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Fansided

USC Football’s 8 Greatest Non-UCLA Losses since 2000

By Nathan Eberhardt

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Oct 29, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns mascot celebrates after defeating the Baylor Bears 35-34 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; The Texas Longhorns mascot celebrates after defeating the Baylor Bears 35-34 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Jan. 4, 2006 | Pasadena, CA | Texas 41 – USC 38

You knew this game had to appear on a list like this. The complicating factor, though, is that it’s hard to make fun of a team for going wire-to-wire ranked #1 only to lose by 3 in the championship game to one of the all time great players in the sport.

That said, this game is on the short list of the best games of all time, and USC was on the losing end. I still wear the burnt orange polo shirt I bought to wear while watching this game.

This really marked the end of Pete Carroll‘s mini-run atop the sport. Every year after this until he skipped town, USC was derailed by one or two losses to lesser teams that prevented the Trojans from contending for a title. There had been so much hype going into this game about whether USC was the best team ever and about where the Trojan dynasty fit into the history of the sport.

And with one QB scramble, Vince Young just said, ‘Stop it!’