Witnessing The Revolution

I can't say I disagree.

Check out this audio clip from ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd, click on "Twelfth Night".  Cowherd blasts Oklahoma specifically and the Big 12 in general, and gets to the meat of what exactly is going on with USC.  There are way too many memorable lines worth quoting, so I'll just let you listen. 

You will need Windows Media player.  The clip lasts about seven minutes.

Update on Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 09:13PM by CFR

I have come across a transcript of Mr. Cowherd's rant. Check it out below---

What conference is soft? Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, who's soft? I never want to hear Oklahoma football in this phrase together again "Of all time." Yeah, last year I heard Oklahoma defense [mock homer announcer voice] "Is the best of all time. They're monsters! Unblockable! Children are cowering in its wake. Nobody can duplicate it." Yeah. Wasn't even the best defense in the Sugar Bowl.

Yeah, and this year's Oklahoma, the offensive line [mocking] "The greatest of all time. People are fleeing, it's Godzilla. Nobody can survive...a geeh geh". They weren't the best offensive line on the FIELD last night.

Yeah, greatest freshman running back of all time. Save it, Sooner fan. He was the third best running back on the FIELD. Save it. Your teams, your stars, your coaches are overrated and overhyped. You Sooner fans do way too much talking and e-mailing and no listening.

Listen to this: USC's secondary is better than your receivers. Their running backs are better than your linebackers. Their O-line's better than your D-line. Their coaches embarrassed your coaches and their quarterbacks are big boy Play-on-Sunday quarterbacks. You have nice *college* quarterbacks. And it's not even close.

Go ahead, Big-12, convince yourself how great you are, quote [mocking] "Of all time!" God. Yeah, well last night was an all-time can of whoop. How's that for all-time? So stunning in scope, such a moment of clarity, that the monstrous Big-12 Kool-Aid hype machine was exposed. Lots of talk, lots of jive, lots of all-time bluster and SQUAT, for the second year in a row. Hard not to swallow the Big-12 Kool-Aid.

By the way, the Big-12's the only major conference without a starting NFL quarterback. Freakin'...the Sun Belt, jetBlue, Winn-Dixie conference has three.

Oklahoma's secondary was absurd. Just like Iowa's, like Auburn's last year against USC, like Notre Dame. No, in hindsight all this is obvious. In retrospect, there is one thing we should have all seen. Oklahoma State, a one dimensional, one trick pony offense, passed the ball at will on the Sooners. Texas A&M threw on the Sooners. And these are Big-12 schools with lousy quarterbacks and one dimensional offenses who have been exposed.

Hear, hear, rest of America: Take all Oklahoma and Big-12 success with a grain of salt. Congratulations on 77-nothing. Crap is what it is.

By the way, what you're seeing is a unbelievable, unrivaled sea change in college football. We see it all the time in business. What Southwest Airlines did to travel. What the assembly line did to manufacturing. What Spurrier did at Florida. USC is doing it and they are PULLING AWAY. Since Norm Chow and Pete Carroll figured out this whole combo deal, two and a half years ago, they are 31 and 1. Next year at this time, they'll be 44 and 1. They return everybody.

I want to read you a quote from Bill Walsh. Last night. Who absolutely says it all. Quote, "We are witnessing the evolution of offensive football. Anyone who says you have to establish the run before you can do anything is foolish and fooling themselves. They are living in the deep, dark past. It's just not the way the game's played now. Look at the way the Trojans tore apart Oklahoma, receivers open all night, Leinart hitting receivers all over the field."

Let me broaden this out for those of you who don't like college football, don't get it, not your thing. I'm going to kinda correlate this with the NFL. An NFL friend of mine scouts college teams. He said this year, during practice - and this was before all those USC freshmen got kind of their groove going - USC was the only collegiate team he'd ever seen with 11 NFL players on the field, EVER. And he'd scouted all the Jimmy Johnson Hurricaine clubs.

Two and a half years ago, USC clicked. It took a while, just like it does in a marriage, a friendship, a merger - they clicked. It took them a little bit of over a year. Since that time, "Oh it's those soft Pac-10 defenses." No! No, let me go give you some numbers about all the other *powers*.

55-19, Oklahoma [mocking/crying] "Of all time, dominating, unblockable monsters!"
Michican, 28-14 going away.
That great Iowa team, 38-17.
Auburn, last year, 23-nothing.
Colorado, 40-3.
Notre Dame hammered three times.

Don't give me "the Pac-10's soft" thing. The only team that's played with USC the last two years is Cal. Because they can duplicate or at least SIMULATE USC in preparation, because they have an NFL quarterback. If you don't have an NFL quarterback, if you don't have a guy that can make 35 yard outs, you canNOT beat USC.

Pac-10's soft? Go look at the Aggies. Go look at the Cowboys from Oklahoma State. Go look at the Sooners. Who was SOFT in these bowl games? Pac-10 is 3 and 2, just like every other conference. "But USC..." but NOTHIN'. They are PULLING AWAY. Pro offensive schemes against goofy college coaches still pounding straight ahead and going deep. That's their offense. POUND. "Of all time!" Going deep. It doesn't work.

Ok, and I'm going to tell you something. If I'm a college program, I don't care who you are. USC sees teams with these nice college quarterbacks. USC's all back. 16 of their 22 offensive players are freshmen or sophomores without a redshirt year. And they're just coming off back-to-back the best two recruiting classes some say EVER.

They're changing the game. We see it all the time in football. It's happened so many times. We used to have the single wing, the veer, the option, the 'bone. Then it was Steve Spurrier, spread it out five wide. I don't know what you want to call this Pete Carroll, Norm Chow combo deal. You can call it anything you want, but we are noticing an evolution. 31 and 1, gonna be 44 and 1 and they return everybody. For three years, it's freshmen everywhere.

We've seen it with the 46 defense, we've seen it with the west coast offense, we've seen it with the zone blitz. We've seen radical changes. We are seein' one. I don't know the name for it, but college football's not ever gonna look the same again because of what USC is doing right now.