I don't want to rip USC because I think that they should be in New Orleans with us. Howver, their opponent yesterday was not that good. I spent much of the first half thinking that they had no one in their defensive backfield who would see playing time in Baton Rouge. OSU also had no credible receivers. OSU would get drilled in Athens. They still managed to get 400 yards through the air on USC.
I couldn't help thinking the same thing. Oregon State has maybe five players on their team that could suit up for LSU. I'd take Jackson, the stud running back, maybe their tight end and one of their D-linemen, but nobody else, and I'm sure Georgia feels the same way. And Oregon State was able to move the ball on USC and stop them on offense occassionally. But USC has vulnerabilites. They can't run the ball consistently, their offense relies too much on big plays and yardage by the chunk. They have several big play talents, and they can strike like lightning, but against dominant defenses like LSU and Oklahoma, slow and steady is what wins the race. But they are a good team. What makes them so good, like us, is defense. You cannot run the football on USC. It simply cannot be done. You must do what OSU did early in the game, you have to throw deep to beat them. Pass defense is a little shaky though, but against OSU they were putting a lot of DBs in run support because they were respecting Jackson. Oregon State would not beat Georgia though. Talent wise, they are about the equal of South Carolina.
USC gave up 500+ yards and 28 pts to an unranked team . . . But then again SC feels no team in the SEC could compete in the PAC 10, what a joke.
