In an eerily similar situation, the USC Trojans ran into an eerily similar outcome.
Just like last year in September when the Trojans had a huge let down losing to Oregon State the week following winning a huge game over Ohio State, USC lost to Washington, an unranked, double-digit underdog after coming from behind to beat Ohio State last week.
Just like last year when the Beavers' combination of James and Jacquizz Rodgers destroyed USC's national championship hopes, Washington featured a brotherly duo at running back and receiver (Chris and Jordan Polk) that helped to demoralize national championship talk in Los Angeles.
But unlike last year, there was a completely different element of coverage.
That unique element was Twitter. Though it has been around since 2006, it wasn't until the attacks in Mumbai, India last November that Twitter really had their moment and exploded.
Since then it has seen exponential growth as celebrities (@THE_REAL_SHAQ, @aplusk, @Oprah, etc.) and news organizations (@cnnbrk, @ESPN, etc.) began using the micro-blogging platform to connect with fans/viewers and to quickly and efficiently disseminate information.
Twitter now is a nearly unescapable social networking tool that provides instantaneous updates about whatever you and the people you "Follow" are interested in. A college football game between two high-profile universities, with one being a top-ranked team as USC has been for nearly the entire last decade, is likely to draw much attention across the land, but in particular near each of the schools.
In fact, a fan could truly "watch" a game without actually seeing one play, but by instead, following a Twitter feed.
Using a small eight mile radius from the zipcodes of each respective school, I got a true essence of the emotional roller coaster of both teams' fans. In both Seattle and Los Angeles there were a slew of hometown fans with a few out-of-towners sprinkled in.
In the 30 minutes leading up to kickoff, there were Seattle comments about the wet field and alum Nate Robinson coming to the game with lady luck; the LA comments centered around injury concerns (with Matt Barkley and Taylor Mays not playing), running the ball and being worried.
Washington alum Nate Robinson on the sideline. (Photo: Shotgun Spratling)
When the Trojans scored on their first two drives, including a Joe McKnight touchdown run, to take a quick 10-0 lead, there was immediately a "here we go again" mentality in Seattle while those from the USC area in Los Angeles were instead making jokes about the game.
The tide started to turn, however, when Washington created their first forced turnover and allowed only one first down on three USC second quarter possessions. SC backup quarterback Aaron Corp was unimpressive at the most while Huskies starter Jake Locker helped give the "UDUB" faithful confidence and hope with his steady play.
By the end of the first half, Huskies' fans were starting to bark rather than the earlier whimperings. The visiting fans, on the other hand, were beginning to get restless and angry.
The Twitter conversation only grew as the second half continued with the score remaining tied during the third quarter and the teams trading field goals in the fourth quarter. The longer Washington hung around, the more fans in Seattle joined the tweet conversation.
In comparison, in Los Angeles, the grumblings only got louder asking whether Corp's scholarship could be revoked, lamenting the turnovers, commenting on the lack of third down conversions, and summed up best by @alfred323's simple assertion that "USC is fucking up!"
When Locker led the troops down the field in the waning moments of the game and when sophomore Nick Folk kicked the game-winning, 22-yard field goal, disbelief was in the air from both sides.
No one could believe what had just happened. Just as no one could believe the explosion of Twitter.
Yet, three years after its creation, a simple Twitter search can allow anyone to keep up with an event as it transpires and not only "see" what is happening, but also understand the emotional outcome of the fans on both sides.
Shotgun Spratling
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