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THE DUCKS KNOW HOW TO RUN: USC must stop Blount and Johnson Saturday

It’s time to start focusing on USC’s battle against the 4-1 Oregon Beavers Saturday at the Coliseum, and the Trojans better get their run defense together in a hurry. After getting torched by 160+ yards by 5’6” Jaquizz Rodgers in Thursday night’s loss at Corvallis, they will face college football’s 3rd-best rushing offense on Saturday.

Junior tailback LeGarrette Blount has a chance to be a very big star. After just 4 carries for 21 yards in Oregon’s season opening win against Washington, he is averaging 115 yards per game with 8 touchdowns, and he racked up 98 yards with 3 touchdowns at Martin Stadium in Pullman today.

Oregon head coach Mike Belotti engineered a huge coup by landing Blount, who was considered the top junior college running back last season. He’s a Florida kid, and he played his JC ball at East Mississippi Community College, so nobody could have guessed the flannel and birkenstiocks of Oregon would be in his future. Blount narrowed his choices to Alabama, Florida St. and the Ducks.

Belotti is a helluva recruiter, but it was something less than obvious that might have tipped him to Oregon. It’s those goofy neon Nike uniforms. During spring practice Blount said "We don't wear the same thing twice -- I love that. I don't want to play for a sluggish-looking team."

This is a big, bruising back in the tradition of last year’s Ducks rusher Jonathan Stewart (who declared for the draft early) and former Oregon running back Reuben Droughns, and he dominated from day 1 in Eugene. He ran for 68 yards on 5 carries in Oregon’s spring game.

The Oregon running game is a 2-headed monster attack. They also boast senior tailback Jeremiah Johnson, more of a shifty, jitterbug back, who ran for 124 with 2 touchdowns in the Ducks opener and has averaged 92 yards per game in his their last 3 games.

Overall, Oregon is 4-1 averaging over 300 yards per game as a team. They have rushed the ball 245 times compared to 161 passing attempts. That means that their offensive is tilted heavily to the run (65% of plays from scrimmage). Blount is a bull who runs through defenses and Johnson is an elusive speed guy.

After losing to Boise St. at Autzen Stadium last Saturday, Oregon rolled it up big on Pac 10 doormat Washington St. today 63-14. This was a great tune-up for the Ducks as they travel to the Coliseum on Saturday, but, hopefully, this will be an angry, motivated bunch.

The quarteback job for the Ducks on Saturday is up-for-grabs. Opening day starter sophomore Justin Roper could come back from a partially-torn medial collateral ligament. Or sophomore Jeremiah Masoli could get the call. He was 9 of 17 for 161 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Cougars.

It remains to be seen if Roper is the better option. He has already been hurt twice. He left the opener against Washington with concussion. He hurt his knee in Oregon’s overtime win at Purdue. Overall, Roper has completed 40 of 77 passes in parts of 3 games with 2 touchdowns and 4 picks, so at least so far, he’s nothing special.

BLOODBATH: College football weekend finishes with #1, #3, #4 & #9 all losing!

Trojans fans should feel better tonight. Yes, that loss at Corvallis Thursday night still hurts, but USC is not alone.

When I wrote about #4 Florida getting beat at home by Ole Miss this afternoon, I suggested 3 more upset possibilities - #2 Oklahoma, #3 Georgia and #12 Penn St.. The Sooners are a lock for #1 after Sam Bradford threw 4 more TD passes in a big Oklahoma win over #24 TCU and JoePa's Nittany Lions are 5-0 for the first time since 2005 after holding off #22 Illinois, but Georgia did lose. Big. Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide scored on its first 5 possessions in a surprisingly easy win over the Bulldogs in Athens. Then, there was a shocking bonus upset as #9 Wisconsin lost to Michigan at The Big House.

When the dust settles, what will the Top 10 look like tomorrow? Here's how I say the polls should go.

#1 - Oklahoma
#2 - Alabama
#3 - Missouri
#4 - LSU
#5 - Texas
#6 - Penn St.
#7 - Georgia
#8 - USC
#9 - Texas Tech
#10 - Florida

The top 5 is easy. Alabama beating Georgia in Athens should jump them to #2. Missouri, LSU and Texas are all unbeaten. I think Penn St. deserves to fly as high as #6 after defeating a quality opponent. I'm guessing Georgia gets credit for losing to a very good Crimson Tide team and noses out USC for #7. Texas Tech is still undefeated and should be in the top 10, but they were off this week and their wins have come against Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and UMass. And, Florida should edge out unbeaten BYU for #10. Technically, the Gators had the worst loss of the weekend, falling to an ordinary Ole Miss team at The Swamp.

The Trojans could be as high as #6 and as low as #10, but that's a lot better than we thought it would be. And, more good news for USC as Ohio St. knocked off previously undefeated Minnesota. It will help the Trojans immeasurably if the Buckeyes keep winning.

DOMINOES FALLING: Down goes #4 Florida

After USC was stunned Thursday night in Corvallis, still an absolutely inexcusable loss, lots of "experts" said that it would open the door for Florida. But, the Gators choked at The Swamp today against an unheralded Ole Miss team.

There is an eerie similarity between the Beaver upset USC and the Runnin' Rebels stunner at Florida. The Trojans had struggled it's last 2 times at Corvallis losing 33-31 in 2006 and squeezing by OSU 28-20 in 2004. Still, Trojan players did not take the Beavers seriously. Ole Miss had won 2 of its last 3 against the Gators coming in to today's game, and they have now lost 2 in a row to the Rebels in Gainesville.

Is this the beginning of another stretch of unfathomable upsets in college football. My gut says yes.

Ireland and I met Florida's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow at the ESPY Awards this summer, and you can hear our quickie interview at this link. He is a great kid. I don't really have any basis for saying that except this one meeting, but sometimes you can just tell that someone is a good person. I got this vibe from Tebow.

That's why I feel bad about Tim Tebow's post-game comments:

"I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry," he said. "We were hoping for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida's never done here. But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this.

"You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season."

Ireland asked me who more than anyone else was to blame for USC's loss Thursday, and, although I have a definite opinion, and I have said so off the air, I just don't think it's right to hammer a college kid. And, I'm guessing that Tebow, judging from his quotes, is taking this harder than he should.

My opinion of Florida coach Urban Meyer has changed since we talked with him on the red carpet at the ESPYs. He elected to kick a 29-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in a 26-3 win over Miami on September 6. That is crap. I don't care how much he explains why it was a good reason and why it was important. It was wrong, and maybe the football gods were shooting him down today against Ole Miss.

It's Saturday afternoon as I'm writing this. Is there another big upset looming tonight? Keep your eyes on Norman, where #2 Oklahoma plays host to #24 TCU, Athens, Georgia, where the #8 Crimson Tide challenge #3 Georgia and Happy Valley, as Joe Paterno's high-flyin' #12 Nittany Lions get a test from #22 Illinois.

I say that if USC runs the table....and that's a big "if" judging how they played Thursday....they will still be in Miami for the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl.

USC'S BCS DREAM IS NOT OVER: Trojans are down, but not out

There are plenty of people saying that there is no way, no how that Pete Carroll's USC Trojans can recover enough from last night's stunning upset loss at Corvallis to get to the BCS title game. That epitaph is very premature.

Let's be clear. USC cannot, under any condition, lose another game. They have 9 opponents left with a combined 16-16 record. If they finish with 1 loss, it would definitely help the Trojans if Ohio St. were to win the Big 10 and Oregon St. gets to 8 wins and cracks the Top 25. But USC needs to win out to have any chance at playing in the Orange Bowl in the first week of January. Frankly, with no Top 25 teams left on the schedule it would be embarassing for the men of Troy to lose again.

I've been stuydying the schedules of college football's undefeated teams, and I think it is very unlikely that there will be 2 undefeated teams in 2008. Here's an idea about how tough everybody else's road to Miami will be.

#2 Oklahoma Sooners
This Saturday - home to #24 TCU
10/4 - home to #7 Texas
10/18 - home to #18 Kansas
10/25 - @ 2-1 Kansas St.
11/1 - home to 3-0 Nebraska
11/22 - home #10 Texas Tech
11/29 - @ 3-0 Oklahoma St.
9 opponents left with a combined 25-6 record
Plus - Possible Big 12 championship game

#3 Georgia Bulldogs
This Saturday - home to #8 Alabama
10/18 - #21 Vandy
10/25 - @ #5 LSU
11/1 - home to #4 Florida
11/15 - @ #15 Auburn
8 opponents left with a combined 24-4 record
Plus - Possible SEC championship game

#4 Florida Gators
10/11 - home to #5 LSU
11/1 - @ #3 Georgia
11/8 - @ #21 Vandy
9 opponents left with a combined 24-7 record
Plus - Possible SEC championship game

#5 Missouri Tigers
(next 4 games against teams that are currently undefeated)
10/4 - @ 3-0 Nebraska
10/18 - @ #7 Texas
11/29 - home to #18 Kansas
8 opponents left with a combined 21-6 record
Plus - Possible Big 12 championship game

#6 - LSU Tigers
10/11 - @ #4 Florida
10/25 - home to #3 Georgia
11/8 - home to #8 Alabama
9 opponents left with a combined 22-12 record
Plus - Possible SEC championship game

#7 - Texas Longhorns
10/4 - @ 3-0 Colorado
10/11 - @ #2 Oklahoma
10/18 - home to #6 Missouri
11/1 - @ #10 TexasTech
11/15 - @ #18 Kansas
9 opponents left with a combined 24-4 record
Plus - Possible Big 12 championship game

#8 Wisconsin Badgers
10/4 - home to #14 Ohio St.
10/11 - home to #12 Penn St.
10/25 - home to #22 Illinois
9 opponents left with a combined 24-8 record

#9 Texas Tech Red Raiders
10/25 - @ #18 Kansas
11/1 - home to #7 Texas
11/22 - @ #2 Oklahoma
8 opponents left with a combined 20-6 record
Plus - Possible Big 12 championship game

#10 Alabama Crimson Tide
9/27 - @ #3 Georgia
11/8 - @ #5 LSU
11/29 - home to #15 Auburn
8 opponents left with a combined 20-9 record
Plus - Possible SEC championship game

#11 BYU Cougars
10/16 - @ #24 TCU
11/22 - @ #17 Utah
8 opponents left with a combined 18-12 record

#12 Penn St. Nittany Lions
9/27 - home to #22 Illinois
10/11 - @ #9 Wisconsin
10/25 - @ #14 Ohio St.
8 opponents left with a combined 19-8 record

CASEY BLAKE ON JEFF KENT: "I didn't like him..."

On Wednesday, Dodger 3B Casey Blake joined us on the Mason & Ireland Show. The subject of Jeff Kent is endlessly fascinating. It is so clear that Dodger players don't like him. Listen to this conversation when I ask Casey, "What do you think of Jeff Kent?" Very awkward, but totally honest.

NOT A COMPLETE SURPRISE: Another Pac 10 stumble for USC

I'm watching Chris Fowler, who called the Oregon St. upset of USC in Corvallis, and he seems stunned. How could the Beavers upset #1 USC? It's impossible! How could a team with all of that blue chip talent lose to an unranked team?

As someone who has followed the Trojans closely during the Pete Carroll era, I am not shocked. I am a little surprised, but this is not without precedent. Beat Ohio St. and then lose to 1-2 Oregon St.? Yup. It makes sense in the Trojan nation.

Last year, USC lost at home to a 41-point underdog at home. I stood on the sidelines watching in disbelief as the Trojans lost to Stanford. That shocked me. But I learned my lesson. USC has a knack for playing down to its competition. The big games never seem to be a problem. It's the easy ones that are hard.

Pete Carroll's teams have won 6 straight Pac 10 titles, and over that stretch, they are 72-9. One of those losses was to Texas in the Rose Bowl. 7 of the other 8 losses were to fellow Pac 10 teams. 6 of those Pac 10 losses came on the road.

Too much swagger. Not enough execution. I say it's an attitude thing. Maybe being the toast of Los Angeles for 11 days after defeating Ohio St. in the game of the milenium is too heady for a bunch of kids - even if they're the most talented group in the country.

I was cautious after the Virginia win. I expressed concern about TB Joe McKnight's propensity for fumbling, and Ireland called me "negative Mason." I said the playcalling still isn't perfect. Ireland told me I was being "too critical." But, even I got swept away with the "greatest Pete Carroll team yet" euphoria after they stomped Ohio St. 35-3.

There it was tonight. Both of my pieces of criticism on one play. Deep in the 2nd quarter, USC down 14-0 and marching down the field. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian decides to get away from the "meat and potatoes" of his playbook and orders "the special." It was a direct snap to McKnight who faked a handoff to Allen Bradford and then fumbled. The Beavers recovered in USC territory and ended up scoring a 3rd first half TD on a lucky Lyle Moevao pass that should have been picked off, but was deflected into the hands of sophomore slot back James Rodgers.

Having the most talent doesn't guarantee victory. Oregon St. had an excellent gameplan, a hot running back (little 5'6" freshman Jaquizz Rodgers who ran for 186 yards and 3TDs), and they faced a team that, frankly, wasn't ready to play.

DODGER MVP: Assistant GM & Scouting Director Logan White

Back on August 29, I wrote that the Dodgers were dead. LA had just lost 4 in at Washington, 7 straight losses overall, and the Dodgers were 3 1/2 behind Arizona in the West. Then 9 days later, I admitted that I was wrong. It's not the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.

Our sometimes trusty sports update guy A. Martinez has been against the Dodgers from the start of the year. On opening day he all but guaranteed that Arizona would win the division. When I called the Blue dead in August he was 100% with me, but he stuck to the position until the 8th inning of today's D-Back loss at St. Louis. How dumb can you be? As late as yesterday, when the Dodgers had a magic number of 3, A. stubbornly stuck with the notion that the Dodgers would somehow collapse and miss the playoffs.

I'm glad to say that I was right when I admitted I was wrong and A. was wrong to stick to his position when it was obvious that the Dodgers would win.

Who deserves the credit for this NL West Division title?

#1 - Assistant GM and Scouting Director Logan White
The man who could be the next General Manager. As Scouting Director, White's first draft pick in 2002 was 1B James Loney. Then he took Jonathan Broxton in the 2nd round, Delwyn Young in the 4th, James McDonald in the 11th and catcher Russell Martin in the 17th round. His first selection in 2003 was starter Chad Billingsley followed by Matt Kemp in round #6. 2B/3B Blake DeWitt was Whites 2nd selection in 2004 and reliever Corey Wade was taken in the 10th. And, furure ace Clayton Kershaw was the 1st Dodger pick in the 2006 draft.

#2 - Manager Joe Torre
Contrary to acting Yankee bobo Hank Steinbrenner, Torre makes a huge difference. I understand George's spawn is frustrated at spending $207M and losing to a team (Tampa Bay) with a payroll of just over $40M. He has flushed lots of his Daddy's money down the toilet, but lashing out at Joe this week isn't the answer. Try developing talent in your farm system Hank. The fact is that Joe Torre is the calm of any and every storm. When all seems lost, this skipper stays calm. He took a bunch of kids, some spare parts and a late season acquisition, and turned the Dodgers into division champions.

#3 - Manny Ramirez
In 50 games since coming over from Boston, Manny is batting an astounding .397 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. LA is 28-21 since Manny arrived, and they've won 18-23 since their 8-game losing streak ended on August 29. What a diference a bat makes.

#4 - Derek Lowe
He's 14-11 with a 3.29 ERA, but he's been even better down the stretch. He's on a streak of 9 straight quality starts dating back to August 11. He's 6-1 with a 1.32 ERA over that span allowing just 9 earnies in 61 innings pitched.

#5 - Jonathan Broxton
Far from perfect as a closer with 7 blown saves in 21 chances, but somebody had to pick up the slack when stud closer Takashi Saito went down. But Broxton stepped it up with just 2 blown saves since August 1, and he has not allowed a run in 10 appearances in September. That may be enough to make him the closer to start the 2009 season.

#6 - Corey Wade
I know. Who is Corey Wade? Well, there's always one long reliever who gets used and abused in a Joe Torre bullpen. Back in 2006, Scott Proctor made 83 appearances for the Yankees eating up 102 innings. Ironically, Proctor is part of this Dodger bullpen, but he hasn't been healthy much in 2008. So, Corey Wade has come to the rescue with 53 appearances since being called up from AA Jacksonville in April, and despite a stretch on the DL in August, he has chewed up 70 innings with a 2.19 ERA and a WHIP of .90.

Notice that I did not list GM Ned Coletti. Yes, he did manage to make a pain-free deal for the guy that the Red Sox didn't want anymore (Manny), but signing Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones and re-signing Nomar Garciaparra  were all colossal errors. I believe that this team has succeeded despite Coletti.

PLAY THE KIDS: Bruins going nowhere with veterans

Since beating Tennessee, UCLA has lost back-to-back games by a combined 90-10. They have gone 8 quarters without an offensive touchdown including 4 dismal quarters against Arizona on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

God bless Norm Chow, but this offense is awful. UCLA punted 11 times. Kevin Craft was far-from-good with just 81 passing yards, and he was 4-17 on 3rd down attempts.. Chow offered this discouraging appraisal after the game, “We are who we are. We have the players we have.”

It is time to write this season off. Wins and losses will not be the measure of success in 2008. We will all have to judge head coach Rick Neuheisel, offensive coordinator Chow and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker by the incremental improvements that the team makes over the next 9 games, starting Saturday at the Rose Bowl against a very good Fresno St. team.

Tailback Derrick Coleman from Troy High School in Fullerton and offensive lineman Jeff Baca from Mission Viejo High School both expected to redshirt this year. Coleman carried 7 times for 24 yards and Baca made his debut in the 3rd quarter. Baca was a little stunned when offensive line coach Bob Palcic told him to get into the game. Baca told the Orange County Register, “I just ran out like, ‘I don’t even know what to expect. I feel like I don’t belong here.’ But the coaches felt like I was the right guy for that spot.”

Baca will probably be the starter for the rest of the year, and why not? He can take his lumps during this lost season and possibly contribute in a huge way over the next 4 years. He’s not alone. Freshman receiver Taylor Embree, freshman linebacker Steve Sloan and sophomore center Jake Dean all made their first career starts.

What to do at the quarterback position though? Kevin Craft has no real future. He’s a junior with very limited upside and by the time UCLA gets good, he’ll be long gone. If the Bruins were to go young, their primary option would be redshirt freshman Chris Forcier (pictured above), who played his junior and senior seasons at St. Augustine High School in San Diego. He was rated the #7-ranked dual threat high school quarterback in the country and the #2-ranked dual threat quarterback in California. Forcier threw for 5,000 yards and 60 touchdowns and ran for 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns in his high school career.

Less likely is true freshman Nick Crissman from Edison High School in Surfside. He is a classic pro-style quarterback throwing for 5,374 yards and 44 touchdowns in his career. He was the #2-rated quarterback in the West and in California by Scout.com, but he’s almost surely, at least, a year away.

Forcier has been in the program for a year. He’s got the ability to run, which will come in handy with the UCLA offensive line-in-training. And he’s got the guru Norm Chow, a regular quarterback coaching Obi Wan Kenobi. It’s just a matter of time before “the Forcier is with the Bruins.”

LIFE OF RILEY: You'd be surprised about how successful he is at Oregon St.

Mike Riley has done a pretty amazing job at Oregon St., and although I think USC will win Thursday night in Corvallis, the Beavers always seem to play the Trojans tough. Southern Cal racked up 3 2nd quarter touchdowns a year ago, then coasted through a scoreless 2nd half en route to a 24-3 win at the Coliseum. But in 2006, the Beavers stunned John David Booty and the then undefeated Trojans 33-31 in Corvallis, and in 2004, Oregon St. hung with the Matt Leinert/Reggie Bush/LenDale White Trojans for the whole game winning just 28-20.

On Friday, Ireland was arguing that he’d take USC –24.5 right now for the UCLA game in December. He’d probably lay 31 after UCLA got skunked by Arizona at the Rose Bowl Saturday, but in the last 2 years, USC has regularly played down to its Pac 10 competition. In fact, if you’d have bet USC and laid 24.5 in every Pac 10 game the last 2 seasons, you would have cashed only 3 winning tickets.

John and I have known Riley for years – through his assistant coaching days at USC and his head coaching days with the San Diego Chargers – and he is an engaging guy. In our conversation with him this week, he talks about his hands-on approach to recruiting and that he often crosses paths with Pete Carroll on the recruiting trail.

This is actually Mike Riley's 2nd go-round in Corvallis. He left USC's coaching staff in 1997, and spent 2 years transitioning from the wishbone to a pro-style offense. He was 3-8 his first year and 5-6 in year 2, but football people believe that he laid the foundation for future success. He went south, taking the San Diego Chargers head coaching job while Dennis Erickson took his players and went 7-5, the first time the program finished above .500 in 28 years. Meanwhile, Riley started out 1-15 with the Chargers ad was ousted after 3 years with a 14-34 record.

He returned to Corvallis in 2003, and he has done some remarkable things if you grade on a scale (after all the program did go 28 years without a winning record). Oregon St. has the longest active bowl game winning streak in the Pac 10 with 4 in a row. The Beavers have the 2nd best conference record over the last 2 years at 19-8. And, OSU joins USC as the only Pac 10 school to finish the last 2 seasons in the AP Top 25.

This is all a way of saying that USC should not take Riley and his Beavers lightly.

Oregon St. lost its opener on the road at Stanford 36-28 and then they got whacked at Penn St.. They rebounded in their home opener against Hawaii 45-7, and like USC, they have a "half bye" (about 10 days to prepare for the game on Thursday). Lyle Moevao is the starting quarterback, a junior from North Torrance before playing 1 season of JC at El Camino. After redshirting at Oregon St. in 2006, he began to contribute last year, and was actually 4-0 as the starter. He doesn't have great size (5'11"), but he will scramble and scored 2 TDs on the ground last year. He has thrown 6 TD passes vs. 4 picks so far this season, and he has accounted for over 900 passing yards.

Moevao's main weapons are senior Shane Morales (22 catches for 284 yards and 2 TDs) and senior Sammy Stroughter (21 catches for 255 yards and 3 TDs). But, this team has had trouble running the football with
freshman tailback Jacquizz Rodgers getting most of the carries (62 carries for 263 yards and 4 TDs). One of the Beavers' top offensive linemen Tavita Thompson is suspended because he tested postive for diet pills and another, Jeremy Perry, has been battling a knee injury. A rookie tailback with a shaky offensive line means that USC's secondary will probably get a workout Thursday night.

ANOTHER WEAK WEEK: Pac 10 getting embarassed every Saturday!

It was another brutal Saturday for the Pac 10 conference. The premiere college football programs west of the Rockies have been getting clobbered. This weekend, there were 2 more embarrassing losses for the Pac 10 as Boise St. shocked Oregon at Autzen Stadium and Dennis Erickson’s disappointing Arizona St. team was crushed by Georgia at Sun Devil Stadium.

The #1 USC Trojans are 2-0 in non-conference play including a steamroll job on Virginia at Charlottesville and, of course, a more than convincing 35-3 victory over then-#5 Ohio St.. The rest of the conference is failing to represent in a big way. If you throw out USC’s 2 non-conference wins, the Pac 10 has an overall record of just 10-12 including an 0-5 mark against teams from the Mountain West Conference. That is inexcusable.

Sure, BYU, having beaten Udub and UCLA, is pretty damn good under Bronco Mendenhall with Max Hall chucking 15 TD passes so far, but TCU over Standford? UNLV beating Arizona St.? Arizona falling to New Mexico? These are sad days for a very proud conference.

Overall, the Pac 10 is 0-5 against the Mountain West, 0-3 against the Big 12,  1-1 against the SEC, 1-1 against the ACC, 3-1 against the Big 10, 4-1 against the WAC, 2-0 against the Big Sky and 1-0 against the MAC. That explains why the Pac 10 only has 2 teams ranked in the Top 25 – USC at #1 and Oregon at #22.

Hopefully, this will not hurt USC’s BCS championship game hopes. The general weakness of the conference, leads me to believe that the Trojans will run the table in conference, and, after watching Notre Dame lose 23-7 at East Lansing to Michigan St. yeterday, I doubt the Irish have much of a shot at an upset against USC on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

But, if Oklahoma (or Texas) AND one of the SEC teams (Florida, Georgia, LSU or even Alabama) were to run the table, those computers may say that the Trojans’ schedule strength is less impressive, and it could mean disaster for USC. So, if you’re a Trojan fan, root, root, root for the Pac 10 in every non-conference game (like UCLA against Fresno St. and Cal home to Colorado St. this weekend). Also, root for Ohio St. and Virginia. The better they are the rest of the way, the more they will pump up USC’s schedule strength in those computer polls.