Sarkisian Groomed for Upsets Like This

For those who know Washington's Steve Sarkisian and have followed his journey from unknown junior college quarterback to first-year Pac-10 head coach, the Huskies' 16-13 victory over USC on Saturday should not come as a surprise.

That's because Sarkisian is a true idealist and competitor who had prepared himself for this moment for years.

And USC coach Pete Carroll -- the ultimate optimistic who loves every challenge -- knew this as well as anyone.

For seven seasons, Sarkisian worked under Carroll as an offensive assistant for the Trojans and although they may not have been best friends, the coaches grew close enough to respect the other's will to compete.

How could they not after spending so much time together?

From eating late night meals and holding team meetings to traveling on recruiting trips and playing pick-up basketball, it was always Sarkisian and Carroll.

A lot of time to get to know each other's tendencies and for people like Sarkisian and Carroll, that's the definition of competition.

"As far as the relationship going into this game, there's nothing I've liked more than playing against people that I really love, and friends and people that I've worked with," Carroll said prior to Saturday's game. "For whatever sordid reason that is, I don't know. I can't explain it, but it's fun to go against our guys. It will be fun to match up with a program that is similar to ours."

Unfortunately for Carroll, years from now it's likely that Sarkisian will remember Saturday's matchup as fun.

Early on, however, it certainly didn't look like it would end up that way for Sarkisian and the Huskies.

With third-year sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp making his first start due to an injury to true freshman Matt Barkley, USC featured a punishing ground game and took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.


"Early in the game, you would have thought we would have gotten beat, 50-0," Sarkisian told reporters after the Huskies defeated USC for the first time since 2001 and avenged last season's 59-0 loss to the Trojans at the Coliseum.

The Huskies definitely looked like an overmatched team. Washington's defense was getting chopped up and the Trojans' running backs Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson ran through holes big enough to fit Shaquille O'Neal and Yao Ming at the same time.

But Sarkisian did not panic and his team responded. Once the Huskies figured out Carroll's conservative approach with Corp, Washington concentrated on shutting down USC's rushing attack on running downs.

A tactic that worked to perfection when the Trojans kept to the ground and failed to take advantage Corps' mobility (his biggest asset as a quarterback) by keeping him in the pocket.

"We didn't throw the ball very well today," Carroll said after the game. "It was obvious. We threw the ball for 110 yards and couldn't get the ball down the field. We rarely get in that situation."

Throughout the game, USC seemed content not to take chances passing the ball and this allowed Washington defensive coordinator Nick Holt, who spent six seasons as an assistant working under Carroll at USC, to dictate play for much of the final three quarters.

Even when the Trojans had the Huskies on the rope, their conservative approach hurt them. That was the case late in the fourth quarter.

With Washington leading, 13-10, USC drove the ball to the Huskies' 11, thanks to two misdirection runs by McKnight and Johnson. But after catching Holt's defense off-guard for big gains, two of USC's next three plays were similar runs behind the right side of the line, which forced the Trojans to settle for a field goal to tie the score at 13-13 setting the stage for Sarkisian's biggest competitive move of the game.

With the Huskies needing only a field goal to win, Sarkisian did not force things with his play-calling on the Huskies' final drive. Instead of looking for big pass plays down the field, Washington quarterback Jake Locker was given plenty to work with underneath and that was a big plus against the Trojans' aggressive defense.

Yet, early in the game-winning drive, USC still had Washington's offense under control when the Huskies were stuck with a third-down and 15 from their own 28-yard line.

Following a time-out called by Carroll, who was looking to get the ball back to win the game, Sarkisian outguessed his mentor. Knowing Carroll's tendency to play it safe with a two-deep safety coverage in situations like this, Washington called on a pass play in the middle of the field.

With USC opting not to blitz and rush only four players, Locker had enough time to complete a key 21-yard pass to tight end Jermaine Kearse for a first down to keep the Huskies' drive alive.

The rest is history. Even though Washington made a couple of more big plays that led up to Erik Folk's game-clinching 22-yard field goal, the true turning point was Sarkisian's third down call to find Kearse.

It's a play that Carroll will remember and a moment Sarkisian likely had envisioned before.

That's what competition is all about.