The USC football team’s laundry list of achievements during the last six years is simply mind-numbing.
Six straight finishes in the top four of the Associated Press poll, six straight BCS bowl games, six straight PAC-10 championships, six straight seasons with 11 victories — oh, and let’s not forget about the two national titles in 2003 and 2004 and a near-third in 2005. USC would have won that third consecutive championship if it had not been for the super-human performance of one Vince Young, who put Texas on his shoulders and pulled out an improbable comeback win for the Longhorns.
Coach Pete Carroll is entering his eighth year in Los Angeles, and after going 6-6 during his first year in 2001, he has turned a mediocre Trojan team into arguably the most dominant college football team this decade.
The 2007 Cavaliers, on the other hand, were one victory away from posting just their second 10-win season in history. We do not stack up very well, do we? So far, I’d say the chance that Al Groh and Pete Carroll suit up would be better than us winning.
This is exactly why we should cheer our hearts out Saturday when the cardinal-and-gold clad men of Troy march into Scott Stadium Saturday.
Huh?
That’s right. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain against USC, so why not give it our all?
Anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to college football during the last several years is not picking Virginia to win this game. Heck, I’m as big an optimist as there is sometimes when it comes to Virginia football, but if we are within two touchdowns of USC at the end of the game Saturday, I will be ecstatic.
All the pressure is on USC, plain and simple, because it is such a heavy favorite. No one is giving us a chance and no one is expecting anything out of us. Most people think last year was a fluke, and others think we were a disguised 6-6 team because of all the close wins.
The longer we are able to stay in the game, the more the pressure builds for USC. If we stick around for a quarter, people will be surprised. If we stick around for three quarters, the stadium will be rocking for the final 15 minutes, for sure. Everyone will be expecting USC to bowl us over from the beginning. If the Trojans still have not done so by the fourth quarter, the pressure on them to live up to expectations will be immense.
This is where we students and fans come in. There is no reason to hold anything back Saturday when cheering (except signs, thanks to the athletic department). We need to be as loud and hostile as possible to show USC we are not backing down, that we are supporting our team no matter who the opponent is.
It is my hope that if we do not hold anything back, the team will not either. If, however, we go three straight possessions to start the game with no first downs and the offense is painfully conservative, I will not be happy. We are not going to be able to run the ball all over USC or use our typical dink-and-dunk style of passing to defeat the best team of the 2000s. We are going to have to take some chances, no doubt about it. Passes downfield and trick plays will be essential if we are going to do anything in this game.
Students can take chances, too. Let’s get to the game early, not leave early and do more rooting than socializing. If the ‘Hoos see how much the fans are backing them up, hopefully that will inspire them to give it their all Saturday. If they see we are unexcited about the chance to play a team of the Trojans’ caliber, they may become unexcited, too.
This could be a season-defining game for Virginia, possibly the upset of the year if we somehow pull off a victory. This could also be the coming-out party of whoever starts his first game at quarterback Saturday. We saw flashes of promise in Peter Lalich last season, and Scott Deke performed very well in the spring game. If Marc Verica beats them both out for the spot, he must have deserved it.
If you think an inexperienced quarterback has no chance to defeat a top team, think again. If we could somehow win Saturday, it would remind me of Nov. 6, 1999, one of the first Virginia football games I witnessed in person. Injured starting quarterback Dan Ellis gave a relative unknown, Dan Rivers, the chance to play against his hometown team, Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets, with Heisman Trophy contender Joe Hamilton at quarterback, came into the game ranked No. 7 with a record of 6-1 and BCS bowl game hopes. Rivers, in his first collegiate start, wrecked their hopes by defeating Tech 45-38 while completing 18 of 30 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Of course, we had Thomas Jones then, too, but we have a pair of darn good running backs this year also, in Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson.
Anything can happen, guys. Sure, our chances are bleak. No one is denying that. USC would be favored in virtually any stadium it played in Saturday. We should not just sit back on our laurels, though, and admire the way USC plays football. No way. This situation is too perfect to pass up the opportunity to cheer like lunatics, lose our voices and have a lot of fun. We get the chance to cheer against one of the best teams in recent memory. We should consider ourselves lucky.
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