USC Loss to UW

Football can be a brutal game, both physically and mentally. When you win, you are a champ. When you lose, you are a chump. It goes with the territory. One loss USC would like to take back would be this past Saturday’s Pac – Ten competition against the UW Huskies. It was raining, it was loud and it was UGLY! Many factors went in to the loss. Penalties, fumbles, and the most glaring of turnovers.

After waiting his turn for almost two and 1/2 years, Redshirt Sophomore, Aaron Corp, finally got his start. But with little fan fare. No official announcement from Pete Carroll as he did for his wunderkid Matt Barkley. According to Aaron, he was never officially told he would start. Matt was given two weeks, much support and a home opening game against a sub-par opponent – San Jose State.  He was eased into the program, given support and confidence galore.

Aaron was thrust into a loud and hostile environment with a head coach ( Sarkisian ) who knew USC’s plays and knew what to expect. A vanilla lineup of only 5 different plays called by USC for the entire game,  made the Huskies job that much easier . They knew where the ball was going and they were all over the receivers. There were 75 yards given up by USC for penalties and two significant fumbles going in to score. The field position was brutal on first downs and there were NO 3rd down conversions. An ugly game indeed. An article I read said it was like being thrown into a den of lions.

Being the QB, you live and you die by the win or loss. Aaron Corp did not perform to his abilities and he would be the first one to tell you that. That will be something he now has to live with. Being his Aunt and watching him play since the beginning, I can tell you that his performance on Saturday was uncharacteristic, to say the least. Here is a kid who only had 1 interception all Spring! He is known for protecting the ball and for making plays with his feet when the pass breaks down. For many, it was the first opportunity to see Aaron play. Unfortunately, everything went very, very wrong on Saturday and we did not get to see any of that ( other than the first drive of the game ). The impression made is not good and the armchair critics and coaches have already been heard. The brutal comments are out there and that is that.

The Aaron that I know is a winner, a fighter.  He won’t make excuses and he won’t whine about anything. What’s done is done. We judge people by how they handle adversity and rise above. Aaron won’t complain, he will handle this and he will rise above it. He is a champion. Many champions before him have had their ugly games and glaring losses, only to go on to have successful careers.

As for me and his other family members, this one hurt. We can only hope that he gets another chance to show his true ability. We can only hope that if and when that chance comes, that Pete Carroll will stand behind his starter leading up to the game and not have anything left to be guessed. Not for him and not for the rest of the team. We can hope that the play calling will allow the players to play to win, not to lose. The pass game was bad but it was not completely the QB errors. With all of that incredibly talent on the roster, it is a shame to play so cautiously.

Pete said that this loss is on him. I would tend to agree.