It was a hell of a run. Victories? 85 in 93 games. Competitiveness? Those eight defeats, in eight seasons … by a combined 29 points. Results? Seven consecutive Pac-10 championships. Seven consecutive top-4 AP poll finishes. Seven consecutive BCS bowl games. Seven consecutive 11-victory seasons. A hell of a run. Not much like that since […]

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For three-plus seasons, Allen Bradford’s decision to play football at USC looked as if it might have been a major mistake. He was recruited to play safety, or maybe linebacker … and got shifted to tailback late in the summer of 2006 when the position was hit by a rash of injuries. After spending most […]

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There goes the now-annual choke job against a Pac-10 minnow. Didn’t take long. Just like last year, actually. Uncanny, really, how similar it was. An important victory over Ohio State, followed immediately by a crushing Pac-10-opening defeat on the road. Washington 16, USC 13. In Seattle. That would be 20-point-underdog Washington. The Washington that hadn’t […]

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I don’t know any of this first-hand. I have done no reporting of my own. I haven’t talked to anyone directly involved in the situation. But I’m going to tell you what I heard, anyway. Which is what blogs too often are about. Just passing on idle gossip. But,  the heck with it. On with […]

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A few entries ago, I noted that the start of the National Football League season doesn’t really interest me. And I believe a big chunk of the Los Angeles market feels the same way. Saturday, we saw Reasons A and B why L.A. doesn’t need the NFL. USC and UCLA football.

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As I noted, below, USC under Pete Carroll wins these kind of games. Non-conference games in general, against prominent opposition in particular, versus Big Ten teams, in specific. But the Trojans cut this one awfully close. And it was mostly about the curious decision by Carroll and his coaches to commit to a 19-year-old freshman, […]

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On the surface, USC’s game at Ohio State on Saturday looks like big trouble for USC. The Trojans will start a freshman quarterback who was playing for Mater Dei High School a year ago, nearly their entire defense from 2008 is gone, and it’s on the road against the nation’s eighth-ranked team, in a particularly […]

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I am a marching band wonk. I conceded this long ago, and have written about marching bands several times. I played in a high school marching band, before I got to the varsity football team, and I was distinctive in that I like to believe I played the loudest clarinet in the history of American […]

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This may have occurred to every Trojan and Trojan wannabe in the country, and been written here, there and everywhere, but hey I’m in Paris, and I haven’t spent much time thinking about college football. But this one thought has crossed my mind, and it’s not a pretty one for the cardinal-and-gold folks. USC can’t […]

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I’ve been in Paris for almost five weeks now. And not for a single day was I without an Internet hookup. Actually, I spent several hours most of the past 30-some days looking at this computer. Yes, while in Paris. I know that’s ill but it’s the truth. OK, here’s my excuse: I do two […]

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