Student Body Right » “The 100″

#5: Race for Glory

gpen — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:15:04 +0000

What is this play, of all plays, doing on the eve(ish) of a new season? Well, we’re just wrapping up some loose ends to clear the slate.

With Texas trailing USC 38-33, Vince Young already had used 928 Sneak to score in the fourth quarter of the 2006 BCS Championship Game. On fourth down at the Trojans’ 8, Young called it again. He saw no one open. When USC end Frostee Rucker moved inside, Young moved outside, eluded Rucker and raced to the pylon. Young ran for 200 yards, threw for 267 and won the national title on his last collegiate snap.

#8: Blast Off

gpen — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:03:50 +0000

From Nov. 18, 1967:

UCLA led USC 20-14 in the fourth quarter in 1967 when junior O.J. Simpson made the most famous run in Trojan history. USC quarterback Toby Page audibled to 23-Blast. Simpson, behind guard Steve Lehmer and tackle Mike Taylor, started left, moved to the middle, stumbled, righted himself and sped away 64 yards for the winning score. The Trojans won the national title. Simpson waited a year to win his Heisman.

Wrapping up loose ends

gpen — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:56:20 +0000

With mere minutes to go before the college football season starts, we thought it was time to tie up some loose ends. Namely, our promise to highlight all of the USC-relevant plays that show up in Ivan Maisel’s “The 100.” But first, by way of preparation, The Extrapolator brings us the five least exciting plays in football:

5. The Prevent defense.
4. The punt from midfield.
3. The Extra Point.
2. Fullback dive to end the first half.
1. The QB kneel-down.

Personally, instead of the Extra Point, I would substitute the “ice the kicker” timeout before field goals. It rarely works, and even when it does, how do you know that it did? Plus, the extra point can be exciting when it’s missed.*

Anyway, stay tuned for the rest of The 100.

* A timeout isn’t really a play, of course, but then again neither is the Prevent defense.

#24: Trojans’ Horse

gpen — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 03:43:08 +0000

Remember The 100? Neither do we. So here’s a refresher:

Notre Dame dominated at USC, leading 24-0 with :11 left in the half. After another 17 minutes of play, USC led 55-24. It was 1974 A.D., as in Anthony Davis. Davis released the deluge by taking the second-half kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown. He finished with four scores and a two-point conversion. The Trojans scored 43 points in the third quarter. At one point, the Memorial Coliseum scoreboard actually broke.

#31: Bushwhacked

gpen — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:52:21 +0000

A bit of a slow weekend for sports (although we’ll admit that the finish of the British Open was fairly entertaining), so we thought we’d dig back into The 100. Reggie Bush makes his second appearance,* this time against Oregon State in 2006:

It’s hard to say if Reggie Bush’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth-quarter fog at Oregon State defied physics. It surely defied the Beavers’ upset plans. Bush, with tacklers so close he could smell what they ate at pregame, made a couple of jukes and took off. As Oregon State coach Mike Riley described: “All of a sudden, we got Reggie Bushed.” USC came back to win 28-20.

* We haven’t gone back to check, but there can’t be that many players that showed up in The 100 more than once, can there?

The latest entry in the “best game ever” debate

gpen — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:23:20 +0000

Some say the Flutie-to-Phalen Hail Mary, others say The Play. In defense of the latter, this first-person account from Michael Silver is good reading.

#57: Catch and Release

gpen — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:06:03 +0000

Our rundown of The 100 was preempted for a bit by Lestergate. But now that things have settled down somewhat, we thought we’d get back into reporting (and in some cases commenting on) USC’s appearances in college football’s “most iconic moments.” Next up, #57:

In 1964, new Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian revived dreams of South Bend greatness. The Irish won their first nine games, rose to No. 1, and led USC, 17-0, at the half. But the Trojans rallied, and when quarterback Craig Fertig completed a fourth-down, 15-yard touchdown pass to Rod Sherman with 1:33 to play for the 20-17 upset, the Irish dream of another national title had to wait two years.

#62: Forward Progress

gpen — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:30:47 +0000

As we continue our march through The 100, we’re still waiting for the first USC-related entry from the Paul Hackett era … until then, here’s a little something from 1970:

Sam Cunningham rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns in No. 3 USC’s 42-21 victory over No. 16 Alabama in Birmingham to open the 1970 season. Years later, Bear Bryant was quoted as saying, “Cunningham did more for integration in Alabama in 60 minutes than Martin Luther King Jr.” Few remember that Cunningham’s backfield mate Clarence Davis, who scored twice, grew up in Birmingham. The next year, Bryant integrated his team.

#65: Bush Push

gpen — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:35:28 +0000

Taking in The 100 all at once strikes me as kind of like watching an entire college football season on TiVo in one sitting. So we’re spreading out the enjoyment, savoring (or not, or savoring while trying to ignore the bitter taste) each moment.

At any rate, almost 70 years after #66, we have the “Bush Push.” (And by the way, these videos from the Notre Dame student section are not to be missed.)

Notre Dame fans had spilled onto the field to celebrate a 31-28 victory over No. 1 USC when the officials restored :07 to the clock. The Trojans had the ball inside the Irish 1. Leinart took the snap and spun to his left. Tailback Reggie Bush had his back—literally. The Bush Push propelled Leinart over the goal line (illegally?) for the Trojans’ 28th straight victory, 34-31.

#66: Turning Points

gpen — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:24:27 +0000

Continuing with ESPN’s The 100, it’s time for the next USC moment:

USC fourth-string quarterback Doyle Nave, who had played 28 minutes all season, came off the bench in the last two minutes and completed four passes to Al Krueger, the last a 19-yard touchdown pass, as the Trojans stunned Duke, 7-3, in the 1939 Rose Bowl. Why “stunned”? Those were the only points the Blue Devils allowed all season.

For more, see #82.