And so right.
In a sloppy yet satisfying 24-13 win over Boston College in the Emerald Bowl, the Trojans closed out a strange season with something so familiar -- a bowl game triumph that now sends them into the offseason with good feelings and high hopes for the future. The hard-fought victory provided the perfect capper for a peculiar season at AT&T Park, where a new beginning appeared to be forged Saturday night, one that will carry the Trojans into 2010 and beyond.
"That was an amazing job of staying together and hanging together all the way through this season," Coach Carroll told his players in the locker room after the win. "I'm so proud of you guys for that.
"Now, let's continue to build this thing back up."
Not only did the seniors get to finish their Trojan careers with a victory, they also got to be a part of a fresh start for the USC football program. Immediately after the loss to Arizona three weeks ago, Carroll called on his team to return to its foundations and re-create the fire and desire that had been burning for seven previous seasons. The Emerald Bowl was viewed as Game 1 of the 2010 season and a new birth for the Trojans.
Time will tell, but Saturday's output was a vibrant sign of that new revolution. By the time the players had splished and splashed their way through the rain and mud to clinch the Emerald Bowl crown, they were filled with relief, gratitude, humility and hope -- all valuable, pertinent lessons they've learned through the rigorous 2009 campaign and lessons that have been seared into their consciences for the months and seasons to come.
The new beginning, the fresh start was on display in the Emerald Bowl on Saturday. And while there's still room to grow, the Trojans are definitely back on the right path.
The winning path.
Check out some more insider tidbits from the locker room and sideline before, during and after USC's 24-13 victory in the Emerald Bowl on Saturday:
Say Hey Kid
Coach Carroll received the call of a lifetime after the Trojans' Emerald Bowl win on Saturday night.
Sitting in the USC locker room -- aka the San Francisco Giants clubhouse -- following the victory, an employee notified Carroll someone was calling for him on the phone.
But not just anyone.
Willie Mays.
Carroll lit up like a Christmas tree and got to chat with the baseball icon for a few minutes, enjoying the phone call of all phone calls for a lifelong Giants fan and Bay Area native.
"It felt like I was a kid again," a gleaming Carroll said.
The call wasn't the only thing Carroll got Saturday night -- the coach also received an autographed Mays jersey from the Giants clubhouse staffers after the game. And like a boy who becomes so attached to his favorite Christmas present, Carroll wore the jersey all the way home to L.A. on a night he will most assuredly never forget.
Noted and quoted
Here are some memorable quotes from behind the scenes at the Emerald Bowl:
- "We're talking like it and walking like it -- now let's go play like it," tailback Allen Bradford told his teammates in the locker room before the game.
- "Hold nothing back and let's have a blast doing it," Coach Carroll said in the locker room before the game. "Let's not stop until we get what we want."
- During the exchange at the pre-game coin toss at midfield, safety Taylor Mays asked Boston College linebacker Mike McLaughlin, "Do you hit hard?" McLaughlin replied, "Not as hard as you." Mays laughed.
- "This is our last memory for eight months," quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates told his players at halftime. "Let's make it a good one."
- "Hey 2-4, you make a play, I make a play!" wideout Damian Williams told cornerback Shareece Wright after his 48-yard catch in triple coverage that immediately followed Wright's interception.
Sideline chess match
The sharing-the-same-sideline business turned out to be just a cute little wrinkle for the Trojans at the Emerald Bowl.
Dividing up the east sideline, which put the Trojan bench significantly farther from the action for half the matchup, didn't create many noteworthy problems for the players or coaches -- it just made watching the game, calling plays and making substitutions unique for a portion of the night.
But Coach Carroll actually enjoyed the sideline oddity.
"It was kind of fun," Carroll said. "It was cool being so close, because we could interact with their staff during the game."
Because of the distance from the bench to the action when the play was at the other end of the field, most players and coaches ended up turning around and watching the play on the stadium Jumbotron in centerfield. Each team's bench area was also just 30 yards long (between the 15- and 45-yard lines), compared to the usual 50 yards at a normal football stadium, which condensed the players and coaches into tighter quarters.
Trojan coaches did use the sideline idiosyncrasy to their advantage at certain points in the game, though. Whenever the USC offense had the ball in the red zone closest to the Trojan bench, offensive coaches tried to change personnel packages often to create substitution challenges for Boston College, whose bench was about 40 yards away at the far end of the field.
Numbers game
Tailback C.J. Gable, usually wearing No. 2, had to put on a pullover No. 51 jersey for kickoffs since both he and Taylor Mays (also No. 2) were on the same squad. The only issue was that a miscommunication led to Gable and Mays appearing with the same numbers on the same kickoff coverage unit for the first two kicks of the game. Officials fortunately didn't catch the error, or else it would've been a 15-yard penalty.
Weathering the storm
Take a look at all the ways the soaking-wet weather wreaked havoc on the Trojans in Saturday's Emerald Bowl:
- After warm-ups, which were conducted in a driving rainstorm, the Trojans returned to a warm and dry locker room, where many players removed their pads and dried off with towels. Many players also changed into dry cleats. As messy as things got, the pre-game rain seemed to excite the players more than anything else.
- The rain mixed with some chilly temperatures to push many players to don several layers of sleeves and leggings. Also, many players utilized waist pouches that were filled with hand warmers.
- The field became so sloppy that players' jerseys, pants and helmets turned into canvases of paint and mud, adding all the colors of the field and logos to the cardinal and gold attire.
- Coaches' headsets were becoming water-logged and were short-circuiting for part of the first quarter because of the precipitation.
Special guests
Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane of "Moneyball" fame and San Francisco Giants pitcher and USC alum Barry Zito were on the sideline during the game.
