Arena 2023-24 NCAA Football Discussion

USC is coming out to a great start. I hope it doesn't get too out of hand. Many times a team loses energy earlier when they come out and play full throttle at the start.

 

USC goes up 14-0 against Notre Dame! Another great catch by Dwayne Jarrett.

 

USC seems to be in control still...though 21-10 should be 28-3

EDIT: Best play of the day is the pass by BYU's John Beck with NO time remaining for the win over their in-state rival Utah.

 

john beck was mysteriously not recruited by any of the arizona schools (so far as i know), even as he quarterbacked one of the most powerful high school teams in arizona history, the 2002 state champion mountain view toros.

great quarterback, by all indications.

 

And that was another ridiculously close spot for measurement (and this one a horrible spot, but thats besides the point), 2 really close ones in one day. Dang.

 

...and the Irish do pull out the TD, after 2 fourth down conversions. Which makes 5 4th downs that ND has gone for. Wow.

Oh, and I thought ND should have challenged that spot if it hadn't been ruled a TD, and then SoCal challenges it. I laughed.

 

Dwayne Jarrett is simply amazing. Looking forward to seeing OSU gameplan against him.

 

They're both nasty. But I ended up flipping over to watch Kansas-Florida basketball, since it didn't look like ND had much of a chance.

 

USC's now up 44-24, they have this game won.

 

Not so fast my friend, USC still has to get past UCLA to get to that game UCLA would love nothing more than knocking SC out of the title game. This is a huge rivalry game, and USC better not look past it or they will not be playing in Glendale in January.

Anyway, great game last night for USC. I am really impressed with SC's defense. They shut down two potent offenses two weeks in a row: Cal and Oregon. They then held the line for SC in the 2nd quarter last night when SC's offense and special teams were giving the ball away. ND had a great opportunity with a blocked punt and two interceptions on SC's side of the field in the 2nd quarter to get back into the game. SC's defense held ND to only 1 TD from the flurry of SC turnovers, keeping the 11 point lead at half time. SC's offense was able to settle back down in the 2nd half, and SC pulled to the relatively easy victory. This game would have been completely different if SC's defense didn't hold the line in the 2nd quarter.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the loss to OSU was the defining point of the season for this team. The moxy that they showed in coming back from a 21 point deficit in the 4th quarter to almost tie the game, gave the this team the character and identity that they were sorely lacking before that quarter. This team has been completely dominant since then. If they defeat UCLA next week, there should be no argument about who the #2 team in the country is. I am not sure that they can defeat OSU, but they'll make it a tough game. I am really excited about this SC team for next year. It is truly amazing what they are doing in a "rebuilding" year with 15 true freshman in the starting lineup.

Fight On SC!!!

 

How many years in a row has UCLA had the motivation of "if we win this game, we can knock our rivals (USC) out of the National Title game"? 3? 4? And how many times have they come through based on that motivation? ZERO.

I watched rivals do just that many times in the John Cooper era at Ohio State, but I've never seen it happen at USC under Pete Carrol. And I don't expect it to happen this year, either.

 

I will die of laughter if UCLA wins. Why? Because everyone always discounts the underdogs. That's why they're so shocked when an underdog actually wins. The way ESPN, ABC and all the commentators were making it, I honestly thought this was USC's last game. Everyone kept saying this is the game that decides the championship. Who's going to the Championship Game? Well the USC/Notre Dame game will solve that.

Really? Well USC still has one more game on their schedule. I checked. So why does almost everyone in the college level (Commentators and sports networks) count their chicks before they've hatched? Is it just because college is more predictable?

 

they will have only made 3 straight national championship games.


The year of their half-title, they didn't make the championship game.

 

I will say that it is impressive to still be a contender after they lost two big offensive weapons to the draft.

 

no doubt, its very impressive. Almost as impressive as losing 9 defensive players to the NFL, including three of those in the first round, and another two offensive players in the first round.

 

Boise State beat Oregon State 42-14, OSU will probably in the top 25 in the new poll anhd Boise beat Hawaii, who is top 25. Hawaii did beat Purdue yesterday.

 

Fixed


USC showed me a lot last night. Amazing defensive speed, which I hadn't seen out of them for a lot of the year. They really stepped up when they needed to get it done. The better team won the game last night, but it would have been nice to see some more offensive execution when ND's defense did step up and force a turnover. Could have been a much different second half if it had been tied or a one score game.


To me, I think what USC has replaced on offense is far and away more impressive than what Ohio State has replaced on defense. Not because the USC players were better or more difficult to replace but I think USC has shown that they can still put a lot of points on the board and win games with their offense. Ohio State on the otherhand has faced one competent offense all year (Michigan) and 1/11th of another offense with Garrett Wolfe. OSU got thrashed by both defensively. No disrespect to Michigan, but if Ohio State thinks they can get into a shootout with an SC team that plays well on offense they'll lose.


USC's defense is every bit as good as Michigan's, but their offensive weapons are nearly unstoppable. Jarret is indeed the best receiver in Division 1-A, and to be frank Ted Ginn has no business even being mentioned in the same breath.

If USC comes out and takes care of business against UCLA, we're going to have one helluva title game between OSU/USC. I'll be pulling for OSU, but I'm anything but confident right now.