30-for-30
Trojan Horse
How the mighty USC Trojan football team brought themselves down from within
By Billy Thackston and Garrett Clapsaddle
Foreward
In ancient Troy, the Trojans built up a magnificent empire protected by a powerful wall that seemingly lasts forever. That is until Prince Paris caused a mighty army to come and end the mighty city. The Greeks were the army that ultimately defeated the city of Troy under the leadership of the mighty warrior Achilles and some trickery.
Flash forward to the early 2000s and former NFL Coach Pete Carroll has built a football program with similar prowess to ancient Troy. Similar to how the once-powerful city fell, Pete Carroll’s football program would also fall. The wall that Carroll used to protect his team were the celebrities of Hollywood. The army that would take down the team was Vince Young paired with deceitful Hollywood agents.
The story of the USC football team in the early 2000s could be characterized as a story from a history book or a film from Hollywood. The fall of the USC Trojans is eerily parallel to that of the fall of Troy, and director Aaron Rahsaan Thomas sets up his film like Troy, the 2004 movie.
The Rise of Troy
Before Pete Carroll came to USC, there was a period of failure and hardship for USC football. In the 90s, USC rarely had any success on the gridiron, which evoked the ire of the USC faithful. When USC announced that Pete Carroll would be the new coach for the Trojans, the fan base met him with skepticism. However, Carroll’s almost instant success at USC provided him with huge support from both the common fan and celebrities.
Carroll would use the new celebrity support of USC football to draw in promising talent. Celebrities would sit on the USC sideline during games, come to practices and interact with players giving them the confidence to seem unbeatable. Unlike the Trojan football team, the ancient Trojans used a nearly impenetrable wall to protect their city and created the illusion that they couldn’t be beaten. With all of this on USC’s an ancient Troy’s side, they would ultimately still be defeated by an underdog and their walls would contribute to that downfall.
USC has had much success the past two seasons leading up to their third straight National Championship appearance against Texas. In the 2005 season, USC continues their 27-game winning streak, but come to a bump in the road. They travel to South Bend to face a dangerous Notre Dame team who are notorious for ending long winning streaks. Notre Dame came into the game looking to win even after losing by 31 to USC the past few seasons.
The game was a blood bath as USC fought to make it back to the National Championship to win their third straight, and Notre Dame fought to end their streak and show who was the better team. The game came down to USC’s last possession as they were down by one possession and almost anything that could’ve gone bad happened. As USC’s best wide receiver, Dwayne Jarrett had his eye poked from earlier in the game, he could only use one eye.
With a Fourth and 8 with 1:28 left in the game, Dwayne Jarrett came up big by taking USC from their own 25-yard line to Notre Dame’s 15-yard line, all with one eye. USC pushes to get the ball into the end zone to win the game, but have trouble doing so. It is First and Goal with 0:23 left on the game clock and Matt Leinart rolls and from the pocket as he attempts to run it into the corner of the end zone. He fumbles the ball out of bounds and placed at the half-yard line, but the clock continues to roll and expires making everyone believe Notre Dame just won.
But the refs put time back on the clock, giving USC time for one more play. A quick snap, and Matt Leinart decides to keep it. The Irish defense converges, but with Leinart’s second effort and some assistance from Reggie Bush, the ball crosses the plane. “The Bush Push” keeps USC’s winning streak alive and ensures a shot at a third National Championship.
The Fall of Troy
The Greeks and the Longhorns would be the armies that would take down Troy and USC respectively and do so in an unlikely way. The Greeks were led by a mighty warrior, Achilles, who would defeat Troy’s mightiest warriors and take down their army. Similarly, the Texas football team was also led by a mighty warrior, Vince Young, who led the offensive on the gridiron to take down USC’s best players. Although Texas was an underdog they continued to work and prepare for their national title game against the defending national champs.
USC entered the 2005 Rose Bowl with a 34-game winning streak and three Heisman nominees: Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush. USC scored quickly after their first possession and Texas began to realize this game was gonna be harder than they thought. In the second quarter with USC shutting Texas out, the momentum begins to shift quickly after just one play. USC throws a middle screen to Reggie Bush, who then gains big yardage. However, a lateral to an unexpecting teammate results in a turnover, and Texas gets on the board.
After more Trojan turnovers, Texas takes a halftime lead. In the second half, both teams matched each other. With the clock winding down, USC has the lead and the ball when they are stopped on fourth down. Texas marches down the field and face its own fourth down in the red zone. Vince Young takes the snap, escapes the pocket, runs to the corner of the end zone and, with a touchdown, wins the game—and National Championship—for the Texas Longhorns.
Conclusion
The Greeks knew that only deception could penetrate the mighty Trojan walls. A gift horse, filled with soldiers, would destroy the mighty Troy. Similarly, unscrupulous agents used gifts to lure USC players. When it was discovered that an agent helped Reggie Bush’s parents buy a house, the NCAA leveled sanctions against USC, and Bush surrendered his Heisman Trophy.
In both ancient Troy and the USC football program, a mighty wall both protected them and destroyed them. The mighty wall in Ancient Troy seemed impenetrable, but the trickery of the Greeks would cause their wall to betray them. At USC the Hollywood lifestyle made the players seem almost better than the average man, but the deceitfulness of Hollywood agents and a prepared enemy led to their downfall. In both stories, a sad ending is brought unto a once-powerful program.
