Any fan base of a talented but flawed team is always caught in between the excitement of optimism and the reality of pessimism. Fans want to be optimistic but know that being optimistic can lead to crushing disappointments. Being pessimistic is the fan’s way of guarding against a severe emotional ambush and all the added pain which goes with it.
USC fans want to make the College Football Playoff and want to compete for a national title, but the voice of experience tells them Alex Grinch won’t get the job done. People want to believe, but they usually don’t think they can believe. At least, they realize that believing — really believing — opens them up to more pain.
There’s a lot to be skeptical about at USC, but we can’t be the bad cop all the time. Let’s at least sprinkle in some optimism, even while we retain a fundamentally pessimistic view of the defense and Alex Grinch.
The optimistic note to put forth right now — it’s not a prediction so much as an articulation of a scenario — is that if USC’s defense can survive the not-very-good offenses at Notre Dame and Utah, the Trojans can buy time. The USC defense might not play well against Notre Dame and Utah, but the Irish and Utes might not expose USC’s flaws the way Oregon and Washington can.
The hope for USC is that even if the defense continues to play poorly, Notre Dame and Utah won’t take advantage. This means USC enters November 9-0. If this scenario comes to pass, it essentially means USC has a full month (until November 4) to get better.
The defense doesn’t have to get better in two weeks. It has to get better in a month. If USC can buy more time, maybe it can finally get enough improvements to be ready for Washington in November. USC isn’t ready to beat Washington and Oregon now. It might be ready in a month, which is when the games are actually played. There’s your note of optimism.
We now return to the skeptical broadcast system at Trojans Wire, but you can’t say we’re unaware of the optimistic way to view this team.
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