USC destroys Washington in 56-0 shutout

Washington Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham was fired last Monday.  On Saturday against USC it was apparent why he was sent packing.  Despite the Trojans playing their starters for only one half and everyone short of the waterboy and the cheerleaders seeing playing time in the 2nd, Washington couldn’t score giving USC their third shutout of the season.  Meanwhile, the Trojans scored TDs on their first six possessions to blister the last remaining winless team in 1A/FBS college football 56-0.

The Trojans six straight TDs to open the game and Pete Carroll’s general human decency meant for a short night for the USC starters but they put up some good numbers while they were in.  Starting QB Mark Sanchez completed 15 of 19 passes for 167 yards with two TDs and no interceptions in just over two quarters of play.  Overall, the Trojans’ potent and efficient offense rolled to 18 first downs and 325 yards of total offense—in the first half. For the game, USC 485 yards with 25 first downs including 188 yards passing and 297 yards on the ground.  The only reason for the run/pass disparity is that USC seldom went to the air during the 2nd half “mercy time” and despite knowing what was coming the Husky defense wasn’t able to stop them.

USC’s defense continued their monstrous play of late, forcing Washington redshirt freshman QB Ronnie Fouch into three interceptions.  Since the Trojans’ upset loss at Oregon in late September they have literally shown no mercy to their opponents, winning the next five games by a combined score of 207-27.  For the season, the defense has allowed seven touchdowns in eight games and has allowed a stingy 7.1 PPG.

Always the consummate professional, Pete Carroll managed to praise his team’s dismantling of the Huskies without running down his opponent (translation of what he *really* meant in boldface, his actual quotes in italics):

"It was a happy homecoming for us. We wanted it to be big for our seniors. We have a really fantastic defensive group, and they're taking the preparation from the week and putting it into the game."

Translation:  “What do you want?  Even with our scrubs playing we clobbered them.  I had to take the starters out since I wasn’t sure if the Coliseum scoreboard went to triple digits”

"It was exciting to see so many of our young guys get in and to hold onto the shutout there at the end. It's really a source of pride for everyone."

Translation: “So much for trying to be a nice guy.  Even with our true freshmen in the game Washington is so bad they couldn’t even score as much as a FG.  Like they say, we don’t rebuild here at USC we reload. “

USC faces their biggest remaining challenge next week when California comes to town.  The Golden Bears are a decent team, but should the Trojans exhibit the same focus they have in every other game since the loss to Oregon they should provide an insurmountable challenge.  They then close out their season with games at Stanford, home against Notre Dame and at UCLA (which is just a few miles away at the Rose Bowl). They’ve played their best at this stage of the season under Pete Carroll and have posted a 24-0 November record during his tenure.

Washington has a decent chance of putting one in the win column in the next few weeks and giving Coach Willingham a “going away present”.  A win next week against 2-6 Arizona State at home would prevent this Husky team with the 1969 squad for the worst start to the season in school history at 0-9.  Should they fall short against the Sun Devils, they’ll have a chance to not claim that dubious record outright against 3-5 UCLA.  Their last realistic shot for a win will come on 11/22 at 1-8 Washington State (and were it not for a win against 1AA/FCS Portland State the Cougars would also be winless).  Their final game of the year will be on 12/6 against 6-2 California who’ll likely be playing for a bowl bid or similar goal.