USC Earns the Sugar and No Substitute

There were screams of sugar, cries about Mardi Gras, cheers for a soaked coach and skipping players and starry tradition.

There was only one chant missing from the rowdy postgame Coliseum field early Saturday night.

Here’s guessing USC fans will figure it out by this morning and echo it across town for at least the next month.

“We’re No. 1!”

What USC fans didn’t know then, they will know now.

Their team should be ranked No. 1 in the country today.

Their team should play in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship next month.

Argument completed. Gavel pounded. Case closed.

Will it happen? For the sake of whatever integrity remains in college football’s postseason system, it better happen.

On a murky afternoon here, the second-ranked team, USC, clearly defeated Oregon State, 52-28.

Much later, in snowy Kansas City, Mo., the top-ranked team, Oklahoma, was shoveled over by Kansas State, 35-7.

All of which left a one-word answer for the identity of the team that should finish the regular season as the No. 1 team in the country and maintain the red corner in the national title bout.

Duh.

This is not written as a homer -- my USC jeering section knows better -- but as a witness.

This solution is as simple as USC has made it look in winning 11 of 12 games this year by an average margin of 26 points.

The answer is football’s only team that has gone unbeaten in regulation, football’s only one-loss powerhouse that hasn’t lost a game since September.

“There’s nothing more we can do,” Trojan Keary Colbert said on a rowdy postgame field, shortly after climbing down from a podium where he had been directing the band.

Instead of a baton, he was holding a box of sugar.

Instead of waving two fingers, he was waving a sign that read, “Sugar Bowl USC.”

On the scoreboard behind him, a Mardi Gras mask provided the backdrop for the words, “Let The Good Times Roll.” On the turf at his feet, fans roamed with beads and Southwest Airlines itineraries.

For weeks, the coach tried to stifle it and the kids had tried to ignore it but finally, could you blame them?

“Yeah, we would be surprised if we don’t get to the ‘nati,’ ” defensive tackle Mike Patterson said. “I don’t know about stats or anything but, based on points, this game should tell them we’re ready. We are ready.”

Some folks will claim today that one-loss LSU, based on its overwhelming win over Georgia on Saturday, should pass the Trojans in the polls and play Oklahoma for the title.

To that, one could offer three arguments.

Western Illinois. Louisiana Monroe. Louisiana Tech.

All fine institutions, certainly, and apparently LSU scheduled a couple of them only after late cancellations by other teams.

But two victories over Georgia and a win over Ole Miss notwithstanding, they should not be allowed to march toward a championship on three such doormats.

USC has been better, later, than anyone in the country, period.

Think of it another way: If the No. 2 team in the country wins its final regular-season game by two dozen points and does not play for the national title, something is terribly wrong.

“Big win. Last game of the season. We’re doing what we can,” defensive lineman Shaun Cody said with a shrug.

Granted, Saturday’s was a strange little win. The Trojans absently flew around the field for much of the first half, tired on defense in the second half and were fortunate it wasn’t closer.

Oregon State racked up 543 total yards, outgaining the Trojans by 155 yards while scoring on three drives of more than 70 yards.

The Trojan offense rarely rushed between the tackles, their best block was thrown by receiver Mike Williams and LenDale White gained only 37 yards.

They won not with power, but with big plays. They didn’t force it, they finessed it. It wasn’t the sort of punching that would win a national championship bout.

But on a day when real vulnerability was exposed elsewhere in the country, 52-28 should be the only thing that counted.

“Football is about more than the statistics, it’s about mistakes. We made mistakes and the final score is what matters,” said Beaver tight end Tim Euhus, whose team committed five turnovers. “Yeah, I think USC should be in the big game.”

Matt Leinhart was intercepted for the first time in two months, but he threw five touchdown passes.

Williams was stopped on a couple of his trademark screen passes, but he made a jaw-dropping, one-handed touchdown catch that made the score 28-7.

Then there was Will Poole, the cornerback who was beaten badly on a 90-yard pass play to start the game but rebounded with a 67-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“Around here, we play four quarters,” said Poole.

Four quarters of a game. Four quarters of a season. Unlike Oklahoma.

The Trojans struggled at times Saturday, but, for a team that has won 19 of its last 20 games, struggling is relative.

It wasn’t their best game of the year, but when that happens on a day you score 52 points, how good are you?

Right now, the best team in the country.

Right now, they belong in New Orleans on Jan. 4.

Anything less would be the vowel that breaks the BCS’ back.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.