Saturday, January 9, 2010

Arrivederci Pete Carroll

Thank you for Nine Great Seasons, and Helping to Restore the Glory to Trojan Football. My ideal candidate to replace him would be Mike Riley from Oregon State who wins 9 games every year in Corvallis, where it has to be pretty damn hard to recruit. The other names I'm hearing are Chris Petersen from Boise, and now according to Shelley Smith on ESPN, Herm Edwards. Now while my first instincts said God no way Herm, he does have that fiery intensity about him that might be better suited for the college game than the NFL. I still want Riley, he's the safest bet, knows how to recruit, and knows the Pac 10 well already. He's quite possibly the best in-game coach in the Pac-10, and if you give him the talent at SC, we could definitely regain conference superiority.

Now lets take a minute and remember the best players and games from the PC Era.

ALL PETE CARROLL TEAM (based on what they did in college, not the NFL...probably gonna make a mistake or two, this is all off memory so cut me some slack)

Offense

QB- Matt Leinart
FB- Stanley Havili
RB- Reggie Bush + Lendale White
WR- Mike Williams + Dwayne Jarrett
TE- Fred Davis
OT- Sam Baker + Jacob Rodgers
OG- Jeff Byers + Deuce Lutui
C- Ryan Kalil

Defense

DE- Kenichi Udeze + Frostee Rucker
DT- Shaun Cody + Mike Patterson
LB- Lofa Tatupu (the only clear cut choice, after that it's a matter of personal preference, and I'm going with) Matt Grootegoed, Rey Maualuga. Wow just wow. So many great ones to choose from it's nearly impossible to do so. Last year's linebacking core was probably the greatest group in the history of college football, with all of them making an immediate impact in their rookie seasons of the NFL.
CB- Justin Wyatt + Terrell Thomas (the weakest position, TT was the only true lockdown guy we had under PC's reign)
S- Troy Polamalu + Taylor Mays

Special Teams

K- David Buehler for kickoffs, Ryan Killeen for field goals
P- Tom The Bomb Malone
KR- Reggie Bush
PR- Reggie Bush

TOP 5 GAMES FROM THE PC ERA

#5- (2004) USC 23 California 17. Man the Coliseum was rocking that day. Two undefeated teams in what would turn out to be a defacto National Semifinal Game. Aaron Rodgers was unreal that day, completing his first 23 or something passes, but all of them underneath. Dwayne Jarrett emerged that day and became Leinart's go-to-guy to replace Mike Williams. Cal outplayed the Trojans, but the Trojans did what it took to win, capitalizing on some special teams miscues from the Bears, and then of course holding Rodgers & Co. on a goal line stand at the end of the game.

#4- (2002) USC 44 Notre Dame 13. The day that the Trojans put themselves back on the national map, and Carson Palmer won himself SC's first Heisman Trophy since Marcus Allen. Two more were to follow in the next 3 years.

#3- (2001) USC 27 UCLA 0. The day that USC retook control of the city from the Bruins.

#2- (2005) USC 34 Notre Dame 31. 4th and 9: Leinart to Jarrett, and the Bush Push are names that will forever remain a part of Trojan Football lore.

#1- (2004-5 National Championship Game) USC 55 Oklahoma 19. Just a serious ass whooping of one of the best teams in college football history. That '04 team wasn't filled with 5 star recruits, but was filled with special once-in-a-lifetime type players that played well together as a team, and achieved perfection. The perfect ending to a perfect season.

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