FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 30 -- After hours of watching film of Oklahoma in preparation for Tuesday's national championship game at the Orange Bowl, University of Southern California Coach Pete Carroll feels a little like he has been staring in the mirror, only the image hasn't been smiling back at him. As the No. 1 Trojans and No. 2 Sooners prepare to square off amid squadrons of television trucks, throngs of crazed supporters, endless beach parties and rib dinners, they are finding the enemy looks a lot like themselves.
Both teams have Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. Both have flashy running backs and stingy defenses. And both have been here before -- in south Florida, playing in the Orange Bowl, and at the center of games of enormous magnitude.
| No. 1 USC 55, No. 2 Oklahoma 19
• Southern Cal rockets past Oklahoma to ensure another national championship for Coach Pete Carroll and the Trojans.
• Michael Wilbon: USC's Leinart (above, right) is ready for the next level.
• Sooners' turnovers hamstring drive for title.
• The BCS will be a hot topic yet again. _____Audio_____
• USC quarterback Matt Leinart talks about a total team effort.
• USC running back LenDale White discusses the team's motivation.
• USC Coach Pete Carroll had a good feeling going into the game.
• Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops credits the Trojans' preparation. _____Bowl Results_____
• Look back at the outcomes of 28 bowl games crammed into three weeks of college football.
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"This is such a great matchup of two teams that have had really successful seasons and have like strengths," Carroll said at Thursday's kickoff coaches' news conference in a hotel ballroom. "All of us want to see what happens -- myself included."
Preparing a plan of attack under the circumstances is, apparently, quite absorbing.
"Someone asked me what day it was," Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said Thursday morning. "I said Monday. I don't know what day it is."
The numbers prove what perception suggests: The Trojans and Sooners would be virtually indistinguishable if they didn't wear different uniforms. USC has averaged 36.8 points per game, Oklahoma, 36.1. Southern Cal's defense has allowed 12.5 points on average; Oklahoma's, 13.7.
The teams are close in total offense (442.8 yards for USC to 469.6 for Oklahoma), passing efficiency (155.5 to 162.3) and total defense (271.6 yards to 280.2).
"You can go across the board," Carroll said. "There's just a ton of similarities. . . . In the end, the fact that they are so athletic, so fast and so good, that kind of overrides the fun of the quest to try to figure out how to beat them."
If there is a crucial difference between the two programs -- aside from the obvious geographical and lifestyle gap between Norman, Okla., and Los Angeles -- it's in what drove each team to college football's ultimate game.
Southern Cal finished last season bathed in Gatorade, champagne and triumph, having claimed the national title the Sooners relinquished with an inexplicable, late-season spiral. Oklahoma lost both in the Big 12 championship to Kansas State and in the Sugar Bowl to LSU, turning what could have been a season of historic success into one of historic collapse.
"After having a feeling like that after the game, it's just one of those things that you don't want to happen again," Sooners offensive lineman Davin Joseph said Wednesday. "Going into this game, we don't want to have any regrets."
Southern Cal, meantime, claimed a championship that weighed this season down as much as it lifted spirits last January, bringing about such heavy expectations that victories each week were sometimes accompanied more by sighs of relief than celebrations. With a 13th win Tuesday, the Trojans would become only the second team in history to start the season No. 1 and hold on to that ranking throughout (Florida State did it in 1999).
"I worked real hard not to lay that burden on them," Carroll said. "It was a challenge all year to deal with the normal kind of wrath of questioning and issues about being [in] the number one spot. . . . We tried to enjoy the fact that we had that opportunity as much as anything."
The opportunity came about in part because Matt Leinart stepped in superbly two years ago for Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and has since thrown 66 touchdowns in 25 career starts. Leinart won the Heisman this season, topping last year's Heisman Trophy winner -- none other than Jason White of Oklahoma. Despite not doubling his Heisman collection, White, some believe, had a better season, completing 65 percent of his passes and tossing 33 touchdown passes.
Both quarterbacks have speedsters in the backfield, with true freshman Adrian Peterson averaging 5.9 yards per carry for Oklahoma and totaling 1,860 yards. The explosive Reggie Bush will try to match Peterson, but possibly without his usual sidekick as tailback LenDale White tries to work his way back from a high-ankle sprain. Bush has rushed for 833 yards this year; White, 985.
Carroll said he was comfortable with Bush, known for his highlight-film prances, shouldering the rushing load. Another source of comfort: Both programs are familiar with Pro Player Stadium and the beach-party atmosphere. In 2000, Oklahoma won a national title at the Orange Bowl, defeating Florida State. Southern Cal played here just two years ago, crushing Iowa.
"It's exciting to be in this game," Stoops said. "Definitely, a national championship is exciting in itself; then to be playing them, that probably gives you a little boost as well."
