After a disastrous 24-23 loss to the Stanford Cardinal on October 6th, USC drops from the #1 team in the nation to #10 in the AP poll in one week - and just one week before the BCS standings start. Personally I think USC is lucky to only have dropped ten spots after a game that the LA Times today headlined "Unfathomable."
USC was already looking shaky in their outing last week against University of Washington, winning by three points (instead of the 21 that Vegas predicted) and dropping to #2 in the AP behind LSU. Then LSU pulled out a come-from-behind win against Florida yesterday - cementing their #1 ranking after USC was spanked by the 41 point underdog Cardinal.
USC has all the resources a football program could ask for; from the university and coaching on down to the players and support infrastructure. How they could lose to Stanford is the big question everyone is asking. QB John David Booty was not playing well - that was obvious - with four interceptions and plenty of dropped balls by his receivers (some his fault, others not). Running back Chauncy Washington played an excellent game as well, but 'SC seemed committed to straightening out their passing game. And while it produced some excellent plays, it simply could not get the job done. And the Trojan defense, which not only kept the offense in the game but looked invincible for much of the game, seemed to simply wear out in the fourth quarter.
And then there was the excellent play of Stanford's offense and defense. Backup Cardinal QB Tavita Pritchard was on fire, and combined with a resilient defense to keep the Trojans on their heels the entire game.
Time will tell if 'SC can rebound from this loss in the national picture, as it still has a tough Pac-10 schedule (including Cal and UCLA) - as well as a rejuvenated Notre Dame. One thing is for sure; the days of seeming invincibility are long over for this program.
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