Huskies take bite out of Trojans' BCS hopes

September 20, 8:22 AMUSC Trojans ExaminerNeal Leitereg

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Washington's Nick Folk kicks the winning field goal.
Photo by Elaine Thompson (A/P)
 

For more informtation check out some of the quick notes from the FIRST QUARTER, HALFTIME, THIRD QUARTER, and FINAL SCORE updates.

The Achilles heel for the USC Trojans the last few football seasons has not been losing in the big game or the Rose Bowl, it has been losing a game to an un-ranked conference opponent. First, it was Oregon State and UCLA, followed by Stanford and Oregon rising up to knock USC out of BSC contention the next year; then, in 2008 it was Oregon State again; this year it's the Washington Huskies who have become the next Pac-10 team to dash the Trojans' championship hopes.

Going up against former USC offensive coordinator and now head coach, Steve Sarkisian, the Trojans started the game off with a bang, converting on their first two drives to go up 10-0 against the Huskies. From that point on, things seemed to go awry for the Trojans, who were without true freshman phenom, Matt Barkley.

Aaron Corp, who started in place of Barkley, could not seem to get it going against the Huskies. Corp finished the game with a paltry 110 yards passing on 13-22 passes with one interception. The biggest knock on Corp, and the USC offense for that matter, was the inability to convert on third down. The Trojans finished the game 0-for-10 on third down conversions, a statistic they will want to forget.

It seemed as though everything that USC quarterback, Aaron Corp, could not do, Washington quarterback, Jack Locker, could. A three-year starter at quarterback for the Huskies, Locker lead his team down the field when it counted the most, setting up what would be the game-winning field goal for Washington.

Besides not converting on third downs, the biggest problems for USC were turnovers and penalties. On a number of occasions, either strong drives were thwarted or Washington was given a boost on careless penalties by both the USC offense and defense. Washington's defense also came up with a number of big turnovers, snagging two USC fumbles (one by Stafon Johnson and the other by Stanley Havili) as well as picking off an errant Aaron Corp pass.

It is a huge victory for a Washington Huskies' program that just last week ended a streak of 15 consecutive losses when they defeated Idaho, 42-23. New head coach Steve Sarkisian has the Huskies on the rise after the program had been mired at the bottom of the Pac-10.

Who knows where the USC Trojans will go from here. One thing is for certain, Pete Carroll has a lot of work to do in order to correct the mistakes that plagued the Trojans in this game. The return of Matt “Golden Boy” Barkley will help matters, but people need to remember that he is still a true freshman and has some developing to do before he is championship ready.

Ultimately it was a sad day in Seattle for Trojans’ players and fans alike. However, with other teams in the top-10 losing, there is still a chance (albeit not a good one) that USC can rebound from this loss and remain in the hunt for the BCS Championship IF the Trojans can right the ship and win out from here.

This music video tribute goes out to Pete Carroll, who was undoubtedly 'Up All Night' following this unfortunate loss.