DG on PX - Pac 10 Things We Learned This Week

10 observations, nit picks and brain cramps from figuring out Rose Bowl scenarios...

-End of an era
No BCS bowl. No 11 win season. No Pac-10 title. No top four finish in the polls. No no-loss November.

The last vestiges of the Trojan dynasty were swept away by Stanford. It might be a good thing.

Instead of spending its open week hoping for a pie-in-the-sky run back to the Rose Bowl, USC can instead figure out who can play and who can’t for next season.

Receivers Ronald Johnson and Brice Butler are solid, but aren’t yet the No. 1 option Damian Williams has proven to be time and again. Tight end will be handed over to true freshmen in 2010.

Same for running back, once Joe McKnight declares for the draft. CJ Gable can’t get in unless it’s a blowout, so he might as well go pro too.

The secondary will be rebuilt because of graduation and the same could happen at linebacker, if USC can actually land recruits there.

The only face guaranteed to be the same is Matt Barkley at quarterback.

-One Trojan fights on
Maybe USC simply used up its miracles this season with running back Stafon Johnson’s remarkable recovery from a crushed throat. Johnson met with the media before Saturday’s game, speaking seven words in a hoarse whisper – “God has a plan. Run Stafon run.” – the last words said to him by his grandfather.

Johnson can swallow and breathe on his own, functions his doctors did not believe would return after the weight lifting accident.

-USC’s new Bay Area rival
Cal’s out, Stanford’s in as USC’s official nemesis from up north. That became obvious when Jim Harbaugh elected to go for two in the fourth quarter, determined to drop 50 on the shattered Trojans.

It took every ounce of self-control to keep myself from falling on the floor when Harbaugh offered his laughable explanation. Just admit you wanted to humiliate USC and that would be the end of it.

All it did was ensure USC runs it up on Stanford every chance Carroll gets from now to eternity, which could be more often that Cardinal fans would like to admit.

Really, how long is Harbaugh going to be around? And don’t use his impending contract extension as your evidence – ask Nick Saban and Rich Rodriguez how iron clad they really are. When Notre Dame or Michigan or the NFL throws $3 million a year, he will take it.

They always take the money.

-Just asking…
Weren’t USC, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech all but locks to make BCS bowl games this season?

They have now combined for 10 losses.

-Timing matters…
UCLA is riding a two-game win streak and should become bowl eligible with a victory over Arizona State. If the Bruins had started the season with the three worst teams in the Pac-10 and started out 6-0 before a precipitous slide, fans would be regarding the season as a failure.

Instead, coach Rick Neuheisel has a modicum of success to sell fans and recruits heading into the offseason.

If USC had drawn the same conference schedule, facing Stanford early or Oregon without Jeremiah Masoli with reasonable health themselves, the Trojans are probably still No. 4 in the country lurking for a shot at the BCS title.

-Of course, it helps to have an emerging QB named Kevin Prince
I nearly threw the remote into my TV when ESPN showed a graphic listing the top young quarterbacks in the Pac-10, but neglected to list the UCLA redshirt freshman.

In his last three games, Prince has thrown for 849 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, despite missing the second half against Washington with a concussion.

He is looking like the signal caller who got the vote of confidence from guru Norm Chow and has put to rest any questions about the QB of the future for the Bruins.

Road to the Rose Bowl

Starting this week, the simplest paths to the conference’s automatic BCS berth will be posted.

There are plenty of ridiculous tiebreaker scenarios to consider, but that time could be better spent watching Mad Men reruns.

-Oregon gets to the Rose Bowl if…
the Ducks win out.

-Arizona gets to the Rose Bowl if…
the Wildcats win out. Mike Stoops’ team would get its first-ever visit to Pasadena by virtue of head-to-head wins over Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford.

-Oregon State gets to the Rose Bowl if…
the Beavers beat Washington State, win the Civil War and Arizona suffers a third conference loss.

-Stanford gets to the Rose Bowl if…
the Cardinal beats Cal, Oregon beats Oregon State but loses to Arizona and the Wildcats lose to Arizona State or USC.