FanHouse Pete Carroll

Like a star collapsing under its own weight, USC's football program is rapidly collapsing in on itselft under coach Pete Carroll.

For the second time in three weeks, USC was beaten. Badly. This time by Stanford, which walloped the Trjoans 55-21. The point total was the most ever surrendered at home by the Trojans; Pete Carroll's unbeaten November win streak went by the wayside.

Of course, the points surrendered record wasn't exactly something out of the yellowing pages of history. That record was an august two weeks old. Oregon beat Carroll by 27 on Halloween, 47-20 (tripling the previous record loss, 11 points, to Notre Dame in 2001). Saturday, Stanford did the Ducks eight points better.

What happened?

Toby Gerhart spent so much time submerged in the cold tub Sunday that a Stanford athletic trainer joked Gerhart needed a snorkel. Thirty-eight carries and a school-record 223 rushing yards a day earlier against Oregon left Gerhart beaten and bruised.

He couldn't have been happier.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Observations and opinions on Saturday's USC-Notre Dame clash:

Sure, Notre Dame came close, but imagine how much better quarterback Matt Barkley will be 13 months from now in the Los Angeles Coliseum. By the way, listening to both Pete Carroll and Barkley speaking to the media after the game, it sounds as if the USC head coach has engineered his own Mini-Me.

Here is a portion of what Carroll had to say about Barkley, who after all did toss for 380 yards, is 5-0 as a starter and has won on the road in Columbus, Berkeley and South Bend: "Matt Barkley is really something,'' Carroll said. "The plays he's capable of making, there's no limit for him. He's just remarkable -- there's no other way to describe it. There's no one else to compare him to in our history. He's so poised, so comfortable in the arena. He has this great inner strength."

And you thought Charlie Weis had a man-crush on Jimmy Clausen ...

When in doubt, play defense. That seems to be the philosophy right now at USC, which has taken an offense with nine returning starters and the nation's best offensive line and driven it into a ditch for large stretches of this season. And so it was on the road Saturday, the USC Trojans steadily outplaying the Cal Bears on the way to a 30-3 victory.

Mirroring last week's performance against Washington State, USC came out firing offensively in building a 20-0 second-quarter lead, eventually cooled, and still cruised to victory behind yet another dominating defensive performance. Strange days considering that defense was one of the best of this era last year and graduated the bulk of its talent to the NFL.

USC once again followed a tired pattern Saturday, losing its Pac-10 road opener to Washington thanks to a bevy of offensive problems. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, starting in place of injured freshman Matt Barkley was ineffective, tossing a pair of interceptions inside the Washington 30-yard line as USC fell to the Huskies 16-13. Washington kicked a 22-yard field goal with seconds remaining to eclipse the No. 3 Trojans.

USC's Pac-10 troubles are well established, having lost to Oregon State in 2008, Stanford and Oregon in 2007, UCLA in 2006 and Cal in 2003. The road openers have been predictably troublesome, with the Cal and Oregon State losses in that mix. Of particular embarrassment, USC coach Pete Carroll lost to disciple Steve Sarkisian, who only last week snapped a 15-game losing streak for the troubled Washington football program.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- So what if he was surrounded by 106,000 loons, all standing and shaking and shrieking in the fabled Horseshoe, all sensing a merciful end to Ohio State's humiliating big-game-loss stigma? So what if the forbidding first few notes of the White Stripes screamer, "Seven Nation Army,'' kept pounding through the speakers like a throbbing headache? So what if USC was stuck at its 5-yard line, looking at second-and-19 and a five-point deficit with six minutes left?

And so what if Matt Barkley's throwing shoulder was aching, a victim of a throwdown by defensive tackle Nathan Williams? Somehow, none of these issues gave Barkley any reason for pause Saturday night. He wears No. 7, like another California-bred quarterback who once forged a legend deep in his own territory in a hostile environment. Just as John Elway told his mates that they had their opponents right where they wanted them, Barkley had calming words for the Trojans when all seemed lost. The difference between the two?

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ESPN put a new Twitter policy in place this summer designed to urge its reporters to think before they tweet. But this weekend, the policy didn't stop ESPN the Magazine senior writer Bruce Feldman from ripping Sports Reporters panelist Mike Lupica -- then later thinking better of it and deleting the tweet.

It all started with Lupica talking about USC coach Pete Carroll on The Sports Reporters.

LOS ANGELES -- Less than 30 minutes after USC completed its final preseason game-type scrimmage over the weekend, the scene in a crowded L.A. Coliseum media room spoke volumes about the character of third-year sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp.

While reporters and television cameras swarmed around USC true freshman Matt Barkley -- recently named the team's starting quarterback for the Trojans' season opener against San Jose State next week -- Corp sat at an open table and calmly talked about his new role as Barkley's backup.

LOS ANGELES -- There's no question about the success USC's football program has had in the Pete Carroll era.

Two national championships and seven consecutive Pac-10 titles (a league record), 11-win seasons, AP Top-4 finishes and BCS bowl appearances.

Throw in the fact that the Trojans have also produced three Heisman Trophy winners, along with a truckload of first-round draft picks every year, and it's easy to understand why any decisions Carroll makes with his program are rarely second-guessed.

Until now.

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LOS ANGELES -- Although USC coach Pete Carroll did not talk much about junior wide receiver Ronald Johnson during training camp, he quietly anticipated big things from the fleet sure-handed Michigan-native this season.

That's because with USC breaking in a new starting quarterback, Carroll expected opposing defenses to put together a variety of coverages to slow down the Trojans' top returning wideout, All-American candidate Damian Williams. This in turn, would leave Johnson with plenty of opportunities to display his versatile skills at flanker for the Trojans' newlook offense.

Well, this game plan changed with one play on Saturday when Johnson suffered a broken collarbone in USC's mock-game scrimmage at the Coliseum.