Homecoming King Pete Carroll fumes, falls with Seahawks

LOS ANGELES >> There were flames and smoke and daylight fireworks, the big homecoming dressed up entirely too well Sunday for something that would implode into rubble.

Oh, the Rams won, 9-3, beating Seattle in a football game decided by actual feet, the kicker-infested victory coming in their first regular-season game in Southern California since 1994.

But the homecoming king? He lost, Pete Carroll watching helplessly from the sideline as his Seahawks did what his USC teams rarely did in the Coliseum - lose and in a way more offensive than OFFensive.

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Just one lousy field goal? Carroll’s Trojans regularly produced more highlights during pre-practice calisthenics.

“I never would have thought we’d go two weeks scoring only one touchdown,” Carroll said, Seattle winning its opener last weekend over Miami, 12-10. “We’re better than that.”

Not on Sunday they weren’t, the Seahawks were unable to solve a Rams defense that made the normally elusive Russell Wilson look like a quarterback with a tender ankle.

Of course, that’s exactly what Wilson was in this game, though Carroll refused to use that ailment as an excuse for why his entire offense limped around.

He also chose to pass on blaming the officials, even after spending a decent amount of the fourth quarter doing something that appeared akin to berating them.

Seattle was called for offensive pass interference three times Sunday, the last penalty resulting in Carroll pretty much fumbling away his 65-year-old mind, the NFL’s oldest coach suddenly more crotchety than ever.

Arguing in a way as animated as “The Simpsons,” Carroll tore into a field judge named Eugene Hall, and when you have to look up the name of the field judge, something interesting certainly has happened.

“I just thought the official was in a difficult position to call what he called,” Carroll explained later, his blood pressure no longer red-lining. “But that didn’t ... I’m going to gripe about calls all the time. That’s just one of them.”

At one point while pleading for clarity, Carroll plowed into one of his own players, wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, the roughness unnecessary but hardly unentertaining.

Carroll was still rambling in the direction of an official five players later, as Seattle was lining up to punt.

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“We have to not have offensive pass interference penalties,” he said. “Those were crushers today.”

As much history as the Rams have in this town and in this stadium, it’s two of Carroll’s teams that are remembered in big numerals painted inside the Coliseum.

The Trojans are honored for the national titles they won in 2003 and 2004, an era during which USC routinely broke school records for number of people in the stands and number of celebrities on the field.

From where he stood during the game Sunday, Carroll could have looked up and admired those numerals.

But the guess here is he was too busy trying to figure out how a team that used to shove Marshawn Lynch down the throat of the opposition no longer can run the ball.

To understand how magical Carroll’s time at USC was, recall that he helped revive the popularity of Henry Winkler, a regular back then at Trojans games and the reason I once was able to report “Fonzie’s on the field again.”

So, even with the Rams wearing their old-school uniforms against the Seahawks and recognizing some of their all-time greats at halftime, this game, in terms of commemorating championships, was more about Carroll.

As for feeling nostalgic afterward, he either misheard the question or had no interest in revisiting a golden era later tarnished by NCAA sanctions.

“That had no factor in any of this,” he said. “It was no issue. Not for me or anyone else around here.”

Despite all of Carroll’s success at USC, this defeat technically means he has a two-game Coliseum losing streak.

His Trojans dropped their regular-season finale here in 2009 to Nick Foles and Arizona, 21-17.

Foles once was quarterback of the Rams, his departure in the offseason preventing Carroll from having to relive too much of that final USC loss Sunday.

Instead, he was able to experience losing to Case Keenum, who again failed to direct the Rams into the end zone but was good enough to produce a victory and - for now, at least - slow the “Got Goff” crowd.

“I thought this was going to be a hard one, and it was,” Carroll said. “Those guys did a nice job. We got in our own way a bit, too. We have to be better, have to play better.”

The Seahawks aren’t a traditional opponent to schedule for a celebration, Seattle having been to two recent Super Bowls.

But this is the NFL, which always seems to maximize drama, the league figuring out a way for both victory and defeat to be felt on a single homecoming.