LOS ANGELES — The room reeks of success and, if you please, of wealth, not unexpected at a private university. The Hall of Champions, is the name, and beneath plaques honoring national titles in sports as varied as baseball and volleyball, the head coach of the USC football team holds court while positioned at a massive granite-topped table. Pete Carroll, our guy as much as theirs, since he grew in Marin, since he was an assistant on the 49ers, is talking about this week's opponent, Oregon, while the rest of us, writers, fans, everyone besides the Trojans, are talking about next week's game, Cal. "That's OK," Carroll concedes. "That's what everybody does. That's classic. But that's just not the way we operate. "That game doesn't mean as much unless we win this game. We're clearly focused on that. We're good at not getting distracted by what's ahead." So when sports information director Tim Tessalone announced, "Next week (Cal) coach Jeff Tedford on the speaker phone at 11:30, because of scheduling changes," Carroll, relishing the chance to stay the course, interrupted, "We play Oregon this week, Tim." The big city, No.2 in the land. The big show, USC formerly No.1 in the land.
Monday, 10 miles west, UCLA coach Karl Dorrell stood at a podium behind a single microphone in front of maybe 10 journalists and tried to find joy from a losing team. Tuesday, Carroll sat behind eight microphones in front of maybe 30 journalists, and hangers-on, and found elation from a team that rarely loses. The Bruins were back from Berkeley, where they were pummeled by Cal, a team that Dorrell, after prompting, admitted was the best UCLA had played this year. The Trojans were back from Palo Alto, where they pummeled Stanford, a team that Carroll never had the heart to admit was the worst USC had played this year. SC owns this town. Carroll owns this town. Kobe Bryant's the main man in L.A. Carroll's a close runner-up. Pete won't talk about Cal, no, but he'll talk about anything else, with enthusiasm. Sound-bite heaven. Sure, Pete watched a bit of the Raiders-Seahawks game Monday night. He keeps in touch with the Bay Area. Thought the same as the rest of us did, that the Raiders are hopeless. And, oh, that poor kid quarterback. Carroll knows the NFL. He coached the Jets. He coached the Patriots. It didn't work, and so you wonder after the Rose Bowls and national championships in his five-plus seasons at USC whether Pete would want to get one more shot with the pros. If only to prove something. "I'm not prepared to do that," he insists. "My mind has been so wrapped around this college game, and here at SC it's been such a beautiful run, that there's really nothing that can want to make me pick up and go. "I'm asked the question every year. But this is the right place for me. I like winning. We're winning a lot of games here."
UCLA won a lot of games last year, 10, if a soft 10. Now UCLA's losing them, four straight, more games than the Trojans have lost total the past three years. In his fourth season as coach, Dorrell, a Bruin alum, says his team fights hard, whatever that means. As we know from USC's pep song, the Trojans simply fight on. "We play in Southern California the rest of the schedule," said Carroll, who at USC is 19-0 in November. "It's like a home stand. We made it through the road part of it. Now it's almost like a playoff run with home-field advantage."
UCLA, in those scheduling arrangements that befuddle, is also home Saturday, at the Rose Bowl against Oregon State while USC is at the Coliseum against Oregon. UCLA is struggling for survival, at 4-5, USC is battling for domination, at 7-1. "I'm proud we didn't stumble and miss an opportunity," Carroll said about the 42-0 win over Stanford, knowing full well USC could have stumbled and bumbled and wouldn't have missed against Stanford. "It's time to take a big, significant step and finish off the year." The year doesn't finish with Cal, since Notre Dame and UCLA follow, but figuratively it could end with Cal. Said UCLA's Dorrell, "Cal is playing as a great team right now. But you can't look ahead. USC can't think about them yet."
The rest of us can. And will.
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