Sitting in the Collesium, 11 rows from the action, and surrounded by the fans of Troy, I began to sweat despite the 60 degree weather. In the third quarter the Cats only gained 8 yards of offense. Our defense seemed to be on the field for the entire second half. Our best defensive back, Trevin Wade, was sitting on the sidelines with an apparent injury and his replacement was being picked on repeatedly. Then USC threw to the end zone to their highly touted Tight End McCoy...off his finger tips and incomplete.
A Trojan fan sitting next to me leaned over and said, "That has been happening to us all year long." Her prediction for doom came true on the next play when the Trojans were penalized and forced to kick a field goal.
The Cats took over the ball in the 4th quarter for their final drive, just as they had done against Cal, Oregon, ASU and others this season. This time it was different, Foles was not going to let us suffer another heartbreaker.
On a 3rd down in the shadow of the Wildcats end zone, Foles stepped up to the line and screamed through the crowd noise for an audible. He had predicted correctly, the Trojan line came blazing downfield on a blitz. Foles used his height and waited till the last second and hit Antolin on a screen pass for a huge play. Two plays later another third down and Foles threw across his body to the middle of the field, a 100 MPH bullet for another first down. He then stepped up to the line again for another audible. He had noticed the single coverage on Criner and was going to throw it deep. He uncorked an absolutely perfect throw and Criner tipped toed to the end zone.
From my seats I couldn't see if he had made the catch or stayed in bounds. The crowd went deathly silent, the Arizona Section went nuts, the referee raised his arms and then I did as well standing in my section signaling touchdown for all the Trojans around me.
What a tremendous game. What a performance by Foles. The amount of huge throws that he made in that game (almost always on a 3rd and long) make you really think he has a chance at one of those Heisman trophies I saw sitting in USC's Heritage Hall.
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