Lincoln, Neb. – While the statement Nebraska wound up making here Saturday night was, “Um, we’re not back yet. Check back in a couple of years,” Southern California spoke a lot louder.
“We’re No. 1,” the Trojans said. And no one will doubt it.
The top-ranked Trojans’ breezy 49-31 win over the then-14th-ranked Cornhuskers should quell any early debate as USC, Louisiana State, Florida and Oklahoma storm out of the gates. I didn’t think I would see a team as powerful as LSU, but I did in a stadium so loud the Trojans nearly needed to communicate by Internet.
That’s the difference. Oklahoma and Florida haven’t left town yet, and while Nebraska isn’t really truly Nebraska yet, it will still be ranked much of the year, and it played this game at home. LSU’s lone test came against a visiting Virginia Tech team with quarterback problems. Put a bad quarterback on a good team and you have a bad team.
“We showed everyone that we still play Trojan football,” defensive end Kyle Moore said. “We showed everyone that we are going to continue to play like No. 1.”
More voters are believers. Six switched their No. 1 votes Sunday from LSU to USC.
USC’s depth is nearly illegal. In Nebraska coach Bill Callahan’s fourth year, we’re still waiting for a big-time playmaker to emerge at tailback and receiver. Meanwhile, six Trojans carried the ball and a guy named Stanley Havili ran 50 yards on USC’s first play. Havili is a freshman blocking back.
Stafon Johnson might have emerged as USC’s feature back with 144 yards, but if he is ever slowed, five other prep All-Americans can make names behind a line that’s just as deep.
“The holes were so big, there was so much room,” Johnson said, “I felt like a kid in a candy store.”
Notre Dame offense scored yet?
Nope. In fact, its 13 points this season represent the worst three-game scoring stretch since 1933 – and its lone touchdown came on an interception return.
Saturday’s 38-0 loss to Michigan not only produced the fewest yards (79) in Charlie Weis’ three years but showed it is one of the most embarrassing offenses in school history. Six fumbles (two lost). Two interceptions. Eight sacks. Fourteen plays from scrimmage with negative yardage. The ashes of the Four Horsemen would have been more productive.
“Three games in, the team is headed in the wrong direction,” Weis said Saturday. “And when the team’s headed in the wrong direction, the only way I know is to come out swinging. Obviously I’m embarrassed by that performance out there….I need to start finding a way to fix the problem rather than trying to (use) X’s and O’s, technique and trying to do something different each week.”
And backup quarterback Demetrius Jones left this for Northern Illinois? If he had boarded that bus to Michigan, he might either have played in the second half or had more reps in Sunday’s mandatory practice.
Weis, who has all but admitted he has botched this season to Gerry Faust levels, needs to get back to basics fast. Michigan State (3-0) visits Saturday, and the Irish (0-3), on a five-game losing streak, haven’t lost six in a row since 1960. And they’ve never started a season 0-4.
Utah is back …
… Or was UCLA the most disappointing team in the country? With 20 starters back from the team that knocked USC from the national title picture, UCLA got drilled, 44-6, by a winless Mountain West team missing its starting quarterback, tailback, top wide receiver and a starting guard.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham ingeniously used quarterbacks Tommy Grady to pass (17-for-30, 246 yards, three TDs) and Corbin Louks to run (four for 10 yards).
“They lost their composure,” Utah tailback Darrell Mack said. “They had to be thinking they were going to win the game going in. That’s the wrong thing to think about us. That’s an overrated team.”
Footnotes
Stats on Hawaii’s Colt Brennan after three games: 103-for-133 (.774) for 1,262 yards with one interception and 12 TDs. Next up? Division I-AA Charleston Southern. … How much patience will Northwestern show favorite son Pat Fitzgerald? Losing to Duke does not look good on a résumé – especially with a visit to Ohio State next and an angry Michigan to follow. … No. 21 Kentucky is ranked for the first time since 1984, and South Florida cracked the rankings for the first time.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
