USC made the most of their game at home last Saturday, despite a number of factors. In a contest littered with penalties and a game that continued into the first hours of Sunday morning, we kept our focus and bottled up Khalil Tate for a win over the Wildcats. SC once again was led by the downhill efforts of Ronald Jones and a breakout game for Aca’Cedric Ware, each carrying the ball 194 and 122 yards respectively. USC allowed Arizona to get back into the contest though and wasn’t able to finish it off until the waning moments of the 4th quarter when RoJo punched in two short yardage scores.
In the landscape of the Pac 12 it was a game that we needed to stay atop the South division, but we’re not out of the woods yet. In my opinion, there is huge significance to these final two games. Go on the road, take care of business then come home and beat UCLA and you finish 10-2. Take our foot off the gas in the chase of the Pac 12 and finish 8-4 overall, and the pitchforks will be waving outside the McKay Center.
The national pundits showed a good bit of respect to us pushing us up from #17 to #11 in the CFP rankings, but that’s really nothing more than a polite gesture. There are a few folks out there who are dreaming up a chaos theory that slips USC into the playoff but that is simply not going to happen. And let’s be real, IF somehow it did, would we really want to go play Georgia or Alabama in a semi-final after seeing how we performed against ND this season? We are reminded time and again, that the game of football is not played on paper, but in such a physical context that there is stark difference between computer projections and actual results.
The weather forecast is favorable for USC’s trip to Boulder, but it is senior day for the Buffs and a blackout promotion is planned for the local fans. They sit last in our division and would love to spoil the party for us. Fortunately, the sun will be up for kickoff and it should be a fun contest to watch. USC continues to have injury issues but I predict a win in Boulder in the final regular season road game.
FIGHT ON
The Late Game 
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