Carroll not faking

Oct 22, 2009, 12:00 AM

Pete Carroll doesn't like getting beat at his own game. A story in the Los Angeles Times said the USC head coach complained to the Pac-10 about some officiating in his team's 34-27 win over Notre Dame last week, taking issue most notably with a fake field goal the Irish ran that helped them to set up a touchdown. The Irish had a receiver stand near the sideline, and when he went unnoticed, the holder stood up and threw him the ball. Carroll thought the Pac-10 had disallowed such plays. But the Times story said that's not the case. "I'm just mad that I was duped into thinking we couldn't do that anymore," Carroll told the Times. "I like stuff like that. I love that play. It worked great for us." It did work great for the Trojans in 2006 against Washington, as Husky fans may remember - though they probably wish they didn't. In a game the Huskies lost 26-20, UW appeared to have held USC to a field goal. But, when USC ran pretty much the exact same play Notre Dame used against them last week, a wide-open receiver was able to walk into the end zone for an easy touchdown. Washington had a chance to win in the final seconds, but the Huskies couldn't get the ball snapped after moving to the USC 15-yard line. The loss dropped them to 4-2 and was the beginning of a six-game losing streak that marked the unofficial starting point of the downward spiral of Tyrone Willingham's UW career. So, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. CALM DOWN, VONTAZE The Daily reported some comments made by a couple of UW players after their 24-17 loss to Arizona State last week regarding ASU linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who tends to play a tad out of control at times. They weren't the only ones who noticed that Burfict, who was assessed three personal-foul penalties in the first half, might need a lesson in self-control. The Arizona Republic reported that head coach Dennis Erickson had a word with his freshman linebacker but that he doesn't plan on being too harsh with him. "He's going to play, man," Erickson told the Republic. "He's going to get a penalty occasionally. That's just how he is. But the dumb ones, you can't have." It's possible that UW head coach Steve Sarkisian was saying the same thing to his defense this week: The Huskies were penalized 12 times for 124 yards on Saturday. MUSINGS Remember all the talk of how ugly that Boise State-Oregon game was? Not just for LeGarrette Blount's post-game punch, but for the quality of the football playing. Well, neither Oregon or Boise State has lost since, and both have legitimate BCS bowl hopes. Here's a crazy scenario: What happens if all other undefeated teams lose and both UO and Boise State win out? Does a one-loss Pac-10 team deserve a shot to play in the national title game over an undefeated WAC school - even if they lost to them? Washington State fans have never been accused of being classy, but consider this: After the Cougars' faithful stormed the field following their win over Southern Methodist earlier this season, it marked the second consecutive victory they'd stormed the field for. The last, of course, was last season's Apple Cup. So, that gives WSU this pretty impressive statistic: Their fans have stormed the field after 66 percent of their victories in the past two seasons. Not sure anyone else can make that claim. Reach Sports Editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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