Ah, Some Saturday Morning Quarterbacking

Larry Smith called it “good old gutsy Trojan football.” He’s right. The Trojan players were great in their victory over Cal, but they again had to overcome some “gutsy” coaching decisions:

1. Kicking a field goal from inside Cal’s two-yard line on fourth down (Larry called Terry Donahue for advice on this call.)

2. Punting on fourth down three times from between Cal’s 35- and 40-yard line, and each time the kick went into the end zone. Has Larry ever heard of the coffin corner, going for it, or the long field goal?

3. And the gutsiest call of all. With two-plus minutes left, with USC in good field position, Larry runs it down Cal’s throat by instructing the quarterback to fall on his knees for three plays--and then still had to punt on fourth down, giving Cal one more chance.

Nice gutsy coaching, Terry . . . I mean Larry.

RICK JOHNSON, Ojai