9/15/2008

The USC game viewed from the tube. I know football pretty well, well enough to coach for a few years, so I generally know my shit. So look, they are as deep as the Marianas Trench; four deep at running back and two deep in the defensive line. Carroll has awarded scholarships only to those that are big AND fast, if you checked the local high schools you would find that USC only took two city players last year, both big and fast. The result of this depth is that the guys who take the hits and as a result lose about .2 of a second by mid season, only play ten to twelve plays per game unless they are huge. McKnight the fast and spectacular but light running back, can play the entire season at top speed because he doesn't suffer the deep bruises that slow running backs by several tenths of a second at other schools. The other three backs are under 210 pounds and unless their playing time is limited they will get hurt. The Trojan lines are punishing, so much so that OSU quit before the first half ended. They were running away from Rey Malaluga (6-2, 260) on the intercepted pass runback in the first half. They no longer thought they could take the punishment.

So this year's team is so deep that barring a UFO landing on their practice field and killing everybody, by the third game of the season nobody else will stand a chance. USC is the only team that can beat USC.

Now the telecast itself. Horrible. Those two dopey girls on the sidelines talking through plays, the endless interruptions to give us scores we just had to know, and the moronic chit chat between the announcers took away from the game. BUT this is not by accident. The viewer will stay involved in the game if the game is presented, but the commercials will be tuned out or regarded as an interference. But break up every series of downs many times with fluff and promotions and we dopes will listen. That telecast was one of the worst ever in that regard. The game, when they bothered to show it, was televised well, had all the right angles; and the slo mo agonizing death of the Buckeyes was beautifully done. Carroll proves that superior talent doesn't need a spread offence, all they have to do is knock people on their asses and run through. Carroll is a former pro coach running a pro style offense with nearly professional athletes.

1 comment:

Malcolm said...

How about Oklahoma or Missouri?