John Walters

USC coach Pete Carroll has a keen sense of humor, so here is an idea for him: On the morning of the Rose Bowl, have the staff at the Trojans’ team hotel deliver a wake-up call to his players in the form of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You, Babe.”

New Year’s Day has indeed become Groundhog Day for the Trojans, who find themselves ending their season in Pasadena for the fourth consecutive January (and 5^th of the last six). Four of those five games were played Jan. 1, the exception being the 2006 BCS national championship game, which was played on Jan. 4. Carroll’s seniors have played six games in the Rose Bowl: It’s their home away from, and not far from, home.

Carroll and his squad do not yet appear bored by the redundancy, much less at the alarm-clock-smashing stage, of their annual 16-mile jaunt up the Harbor Freeway to the Arroyo Seco. The Rose Bowl is, after all, the most sublime bowl setting by far. You, however, may be wondering what will differentiate this year’s game from the last few, as the spry Trojans humble yet another heavy-legged heathen from the Big Ten.

Is this not, you wonder, just another Re-Pete? Will the ’08 Nittany Lions be any more competitive than the ’07 Illini (49-17) who were less a challenge than the ’06 Wolverines (32-18), who were no better than the ’03 Wolverines (28-14). The Trojans have a five-game win streak versus traditional Big Ten foes in the Rose Bowl extending back to 1990. On a day that is pregnant with resolutions, the Trojans are decidedly ... resolute.

Only Vince Young and Texas provided a buzzkill, in the aforementioned ’06 BCS championship game/Rose.

Fear not. Here are three compelling reasons to begin 2009 with the Rose Bowl (after the two Advil and the greasy breakfast):

1) The Trojans defense
You are watching the best defensive unit in a generation whenever middle linebacker Rey Maualuga and his buddies take the field. The Trojans surrendered just 11 touchdowns in 12 games, allowing an average of 7.75 points per game. USC became the first defensive unit in 20 years, dating back to the ’88 Auburn Tigers, to allow fewer than eight points per game.

Two schools, Oregon State and Stanford, combined to score 50 points against the Trojans defense this autumn (on each school’s respective home turf). The other 10 opponents scared up a total of 43 points versus the Trojans. When Notre Dame faced USC in late November, Charlie Weis unapologetically opted for a fourth-quarter field goal with his Irish trailing 31-0. Why?

“We wanted to avoid a shutout,” Weis said.

One week later UCLA scored one TD versus the Trojans — on an option pass from wideout Dominique Johnson to tailback Kahlil Bell (but then, Trojan defenses have historically been vulnerable to trickeration … ask Odysseus).

Special feature Rose Bowl Take a look at the impact players and coaches that will decide whether USC or Penn Stae will win the Rose Bowl. NBCSports.com

Bell’s touchdown followed a USC fumble deep in its own territory. Arizona also scored a TD off the Trojans defense after USC quarterback Mark Sanchez fumbled inside his 20-yard line. But that’s about it. If you omit the Stanford game Nov. 15 (a 45-23 Trojans victory), USC allowed just two touchdowns in their final seven games, and both followed turnovers deep in their own territory.

USC also leads the nation in total defense (206.1 yards per game). The last defense to be so stingy with yardage was the ’92 Alabama group that led the Tide to a national championship despite an offense that was at best average.

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Linebackers Maualuga and Brian Cushing were the 2008 and 2007 Rose Bowl defensive players of the game, respectively. Those two might be joined by as many as three teammates — safeties Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays and defensive tackle Fili Moala — in hearing their names called in the first round of next April’s NFL draft.

Florida and Oklahoma have two of the most impressive offenses you’ll ever see in college football ... and that is why both one-loss teams will vie for the national championship one week later in Miami. But the best unit in college football is the USC defense.