USC Wants Sooners, Later, in Jan. 4 Game

The Sooners, the better.

An unexpected wind came whipping down the plains of Vermont and Exposition late Saturday, swirling with surprise, delight and one boomer of a possibility.

USC versus Oklahoma, Jan. 4, in the Sugar Bowl, for college football’s national championship.

It fits. It figures. In the wake of USC’s nutty 43-16 stomping of sixth-ranked Washington State at a howling Coliseum, it’s the only thing that makes any sense.

The fans chanted it.

“We want Oklahoma!” they sang.

At least one player admitted it.

“We’d love to get a shot at Oklahoma,” claimed defensive end Shaun Cody.

The polls today will support it.

Oklahoma, unbeaten, will be ranked No. 1. USC, with one loss, will be ranked second.

With about a month left in the regular season, only a complicated bowl system deemed un-American by one lawmaker could ruin it.

Oh yeah....

“It’s a nice system and all that,” Coach Pete Carroll said Saturday in his only acknowledgment of the BCS. “One day, maybe I’ll get somebody to tell me how it works.”

We have no idea either, other than USC’s fortunes probably will be decided by three Trekkies and a crumb-encrusted keyboard.

But if it’s all about the field, then there’s no question that right now, USC and Oklahoma belong on the same one.

Before Saturday, the Trojans were one of several one-loss teams jostling for space behind the unbeaten Sooners and Miami.

But then, as every player learned as they leaped in barely disguised joy at the giant flickering scoreboard late Saturday, Virginia Tech was wiping out Miami, 31-7.

Said Marcell Allmond: “You can’t miss that, are you kidding me?”

Said Carroll: “How ‘bout them Hokies?”

So a Trojan team that took the field with its chilly noses pressed against the Sugar Bowl window was suddenly looking at an open door and a flood of warmth.

If they beat their final three opponents, none of them ranked, shouldn’t this 27-point pounding of the nation’s sixth-ranked team be enough to eventually invite them in?

“I have no energy for that [talk], none, zero,” Carroll said, later adding, “We have to take care of our business in the final three games and it will all work itself out.”

Well, yeah, he’s right, the sensible move would be to wait until next month to discuss the possibilities, but what fun is there in that?

The Trojans’ biggest competition for the stool in the corner opposite Oklahoma is Florida State, which was actually ranked ahead of them in the latest BCS poll.

But Florida State beat sorry Notre Dame on Saturday, so USC will pick up points on strength of schedule.

And Florida State still has a remaining game at Florida, which could make the entire issue moot.

And finally, lots of voters -- who still carry some influence in the BCS -- will be unwilling to rank Florida State even ahead of Miami, still, because the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles last month.

Without that push from the humans, the computers may not be enough to keep the Seminoles in that second spot.

And besides, take it from this human. Besides Oklahoma, nobody is playing better right now than USC.

Since the three-overtime loss to Cal, the Trojans have scored at least 37 points in each of their five games while winning by an average of 24 points per game.

Their quarterback, Matt Leinart, has thrown 16 passes for touchdowns with one interception during that time.

Their kid running backs have combined to rush for at least 195 yards in each of those games.

Their defensive line has 29.5 sacks this season, an amazing statistic considering they are usually overpowering their man without the help of a blitz.

How good is all this?

“The best we’ve ever played,” said defensive end Omar Nazel.

Even as good as last year’s Orange Bowl-winning team, the best in the country at the time?

“We’re better,” Carroll said.

Two snapshots from another blowout show just how much better.

Third quarter, the Trojans gain 23 yards on a brilliant pass from

“Yeah, that was me,” he said with a smile.

The wide receiver grabbed a backward pass from Leinart, cocked to throw the ball, ducked under one rusher, scrambled away from two more rushers, then threw a left-handed pass to Gregg Guenther Jr. while running right.

“That was my time to shine,” said Williams, still hobbled by an ankle injury. “That was my time to do something cool, to surprise people, to do something other than the obvious.”

To do something cool.

That seems to be Carroll’s motto to his team every week, and every week they redefine football hip.

Second quarter, bad snap on a Washington State punt, the ball is chased down by a rushing defender named ... Reggie Bush?

Yeah, the little running back was rushing the punter and recovered the ball on the Cougar nine-yard line, leading to a field goal.

The two biggest plays in the game?

One was by a true freshman who had caught three passes all season -- Steve Smith ran over a guy on the way to a 55-yard touchdown.

The other was by a true freshman running back who had gained nine yards in the first half. LenDale White’s bullying, darting 49-yard run led to USC’s clinching points as he ended up with 149 yards.

All of which led to what will be a pleasant bye week for the Trojans, a time to think about their three remaining regular season opponents and absolutely nothing else.

Arizona ... Oklahoma ... UCLA ... Oklahoma ... Oregon State ... Oklahoma.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com