
fire, although sophomore Isaiah Stanback showed some skills last week in a tough
loss to Oregon State.
The Not So Obvious – Coach Gilbertson knows moving
the ball against SC will be no easy task. " They are very athletic and like we
saw against Stanford whey they decided to put the hammer down, that was it,"
Gilberston said.
The Obvious – Trojans’ QB Matt Leinart once again is
taking command in the Heisman race, especially after this being named The
Sporting News National Player of the Week.
The Not So Obvious – TSN once
again has Lefty as No. 1 in the Heisman race. TSN wrote, "Maybe we just expect
Leinart to be Mr. Everything. Maybe that’s why his fantastic junior season has
been, for the most part, overlooked. In three victories against ranked teams
(Virginia Tech, Cal, Arizona State), Leinart has thrown for 660 yards and nine
touchdowns – with just one interception."
The Obvious – Despite
Washington’s plight, Leinart will still get his challenge this week as the
Huskies have the Pac-10’s second best pass defense allowing just 179.2 yards per
game.
The Not So Obvious – Regardless of Washington’s record and current
misfortunes, the Trojans’ offensive line will need to do a better job of
protecting their southpaw meal ticket. Though showing good progress, the
maturing USC line has still given up 12 sacks in six games after last year’s
veteran unit gave up 16 all of last season.
The Obvious –Gifted UW
sophomore QB Isaiah Stanback (6-3, 200), who was once a prime Trojan recruit as
an athlete, had an up and down game against Oregon State, but he did have 51
yards rushing and 219 yards passing (11-of-29).
The Not So Obvious –
Stanback, who is also an outstanding baseball prospect, isn’t afraid of coming
to the Coliseum to challenge the top-ranked Trojans. This week he said, "Them
(USC) being No. 1 isn’t going to intimidate anybody."
The Obvious – UW
coach Keith Gilbertson has put in the speed-option to take advantage of
Stanback’s obvious skills as an exceptionally quick runner and, given time,
effective passer.
The Not So Obvious – Of Stanback, who might remind
oldtimers of Ohio State quarterback Cornelius Greene, Gilbertson said, "When he
has his legs under him, he’s liable to go anywhere and some of those plays are
going to be outstanding plays and some of them you’re going to say, ‘You
shouldn’t have done that’, or Why did you do that, you should have done
this."
The Obvious – The Huskies have rushed for 412 yards the last two
games.
The Not So Obvious – This will be a challenge for the Trojan
linebackers led by Lofa Tatupu, who leads Troy in tackles. Tatupu and his mates
will have to be disciplined, as last week, Isaiah Stanback ran the speed-option
and one play, a keeper, reversed his field on a dime that would have made
option-master Lou Holtz gush.
The Obvious – Pete Carroll says he would
like 50 offensive rushes per game, so it should be interesting Saturday to watch
Norm Chow’s game strategy and see if he is going to emphasize the run against a
weak Husky defensive line.
The Not So Obvious – The UW defensive line
may have issues, but all three Husky starting linebackers, including Joe
Lobendahn (2nd), Evan Benjamin (4th), and Scott White (6th), rank among the top
six in the Pac-10 in tackles.
The Obvious – For the most part, the
Trojans have avoided season-ending injuries.
The Not So Obvious – You
have to have some compassion for the Husky faithful and Coach Gilbertson as they
have had 11 surgeries thus far and a possible 12th is in limbo. The Husky
defensive line has, at times, started two freshman, and the wide receiver spots
are a mess, with speedy senior Charles Frederick doubtful and sophomore Quintin
Daniels, the former Loyola Cub prep star, out with a knee suffered in last
week’s Oregon State loss.
The Obvious – The Trojans have routinely had
difficulty covering tight ends this season, as ASU’s Zach Miller, a standout
true freshman, found openings, as well, last weekend at the Coliseum.
The
Not So Obvious – So here comes Husky tight end and former Trojan recruit Joe
Toledo (6-6, 285) from Encinitas and La Costa Canyon High to try his luck. Big
Joe is a bit feisty coming into the Coliseum, especially as such a heavy
underdog. "That’s kind of disrespectful toward us and it probably hasn’t
happened here in a long time," Toledo seethed.
The Obvious – The Trojans
lead the Pac-10 in sacks with 29.
The Not So Obvious – Bad news for Husky
QB Stanback who was drilled a number of times last week against Oregon State.
Stellar Beaver senior defensive tackle Steve Swancutt almost cut the shifty
Husky quarterback in half with one of his two sacks. Trojan DT Shaun Cody, who
leads SC with six sacks, will be very difficult to hold off of Stanback since
fine Husky offensive tackle and team captain Khalif Barnes is out with a broken
wrist.
The Obvious – The Trojans had eight sacks last week against
ASU
The Not So Obvious – The Huskie defense has only nine sacks for the
entire season.
The Obvious – Trojan tailback LenDale White figures to
have a big game this weekend as Reggie Bush lines up at wide receiver and brings
all sorts of pain to veteran Husky defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who has
bounced around of late from ASU to UCLA to Washington.
The Not So
Obvious – They Huskies also have a fine running back of their own in sophomore
Kenny James (5-10, 215). James has been used as the trailing back out of the
I-formation for Stanback’s option runs. Don’t be surprised to see James
challenge the outstanding trio of Trojan linebackers. James was very effective
on the option against Oregon State. James has a long score of 52 yards to his
credit this season to go along with five touchdowns.
The Obvious – Trojan
defensive tackle Mike Patterson has been getting some "love" from a number of
media outlets as the "unsung" hero in the USC defensive line.
The Not So
Obvious – This week’s Sporting News lists their mid-season All-Americans and
Mike is a first-team All-American. Patterson has been very instrumental in
helping the Trojans No. 6 national-ranking in points allowed at 12.6 per game.
The Obvious – The Trojans defensive unit includes sophomore Tupula
"Travis" Tofi (6-4, 255), who came to USC from American Samoa.
The Not So
Obvious – The Huskies welcomed back their own defensive tackle from American
Samoa in Mike Mapu (6-3, 260), who now prefers to go with his true last name of
Mapuolesega. Both Tofi and Mapuolesega attended Faga’itua High
School.
The Obvious – The Trojans’ senior defensive tackle Shaun Cody is
in line to be selected to a number of post-season honors.
The Not So
Obvious – The Huskies have their own version of Cody in senior Manase Hopoi
(6-4, 280), a defensive end that the Trojans once recruited out of Sacramento
Valley. Hopoi was once a first-team selection out of high school in the Long
Beach Press-Telegram’s Best in the West.
The Obvious – It has been
mentioned before that USC has produced a long list of distinguished alumni
including musicians Lionel Hampton and Herb Alpert, astronaut Neil Armstrong,
directors George Lucas and Ron Howard, actor John Ritter, and producers Robert
Zemeckis and David L. Wolper. No, we won’t bring up John Wayne again.
The Not So Obvious – The Huskies have their own list of celebs. Perhaps
you’ve heard of actress Dyan Cannon, former Speaker of the House Thomas Foley,
cartoonist Hank Ketcham of Dennis the Menace fame, actor Bruce Lee, actress Dawn
Wells of Gilligan’s Island, and musician Kenny "G" Gorelick.
The Obvious
– The Trojans will announce at Saturday’s game the new members of the Trojans’
Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Not So Obvious – In a poorly kept secret, look
for former Trojan running back great and athletic administrator Willie Brown to
be one of the chosen.
The Obvious – The Trojans haven’t forgotten the
"cheap shot" injury that linebacker Matt Grootegoed suffered last year against
Stanford.
The Not So Obvious – As if the Huskie haven’t suffered enough
through injury themselves, starting nose tackle Dan Milsten (6-5, 290) suffered
a serious leg injury on a "cheap shot" against Oregon State last weekend. Husky
coach Gilbertson was so angry he contacted the Pac-10 for a film review.
The Obvious – With Trojan senior kicker Ryan Killeen making a bit of a
comeback in his field goals, it has been overlooked that Killeen now has 23
touchbacks on kickoffs, including one that hit the goal post last weekend
against Arizona State.
The Not So Obvious – Although the Huskies have
not been a scoring juggernaut, redshirt freshman kicker Michael Braunstein has
hit 3-of-5 field goals, and the three have been between the 20-29 yard range.
The Obvious – The Trojans offense has been getting good scoring recently
in the first quarter.
The Not So Obvious – The Huskies have been
outscored 61-31 in the first quarter this season.
The Obvious – The
Trojans list three players from the state of Washington including valuable
fullback David Kirtman from Mercer Island.
The Not So Obvious – The
Huskies list 20 players hailing from Southern California.
The Obvious –
Saturday’s Fox telecast will allow Trojan fans to get their real first taste of
Petros Papadakis doing a Trojan game on FSN and attempting to be
neutral.
The Not So Obvious – If you need a little warm-up before the
Trojans’ telecast from the Coliseum, there is ABC’s broadcast at 12:30 p.m. of
the reality-check Bruins at the recovering Sun Devils with Mr. Whoa
Nellie.
The Obvious – Listen to current Trojan recruits and they all talk
like USC has been No. 1 for years and Pete Carroll is the John McKay for the new
century.
The Not So Obvious – It was a little more than a decade ago
that the Washington Huskies were the toast of college football under Don James,
but the Trojans are back as kingpins with no end in sight. So with some irony, a
win by Troy would guarantee the first losing season for Washington since1976. In
another matter of irony, facing the No. 1 Trojans on Saturday, it appears it
will be the Huskies who may be crying, "Who let the dogs out!!!!!"
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