The Living Room Times

Much like four years ago, I’m proud of both of my alma maters’ football teams tonight. Yes, USC committed some stupid penalties, and should have put the Irish away sooner, but ultimately, they made enough plays to win a very tough game on the road, and that counts for a lot. As for Notre Dame, they played with heart and determination, and proved that previous weeks’ late-game heroics weren’t attributable solely to the level of competition. These guys can play with the best.

For Irish fans — those who root for the Irish every week, that is — the end result must be agonizing. Indeed, I even feel a little tiny piece of that agony myself. I was rooting for USC, of course, and I’m glad they won, but at the same time, quite honestly, some part of my heart was cheering for the Irish to come back, to wake up the echoes, to make the home crowd go wild. In the fourth quarter of tonight’s game, for the first time since becoming an Irish Trojan, I actually felt truly, genuinely conflicted.

Ultimately, I’m glad Clausen didn’t complete any of those three passes in the final 9 seconds. (By the way: what was he thinking with that final pass?) But I’d dearly like to see the Irish re-establish themselves as a national power, once and for all, as they almost did four years ago, and as they again almost did tonight. It’s a cruelty of my dual loyalties that I always seem to end up rooting against the Irish on such nights.

In any event, hopefully Notre Dame wins out and goes 10-2, and hopefully that’s enough to get the Irish into the BCS Top 14 by season’s end. (Normally a top 14 ranking would be a foregone conclusion for 10-2 Irish team, but the pollsters have been skeptical of ND’s merits this year; despite the close call against the Trojans, they’ll presumably be unranked next week.) And then hopefully they win their big bowl game, be it a BCS game or the Gator Bowl.

As for USC: Virginia Tech giving up its spot in the pecking order is great news, but Texas’s win over Oklahoma is very bad news. The SEC vs. Big 12 scenario looks likelier than ever, even if the Longhorns lose a game but win the division and the conference (as they now likely would). It might take a team from the North pulling a Big 12 title-game upset to prevent a BCS championship game matchup of Texas vs. the SEC champ (unless the SEC somehow implodes and produces a two-loss champion). Oh, and Iowa still needs to lose, but is running out of realistic opportunities in which to do so; and it would be nice if Miami and Cincinnati lose, too.

Still, upsets can and will happen, so the Trojans’ BCS hopes are yet alive. The more important thing is, USC needs to keep taking care of business. They’re 2-0 so far in the five-game stretch that I feared would derail their season: @Cal, @ND, vs. Oregon State, @Oregon, @ASU. They get Stanford at home after that gauntlet, followed by another bye week, and then they finish with home games against UCLA and Arizona. The Trojans are halfway home, but there are plenty of potential bumps in the road still to come.

Anyway… Fight On! Beat the Beavers!

And… Goooo Irish, Beeeeat Eagles Fredo!