Ohio State Wide Receiver: USC Lacks Class, Discipline and Integrity

(Note from Blogger: I usually don’t track an opponent until the week of the game, but I thought this was interesting).

In an interview with ESPN last week, Ohio State wide receiver Ray Small said he believed USC lacked class, discipline and integrity.  "I took my visit to USC, I'm like, 'How are they successful? They're not even serious about the game,' " Small said. "Before the game, they're all going crazy. Me and [defensive end] Rob Rose was on the visit and I'm looking like, 'Wow.' "And then the coach said, 'You better get out of here. It's 'bout to get hectic.' " He compared that to his recruiting visit to Ohio State.  "And then I come on the [Columbus] visit and before the game, it's all quiet, everybody getting taped, coaches talking, it's the total opposite," he said.

USC is using these quotes to try and fire up their players for the game, per this article.  With regard to the pregame ritual of USC, David Wharton of the LA times writes (link):

“Three years ago, before the Trojans played Texas for the national championship at the Rose Bowl, USC Coach Pete Carroll invited a reporter to attend a pregame meeting.  The session began normally enough, with players seated in rows of chairs. Soon, fists started banging against walls. Then came clapping and chanting. In a matter of seconds, shirts came off and the chairs began to fly, piled in the center of the room. It was part tribal war dance, part church revival, with a little comedy thrown in as players and coaches were summoned into the circle to dance. For some, the meeting got adrenaline flowing; for others it relieved stress. Carroll insisted there was a method to the madness of riling his team before kickoff. He used terms such as "primitive" and "group consciousness" and talked about chanting as a unifying experience. All the technical work, the practicing and watching of videotape, occurs during the week, he said. The pregame hours afford an opportunity for everyone - offense, defense, special teams - to congregate.

"Just lets everyone know it's about that time," former offensive lineman Fred Matua said then. "Get ready."

After 15 minutes of raising hell, the team headed off to more conventional offensive and defensive meetings.”