USC football may be down, but it is certainly not out, according to Oregon.
The Trojans were hit hard with sanctions on June 10. The NCAA imposed a two-year postseason ban, four years’ probation and loss of 30 scholarships over three years against USC for lack of institutional control. The Trojans also had to vacate 14 wins in which former running back Reggie Bush played, from December 2004 to December 2005.
Juniors and seniors were allowed to transfer because of the bowl ban, so long as it was outside the Pacific 10 Conference, and several have taken advantage of this option.
It would appear the long-time kings of the Pac-10 have fallen.
But don’t expect a letdown from the Trojans this season, junior defensive back Anthony Gildon said.
“No matter what, SC is gonna be tough. Pac-10’s always going to be a tough league,” Gildon said.
Theoretically, the sanctions would make Oregon’s road to return to the Rose Bowl a bit easier, as USC is no longer eligible.
USC won seven conference titles in a row from 2002 to 2008, ending last year when the Ducks won the crown. But the Ducks still must play USC in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Trojans have been almost unbeatable the past several seasons. USC has lost only three games at home since 2002, but two losses were last year to Stanford and Arizona. The last time Oregon beat USC on the road was in 2000 when the Ducks defeated the Trojans 28-17.
And the sanctions won’t lessen the importance of the game for Oregon players, many of whom are from Southern California.
“Being from California, of course, I look forward to it. Playing in front of the home crowd, we’re always excited for that,” Gildon said.
Gildon was recruited out of high school by USC before eventually committing to Oregon. He went on his recruiting trip to USC with two current Trojans, Marc Tyler and Marshall Jones, who were also his teammates at Oaks Christian High School. Gildon didn’t notice anything that would inspire sanctions on his recruiting trip.
“It was pretty much like any other trip,” Gildon said.
Gildon said he wasn’t surprised USC was penalized so harshly. Like everyone else, Gildon said, he saw rumors about Bush receiving extra benefits and assumed they were going to get hit hard. But he doesn’t think it reflects on USC as a program. And he doesn’t expect the Trojans to lay down and die.
“I can only speak for the guys on the team I know, but I’m sure they are working as hard as they can to do as best they can,” Gildon said.
The USC Trojans have been a powerhouse in college football, especially the Pac-10, and the sanctions certainly harm the conference’s profile as a whole. USC will not be allowed in USA Today’s football coaches’ poll, which is part of the BCS formula to determine a national champion. However, this won’t hurt Oregon individually in BCS strength of schedule calculations.
Perhaps in an attempt to fight back, USC freshman running back Dillon Baxter accused Oregon, Florida, Alabama and Washington of contacting him regarding possibly transferring, which would be a NCAA violation and could result in penalties. Baxter was a former Oregon recruit who made a last-minute visit to Oregon when former Trojan head coach Pete Carroll left USC for the Seattle Seahawks, but Baxter eventually decided to stick with USC.
However, USC athletic director Mike Garrett formally apologized in a letter to all schools involved, including Oregon, and admitted the complaint was false. This led some to believe USC was trying to stop other schools from poaching players from the current rosters by fabricating a story and targeting schools who would accept transfers. This became a moot point, for Oregon at least, when players were not allowed to transfer within the Pac-10.
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