Pete Carroll goes into shock (AP story) Pete Carroll went into shock upon being quietly informed by his staff of assistants after the Rose Bowl that they forgot to put any of their players at the cornerback or safety positions all year long. The coach is back home after being treated for severe shock and is recovering nicely. "We thought about telling him after the Cal loss," said USC defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. "At first we thought it was just some genius idea of his. We started winning and didn't want to seem foolish by asking where our DBs were. The Cal loss made us wonder though." USC lost to a mediocre Cal team, giving up 326 passing yards in the process. "We decided against saying anything, thinking the Coach must know best. When we let Oregon State rack up over 400 passing yards against us we considered mentioning it again," continued Orgeron. "We let it slide though. It wasn't until it looked like we had the Rose Bowl won that we thought we should finally mention it." USC became one of the worst passing defenses in the nation, allowing nearly 280 yards per game. "I swear, I didn't know we were supposed to have anyone covering our opponents receivers. I just thought we'd try to get them off the field quickly by striking mean poses so we could start throwing the ball ourselves," said an embarrassed Carroll. "If I'd known, I guess I could put someone back there. I'll read up on it and see." USC went on to win 12 games and even won the Rose Bowl with no defensive backs all year long. By mesmerizing teams with the boyish good looks of their glamorous offensive players, they managed to distract teams into losing. This was nearly good enough to win them a National Championship but the BCS saw through the disguise, and didn't allow them to embarrass the sport by showcasing a team in the Sugar Bowl that featured no pass defense. LSU went on to win the Title but Carroll isn't bitter. "I think we did pretty darn well considering that cornerback thing. I might recruit a few of those guys next year. Who knows how far we can go." - Ted Danielson, AP reporter.
