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Morris: Sturdy foundation will lead to big season

Posted on 08.27.08
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As we all know USC finished with a 6-6 record a season ago, giving the program an all-time record of 521 wins, 523 losses and 44 ties. It just does not get any more mediocre than that.

Well, I am here to tell you that USC is finally ready to break free from its mediocre past — beginning this season. “Next year” has finally arrived. USC will win enough games to get over .500 all-time, and it will not look back for years to come.

Those who do reflect will recognize that the five-game losing streak to end last season was the best thing that could have happened to Steve Spurrier’s program. By stumbling to the finish, Spurrier and USC recognized that it had not yet arrived as a year-in, year-out contender in the SEC.

Spurrier went to work correcting the problems. He made coaching changes. It appears his team has gone back to basics in an attempt to eliminate mistakes and better carry out assignments. Generally, Spurrier came to the realization USC was not going to find success overnight. His major rebuilding project will take at least four seasons.

Had USC closed last season with a couple of wins and played in another mid-range bowl game, it would have gotten the same false sense of security that existed under the previous head coach.

You might recall that following Outback Bowl victories in 2000 and 2001, USC believed it had arrived among the nation’s elite and would remain there for a long time. Ohio State, the loser in both of those bowl games, was actually the team headed for the top, and it won the BCS national championship the next season.

Meanwhile, we quickly learned USC’s program was not built for the long haul. When the house of cards collapsed, a couple of losing seasons followed and Spurrier was called in to do what his predecessor could not: construct a program with a solid foundation.

Thus, we arrive at year four of the Spurrier era. After an initial setback, he has gone about bringing in solid recruiting classes, and it is about to pay off. Interestingly enough, the bulk of the top-level talent now plays on defense. As a result, USC will field one of the SEC’s top defensive units.

The defense will keep USC in many games. This is a star-studded cast led by linebacker Jasper Brinkley. The difference this season is that an injury or two will not devastate this unit as they did a season ago. This unit is talented and deep. Because of that, it is difficult to imagine any SEC team, even Georgia and Florida, blowing USC away.

There are as many questions on offense as there are answers on defense. Is Tommy Beecher an SEC-caliber quarterback? Will a go-to running back emerge from the pack? Who will be the No. 2 receiver behind Kenny McKinley?

There is no need to fret. History tells me Spurrier will figure everything out on offense. Following an uncharacteristically sub-par 9-4 season at Florida in 1999, questions abounded about whether zone blitzes and more creative defenses had finally caught up to his offense.

Spurrier responded by making adjustments. He brought in better talent and Florida’s offenses in 2000 and 2001 were among his best, averaging 37.3 and 43.8 points per game.

My guess is that USC’s defense will give Spurrier’s offense more and better chances to score this season. The result will be that USC will take a major step in closing the gap between itself and the top teams in the SEC.

USC is in the good year of an every-other-year cycle when it comes to scheduling. With the exception of a trip to Florida, the most difficult SEC games — Georgia, LSU and Tennessee — are at home. Other than Florida, USC stands a solid chance of winning its SEC road games against Vanderbilt, Mississippi and Kentucky.

As difficult as USC’s schedule appears — there is every reason to believe it is among the most challenging in the country — there are six certain wins. USC should assure itself of being bowl eligible with wins against North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Wofford, UAB, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Georgia and Florida are the only games USC will need to overcome long odds to win. So, let’s count those as losses.

That leaves tossup games against Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Clemson. It is reasonable to expect USC to split those four games with the nod going to the Gamecocks against Kentucky and Tennessee.

That leaves USC with an 8-4 record. Toss in an Outback Bowl victory against Illinois, and USC finds itself exactly where it was following the 2001 season. The difference this time around is that Spurrier will continue to build on this season’s success.

Listen to Morris every Tuesday from 4-5 p.m. on 93.1 FM, WZNJ, ESPN The Zone.

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