The Pullman Game

The reality is we are 4-1. You might not believe it but that’s the good news that we brought home from Pullman late Friday night. The bad news is that we are riddled with injury, and even more so than when we arrived for the matchup in Eastern Washington. All night Darnold dealt with a good Washington State pass rush that became effective as USC offensive linemen went down. At the end of the contest USC had 12 starters on the injury report, which is not a good recipe for winning a close one in a hostile environment.

Fans may not like this comment, but let’s call it like it is. Sam is no longer in the Heisman race. His turnover ratio, his fault or not, is just too much at the present time for him to be recognized as the best athlete in the game. I’m actually perfectly happy about that. I hope the spotlight will shift to players like Luke Falk, Baker Mayfield, or Saquon Barkley who are putting together tremendous seasons. I’m also hoping that being out of the race will alleviate some pressure from Sam and light a fire in him to step up in our remaining seven games.

So, is it time to hit the panic button yet? No. You might recall that last year’s National Champion, Clemson, lost a close one to unranked Pitt in mid-November and came back around to win the ACC title and get a spot in the CFP. I am not saying we are exactly like Clemson, we’re not. They went and tore apart Ohio State last year in that semi-final and that’s something we certainly don’t look capable of right now. The Tigers should also be #1 right now but that’s a different story altogether. My point is that there is still a path to where we want to go. Sure, it will take some good luck and a loss from some other teams, but we will play two more currently ranked opponents during the regular season making it four total on the year. We may also get another crack at the Cougars in the Pac 12 Championship making for a 5^th game against a ranked opponent. So my theory is this:

If USC does not lose another regular season game and wins the Pac-12 title, the CFP committee would be hard pressed to leave out a 13-1 team who has played 5 ranked opponents and has not had a bye week throughout the entire regular season.

That’s a really big if. We are going to rely heavily on young freshman and second stringers to get us through our next 3-4 games and at some positions for the rest of the season. Fortunately, we now get two games at home in a row and a chance to right the ship. The media at large has written us off as out of the race, but I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. The SEC is losing it’s glamour quickly, and there are inevitable upsets as rivalry weekend draws closer and the weather cools. So buckle up Trojan fans, if we are to have a shot at the Playoff, it’s going to be a stressful and bumpy ride.

FIGHT ON