Gonna bring my "traveler" for more myth punching. Hopefully Van you will rewrite the infamous Brice-ism story Thursday after we take down your preppy college.
Here's today's CnP
Rose Bowl
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In sports, it's all about the adjustments.
So when I intended to come up with 19 reasons why Texas can beat Southern California on Wednesday — one for each game the Longhorns have won consecutively since that loss to Oklahoma in October 2004 — I came up a bit short.
It seems when an opponent's won back-to-back national championships, it doesn't have nearly as many flaws as, say, Texas A&M. So we're reduced to focusing on deficiencies like the running mascara on one of the Trojan pom girls during all these California rainstorms.
Hence, here are the 12 reasons the Longhorns might hoist the crystal trophy at the Rose Bowl. (Hey, be glad we could nitpick that much.)
1. Vince Young is only a cape short of being Superman. Even if USC's Matt Leinart has a Heisman Trophy and Roger Clemens comes over the top more than the mechanics-challenged Young, no other quarterback in college football has his presence and charisma.
2. A full-strength Jamaal Charles can be as electrifying as Reggie Bush. Well, almost.
America will be introduced to the game's next superstar on Wednesday. Charles said Monday he is healthy for the first time since the opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. Although he revealed that Mack Brown will surprisingly start Selvin Young at tailback — a questionable choice — Charles and Ramonce Taylor will rotate in. That means Texas should always have a fresh back in the game.
"If I get off to a good start, they'll probably keep me in there," said Charles, who came up big as a runner, as a receiver and even as a tackler with 95 all-purpose yards and a stop on linebacker A.J. Hawk after an interception in the win over Ohio State. "I don't know if I'm the wild card. We've got a lot of wild cards on our team."
3. USC has faced awful defenses that couldn't stop the Trojans if this were flag football.
Get this: The Trojans have built up gaudy numbers against as many as seven units that rank 86th or worse nationally. Among those USC victims are No. 114 Arizona State, No. 113 UCLA, No. 106 Washington State, No. 105 Stanford and No. 102 Hawaii. Texas went up against just three worse than 65th-ranked Baylor.
4. Attacking the Trojan secondary is a primary consideration.
This could be a huge advantage for Texas, even with heralded safety Darnell Bing in the backfield. The Trojans lost an All-America candidate in cornerback Eric Wright, who was suspended in the spring and transferred to Nevada-Las Vegas, and perhaps its next-best corner, Terrell Thomas, to a major knee injury in the Arkansas game.
Cornerback Josh Pinkard is a converted safety, and Justin Wyatt hasn't been able to be converted from a 5-foot-10-inch corner into a 6-4 one. Notre Dame's trio of 6-5 receivers burned USC repeatedly this season. Hello, Billy Pittman and Quan Cosby.
5. USC can't count on Texas running its offense.
This is a trick question. If Young doesn't know what he's going to do on any play, the Trojan defense certainly can't. It hasn't seen a mobile quarterback like Young.
No opposing quarterback has run for more yardage against USC than Stanford's Trent Edwards, who managed 44 yards on 10 attempts. Consider that Young ran for 850 yards without hardly playing in a fourth quarter.
6. This isn't Texas' first rodeo or Rose Bowl.
Texas will not be intimidated by USC's aura. The fact the Longhorns were in this same venue and won against Michigan last year should serve them well.
7. Aaron Ross isn't bad.
The Longhorn punt returner has one more touchdown runback this season than Bush. USC has an outstanding punter, but Tom Malone frequently outkicks his coverage because the Trojans are usually confused they're actually punting.
8. USC's linebackers are only competent.
They are without two-year starter Dallas Sartz, who dislocated a shoulder against Arkansas and is being redshirted. Weakside linebacker Keith Rivers, an outstanding athlete, is coming back from a bad hamstring injury suffered in the eighth game of the season, and middle linebacker Oscar Lua is coming off two knee surgeries.
Thomas Williams starts, but a pair of freshmen — Brian Cushing, who also missed half the season with a shoulder injury, and Rey Maualuga — figure to play prominent roles. Raise your hand, Trojan linebackers, if you haven't been in an operating room in the last six months.
9. Norm Chow doesn't live here any more.
Thankfully, one of the greatest offensive coordinators has moved on from USC to the Tennessee Titans — not that anyone has seen much of a dropoff in the Trojans' offense. That said, newcomer Lane Kiffin prefers to throw deep more often than Chow's West Coast nibbling offense, with its quick slants, wheel routes and screens. After Young, the secondary may be Texas' greatest strength.
10. Michael Griffin has blocked six punts. I'm not going to bet against a seventh.
11. Sure, Pete Carroll has had a month to prepare and carries a Genius Card in his wallet, but Texas co-defensive coordinator Gene Chizik had a month as well and hasn't lost since King Kong was a hairball. He's kind of smart, too.
12. Bush will be distracted by shopping for homes in the Houston area, Leinart has a ballroom dancing gig in Burbank and the notion of an unbeatable USC may be filed under Punctured Myths — because it darn sure does rain in Southern California.
I'll be at the Texas Tailgate party by 11am.....game time 4?
iz we scort?
chum chum evol
ggil
