Santoro: Pack could be facing its best opponent ever

Sports Fodder:

The Nevada Wolf Pack football team just might meet the best team it has ever faced in its 127-year history when it takes on the USC Trojans in two weeks (Sept. 2) in Los Angeles. The Trojans are currently ranked No. 6 in the nation, are in the conversation for the College Football Playoff and have the sitting Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Caleb Williams. The Wolf Pack has faced seven teams in its long history that were ranked in the Top 10 when they met the Pack. Yes, five of them (No. 10 in 2004, No. 9 in 2008, No. 6 in 2009, No. 3 in 2010 and No. 4 in 2011) were overrated Boise State teams but it counts just the same. The other two were Florida State (No. 10 in 2013) and Missouri (No. 6 in 2008). Oregon was No. 13 in 2011 when he met the Pack and finished No. 4 in the nation. Washington State was No. 12 when it met Nevada in 2002 and was ranked as high as No. 3 and finished No. 10. The Pack has also played five teams that eventually won a national championship but all five were in the 1920s when five or six teams were usually deemed champions by various sources. The five champs the Pack faced were the 1921, 1922 and 1923 California Golden Bears, 1926 Stanford and 1929 USC. It was also customary in the 1920s, for example, for a team like Cal, Stanford and USC to play its reserves against a team like Nevada. The Trojans will also likely play their reserves on Sept. 2 but probably not before halftime. This year’s Trojans, one could argue, have the most talented and deepest roster the Wolf Pack has ever faced. Williams, after all, is the only current Heisman Trophy winner the Pack has ever seen. He could be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft next spring. He’s not going to waste an opportunity to pad his Heisman resume against a team like Nevada, even if he only plays a half.

•••

The Wolf Pack is a 38-point underdog against USC and the number is rising (it started at 35). The over-under is 63, with the idea that USC will likely score at least 50 of those points. USC, an experienced team that will return four dozen players off its 2022 roster (14 starters), will also have a game under its belt (against San Jose State on Aug. 26) when it meets the Pack. The Wolf Pack, an inexperienced team, doesn’t get to open its season against San Jose State, another Mountain West doormat. The Pack will basically be a bad team (the Pack will take a 10-game losing streak with them to L.A.) that will be at its worst on Sept. 2 against one of the best teams in the nation, all while on the road. Think of an 18-month-old being thrown into the deep end of the pool at its first (and likely only) swimming lesson. That’s going to be the Pack. But that’s OK. The last thing college football is for mid-major teams like the Wolf Pack, after all, is about winning games. That’s for the USCs, Alabamas, Clemsons and Georgias of the world to worry about. For Nevada, and the others the Big Ten and Big 12 didn’t try to steal the last few months, it’s all about earning enough money to help fund all the programs Title IX requires. The Pack, of course, will be a hired hand on Sept. 2, charging USC a cool $1.5 million for the afternoon. In the old West a hired hand was hired to do the shooting. In the world of college football, a hired hand is the one getting shot. But that, too, is OK. The university presidents and athletic directors aren’t getting shot. And, unlike the parents who throw their 18-month-old into the deep end of the pool, they don’t get arrested when they toss their players into the cage of a hungry USC. They just get richer.

•••

USC right now might have more players on national award lists than the Pack has legitimate Division I starters. USC safety Calen Bullock, wide receiver Tahj Washington and quarterback Caleb Williams are each on two watch lists. Linebacker Mason Cobb, center Justin Dedich, running back Austin Jones, punter Eddie Czaplicki, offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston, and wide receiver Dorian Singer are on one watch list each. The Wolf Pack has linebacker Eli’jah Winston, offensive lineman Jason Rodriguez and wide receiver John Jackson, who were once part of the USC program but decided they actually wanted to be on the field more than the 12 tuba player in the USC marching band, so they are now Pack players. None of this, of course, is news to anyone older than 18 months ago. But it is a reminder that if the Pack merely covers the spread on Sept. 2, you should form a parade down Virginia Street that evening and meet the team at the airport and show them how grateful you are for their efforts. If they are within two touchdowns head coach Ken Wilson should get an immediate two-year contract extension. And if the Pack wins and completely destroys all of the USC national title dreams, well, nothing is college football will ever make sense again.

•••

USC head coach Lincoln Riley is, without question, one of the five best head coaches in the sport. Riley might be the best head coach the Pack has ever faced. Riley, a former Texas Tech, East Carolina and Oklahoma assistant, has a record of 66-13 in six seasons as a head coach, five at Oklahoma and one at USC. He’s never lost more than three games in any season, and he’s only done that once. He will not turn 40 until three days after the Nevada game, so he has two or three decades left in which to win a handful of national titles and earn a couple billion dollars. Riley, a former Air Raid backup (behind Kliff Kingsbury) has already coached three Heisman-winning quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Williams) and also coached Jalen Hurts, who played in the Super Bowl this past season for the Philadelphia Eagles. Riley is also a former wide receivers coach for Air Raid guru Mike Leach at Texas Tech. The Pack has faced Riley once before when he was Leach’s wide receivers coach in 2008 at Mackay Stadium. Texas Tech won 35-19 as wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught seven passes for 158 yards and an 82-yard touchdown. The Pack played very well but that was a Pack team that had Colin Kaepernick, Vai Taua and others that were young and talented and would develop into the foundation of the historic 2010 team. That (success and glory two years from now) should also be the goal to keep in mind when the Pack is at USC on Sept. 2.

•••

There will also be a touch of history on Sept. 2 when the Pack is in Los Angeles. It will be the 100-year anniversary of the Wolf Pack’s first ever trip to the historic Los Angeles Coliseum. It was also just the second USC game ever in the Coliseum (the first was a 23-7 win over Pomona the week before). USC beat the Pack 33-0 in 1923 after not putting in their starters until just minutes before halftime. The Pack turned the ball over twice after getting inside the USC 20-yard line. And nobody paid them $1.5 million for the game. The Wolf Pack (commonly called the “Wolves” then) were just 2-3-2 in 1923 but also turned in arguably the greatest effort in school history with a 0-0 tie against a mighty California Golden Bears team that won the national title with a 9-0-1 record. So, yes, playing USC and losing by 33 can have its benefits down the road.

•••

The Wolf Pack’s first two games against USC (a 38-7 loss in 1921 and a 6-0 loss in 1922) were played at Bovard Field on USC’s campus. The stadium was mostly known as the home of the USC baseball team until 1974. A 19-year-old Mickey Mantle hit two homers and drove in seven runs at Bovard in an exhibition game for the Yankees against USC in 1951. Both home runs landed in the nearby practice field of the USC football team and were seen by Trojans’ star Frank Gifford. The Yankees and manager Casey Stengel played the game at Bovard as a favor to USC coach Rod Dedeaux, a former player for Stengel with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935. USC built Dedeaux Stadium for the Trojans baseball team in 1974.

•••

The other bit of history on Sept. 2 to make note of is that the contest might be the final game the Pack will ever play against a Pac-12 team. The conference is likely in its last season with every school but Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State playing elsewhere starting in 2024. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are headed to the Big Ten. You can be sure USC wants to leave the Pac-12 with a league title. The Pack is scheduled to play at UCLA in 2026 but the Bruins will be in the Big 10 at the time. The Wolf Pack, of course, has struggled in its history against Pac-12 teams but there have been some unforgettable moments along the way, including wins against Cal in 2010 and 2012, Washington State in 2014, Washington in 2003 and Oregon State in 2018. The scoreless tie in 1923 with Cal is the stuff of Wolf Pack legend. It is incredibly sad that the Pac-12 is about to evaporate. College football on the West Coast will lose a huge part of its history. The schools (USC, UCLA, Oregon, etc.) will always continue to exist but they will belong to a conference in another part of the country. Enjoy the Sept. 2 game at the historic Coliseum and shed a tear for West Coast football. It will never be the same.