Eye black: Blame it on Bush

The sudden buzz over eye black at USC can be traced to Reggie Bush, reports Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.

Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times
Reggie Bush paid tribute to his home 619 area code.

USC will have a feast - really

Well, the Trojans won't go hungry preparing for Ohio State on Saturday night.



Here is a dispatch from the USC RipsIt blog on their early-morning feast after arriving from Los Angeles:



"DUBLIN, Ohio -- USC sure knows how to eat well. On Thursday night, the Trojans started off with Chick-Fil-A sandwiches to get them from campus to the airport. Then, they ate endlessly on the flight to Columbus, an airborne smorgasbord that included lasagna, enchiladas, desserts, fruits, cheeses, crackers and more. Then, upon arrival at their suburban Columbus hotel, a full buffet of meats, pastas, breads and desserts - somehow labeled as a "snack" - was waiting, a perfect nightcap at 3 a.m. And then on Friday, the team will wake up and do it all over again, with three meals and another overflowing buffet "snack" on the docket."










Photo courtesy of USC athletic department

Quite a history between USC-Ohio State

Here is a bit of the history between USC and Ohio State, courtesy of the official Ohio State Buckeyes football site.

• More than 300 all-time First-Team All-Americans
• Almost 150 NFL total First-Round Draft picks
• Close to 60 combined College Football Hall of Famers
• 46 total Rose Bowl games
• 18 combined recognized national titles
• 7 Heisman Trophy winners apiece
  

Bollman says Buckeyes need to be "on verge of rage"

Jim Bollman, Ohio State offensive coordinator and line coach, says the Buckeyes should approach Saturday night's gme with USC on the verge of rage.

Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has a story on how the Buckeyes' youth plays into the game.

To me, the biggest problem the Buckeyes face is depth - USC is loaded and even if Matt Barkley gets rattled, the Trojans have very capable backup quarterbacks in Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain.

Coach waiting for "I Love Coach Carroll" in eye black

In the wake of some controversy sparked when Ohio State sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor wore eye black as a tribute to Michael Vick, USC coach Pete Carroll said his team's eye black is monitored by equipment managers.

Carroll said "Hi, Mom" is acceptable. Also, "I love Coach Carroll."

"I'm still waiting for that one to show up," Carroll told the Los Angeles Times. "It's on the suggested list."

AP's video analysis of Saturday's USC-Ohio State game

Here is a video analysis from Associated Press writers Greg Beacham (USC) and Rusty Miller (Ohio State) on Saturday's game, courtesy of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Will seeing in 3-D be believing?

Saturday's USC-Ohio State game will be shown in 3-D in Columbus, Los Angeles, suburban Dallas and Hartford, Conn. (for ESPN guests).


"I can't say if this will be different or better (than previous 3D football telecasts), but we're just going at it the way we believe would should attack a 3D broadcast," Anthony Bailey vice president of ESPN's emerging technologies told the Los Angeles Daily News. "When we did our first test, we went in thinking, `Football may not benefit from 3D, but let's try it out.' We learned that while low-angle stuff is compelling, we need to shoot high to give people a sense of what's going on. With different equipment, we came out of it believing football can benefit, if there's a good mixture of high and low shots."




Here is what Galen Center looked like as crews
get it prepared for Saturday's showing.
Photo from USC athletic department