It's one thing to lose to a much better team, which Illinois did on Tuesday. It's quite another to make another team look much better than they truly are, which Illinois also did. The J Leman led defense kept Juice and the boys in it in the first half, while Zook never adjusted away from the playbook. My advice to Zook for next season: If you ARE going to script the first 15 plays, maybe don't tell the press about it. Chances are if the crew at CBS know about it, then the opposing coaches know as well. When all you show Pete Carroll is fake-not-fake handoffs to Mendenhall, it isn't that hard to defend.
Plus how fucking aggravating is it to get your ass kicked on some lucky plays? Illini defenders hit the fuck out of Trojan receivers, only for the ball to pop right into the waiting arms of Joe McKnight, their most dangerous player. That's like Ray Lewis fumbling directly into Devin Hester's hands and having him run back a touchdown. Their punter fumbles the snap, only there was no rush and he still has plenty of time to make some tea, file his nails and get off a 45 yard snap. A bungled laterally passed ball bounces twice on the ground, right into McKnight's hands and he takes it for 65 yards. I guess if this had happened to anyone else it would have just been lucky and wild, but when it happens to USC it just feels like God has taken a shit in your favorite pair of slippers.
The other bad news, is Mendenhall's stellar game (150,TD) means he will most likely skip out of his senior year and head to the NFL. The only way this kid has any shot of being a quality back is if the Bears stay the hell away from him. Lovie and the gang sure have a way of turning promising college players into bench riding whining bitches.
In terms of Illinois, they will be better next year, and Zook clearly has his lockdown on recruiting, but let's just hope he doesn't start hanging out with Jim Tressel anytime soon. That guy is bad news.
**Yes, I'm 12 years old.
