This blog post and the accompanying audio were originally posted prior to the 2013 season.
The Brad Scott era at USC continues its slow fade in 1997, dropping to a 5-6 record. At least with the 6-5 in 1996 we had victories over Georgia and Clemson, but not so in ’97. The season could’ve turned out better, but a devastating knee injury to quarterback Anthony Wright against Tennessee forced 165-lb. Vic Penn into action.
Penn fled the program to Central Florida after the Clemson game, largely because he couldn’t throw the out (1:36:37 here). In that Clemson game, despite a blazing start by Troy Hambrick (TD’s at 22:10 and 31:50 here), we lost primarily due to Brad Scott making one of the worst calls in coaching history (1:05:50 here).
(Note: also fun to see Wally Burnham of USC matching defensive wits with Reggie Herring of Clemson. Two of the most hated defensive coordinators in the state’s history.)
Still, 5-6 was a picnic compared to what was coming.
Click here, or click the link to listen, and enjoy!