IMHO Sunday: Trojans back on winning track…barely

In my humble opinion, cardinal and gold thoughts on what I see, what I hear, and what I think from Los Angeles. On track: They say the best way to get the bitter taste of defeat out of a team’s mouth is by washing it out with a victory over the next opponent. The No. 10 USC Trojans (7-1, 5-1 Pac-12) thought they had found the victory cocktail – thanks to their Pac-12 schedule - to get back on the winning track, but the Men of Troy ended up surviving at Arizona, 45-37, in front of a homecoming Arizona Stadium gathering of 44,006 on a lovely late afternoon in Tucson. On track – Part 2: So, the Trojans can cross off another game and mark up another victory – albeit this one was scary at times - and move on. The Men of Troy have now completed their regular season out-of-Los-Angeles road trips, and now will return to the friendly confines of the Coliseum for Cal, Colorado, and the regular season finale with that grand intersectional matchup with Notre Dame on Saturday, No. 26. However, before the merriment with the Irish, the Trojans will take their last “road trip” of 2022 by bussing down the 110 Freeway to take on intercity rival UCLA in the Rose Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 19. Not a bad four-game, end-of-season conclusion with still most - if not all - of their preseason goals remaining intact. However, the Arizona survival in the Tucson desert points out the road won’t be necessarily a smooth one.