Trojans set for Dogfight

By Hugo Guzman  |   Monday, November 14, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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This weekend the elephant in the room is set to rumble as the twentieth ranked Fresno State Bulldogs come south to face the USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Although Pete Carroll rarely schedules out of conference cupcakes (Ohio State and Nebraska in the coming years), make no mistake, this game was supposed to be a warm up for UCLA on December 2nd. You see, if USC didn't schedule another game, there'd have been a three-week layoff between their 35-10 domination of ex-rival Cal and their impending match with the cross-town Bruins. This game was to keep the rust off. Now, it's a battle with a big, physical program that remembers its shocking victory over the Trojans in 1992.

Reports of the Bulldog faithful chanting “we want SC" after their last victory over Boise State shows how badly Fresno State and coach Pat Hill want this game. It's a win-win, as they say. If they lose, take a number because so has everyone else for the better part of three years. But if they win? It will be the shock of the century, because this team is not a typical twentieth ranked team. They are a WAC team whose name has come up in the talks of a possible Pac-10 expansion. They want to prove they are able to run with the big boys, and they came close in their rendezvous with Oregon earlier this year (who turned out to be a pretty solid team with their one loss coming to top-ranked USC).

Can the Bulldogs knock off the Trojans? It's doubtful, but certainly possible. What they have working for them is passion, a chip on their shoulder, and a powerful, physical brand of football designed to punish opponents and wear them out. It will be intriguing to see USC's power and speed combination against brute force and sound fundamentals. They can both pass and run the ball, with quarterback Paul Pinegar throwing for over two-thousand yards and running back Wendell Mathis logging over 900 yards and 13 touchdowns.

What do the Bulldogs have working against them? Well, arguably the best offensive onslaught ever assembled. The USC Trojans set a record last week for being the first team in history to have a quarterback throwing for over 3,000 yards (Leinart), two running backs rushing for over 1,000 yards (Bush, White) and a receiver going for over 1,000 yards (Jarrett). They look to further that record by adding another wide out to the thousand yard club in Steve Smith who's a big game away from setting that record. No matter how physical the Bulldog defense is, no one has kept the USC Trojans under 34 points this year. It comes down to the Trojans defense to make stops, which they will. In the end, the Trojan war machine will be too deadly, especially when fighting in the Coliseum, where they haven't lost in four years. As long as the Trojans aren't looking ahead to battling one-loss UCLA for the Victory Bell, the Trojans should get to that matchup undefeated and in the driver's seat for a Rose Bowl date with the Texas Longhorns.
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About Hugo Guzman

Trying to bring an objective approach to NFL analysis.
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