SEATTLE — Pity poor USC.
The Pac-10 bullies from Los Angeles are at risk of having their reputation tarnished by what is looking more and more every week like a mid-major conference posing as the Pac-10.
Not that the Trojans did much to help their reputation Thursday.
After their stunning loss to Oregon State, it seems like the Trojans’ national title hopes could be over already.
Heading into this week, people are wondering if an undefeated USC team, despite their No. 1 ranking and general dominance, could be left out of the BCS championship game even with an undefeated season should teams like Georgia and Oklahoma run the table.
Now, let’s just say that the Trojans will need carnage at the top of the polls to have a chance at a title.
Not that the Trojans will get any sympathy from around the conference.
But while a struggling Pac-10 could be a disaster for USC, it provides a great opportunity for teams like Washington. Sure the Huskies are 0-3, and sure they’ve been blown out twice, but what teams in the Pac-10, USC excluded, scare anybody this season?
The Huskies won’t be worried about their conference’s reputation this season. Instead, they have a chance to capitalize on a down year of Pac-10 football.
Now most players and coaches won’t admit to this kind of thinking. Instead, they either say that every team in the Pac-10 is a great team, evidence be damned, or they say that they are — warning, cliche approaching — taking it one game at a time.
But even if they won’t say it, there’s got to be some sense of, “Hey, look at how bad everybody looks. We can beat those teams.” Why not believe you can win a lot of games this season, especially during the upcoming four-game stretch of Stanford, Arizona, Oregon State and Notre Dame.
After watching an Oklahoma team full of future NFL players run all over them, the Huskies will line up against a team much closer to their equal in talent in their next few games.
“We’ve got the whole Pac-10 with us,” said Washington offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. “I really believe that USC is obviously the established team and by far the front-runner in our league, and I think the rest of us are really similar, including Stanford and us and Washington State. All of us. There’s a lot of parity in this league right now. Whether this league is good, great or excellent, it doesn’t matter. There’s a lot of parity in this league right now and a lot people can win a lot of games in this league. Our players watch, and I think they’re very much aware of what happened last week and all the beatings we took in this league, and you’ve got to think they get confident watching that stuff and know that we’re that close to being right there. It all has got to start Saturday night here.”
And that’s the key. It has to start Saturday. The Huskies talk now like they still think they can contend in the Pac-10. A home loss to Stanford, which would also be the team’s sixth straight loss going back to last season, would certainly indicate otherwise.
“Definitely,” linebacker Mason Foster said when asked if Saturday was a must-win. “Every game is a must-win, but being 0-3 and coming into the Pac-10, you’ve really got to show teams what you’re capable of or you’re going to be that team in the Pac-10 again. So it’s time to show teams that we’re capable of playing with anybody.”
Like Foster said, the Huskies don’t want to be “that team” again. If they aren’t already, the Huskies are close to being “that team.” You know, the team other teams and fans look at on the schedule and say, ‘Well, we know we’ll win that one.’”
For a while now, Husky players and coaches have said that they’re close to turning a corner, that this is a different team. But if they can’t turn that corner against this version of the Pac-10, if they can’t start winning a lot of games between now and the end of the season, well, let’s just say they’re definitely going to be “that team.”
After getting bullied by Oregon, losing a close game to BYU, and taking a beating against the Sooners, the Huskies should feel more comfortable against the Cardinal on Saturday. Washington has relied on so many young players, and for those freshmen, this game will feel easier not only because they’ve had more time to adjust to college football, but also because they’ve seen some of the best talent in college football.
“The difficulty of our schedule has the potential to harden us and get us ready for the games we are going to play,” said Washington coach Tyrone Willingham. “We wanted to win those ball games. … but because of that, hopefully we will be a better team, a more mature team, and some of our players will look up and say, ‘I played against some of the best guys in the country and at times I held my own, at times I did a great job, at times I didn’t do what I was supposed to do, but I see I can get it done.’ Hopefully that approach, that attitude will bring us out of that, make us stronger, make us tougher and make us better as we play these last nine ballgames.”
And in those last nine ballgames, seven of which come against Pac-10 teams not named USC, the Huskies have to feel like they have a chance. That’s what a down year in the conference can mean to a struggling program.
It just may not be such a good thing for USC.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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