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It's October, so now the season can start. September was a nice warm-up and it revealed some interesting things about the Pacific 10. USC showed that despite all it's talent, it is at least a year away from competing for the national championship. The Trojans are loaded in the skilled positions but it takes time for even the best players to develop as was painfully evident in their triple overtime loss to California last week. Highly recruited freshman cornerback Darnell Bing, who was given Mike Garrett's old number 20 as an enticing recruiting chip, was beaten twice on touchdown passes. He said in an L.A. newspaper story that he was positioned wrong on both plays because the coaches had signaled a switch in the defense but he didn't get the call in time.
Also, SC's tailbacks need more playing time. Coach Pete Carroll is trying to balance the running game between Hershel Dennis, the starter, and Chauncey Washington, Reggie Bush and Steve Little. Washington, Bush and Little are all freshman.
The Oregon Ducks came out flat against Washington State and the Cougars won in a rout, 55-16, one week after the Ducks pulled off the upset of the young season against Michigan.
The Wolverines showed why Big 10 teams are reluctant to come out to the West Coast for a regular season games. It's usually a no-win scenario. Places like Eugene, Oregon, and Pullman, Washington, are booby traps. Schools from the Midwest and East Coast don't boycott the West, but just try to get a highly-ranked team to play at Fresno State. At night. It's much safer for a team such as San Diego State to travel to Columbus, Ohio. The Aztecs need the national exposure. But you'll never see the Buckeyes in San Diego in September.
EXTRA POINTS: Not only was Notre Dame overrated after its comeback win against Washington State, but now it looks as if the Irish will be lucky to win four or five games.... Maybe it's time for Penn State's Joe Paterno to retire. It's embarrassing to watch him angrily chase down officials on TV after a game to scold them on their calls.... Arizona had an opportunity to remove John Mackovic as head coach last year when his players staged a revolt over his alleged abusive coaching methods. Now it appears that this season is lost too after the school dismissed him last week...Finally, it's going to be fun watching UCLA and California, two teams on the move, improve as the season progresses. |
