LIVE BLOG: Welcome to L.A., USC vs. UW, 1st Quarter

1:18- FSN shows Henry Winkler flashing the victory sign. 8 seconds later...Stanbeck throws it away on 3rd down. Coincidence? I think not. Huskies poke a FG through to end the 1st Quarter. USC 7, UW 3

1:16- Score check: LSU has jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Florida.

1:14- So apparently UW can only play well on 3rd and long. That's three straight conversions. Followed by a huge run by James. I gotta say, the SC D is guessing at the moment.

1:13- According to Petros, "Sonny Shackleford is doing a great job of catching Stanback's balls." Nice.

1:10- Nice find by Stanback on 3rd and long to get the Huskies a first down. That's one completion, which means his first INT is about three attempts away.

1:08- Oh, good. I was really wondering how Ohio State was faring against Bowling Green. Total toss-up.

1:07- Oh by the way, that first drive...18 plays, 96 yards. Decent.

1:00- So you know how I said that 4th and 1 was a cocky call? Yeah, well the fake FG for a touchdown was a lot cockier. Sweet stuff. USC 7, UW 0

12:59- The bad news...Jarrett just dropped what would've been a sweet TD pass. The good news...he took a shot on his shoulder and hopped right up.

12:57- 4th and 1 for the Trojans in clear FG range. What should they do? Run off tackle with Washington. Cocky first down.

12:55- After a near pick on 2nd down, Booty just threw an absolute dart to Patrick Turner on 3rd and long. First down.

12:51- The frosh Vidal Hazelton picks up a nice gain after a big Chauncey Washington run. Hazelton is going to be a very nasty player in a year or two.

12:47- Vintage Stanback one-hop pass on third-and-short. 3 and out to start the game. Daddy like.

12:46- Also back today...D-lineman Sedrick Ellis. He has been missed up front the last couple weeks.

12:44- Looks like Dwayne Jarrett is going to get some reps today despite the injured shoulder. Let's hope Pete Carroll doesn't regret that decision at 4pm.

12:40- Great. They just had to point out that Ty Willingham was the last coach to beat SC at the Coliseum didn't they?

12:31- And it's time to dance. Pray I make it through the day. The good folks at FSN have given us the gift of the borderline insane Petros Papadakis (who just brushed his shoulder off during the intro) as our color man today. I actually have a soft spot in my heart for Petros because he was still a RB at USC during my first couple years. Somewhere in the Annenberg TV News archives there's a very funny 6 0r 7 minute on-camera interview during which Petros chain-smokes three cigarrettes. This was during the season...ahhh, the Paul Hackett years.

12:18- First order of business is to gave some major kudos to Arkansas who just tied a pretty bow on their 27-10 win on the road against #2 Auburn. The Razorbacks just dominated the entire game, and in doing so, left the door wiiiiiiide open for the Trojans. USC is back in the position of just needing to win their own games to get into the title game. Would be very nice to see them make a statement today.

11:45- Welcome, all, to the the second installment of TDS Live Blog. This one's a doozy. In fact, I may be in over my head. Two games, 8 hours. All live. We pop the top (literally...there's a bottle of Cook's on ice to get shit started) on this day with USC hosting Washington. We'll wrap it up tonight with Oregon at Cal. Same drill as last time. Each quarter gets it's own post. I'll update each quarter's section throughout. Feel free to get at me during the games: the.dar@hotmail.com

The cast of characters this week: Myself, and thirteen beautiful women. That would be Mrs. Dar (raging Duck fan) and the twelve St. Pauli Girls chilling in my fridge. There's also the aforementioned Cook's and an emergency six-pack of Rolling Rock just in case we have to deal with overtime. As always, apologies in advance for the inevitable increase in spelling errors and profanity. Back in 45...