![]() Running that offense with players I don’t even know the name of, and I live for this shit. Oregon is first in the nation in scoring and something like 115th in time of possession. Those offenses were prolific, but they did not change the fundamental principles of football: time of possession meant something, and if you could hold the ball long enough you’d have a chance. The realization that this offense was different from the triple option, the Fun ‘n Gun, the spread, etc. I did not think much of Oregon’s skill players outside of LaMichael James and maybe Kenjon Barner, but this was a faceless wheel of destruction that required faceless cogs and sprockets to run the machine, and not Home Depot cogs and sprockets because this is a recession after all but literally stuff cobbled together out of wire and twist ties and pen caps, the kind of material you expected the federal government to use to build houses post-Katrina. I can admire that kind of dominance, but I wonder at the implications. McDonald didn’t even know the ball had been snapped and holy fuck there they go again. Thought I was going for six for sure,” and all the while T.J. But lost? Like we were playing an entirely different game with a different set of rules? Oregon made USC’s tackling look accidental, like they were sort of running into us and saying “Hey, good job man. Stanford did not have USC looking so lost, though. Stanford’s win last year was also a thing of beauty: power running, play action, everything the Cardinal did involved kicking the shit out of us on every down in a brutal, pre-1989 USSR-putting-down-insurrections-in-Eastern-Europe kind of way. I envy their demises in a totally pathetic and self-pitying way. Wildebeest and seals don’t have to go to Eugene next year, though. Still: seeing it in person was a thing of beauty and pleasure, like watching apex predators doing their thing on the Discovery Channel. I thought that several times during the game: is this really the future? Oregon’s offense has been documented nobody was surprised at the outcome. Both parts were correct it’s just that one was actually correct and the other still thinks the O’Dowd-Barkley fumbled snap cost USC the game, all the while ignoring Oregon literally running around in the Coliseum swerving back and forth as the Trojan secondary listened to ominous encores of Yakety-Sax and somehow the Ducks are lining up to snap the ball again even though they’re on defense and it’s a TV timeout and my god, is this the future? The irrational part of me, the part that makes up well over ninety-nine percent of my being… that part said that 400 miles to drive on game day is nothing compared to the victory, the glory. I think I even knew it would be by several touchdowns. This now goes against very obvious evidence to the contrary. I still believe that the seniors who stayed – not just the ones who were slated to start or at least contribute in a major way but also the ones who had played the support role for so long and so often thanklessly unrecognized – would be champions. You just watched the single greatest football game you’ve ever seen, and it took maybe the greatest singular performance you’ll ever see. I remember thinking: These guys are going to lead us to another national championship. They were both remarkably still, one knee down and one hand propped on a helmet. From my perspective in the nosebleeds of the west stands they were pretty much the last USC players visible in the throng of streamers and burnt orange. Chris DeWolfe, Co-creator of MySpace.Five years ago I sat watching Patrick Turner and Mark Sanchez kneeling on the Rose Bowl turf, silent as Texas celebrated.Henry Caruso, Founder of Dollar Rent A Car (and Caruso Affiliated, developer of The Grove).Jerry Buss, Owner of the LA Lakers ( USC Gift) Tom Barrack, Founder of Colony Capital ( USC Gift).Dan Bane, Chairman and CEO of Trader Joe's.USC is the top CFB Recruiting School of All-Time ().USC football coach is the most desirable coaching job ().USC continues to lead all colleges with the most NFL draft picks ( see also ).USC had the most players on NFL rosters at the start of 2013 season ().USC has had more alumni make it into Major League Baseball than any other college.USC was Time Magazine's College of the Year ().The Daily Beast' named USC the Decade's Hottest School.USC was named by Princeton Review as a dream college.USC has the most international students of all US universities ().USA Today named the USC Marching Band the best in College Football ().USC's Marshall School of Business alumni ranked as one the most useful ().USC is the largest private employer in the city of Los Angeles.Lifting Kids to College from the NYTimes ().USC athletes have won more Olympic medals than any other college.
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