When I watch USC play, they are an offensive juggernaut, but they rely on finesse and speed too much, IMHO. Their defense is just average at best, I just don't think they measure up to UT. UT has dominated every single opponent outside of Ohio State, and that was still a win....USC has been squeeking by good teams, but not great ones. Fresno State & Notre Dame are good teams, but about on par with Texas Tech etc.... I think UT would destroy Fresno and Notre Dame....the difference? UT has size and speed, whereas USC has speed on offense. UT dominates at the line of scrimage, and has team speed that matches USC. IMHO, UT will win by 14-20 points when they meet in the Rose Bowl. USC will not be able to finesse a team that has equal speed, and UT will simply bowl them over up front.... DD
I remember last year OU/USC was supposed to be this epic game. Instead we got a blowout and discussion if that was the best team ever. USC defintely has the best offense that I've ever seen their defense has been dissapointing from the games I've watched but I wouldn't count them out. Don't forget USC also destroyed a pretty good oregon team. From the way the 2 teams have played UT would have to be the favorite. But I would not bet against a Matt Leinhart/Reggie Bush led team. I'd still pick USC I'm not ready to pick against a program thats won 30+ games in a row because of a few close games.
I predicted OU to lose to LSU and USC in both the title games. It was obvious they weren't playing their best late in the year and were in fact on a decline. Anybody who predicted OU to win after losing to K State two years ago was out of their mind IMO. It's early, but I see the same problem with USC. Clearly they have some problems with mental discipline because their performance swings remain very severe even now. Didn't see yesterday's game, but I figured it was totally over when they scored 3 TDs in 7 1/2 minutes to open the 2nd half. I thought the same thing when Fresno State threw the interception from the 8 yard line down 34-28 and when USC went up 41-28. For me, the fact they still fell behind 42-41 in the 4th quarter is very telling. So much for these 2nd halfs where they mow the grass with the other team. USC seems on a decline. Texas seems very hungry, and Vince Young is a man on a mission. I'd pick Texas by 2-3 touchdowns right now because their offensive and defensive lines are so good and because USC's defense would get steamrolled. But let's take a look at how bad UT mangles the Aggies and the Big 12 North patsy. And USC could have a bounce back game against UCLA. OT: I love Vince Young. He is the main reason I root for UT. But c'mon now: If the Texans have the first pick, Bush is much more of a can't miss star prospect than Vince Young. Sorry, Bush would be my #1 pick in the draft.
I disagree. USC's offense will absolutely destroy our defense. If you watch some of our games, we tend to collapse our DE's into the line of scrimmage creating huge opportunties for RBs with speed to the outside. Unless our safeties come and play the run, a back like Bush will go crazy. And if the safeties play close to the LOS, Leinart will play action pass and throw deep. Our defense has stepped up and held but against much weaker offensive teams. USC can score at will. Our offense is good but we always stop ourselves 3 or 4 times during the game and we also tend to turn the ball over. The biggest problem for us is our special teams. Bush is a much better player than Santonio Holmes. In the Ohio State game, their offense started near the 40 yard line the entire game. If we give USC consistently good field posistion, we're screwed. The only way we win is if we commit no turnovers, prevent Bush from eating up huge yards on punt returns and kickoffs, have our DE's force Bush to run up the middle and pound him with our LB's, and pressure Leinart with our front four. Also, Vince Young cannot make any mental mistakes in this game. We must control the clock and win the time of possession and field position.
I'm sure USC will play much better in the NC game, they have the type of team that can "turn it on" when needed. It's hard to stop the USC offense, but if it's one group that can do it, it's this current Horns D. We have the speed and strength to roll with them. With that said, the USC defense is mediocre at best. If they give up 42 points to F.S. at home, I don't see how they could stop VY and the #1 scoring offense in the nation. USC has yet to play a team that can run it straight down their throat. They've played a lot of good passing offenses (F.S., ND) but I don't think they've seen the likes of VY and the balance attack of the Longhorns. Should turn out to be one heck of a game. I think last year's NC game shows that if you don't play defense, the game will be over very quickly.
Come on, OU has been exposed as the Buffalo Bills of college football. They may have a swagger in the regular season, but as soon as someone pops them in the mouth a la KSU, LSU, or USC, they crumple. Pssssh. Oregon is a joke. Who have they played other than Fresno State and the Pac-10? Montana and Houston do not impressive victories make. Oregon is a joke and so is the idea that USC coming FROM BEHIND to beat them should mean anything. I can understand the logic, but I just can't see paste-eating Pete Carroll continuing this run of luck. Sooner or later Fredo's horses won't be able to keep him from being exposed.
Just throwing this out...but Texas is in one of the weakest conferences playing against many overrated teams(ie Texas Tech, Colorado, A&M). The only decent team was Oklahoma, but now they suck. BUT they are still blowing out these bad teams so it'll be interesting to see how they do against a talented team like USC.
Damn, I think some of you guys are really underestimating USC. I hope you're right, but damn it's hard to believe that people are taking the Trojans lightly and thinking the Longhorns will win comfortably.
Right on but it is easy to do when you have extreme bias. It can make you unrealistic about things. I said this in the other thread and will repeat it again in this thread: If anything it (Texas vs. USC) will be very close - you can't get wrapped up in things like "well USC only beat Fresno State by 8 at home" and had to come from behind against such and such U. Some teams match up better against certain opponents than others. Hell, if you want to use scores against common opponents as a basis, Miami should have beaten Georgia Tech by 61 last night since Virginia Tech beat Ga Tech 51-7. And we all know that Miami was able to do that last night, right? __________________
You fail to see the difference in shutting out a team in the second half and blowing them out in the end and letting Fresno State compete in the second half (they were a TD and 2 pt conversion away from OT...UT beat OSU 47-28). The two are only similar in the first half results. Second half of UT-OSU and USC-FS are nowhere near similar.
LOL...You failed to see that Fresno State was ranked #16 and Ok State was one of the worst teams in America.
That wasn't at issue in your original post. Your original post simply asked where this thread was when UT was down at the half.
Don't even sweat it halfbreed. Bigtexx is a bonafied UT-hater, nothing you can say will change his mind. Just kinda funny how he can't stay out of UT threads when he hates us so much, guess there isn't enough Rice ends record losing streak threads. I don't think we can look at lastnights game and make conclusions like this, but then again, with the strength of both USC and Texas, I don't think any conclusions can be made at all. But with the way the Trojan offense was scoring in the 2nd half lastnight, they should have beaten the Bulldogs by more than 8 points. Right now, the Red Raiders are playing better defense than USC.
Serious question for all you people who call me a UT hater - did you think that UT could compete with USC after that Ok State game? The team hasn't changed much in 3 weeks...
