Emphatic USC Win Rocks the Vote

One week after a six-point win over California left some wondering whether USC was even the best team on its own field, the Trojans on Saturday firmly re-established themselves as the country’s top team and odds-on favorites to repeat as national champions.

And just like the touch on those scoring passes Matt Leinart floated to Dwayne Jarrett, the timing could not have been better.

Top-ranked USC’s 45-7 thrashing of No. 15 Arizona State at the Coliseum came two days before the first bowl championship series standings will be released.

After close-call wins against Virginia Tech, Stanford and Cal, USC was in jeopardy of losing its No. 1 ranking to Oklahoma in the polls.

Saturday’s emphatic win, however, completed in broad daylight before voters could fall asleep on their East Coast couches, should leave no doubt as to which team will debut as No. 1 in the BCS.

“They’re national champions,” Arizona State Coach Dirk Koetter said of USC, “and probably on their way to playing for another one.”

Koetter also said, “I didn’t think we’d get beat like we did.”

He wasn’t alone, and that alone should score USC power points.

With changes in the BCS formula this year putting more emphasis on the human polls -- one-third for the media and one-third for the coaches -- impressing the judges has never been more important.

And what USC did to Arizona State was like a fighter scoring with a flurry of punches just before the bout goes to the scorecards.

In case you hadn’t noticed, USC of late had steadily been leaking first-place votes to No. 2 Oklahoma.

This year, in the new formula, a team’s BCS ranking will be weighted and calculated based on total votes accumulated.

That means the more first-place votes a team garners, the better its BCS score will be.

USC’s dominating victory over an unbeaten, ranked team coupled with Oklahoma’s 10-point road win over unranked Kansas State should solidify the Trojans’ rock-solid place in the BCS.

Given that No. 3 Miami struggled to beat Louisville, 41-38, Thursday night in the Orange Bowl, USC and Oklahoma have emerged as the two clear-cut favorites to meet for the national title (although keep an eye on No. 4 Auburn).

Being a solid No. 1 in the BCS this season will prove even more important if, by year’s end, there are more than two undefeated teams and the national title race has to be settled by the dreaded computers.

Last year USC was denied a trip to the BCS title game despite being No. 1 in both the writers’ and coaches’ polls, resulting in split national titles.

New changes in the BCS formula all but assure that can’t happen again, yet no one is prepared to say what could happen if one team finished No. 1 in the coaches’ poll and another ended up No. 1 in the writers’.

That’s why USC’s win over Arizona State could turn out to be an important turning point, for the second straight year.

Is it too early to start planning USC’s trip to this year’s Orange Bowl, site of the BCS national title game?

You be the judge.

The rest of the Trojan schedule features no team currently ranked in the top 25.

Washington?

The Trojans could beat the Huskies with their second unit.

At Washington State on Oct. 30?

OK, that could be tricky, but only if the weather turns ugly.

At Oregon State on Nov. 6?

Cal won at Corvallis, 49-7, and USC beat Cal.

Notre Dame?

Not unless Joe Montana suits up.

UCLA?

The Bruins’ goal this year will be to keep fans from hurling objects at their television sets.

As for Saturday’s rehash?

It marked the first time Arizona State had faced a top-ranked team since 1996. That year, the Jake Plummer-led Sun Devils shocked Nebraska, 19-0, and went on a run that nearly led to a national title.

Arizona State got a different kind of shock in 2004.

USC took advantage of great field position early and hit Arizona State with waves of Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White and Jarrett.

It was 21-0 before the Sun Devil support staff had set out all the Gatorade cups and 42-7 at the half. It was a rare day when you couldn’t blame Los Angeles fans for leaving a sporting event early.

Sun Devil receiver Derek Hagan summed up his team’s performance as “embarrassing, awful, terrible,” leaving out only the adjective “horrendous.”

The Trojan defense put heavy pressure on quarterback Andrew Walter from the outset. A week after Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed his first 23 passes against USC, there appeared to be a chance Walter might open with 23 straight incompletions.

“We got our [butts] whupped and we deserved it because we didn’t come to play,” said Walter, who was sacked six times.

Arizona State (5-1) played sloppily and gave USC more help than it would ever need, but at game’s end there was only one conclusion to be drawn.

“They’re No. 1, yeah,” Sun Devil cornerback Chris McKenzie said. “They look like No. 1.”