Oct. 09--A young coach trying to prove he was the right guy for the job, and not over his head at an elite university, delivered a nice victory for his prickly fan base.
Congratulations to Chris Petersen.
Washington's shocking 17-12 upset of USC on Thursday night at the Coliseum may have launched one second-year coach in the right direction.
What defeat launched for second-year USC Coach Steve Sarkisian were boos from a Coliseum crowd forced to fight traffic only to witness one more fender bender.
Trojan fans who didn't like the Sarkisian hire from Day 1 are going to be irate, while those on board 50% are probably down to 25%.
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It didn't help that defeat came against Washington, the school Sarkisian left to coach at USC.
Or, that the face-plant came against Petersen, the coach many Trojans wanted to see hired instead of Sarkisian.
There was nothing about USC's shoddy performance that could be defended. It was an error-filled, sleepwalk effort against a Pac-12 team that deserved respect.
Washington (3-2) isn't there yet, but showed signs.
"I thought our defense was spectacular against a really explosive offense," Petersen said.
Pac-12 road teams are now 9-2 this year.
USC plays in the Pac-12 South, supposedly the tougher division, but has now lost to two teams from the North.
"This one, at the end of the day, is on me," Sarkisian said.
He didn't bring any Trojans players to the postgame news conference, preferring to take sole possession of this defeat.
USC had 10 days to prepare but wasn't prepared. The Trojans dropped passes, missed opportunities and got hoodwinked on the sort of flea-flicker play that made Petersen famous at Boise State.
USC had the fifth-year, senior quarterback, yet lost to a team starting a true freshman.
Jake Browning, Washington's starter, suffered through a tough night, overthrowing several passes that could have led to touchdowns.
So, what did Washington smartly do? It took Browning out of the equation and let a receiver throw the difference-making touchdown.
Browning was allowed the easy part, tossing a backward pass to Marvin Hall, who threw a 27-yard scoring strike to Joshua Perkins in the third quarter.
What a shock that a Chris Petersen team would use a trick play. USC seemed as surprised as Oklahoma was against Boise State in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.
The only difference was Perkins did not propose to his fiancee in the end zone, the way Boise's Ian Johnson did after his Statue-of-Liberty stunner.
Browning, to his credit, had one huge moment. Just when USC had forgotten he was the quarterback, he hit Jaydon Mickens on a key third-down pass that clinched victory.
Washington played as if it had been working from a playbook Sarkisian left in his desk at Seattle. The Huskies, especially early, swarmed the Trojans with an almost uncanny familiarity.
"There are nights when you just don't play your best," Sarkisian said.
USC and UCLA learned tough lessons this week -- that a season doesn't end after winning the Arizona state championship.
Two Saturdays ago, hours apart, in the same state, the Los Angeles teams wowed a late-night nation by trouncing Arizona State and Arizona by the combined score of 98-44.
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Lost in the final scores was a murky truth: USC and UCLA had been handed gift touchdowns by their opponents.
Arizona State and Arizona played as poorly as USC and UCLA played well.
The Bruins took their reality check last Saturday when it snoozed into the Arizona State game and lost, 38-23.
USC must have borrowed UCLA's snooze alarm.
Cody Kessler, a Heisman Trophy candidate entering the game, is probably not one now.
He doubled his season interception total halfway through the first quarter.
The Trojans' first three possessions were pick, punt, pick. USC had more penalty yards in the first quarter (42) than passing yards (39).
The Trojans were thank-you fortunate Browning couldn't cash in on four early trips inside the USC 35-yard line.
In fact, Washington came up with no points.
USC not only wiggled out down the fire escape, it kicked a field goal to take a 6-3 lead into halftime.
The Trojans played harder in the second half, but only because time was not on their side.
Thursday was not the way USC wanted to enter the toughest two-game stretch until it closes against Oregon and UCLA.
USC has another weekend off before its Oct. 17 trip to Notre Dame, followed by a home game against fifth-ranked Utah.
"Is our season over?" Sarkisian said. "No, we're fine. There's a lot of football left to be played."
True enough, but USC has no remaining margin for error.
You think Notre Dame won't be ready to avenge last year's humiliating, 49-14 loss at the Coliseum?
USC hasn't had trouble with Utah since, well, last year, when the Trojans lost in Salt Lake City.
"We just have to get used to it," Sarkisian said of week after week of close, hard games. "This is the way college football is right now."
It may be true, but don't try selling it to your fan base.
chris.dufresne@latimes.com
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