USC began this season overrated, just as it began the past six seasons overrated. The effect of the NCAA scholarship penalties handed down in 2010 is just now ending. And yet we continue to fall for the hype.It has everything to do with Trojan tradition and how much all of us bought into what Pete Carroll sold so well for nine seasons. He has been gone for seven years, and the two decades before he arrived werent so hot, either.We spend a lot more time talking about the Trojans than their play has warranted. With that, the first three items in this column mention USC. Fight On?1.?Wisconsin?and USC?benched their veteran quarterbacks this week for redshirt freshmen backups, and Im not surprised at all. For one thing, both the Badgers Alex Hornibrook and the Trojans Sam Darnold provided a spark off the bench in the first three games. More important, coaches are conservative by nature. They are going to start with experience. It struck me that in the case of both Wisconsin fifth-year senior Bart Houston and USC fourth-year junior Max Browne, neither had been able to win playing time before this year for a reason. I say that in full hypocrisy as someone who decries quarterbacks transferring the minute they dont get to play.2.?Nebraska?head coach Mike Riley tossed off a comment Monday that he coached against?Northwestern, the No. 20 Huskers opponent Saturday, in the Rose Bowl. He didnt just coach in that game 21 seasons ago. USC coach John Robinson said Riley, his offensive coordinator, made the difference in the No. 17 Trojans 41-32 upset of No. 3 Northwestern. In Cardinal and Gold, the recently published oral history of USC football written by my ESPN colleague Steve Delsohn, Robinson said Riley came up with the idea of going shotgun and no-huddle against Northwestern. That was one of the better coaching efforts that I remember anyone on my staff making, Robinson said.3. Last week, USC head coach Clay Helton said?Stanford?is the model for his program. This week, the?UCLA?that welcomes the No. 7 Cardinal into the Rose Bowl (ABC, 8 p.m. ET) looks very much like Stanford in one important way. The Bruins average possession time in the fourth quarter in their three games?this?season is nearly ten-and-a-half minutes. Everything in Stanfords game plan points toward wearing down teams so that they are easy pickings in the fourth quarter. Against the Trojans, the Cardinal ran the ball 15 times and threw one pass, holding the ball for 9:36 in the last quarter of the 27-10 victory. One other item that makes the fourth quarter relevant: Stanford has won eight straight over UCLA.4. It would be fitting for No. 14?Tennessees?long climb back toward national prominence to include a victory over No. 19?Florida, whom the Vols welcome to Knoxville on Saturday. The Gators have won 24 of the past 30 games in this SEC East rivalry, including the past 11. While you may hear over?and?over that Florida won the past two games by one point each, eight of the other nine victories came by at least two-score margins. If Tennessee can exorcise these demons, that will bode well for No. 1 Alabamas visit three weeks later. The Crimson Tide have won nine straight over the Vols.5.?Oklahoma?freshman quarterback?Austin Kendall?called the Ohio State defense basic, and after the Buckeyes thrashed the Sooners 45-24, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops called Kendalls comment ridiculous. No, whats ridiculous is Stoops using Kendalls mistake as an excuse to?withhold?younger players from contact with the media in the future. Im sure Kendall is mortified, and Im sure he wont do it again. And Im sure his teammates understand that. Teach the young guys what to do and move on. What does a media ban teach them?6. The father of?Iowa?junior linebacker Ben Niemann will see him play Saturday for the only time this season. The Hawkeyes play at?Rutgers, where Jay Niemann is the defensive coordinator. This is the only regular-season game Jay Niemann will see Iowa play because Rutgers and Iowa both?have Oct. 29 as their open date. On Tuesday, Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz said he still felt uncomfortable about luring away Ben from playing for his dad, who was on the Northern Illinois staff at the time. I felt awful, Ferentz said. I mean, it was a really painful conversation in some ways, just because I know as a coach how special it is to have a son on the team. Ferentzs three sons played for him at Iowa; Brian Ferentz coaches the Hawkeye offensive line.7. Of course its more complicated than this, but I cant remember an offense as dependent on a dual-threat quarterback as Gus Malzahns spread at?Auburn. When Malzahn ran the offense in the 2010 national championship season, Cam Newton led the Tigers to 499 yards and 41 points per?game. The next season, without Newton, production fell to 338 and 25.7, respectively. When Malzahn came back as head coach and had Nick Marshall running his offense for two seasons, Auburn averaged 493 yards and 37.5 points per game. Since the beginning of last season, those numbers have fallen to 386 and 27.3, respectively. Not to mention 8-8 overall, 2-7 in the SEC and 1-5 vs. ranked opponents. Shaquille ONeal Jersey .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Bob Cousy Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. http://www.celticsofficialsstore.com/kids-robert-parish-celtics-jersey/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Gordon Hayward Jersey . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. Reggie Lewis Jersey . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. WASHINGTON -- The Milwaukee Brewers didnt get the sweep they were shooting for, yet they derived a huge sense of satisfaction from their holiday visit to the nations capital.Matt Garza yielded three home runs, and the Brewers fell to the Washington Nationals 7-4 on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series.Milwaukee won the first two from the NL East leaders, including a 1-0 thriller against Max Scherzer on July 4. So as they packed their bags to head home, the Brewers felt pretty good about what they had accomplished.Builds our confidence, knowing you can play with the best, said Scooter Gennett, who drove in two runs and stole home.A three-run homer by Bryce Harper in the first inning and a solo shot by Jose Lobaton put Milwaukee in a 4-0 hole in the second inning.The Brewers came back with a four-run third against Tanner Roark that featured five singles and Gennett scoring on the front end of a double steal.After that, however, the Nationals pulled away.You come on the road and play a first-place team and win two out of three, for sure thats a good series, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. But after you tie it up you feel like you left something out there.Garza (1-2) gave up seven runs, eight hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 with a 7.69 ERA in 10 career starts against Washington.Behind in a lot of counts today and I had to pitch from behind and thats what happens, Garza said. You just put it in the back of your mind and get through it and get to the next one.The right-hander ran into difficulty almost immediately, giving up singles to Ben Revere and Jayson Werth before Harper hit his 18th home run, an opposite-field poke to left.After Milwaukee drew even, Stephen Drew hit a two-out RBI double in the bottom half for a 5-4 lead.Ryan Zimmerman chased Garza with a two-run drive in the fifth foor a 7-4 lead.ddddddddddddRoark (8-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings. The right-hander beat the Brewers on June 26 to help Washington dodge a three-game sweep.He pounded the strike zone, Harper said. When he goes out there, its usually a quick game and a lot of fun.Jonathan Papelbon worked the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances.MAKE SOME NOISENationals manager Dusty Baker is asking the home fans to crank up the volume in the second half of the season. Some of the guys on the team wish our fans were more boisterous and crazy, like we see at different stadiums on the road, he said. Taking into account the transient nature of Washington, Baker added, We realize a lot of fans are new. Were trying to win everybody over to us. We need their energy, big time.CLOSE CALLAccording to Major League Baseball, the 88-vote margin by which Chicago Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist defeated Washingtons Daniel Murphy to start in the All-Star Game (3,013,407 to 3,013,319) was the closest margin since 1982, when Manny Trillo defeated Steve Sax for NL 2B by 1,625 votes.WIN AND OUTBrewers: RHP Zach Davies, who started and won Tuesdays game, was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs. 1B Andy Wilkins was recalled from the same club.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Joe Ross (right shoulder inflammation) has been inactive since being placed on the DL on Sunday. Hes shut down right now. Were trying to get the inflammation out of there, Baker said.UP NEXTBrewers: After taking Thursday off, the Brewers welcome St. Louis for a three-game series leading up to the All-Star break.Nationals: The Nationals send rookie Lucas Giolito to the mound Thursday night. He pitched four scoreless innings in his debut. Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Nike Basketball Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Baseball Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys Cheap Custom Jerseys China Cheap Basketball Jerseys Authentic NFL Jerseys China Cheap College Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys ' ' '