There are two big games in Southern California tomorrow and the Odyssey will be covering both of them. The Odyssey is proud to have Jerry Jones covering the intersectional tilt in the Coliseum. Believe it or not, there are far more than one “Jerry Jones” in the USA. Our Jerry played cornerback on the 1972 USC team that proved to be one of John McKay’s 4 national championship squads. In practice, Jerry had the brutal daily routine of covering Lynn Swann.
The early line on this game had USC favored by as many as 17 points. Prudently, the line has come down a bit. USC’s offense may have another field day, even if the Trojans fall short of their massive 622-yard output against Stanford. Even with the Longhorns’ legendary pedigree, we wonder how focused USC will be in the first half. USC was clearly sky high for the Cardinal, particularly since Stanford has generally had USC’s number since their shocking 2007 upset of the Trojans as a 41-point underdog.
Texas looked awful in their 51-41 home upset at the hands of Maryland. Their 10-point loss was deceptively close as the Longhorns scored 3 special teams touchdowns to get as close as 10. Last week, the Longhorns mopped the field against a weak San Jose State team, so please excuse the Odyssey if we are confused as to which version of the Longhorns will show up.
After the game, please see our comment section as Jerry will help us decipher the outcome of this intriguing matchup.
Jerry Jones
The nickname for the Trojan football teams from the Seventies, who had a knack for coming from behind to pull out a win was the “Cardiac Kids”. Well, folks the Cardiac Kids are back. Saturday’s game against Texas was nerve wracking. The Trojan performance was good, bad and ugly.
The good was: 1.Christian Rector stealing the ball at the goal line in the second overtime period. 2. Sam Darnold’s jump pass to Carr on the final drive. 3. Burnett’ diving catch for a touchdown. He does it every week! 4. Chase McGrath’s two cool field goals under pressure. 5. The awesome block by Mitchell on the catch and by Ronald Jones on the last play of the first half.
The bad was: 1. The running game disappeared. 2. Poor pass protection. Darnold was forced to pass off his back foot most of the game. 3. Injuries to Porter Guston, Rasheed Green, John Houston, Marlon Tuipolotu and Chumash’s Edoga.
The ugly was: 1. Six dropped passes! 2. An interception run back for a touchdown. 3. The play calling by Coach Tee Martin. He was out coached by the Texas defensive staff.
What is the outcome? An ugly is still a win. We overcame a very good opponent. We have much to improve.