Kurtis Willams – For the Review. John Wooden once said, “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”
Rivalry games are something to cherish, something special to all schools and their fans. The games bring out the best and, too often, the worst in everyone.
In a battle for Southern California supremacy, the University of Southern California beat the University of California, Los Angeles, 28-7 in what was a lackluster game. Until the last minute, that is.
Leading 21-7 with less than one minute remaining, USC quarterback Matt Barkley took a knee to run time out, giving the Trojans their 10th victory in 11 years in what I like to call the Botox Bowl. The most mundane part of the game, however, turned out to be the most intriguing.
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel called a timeout, stopping the clock, delaying the inevitable and annoying USC coach Pete Carroll, who is notorious for being arrogant.
Poor taste? Yes. But remember: Neuheisel played quarterback for the Bruins in the ’80s and will do anything to get under the Trojans’ and their fans’ skin.
This year will mark the first time in seven years that Carroll won’t win a Pac-10 title. In his case, with wins does not come class.
Instead of taking the moral high road, which is a direction his moral compass never points, Caroll called for a long bomb down the field. The 14-point lead turned into a 21-point lead with the flick of Barkley’s wrist.
No amount of SoCal cosmetic surgery could have saved this game from the ugliness that would ensue.
Carroll and crew jumped around as if they had won the 2004 national championship all over again. Sorry, Pete, the only title you will win this year is the Holiday Bowl.
Bruin players contributed to the chaos when they walked onto the field and stared down their Trojan counterparts. Fortunately, security and Bruin coaches took control of the physical situation, but the fallout had just begun.
Carroll and Neuheisel have since defended their actions, but the debate continues. Who is at fault for this show of lack of class?
Carroll said his program wanted to be “mindful in trying to make sure that we don’t cross the boundaries that cause an issue because we don’t want to be any part of that.” Oops.
High school players in California are taking note, as well.
The head football coach for Los Angeles’ Contreras High School, Pete Carrion, put it best: “Does he realize that he has one of the most popular college football teams in the nation, and all of our young, impressionable high school football players will think that it’s OK to pile up the score and then dance around like a fool afterward? He just made my passion of instilling strong moral character values in my players that much harder.”
Carrion addressed Carroll’s approaching Jim Harbaugh earlier in the year. That was where Carroll’s cup of hypocrisy ran over.
Harbaugh, head coach at Stanford, attempted a two-point conversion, a play most often saved for dire situations, with the Cardinal up 53-21 late in the fourth quarter against the Trojans in mid-November. It was an obvious move to run up the score.
But when the coaches met after the game, Carroll asked, “What’s your deal?”
What’s that? You want some sympathy, Petey? What about the 69-0 drubbing of Washington State last year? Or last year’s 56-0 thrashing of Washington? The question is: What’s your deal?
Neuheisel had three timeouts and said he owed it to his players to keep trying to win the game. The game of semantics is fine; I understand that messages of power need to be sent. I wish coaches and players would win graciously, without causing another Los Angeles riot.
But instead of blaming opposing coaches for the score line, look into the mirror and ask why your team wasn’t focused or ready to take the field.