The Duck Game

Good evening Trojan Fans,

It certainly took the better part of a week to recover from last week’s tilt against the Ducks. Unfortunately, on the big stage and in front of a raucous Coliseum crowd, USC stumbled and fell hard to Oregon. The night started off well, when USC jumped out to a 10-point lead, but things dwindled quickly as penalties and turnovers proved to be our Achilles heel once again.

Sometimes the hardest part of being an SC fan is our unwillingness to change our expectations. But week in and week out it’s been shown that maybe it is time to adjust those expectations, at least under the current circumstances. Helton is 10-11 since the beginning of last season, our team is riddled with injuries, and we cannot seem to get it right in all three phases of the game on a single night. As I’ve written before, there are certainly bright spots on our roster. We have tremendous student-athletes who can compete in their 1 on 1 battles but as a complete unit, USC continues to come up short.

Off the field, a new era has begun as Athletic Director Mike Bohn was introduced on Thursday.  Highlighted by an energetic press conference, Bohn has made it clear that his expectations are for our programs to “Fight On, To Victory.” Bohn has breathed a bit of new life into the fan base and his passion for our time-honored traditions and expectations is superb. I just hope if his expectations are not met, he will make immediate changes to maintain the standard of excellence that we have come to know.

So just what can we expect as the Trojans take the field in Phoenix tomorrow? We can expect a coach working to keep his job. We can expect a team looking to silence all the noise. We can expect a President and Athletic Director to be watching very carefully. We can also expect a Sun Devil team looking to avenge a couple recent losses and defend their home field. It won’t be an easy task for USC by any stretch, but if this game comes down to a pure talent match up the Trojans will hold the edge. If we give away free yards or points, the men of Troy could be looking at a long night in the desert.  With three games left, my expectations are tempered but I will be watching and am excited to see how this team responds.

FIGHT ON.