Go Trojans!

Tonight my Alma Mater, USC, is taking on  Ohio State in Cotton Bowl.  This is a pretty good match up with my #8 Trojans going against the #5 Ohio State.  I believe this is the 2nd time the Trojans have gone to the Cotton Bowl - I remember a pretty big victory over Texas Tech not long after I graduated.  This is actually a pretty typical Rose Bowl match up with the Pac 10 (now 12) champ playing against the Big 10 champ.  These teams have matched up in the Rose Bowl 7 times (USC holds a 4-3 advantage) and 22 times overall (USC holds a 12-9-1 advantage).  I have been wearing my replica jersey all day and have my boys pumped up to watch the game.

I am usually a pretty big rah-rah guy but I don't have a great feeling about tonight.  USC has only lost twice this year but it hasn't been that good of a season.  The defense has been consistent in a "bend but don't break too often" fashion, they seem to give up a couple big plays each game.  The offense has been consistently inconsistent. They will have drives where they are unstoppable then drives where they make stupid penalties or have questionable play calling.  I am by no means a football expert but the offensive play calling isn't good.  They preach balance and too often go with play calls to balance out the attack instead of just riding what works.  They have a great QB in Sam Darnold but he has struggled at time, when he is rolling pass the heck out of the ball.  They have a great RB in Ronald Jones, feed him the ball over and over when the running game is clicking.  The root of the offensive problems, in addition to the play calling, really comes down to offensive line play. My worry tonight is that the Buckeyes with Urban Meyer will devise a game plan to exploit the offensive line.

I thought I would share a pair of Trojan cards from one of last year's starts, Adoree Jackson, with a nice little story.

So I won the autographed card in an eBay auction, thought it was a nice looking card of the 1st round draft choice.  I love it when the photos still feature the Cardinal and Gold.  I would never pay a premium for numbering like 100/100 but it is kind of cool when it works out that way.  The price was reasonable and I was pretty excited.

I was a little surprised and definitely bummed out when the top card was the one that showed up in my mail box.  Again some quirking numbering being 01/25 (first vs. last in the print run) but where was my auto.  I logged on and checked eBay then dropped a note to the seller. I was expecting some back and forth with him wanting the card I had back but nope he told me to keep it and he would send the right one.  Within just 2-3 days I had the second card in hand and was pretty darn happy with the twofer.

If you have no skin in the game, put out some good vibes for my Trojans.  Fight On!