2020 Season Recap: Teams With More To Prove

When a college football program has been to the mountain top but falls on hard times the climb back can be even tougher the second time around. Patience is short and fans remember the good times, but may ignore the time it took to reach those heights. It takes more than one or two good seasons to build a championship caliber program. Today we look at two programs who had a good year and appear to be headed back up the ranks but will need to show more before we become believers.

USC

From 2002 to 2008, Pete Carroll’s USC teams were at the top of the college football mountain. The Trojans went 82 – 9 over those six seasons and were in contention for a BCS Championship Game appearance every year. They never lost more than two games in a season during that stretch and were recruiting at an elite level. After a 9 – 4 season in 2009 and some NCAA compliance issues, Pete Carroll left for the NFL and the Trojans have not been the same since.

Since Carroll’s departure the Trojans have lost at least two games in every full season they have played. The program hit a new low in 2018 when USC finished the season 5 – 7. Clay Helton’s seat was burning hot, but the coach was able to keep his job and put together an 8 – 5 2019 season. It wasn’t up to expectations but it was progress. The seat was still warm and 2020 was a big year for Helton and the Trojans to prove they were in fact back on track.

On the surface the Covid shortened 2020 season was a success for USC. They finished 5 – 1 and won the Pac 12 South. They didn’t win the Pac 12 Championship but a 5 – 0 start and a division title do look like signs of progress. There were no blowout losses, like the debacles against Oregon and Iowa a year ago and there was no upset loss against a 7 – 6 BYU team last year. It was certainly progress, but 2020 is still a long way from where USC wants to be.

Though the Trojans started the season 5 – 0, the margins were razor thin in getting there. They had to come from behind late in the fourth quarter to beat Arizona and Arizona State in the first two games of the season. They actually scored two touchdowns in the last three minutes to over come a 13 point deficit against the Sun Devils. Against UCLA the Trojans trailed by 18 in the third quarter and needed a touchdown with 16 seconds left to secure the win. This was a team that could have very easily been 2 – 3 during the regular season this year.

Credit is due for winning close games and finding ways to win when you may not play your best, though that should not become too regular of an occurrence either. A lot of that would have been forgotten if this was a full season and USC was 10 – 0, but the sample size was small and too many of the games were too close for comfort. Even still a win over Oregon in the Pac 12 Championship would have been a big step in the right direction and sent USC to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Oregon was not nearly as good as they were in 2019 and the team lost several key players who chose to opt out of the 2020 season. USC played a sloppy game as they did the majority of the season, but was unable to make a comeback in the PAC 12 Championship Game. The game showed the same issues that had plagued the team all season and highlighted the fact that those wins were not as impressive as a 5 – 0 record would indicate.

Considering where the Trojans were in 2018, this season was a success. Winning 83 percent of the games you play is nothing to sneeze at, but a closer review reveals a team that is still miles from the glory of the mid 2000s. USC will need to back this season up with a strong showing in 2021 before they are considered to be the program they once were.

USC Trojans Gear

Miami

At the turn of the century, Miami was the prominent program in college football. The Hurricanes were dominant on the field and their alumni were representing across the NFL. The program faltered under Larry Coker’s leadership as they moved from the Big East to the ACC. Since joining the ACC, Miami has had more losing seasons (3) than they have had ten win seasons (1).

The Hurricanes showed some signs of progress under Mark Richt with 9 and 10 win seasons in 2016 and 2017, but lost all that positive momentum with back to back poor seasons in 2018 and 2019. Miami went 7 – 6 under Richt in 2018 and 6 – 7 in Manny Diaz’s first year on the job in 2019. The Hurricanes needed a quick turnaround or risked falling back into the fog of disappointment they have spent much of the past decade in.

Miami has added several transfer players to their roster to provide an immediate talent boost and the decision has paid off. D’Eriq King solidified the quarterback position and became a star in his first season with the team. Jaelen Phillips and Quincy Roche were excellent bookends on the defensive line and created havoc in the opposing backfield. Bubba Bolden emerged as the leader of the secondary and flashed high end ability at the safety position. The Hurricanes started the season 3 – 0 and finished 8-3, a marked improvement over the last two years.

The Hurricanes took a major step forward just by winning the games they were supposed to win. Too many times over the last two years, Miami would play poorly against an underwhelming opponent and lose a game that they should have won fairly easily. The 2020 team overcame this hurdle, more times than not they won these games comfortably. Even when they struggled against lesser competition, Miami was able to battle and pull out the win. These were all signs of progress in 2020.

The problem for Miami in 2020 was their performance against the better teams on the schedule. Miami had two big games this year against Clemson and North Carolina. Both were highly anticipated games and both resulted in a poor showing for the Hurricanes. Clemson dominated the line of scrimmage on defense and smothered the Miami offense en route to a 42 – 17 win. North Carolina ran the ball at will and dominated offensively, blowing out the Hurricanes 62 – 26.

For Miami to be the team they once were they have to represent themselves better in the biggest games. Winning the games you are supposed to win is a step in the right direction, but the goal at Miami has to be to compete with and beat the best teams in the ACC. 2020 was a step in the right direction, but those two conference games showed Miami still has work to do before The U is back.

Miami Hurricanes Gear

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College Football: UCLA at USC. November 23, 2019, Los Angeles, CA Image taken by Steve Cheng, Bruin Report Online is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.