USC’s BCS Championship Achilles Heel

The weeks leading up to USC’s return to postseason eligibility seem wrought less of anticipation, and more of coronation.

The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2007. USC was also the top vote getter in the Fansided Top 25. You can’t win ’em all, even if you’re a consensus favorite to meet whichever SEC team emerges for the BCS championship, thus USC was No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. But fret not, because the official Trojan blog pointed out the vote was taken before Silas Redd’s transfer in from Penn State.

And the Coaches Poll is stupid, anyway. Hmph.

There are no shortage of those who believe the Men of Troy’s march to lay siege to Miami, location where they won their last title, is inevitable. But no team is truly unstoppable until they prove otherwise, and all have a weakness that can be exposed. Homer’s

Iliad

introduced and is still the foremost example of Hamartia, or the fatal flaw, exposed via hubris.

USC enters the season wearing a target from a long off-season full of hubris. Much of it is external, generated by throngs of media and commentators declaring the Trojans champions prematurely. The self-proposed “Unfinished Business” tagline is also an unambiguous declaration of aspirations beyond a 10-2 season, like USC achieved a year ago. For a program like Oregon that has dominated the West in USC’s absence,

Now, the Trojans went into Oregon’s Autzen Stadium almost a year ago and won, 38-35, thereby ending a 21-game Duck win streak there. But in that victory is a telltale truth that could leave USC’s business unfinished once more.

USC roared out to an early 21-7 lead, then extended to 38-17, leaving the Ducks to play catch-up. The thing is, they nearly did. The Ducks rattled off 21 unanswered points from the late third into the fourth quarters. Had Chip Kelly managed his own hubris vis a vis his timeouts differently, that scoring run likely would have extended to 24 or 27.

So that’s an isolated incident against one of the best teams in the nation. USC did have the fortitude to build its sizable lead, which did allow it the breathing room it needed. Most importantly, USC won.

However, late struggle against UO was not isolated. The Trojans had repeatedly difficult maintaining its first, second and even third quarter pace in other instances. The narrow defeat of Minnesota in which the Golden Gophers outscored USC 14-0 in the second half set something of a tone, because sweating out second halves became a relatively common theme — or at least, common for a 10-win, would be title contender.

After going ahead of Arizona 24-6, USC was outscored 35-24 by a team that finished 4-8. Again, it ended in a win so what does it matter? Well, USC failed to pressure Nick Foles with much regularity, and the Wildcats began racking up points — nearly enough to overcome a three-touchdown deficit. Defensive line issues will rear their head for USC, but that ties into a larger problem.

The aforementioned second half let-ups against UM, UA and UO were all wins. But after pulling ahead of Arizona State 22-21, the Trojans suffered their largest second half falter of the season. The Sun Devils rattled off 22 straight to win comfortably. And in the pursuit of a championship, perfection is key.

That’s four games in 2011 USC buckled late, or one-third of the schedule. That’s a symptom of a thin bench. As much as there’s been an adoption of the “Our 75 Is Better Than Your 85” mantra in the Southland, the truth is lacking those 10 extra bodies leaves a team susceptible to tiring down. That becomes especially pertinent when a team suffers injuries, an inevitability of football.

All it takes is one arrow to the ankle to end all those title dreams for USC. Fortunately for the Trojans, they aren’t the only team with a weakness to exploit.