...The end result: sportswriters scrambling to find synonyms for gaping hole .
...“I don’t have all the names of the running backs … but I saw four different numbers (from Saturday’s 49-31 USC win at Nebraska),” said Doba, who coordinates the defense. “They’re all capable.”...
...Better than the 2003 team that was crowned national champion by the Associated Press?
Did Nebraska's defense get psyched out by USC to create those gaping holes...?...
..."When you throw the ball over somebody's head, it's like you're getting jabs in on them," said Pat Ruel..."But when you run against another team, you knock them out."...
...I regret if it sounds like I’m piling on Nebraska, but this was painful stuff for Big Red fans.
...Much has been made about the nine former prep All-Americans USC boasts at running back. But coach Pete Carroll says this about the linebackers: "No doubt, this is the best position on the team. It's the biggest, fastest, most aggressive linebacking group we've had."
...these six teams are so far ahead of the pack that any notion that the championship race is wide open is laughable. Here is what they are facing on the road to the national title:
USC's Trojans did their Caesar-in-Gaul thing again.
...Ostensibly still in the game, the Huskers came unhinged early in the second half as Sam Keller threw back-to-back interceptions...
...Nebraska, the team that dominated much of the 1990s, was no match for the team that has owned this decade. USC's offensive line...created gaping holes for a plethora of talented running backs who scampered all over the field from the game's start to finish. USC outgained Nebraska on the ground, 313-31.
...labeling Nebraska’s 49-31 defeat a Keller nightmare revisited would be a slap in the face to both Nebraska’s quarterback and a club responsible for the most oohs and aahs ever heard on one night in Memorial Stadium.
...Now, Callahan aspires to reach Nebraska's first Big 12 title game since 1999.
...At 6-foot and 240 pounds, Washington carried an NFL stature for a running back. He also had injuries in his past, like the nagging hamstring pull he lugged around during the 2006 season, and he had yet to endure an entire school year without clearing all academic eligibility hurdles.
Minutes after USC's football practice ended Thursday, three of the Trojans' leading wide receivers walked off the field together, excited about the opportunity they face at Nebraska this weekend.
It's Year Four on the Bill Callahan watch, Nebraska fans. Do you know where your former superpower is?
A year ago, Taylor Mays was a confident if not wide-eyed freshman pressed into service as a starting free safety when USC played its second game of the season against Nebraska.
When USC safety Josh Pinkard went down with a season-ending knee injury this week, he wasn't the only one experiencing a flashback. The entire Trojans' secondary was steeped in déjà vu.
Jeff Byers already has graduated from USC and is working on his postgraduate business degree.
