(Carroll shaking hands thinking, "I'm going medieval on your ass next year.")
Last Saturday Stanford whipped USC in the Coliseum 55-21. Nobody but Tiger Woods and the other hardcore Standford fans were watching the game late in the fourth quarter when Stanford opted to go for two with a 48-21 lead. After the game Pete Carroll asked Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, "What's your deal?" and Harbaugh replied, "What's your deal?"
"There was an opportunity to punch it in and we thought it was the right thing to do," Harbaugh said at a press conference today. "We wanted to be full throttle the entire game. We felt like we were going to get it and that's why we did it." That's a politically astute answer but we all know it's complete bullshit. Going for two points after a touchdown with a 27 point lead with the game in hand is classless.
It's obvious Harbaugh is trying to resurrect Standford football and sure, attitude and swagger go a long way when building a college program. I'm also sure the Stanford players loved the call and have been seeking revenge after decades of being treated like a doormat by the Trojans. However, it's never wise to "poke the bear" or "wake a sleeping giant" as the cliches go…
If you're a Stanford senior you're safe. You will never play USC again and don't have to deal with the wrath of Pete Carroll next year. If you're a Junior at Stanford you're going to have at least one, really bad loss at the hands of the Trojans next year. If you're a high school senior who just committed to Stanford you just signed up for four ass-beatings in a row… five if you redshirt.
If there is any coach in college football who will remember this and use it to fuel his players it's Pete Carroll. Stanford probably felt great giving USC a taste of their own medicine, but at what cost? Why give a guy like Coach Carroll and a team that's LOADED with young talent bulletin-board material for years to come? Pac-10 football is "big-boy" football and we support blowouts and even going for two to make a statement in rivalry game (i.e Woody Hayes famously going for two against Michigan). But in this particular case Harbaugh and his staff weren't looking past Saturday and it will cost them dearly in the future because Stanford can't match USC year-after-year.
Next year when USC visits Palo Alto I'm going to watch the entire game and I'm not even a fan of either team. The Trojans are going to have that game circled during training camp and Coach Carroll will get his revenge. USC will throw bombs, blitz relentlessly, block punts, go for two, kick onside kicks and dance all over the field while racking up celebration penalties. It's going to be full a full-out Blitzkrieg. After the game we just hope Harbaugh asks Carroll, "What's your deal?" and Carroll replies, "Payback is a bitch."
You shouldn't have poked the bear Jim.
Jim Harbaugh got a bit too much hubris after the Oregon victory… it’s one thing to beat USC… it’s another thing entirely to go for two and insult Pete Carroll’s defense. Have fun playing them next year Jim they are going to THROTTLE you guys!!!
I’m a fan of Harbaugh and he was a great college and NFL player but you shouldn’t pick on a bully too much because the bully always wins in the end… O’Doyle rules!
dude, seriously, you’re such a sideline fag…get over yourself and (what i’m sure you consider) your profound personal insight into the game. it’s not like pc wouldn’t try to embarrass stanford next year anyway. by the sheer amount of disappointment carroll suffered this season (and especially defensively in that game), it’s not like the ’2 point act’ isn’t going to be where they look for motivation. he’s going to have to look at the record, look at the stats, look at the changes happening in the conference. OR how about maybe start with trying to be more than just middling pac 10 material?
It’s college football, I love it cause anything can happen! But let’s cowboy up Jim and admit that the whole entire plan was to make SC and Pete look bad, so save the acting for hollywood or you wouldn’t have done what you did!!!
But always remember the famous saying, Pay Back Is a BITCH…..
I bet “getthrottled” never played a down of football in his life and you’re missing the point bud. Of course Carroll will try to run the score up… he just wouldn’t go for 2 up 27 points. There’s a fine line between kicking someone’s ass and being an asshole. Harbaugh and Carroll are now enemies and I would hate to be a Stanford fan next year when they meet!