WEST COAST WATCHER: OCTOBER 4, 2007

U.S.C. Escapes On Upset Saturday

By John Scheibe / watcher@collegeblitz.com

Upset Saturday left its mark on the college football landscape, with nine top 25 teams trying to keep their balances without slipping out of sight. Florida, West Virgina, Texas and Oklahoma were the big losers, California, Kentucky and Boston College took giant steps forward and although USC won, the Trojans dropped out of the No. 1 spot which they had occupied since the preseason.

USC’s sloppy performance at Washington was a costly dunk in Puget Sound. Not only did LSU jump ahead of the Trojans on the AP poll, two starting offensive lineman went down with injuries. Running backs Stafon Johnson and C.J. Gable are sidelined, Gable for the season. Late hits and pass interference penalties kept the Huskies close the whole game, andl the Trojans’ leaky boat sailed out of Seattle with a 27-24 win.

The good news is USC still has Chauncey Washington healthy at tailback and Joe McKnight, the freshman from LSU’s backyard, is being prepped as his backup this week against down-trodden Stanford at the Coliseum.

In fact, USC heads into a soft spot on its schedule, blindfolding the Cardinal Saturday, followed by a struggling Arizona and then hapless Notre Dame on Oct. 20 in South Bend.

The Irish make their first apperance at the Rose Bowl since 1925 when they play UCLA. That year, Knute Rockne brought Notre Dame out to face Ernie Nevers and Stanford and the Four Horseman galloped off with a New Year’s Day bouquet. Notre Dame hasn’t been back to Pasadena since and the way things are going for Charlie Weis’ 0-5 team, the pruning will continue.

UCLA bounced Oregon State on its Beaver tail, 40-14, last weekend in Corvailis, with quarterback Ben Olson playing a steady, if routine game at quarterback. The Los Angeles media tried to stir up a controversy between Olson and Pat Cowan, who started against Washington, but Cowan is now out with a leg injury and Olson is Karl Dorrell’s No. 1 signal caller, as he was when the season opened

California’s showdown last week against Oregon turned into a route as the Ducks hit a puddle and collapsed in the second half. The win put the Golden Bears in a tentative lead for the Rose Bowl. Cal still has to maneuver past UCLA on the road and has a home date against USC on Nov. 10. USC must also travel to Eugene which has been nightmare city in the past for the Cardnal & Gold.

Arizona State should be called the Pacific 10’s Quiet Bunch. The Sun Devil’s have sneeked in under the radar with a 5-0 record, Dennis Erickson working miracles in the desert. One more team for USC, Cal and UCLA to worry about.

Speaking of stealth, while the pundits and scribes have been debating which conference is better, the SEC or Pac-10, look what’s happening in the Big 12. It appears after one month of play that the power has shifted back to the north, with Colorado and Kansas State mounting impressive performances. The Buffaloes ran Oklahoma out of Boulder and Texas’ troubles off the field seem to have had an negative effect on the Longhorns’ play. There’s trouble in Austin after Mack Brown & Co. got dumped by old foe Kansas State. This week’s annual Red River beef roundup at the State Fair between Oklahoma and Texas looks lean on the barbeque.

The Coast Watcher, John Scheibe, is the author of the new book "On the Road With Jim Murray: Baseball and the Summer of '79," which is available at Barnes and Noble stores and online at amazon.com and bn.com. Visit the book’s official website for more information.