watch USC win a 12th Football National Championship

Well, now that Thursday night’s game is over, we’ll have to see what the fallout will be. They’ll release the new BCS poll results late Sunday afternoon. USC could reasonably tumble out of the top ten, but will probably remain in the top twenty.

From there, we will see if they can climb their way back to the #2 spot. If the college football landscape is anything like last year, there may not be any teams that are undefeated from the BCS conferences. So the top two spots could go to the best one-loss teams. If USC remains only a one-loss team, and plays their remaining games in a commanding fashion, they could climb their way back to the top.

If there is a bright side, then there are the following two points: 1.) USC has fallen victim to this sort of loss more than once before, including the game two years ago in the same stadium (and at UCLA that year, and at home against Stanford last year), so rebounding from this situation is nothing new. 2.) Pete Carroll inspires his teams to rebound from this kind of situation, not to climb back to the top in the polls, but to better their performances as individual players and as contributing members of an overall team. It is the combined results of the players’ subsequent efforts, that has found the USC team climbing its way back up the BCS poll in the past.

This is just another self-imposed challenge for the team to respond to, once again.

Each year, for each team across the land of Division I-A football, this goal is like running a gauntlet. This year there are 12 tests laid out for the season, from which the USC team must prevail. They may not necessarily have to win all of these games. But of course, that would definitely determine their eligibility to be crowned champion. If they successfully pass these dozen trials, then there is a 13th specific test, known today as the BCS Championship Bowl game, that will prove out who is deserving of achieving this ultimate goal.

The first test came and went on Saturday. The team prevailed with flying colors. In fact, the colors flew so high and proud, they were ranked #1 in the two major polls after the first week.

As I stated, one trial completed. Eleven more (plus one) still remain. Many regard this second trial as one of the most important, playing against Ohio State, the highly ranked and deservedly touted team. I will be there to watch it unfold, and see who will be called out as the winner.

QB Mark Sanchez dislocated his left knee cap in practice last Friday, and was carted off the field. This week he is back on the field, watching practice from a cart (so he can visualize his rhythm). He is scheduled to be out 1 to 4 weeks, the latter meaning he could miss playing in the away opener against Virginia.

Meanwhile, QB Mitch Mustain, the transfer from Arkansas, has a proven 8-0 record there. And redshirt freshman QB Aaron Corp has a solid arm and looks good when he needs to scramble out of a broken play.

Interestingly, both Pac-10 L.A. schools were hit at QB, as Ben Olson was also injured last Friday, and is out for 4 to 8 weeks with a broken right foot. And that’s not all, starting Husky QB Jake Locker up at Washington is injured as well.

The season hasn’t even started yet, and things have already gotten stirred up.