[BostonCard]

Same reason I was terrified about Oregon.
Because they have the horses and at some point, they get them to pull together. Not sure previous scores are all that relevant when the talent is there, other than it makes it a bit easier to break their spirit if things don't initially go their way.
A lot riding on this one, the team deserves it and I hope they get it. A win legitimises the amazing season this has been.
I'm all for the memories of nailbiters that we end up winning, but my nervous and cardiovascular health could really use a comfortable win here!

There were objective reasons to be terrified of Oregon, who was clearly a much better team with Adams than without, and who had just put up an all-time record number of yards on Cal.  For SC, the fear is not so much based on anything they've done.  After all, anything they've done, we've done better (at least point-wise), which is the point of this post.  The fear is that they have been playing below potential, and this is the game in which it comes out.

Objectively, I feel a lot better about SC than I did before the analysis.  I was expecting us to be better than them against some opponents, worse against others, and maybe a trend that suggested they were doing relatively better of late.  None of that panned out.  There was not a single common opponent who SC outscored by more than we did, and two opponents (UW, UDFG) who SC outright lost to, who we beat.

But anxiety isn't quieted by objective analysis, and I am anxious, mostly because this game has so much riding on it (the difference between the Rose Bowl and the Holiday Bowl), and, of course, because it is USC.

BC

[BostonCard]

Same reason I was terrified about Oregon.
Because they have the horses and at some point, they get them to pull together. Not sure previous scores are all that relevant when the talent is there, other than it makes it a bit easier to break their spirit if things don't initially go their way.
A lot riding on this one, the team deserves it and I hope they get it. A win legitimises the amazing season this has been.
I'm all for the memories of nailbiters that we end up winning, but my nervous and cardiovascular health could really use a comfortable win here!

There were objective reasons to be terrified of Oregon, who was clearly a much better team with Adams than without, and who had just put up an all-time record number of yards on Cal.  For SC, the fear is not so much based on anything they've done.  After all, anything they've done, we've done better (at least point-wise), which is the point of this post.  The fear is that they have been playing below potential, and this is the game in which it comes out.

Objectively, I feel a lot better about SC than I did before the analysis.  I was expecting us to be better than them against some opponents, worse against others, and maybe a trend that suggested they were doing relatively better of late.  None of that panned out.  There was not a single common opponent who SC outscored by more than we did, and two opponents (UW, UDFG) who SC outright lost to, who we beat.

But anxiety isn't quieted by objective analysis, and I am anxious, mostly because this game has so much riding on it (the difference between the Rose Bowl and the Holiday Bowl), and, of course, because it is USC.

BC