"We don't ever try to play great in games. We try to play to our capabilities and do it every game. That's why we can go across the country into a hostile environment and play so well. We don't care where the score goes; we just play."
Maybe so, but with the score standing at 45-7, they played "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" in the stadium, and so the Trojans added yet another touchdown.
They did as they pleased all day long, Carroll making the case afterward they now have something in Mark Sanchez they haven't had since Matt Leinart. As if USC was in need of yet another asset.
"He can strike deep in a heartbeat, and we haven't had that in the last few years," Carroll said. "John David Booty was very conservative and that was fine, but Mark has that attitude to just seize it. He had two deep ball opportunities and hit them both."
The Trojans are loaded on defense, and although some might think Carroll would prefer a conservative quarterback and let his defense dictate the terms of surrender, he said, "No, no, no.
"Mark has unusual qualities, and our job as coaches when you have someone with unusual qualities is to bring those qualities to the forefront."
Hard to find fault with anything the Trojans did, but as Carroll said, "We're not putting ourselves in the Hall of Fame. To go crazy like that would be wrong."
In fact some experts have suggested USC lacks the experience Ohio State packs, and although they concede the Trojans might win such a game later in the year, they believe USC won't be ready early on.
"Were we ready today?" Carroll shot back.
But Ohio State has so many returning starters . . .
"Look at history; it doesn't make a whole lot of difference," he said, and now that's the kind of history worth noting.
Around here they make a historical big deal about the rotunda that T.J. built, a statue of him standing prominently inside, and the place burned down something like 50 years after he died and then had to be rebuilt.
Where's the statue of the guy who rebuilt it?
As Carroll knows so well with the Ohio State game next, it's what have you done for us lately.
IT'S TRUE, I was wearing a "Virginia" T-shirt, and several Trojans fans had something to say about it, unaware it's my wife's name. As soon as I explained it to USC fan Rebecca Tsujimoto, she said, "This way you can keep your wife close to your heart all day."
If you're waiting for a punch line, forget it. I'm headed home.
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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.
