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USC (10-2) vs. Illinois (9-3) Tuesday, Jan. 1 | 4:30 p.m., ABC Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. Bowl Web site |
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PREGAME KNOWLEDGE
Laughable and/or unknown title sponsor: Citi
Announcers subject to our devastating witticisms: Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit
Conventional wisdom: Heavens me! Dolores, get the medics on the horn, because I don’t think these Midwestern boys stand a prayer of holding up against the Golden Boys of USC. Someone might get hurt.
All-star to watch: USC DT Sedrick Ellis (#49)
56 tackles, 8.5 sacks
GAME BLOG
Who’s watching — Jim Reedy, UWIRE, celebrating his little sister’s engagement. Adam Marantz, UWIRE, calling it down the middle as a former resident of both great states of California and Illinois.
Adam (5:30) - OK, here on ABC after a crazy finish to the Gator Bowl. No surprise, USC is already on the board. Also no surprise, the commentators are preoccupied with Will Ferrell on the sidelines.
Jim (5:33) - That opening drive sure did look like the USC team should — a little Fred Davis, a little Stanley Havili, Chauncey Washington, Booty, et al.
Jim (5:35) - Juice made a mistake on that interception…OK, I take that back. The throw was open if Cushing hadn’t tipped it.
Adam (5:36) - The Trojans are rolling early with a “double pass” for a touchdown. Don’t know if that’s legal, but that’s the call. On a sidenote, U-Wire does not endorse the excessive flipping into the end zone.
Adam (5:39) - Looks like the refs don’t agree either, smacking the Trojans with a 15-yard penalty.
Adam (5:42) - A quick series by Illinois. USC takes over. Already the kind of game the Trojans are looking for. They could put 35 up before the half.
Adam (5:45) - The Illini haven’t seen anything like this Trojan offense. They’re getting picked apart by John David Booty. Just another example of how stuck in their ways the Big Ten teams are.
Jim (5:48) - Justin Harrison thought he had a touchdown on the faux-fumble return before; he almost got one there on an intereception return.
Adam (5:50) - Illini will pull off those third and shorts up the gut all day. But it won’t take long for the Trojan linebackers to stop that cute little option.
Jim (5:53) - I just don’t see how Juice Williams is going to beat this team…Illinois needed more than 3 points there — or, lessee, zero points. Nice job, kicker boy.
Jim (5:56) - Let me explain about the end-zone flipping: I think the kids should be allowed to do it, but since they’re not, it’s stupid and selfish to hurt your team by tempting that penalty.
Adam (6:00) - Deja vu! That same botched snap on a punt happened in the Gator Bowl. And in both, the kicker STILL got the kick off.
Adam (6:05) - USC might as well play their home games at the Rose Bowl next year. They play there enough as it is. Unless they get back to the BCS Title Game next year, they’ll probably be playing the Rose Bowl again next New Year’s.
Adam (6:10) - Ron Zook told his team this USC team is just like any other team they played this year. I can’t believe he’d lie to them like that.
Jim (6:12) - Oh My God! That’s the hardest bowl hit I’ve seen. Maualuga is crazy.
Adam (6:18) - RAMBO!!!
Adam (6:21) - Over/Under on Illinois gaining 125 yards today?
Adam (6:28) - If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I like how the Illini defense has been roughing up Booty, trying to take him out of the equation. But now it’s a matter of whether they can stop USC’s other weapons in the backfield. Chauncey Washington and Joe McKnight manufactured that touchdown drive with ease.
Adam (6:32) - I think that’s the first forward-pass completion all game for Illini. Tack on the facemask for a little extra. Let’s keep it up Illinois.
Jim (6:33) - Line of the night, Musberger to Herbstreit: “I know you’re big on [reporting] those coaching stories.”
Adam (6:35) - Hey hey! Juice Williams figured out which direction to throw the ball! That’s three straight vertical passes and Illinois is in the red zone.
Adam (6:39) - 21-3 Trojans. I love Musberger’s innocence when it comes to ABC programming. “‘Cashmere Mafia?’ That opens all sorts of possibilities doesn’t it?”
Jim (6:43) - Cashmere Mafia…as long as he doesn’t try again to make me watch “According to Jim.”
Adam (6:45) - At the half its USC 21, Illinois 3 and Adam hungry!
Adam (7:08) - I hope Illinois did more planning in that halftime than they did all December leading up to this game.
Adam (7:15) - Welcome to the game Rashard Mendenhall. He really turned it up for that last 40 yards. 21-10 ‘SC.
Jim (7:24) - If Brent was coaching this Illinois defense, they wouldn’t even cover the USC wideouts. He’s been bashing them all game.
Adam (7:27) - Sign of a great quarterback: Faking out the camera crew.
Adam (7:33) - Was that scripted?
Jim (7:37) - Credit Vontae Davis, but half of that is McKnight going about 90 percent.
Jim (7:39) - I’m a little put off by the Trojans. They’re kind of acting like jerks.
Adam (7:40) - I haven’t seen so many unsportsmanlike penalties in a two-day span.
Jim (7:43) - I really admire Pete Carroll’s coaching acumen and the fact that he’s not a conservative fogey, professionally and personally, but there’s something to be said for teaching your players how to do it right.
Adam (7:46) - I knew Havili was catching that ball as soon as he went in motion. Why can I pick this stuff up and not the Illinois defense?
Jim (7:54) - Look, if you’re fighting for extra yardage, it’s probably because they’re trying to strip you before they knock you to the ground.
Adam (7:55) - I didn’t want to believe you when you said Illinois didn’t stand a chance today. But I guess you were right. It’s like the Jetsons meet the Flinstones.
Adam (8:14) - Does anyone really think Rick Neuheisel is going to make a difference for UCLA?
Adam (8:23) - Illinois has about as many yards from USC penalties as they do passing and rushing yards.
Adam (8:30) - Gotta love sexually-explicit car commercials. Is this what I’ve been missing without cable?
Adam (8:41) - Nice pass from Eddie McGee, Illinois’ backup QB! Arrelious Benn takes it all the way, and what do ya know, another unsportsmanlike penalty. I know we used to get laps for stuff like that in high school. I wonder if the same applies in the Rose Bowl.
Adam (8:50) - Everyone’s getting the Gatorade bath on the ‘SC sideline. Probably could have been done 10 minutes ago. 49-17 Trojans.
POSTGAME WRAP
Final thoughts
Adam - There was a point early in the third quarter where I thought USC’s 21-3 lead could have been erased. But Illinois’ momentum lasted all but three plays. 28 Trojan points later, it’s hard to deny USC looks like the strongest team in the nation.
Game Story from The Daily Trojan
Game Story from The Daily Illini
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