Troy primed to fall

By Ben Miller

Oct 21, 2005, 12:00 AM

USC barely made it out of South Bend with its undefeated streak and top ranking still intact. I'm going to make the boldest -- and maybe stupidest -- prediction you will see all year: the Trojans will be lucky to make it out of Seattle under the same circumstances Saturday. Winning streaks have to end sometime and this year's version of USC just doesn't look as dominating or as unbeatable as the team did last year. Even with Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and LenDale White tearing up on offense this year, the Trojans have had numerous close calls, with none closer than last Saturday's game. In fact, in each of the last four games, USC was down early. Even fellow Pac-10 cellar-dweller Arizona jumped out to a first-quarter lead on the Trojans. If the Huskies can come out strong and put some points on the board right away, they could be right in the thick of things. With all of the weaknesses and all of the failures this season, the one thing they have been able to do all year is score some points early in ballgames. In fact, Washington has scored first in all six games this season. This UW team has shown that it can be better than then the 1-5 record indicates. Against both Air Force and UCLA, we saw the team come to play and they almost left with victories, just barely coming out on the short end in both cases. Against Cal and Notre Dame, they showed they have the ability to make big plays on offense even if the final score was a little lopsided. If the Huskies can bring it all together and make the big plays, they could be capable of anything. I don't think there would be a bigger time or opponent to bring it all to the table than against USC. If they can't get fired up for the two-time defending national champions, then they just can't get fired up to play anyone. Last year in Los Angeles, the Husky defense played a tough first quarter against Southern California. If it wasn't for the total ineptitude of the offense, the game that everyone expected to be a complete thrashing may have been a little closer. Instead, the defense was tired out from being on the field all day long, as Casey Paus and company couldn't put anything together. You put out this season's stronger Husky offense out there against the weaker Trojan defense and we may have had a game on our hands. In his time at Notre Dame, one of the biggest complaints by Irish fans was that Tyrone Willingham would get the big upsets and then end up losing the games they should have won. This happened time and again. They would beat tough opponents like Michigan or Tennessee and then lose to Purdue or Boston College. There wouldn't be a bigger upset in college football this year than UW over USC. Coming off of a tough win over Notre Dame, the Trojans may overlook the Huskies as nothing but a quick stop on their way to immortality. If they do that, then this prediction may not be as bold as you think.

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