USC Really Knows How to Handle Its Business

The Rose Bowl picture sharpened Saturday, as if the photographer switched from 2 to 5 megapixels. Forget about Virginia Tech bypassing Texas for the No. 2 spot in the bowl championship series standings because of a stronger schedule, and drop the notion of a potential super showdown between USC and UCLA.

The road is paved for USC and Texas to meet in Pasadena. And we know the Trojans will do their part. There will be no letdown.

At this point there’s no need to look at the schedule anymore. It’s as plain as the menu at In-N-Out Burger. Every week USC plays, its opponent is USC.

And the Trojans have themselves well-scouted. They’ve seen the potential for boredom, complacency and overconfidence and have devised the perfect game plan to counter it.

Remember their first-half problems, when the Trojans trailed Oregon, Arizona State and Notre Dame at halftime and struggled to a 14-7 lead over Arizona at intermission?

Those are done like “Chappelle’s Show.”

The Trojans had the two Washington schools down by a combined 75-23 before their first trip back up the tunnel, and Saturday they led Stanford, 44-7, before the entertaining battle of the bands.

The Trojans’ first-half output was their highest-scoring half since 1974.

It was time to start connecting the dots. If USC could beat Stanford, 51-21, and Stanford dominated UCLA for three quarters, and the Bruins just rolled over in Arizona, does it really make sense to expect a UCLA upset against USC on Dec. 3?

USC’s offense scored on all of its first-half possessions and didn’t commit a turnover. The defense pressured quarterback Trent Edwards all night.

I’m guessing Pete Carroll knew Thursday that the outcome would be this way, when he talked about a great week of practice and said: “The finish really has begun, the second half of the season. We try to make a big deal of that to our guys, that now it’s time to start moving ahead and really start playing really well. We go out there and play really well, whatever happens [with the BCS] happens.”

Carroll likes to say the Trojans are “crescendoing” through weeks of practice and the course of the season. That’s not really a verb, but when you win 31 consecutive games you’re allowed to set your own grammatical rules.

It says something that some of USC’s best efforts have come after the emotional victory at Notre Dame. The Trojans have found a way to stay motivated, somehow keeping focused on each opponent while not forgetting their shot at history and an unprecedented third consecutive national championship. Perhaps USC was agitated Saturday by Stanford’s audacity to defer after winning the coin toss.

But the Trojans still have some issues to address.

Right now the most important thing is keeping LenDale White away from Matt Leinart. Every time the quarterback tries to block for his big back, Leinart’s in danger.

At Notre Dame, White kneed Leinart in the head and dazed him.

Saturday night, when White reversed his field on a run, Leinart got in front to throw a block and White rammed into Leinart’s valuable left shoulder.

But Leinart showed he was fine by zipping a pass to Dwayne Jarrett on the next play. In the future, though, he should leave the blocking to the big boys up front.

The defense is thinned almost to the limit after linebacker Oscar Lua sprained a knee in the first half. He joined linebackers Dallas Sartz and Keith Rivers on the sideline. Apparently Carroll was so desperate that he sent linebacker Rey Maualuga -- who allegedly hit a man at a party early Tuesday morning -- into the game. So much for the heavy discipline.

USC also must address the issue of the Heisman Trophy. Right now the Trojans have so many great players that it’s muddling the picture the same way the competition between the Coliseum, Rose Bowl and Anaheim is hindering L.A.’s chances of getting another NFL team.

Reggie Bush is still the most dynamic player in college football, and for the latest proof I’ll offer his 42-yard touchdown in the first quarter, when Bush dashed toward the sideline, cut just inside the big “40” painted on the field and hit the afterburners to reach the end zone.

But he might not have the numbers to impress the Heisman voters, who won’t understand the timeliness of his touchdowns. Once again he scored when the Trojans led by only seven points and changed the feel of the game. He always seems to score when the Trojans are behind, tied or barely ahead. But his 113 yards rushing won’t make anyone spill their coffee over the morning box scores -- and it was already after 10 p.m. on the East Coast when he made his touchdown dash.

Leinart was 22 for 28 for 259 yards and four touchdowns.

Dwayne Jarrett had eight receptions for 101 yards and his nation-leading 14th touchdown.

Honestly, ESPN could save a lot of money on the Heisman show and just send a camera to the USC team banquet.

Elsewhere, Texas quarterback Vince Young completed 16 of 27 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 53 yards. But it will be hard to get the 506 yards of total offense he posted last week.

And it will be hard for anyone to keep his mind off a Texas-USC Rose Bowl ... which is USC’s greatest challenge over the next three games.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/Adande.