It seems the bad news at USC just won't stop coming. An outstandingly ineffective performance against Washington that resulted in a 17-12 loss kicked off the mudslide of negativity and Monday morning's revelation that All-Pac-12 Trojans center Max Tuerk is out for the season after injuring his knee, bookended it. But in between was some odd and quite off-putting news and speculation regarding embattled USC head coach Steve Sarkisian - news and speculation that has grown more and more concerning since.
A day after Sarkisian took a leave of absence in order to enter a treatment facility for alcohol, Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that Sarkisian may have actually been drunk during the Trojan's Sept. 26 game against Arizona State, a 42-14 romp in USC's favor that was a blowout even before the halftime whistle sounded. Per Wolf, "some USC assistants" believe that Sarkisian was inebriated during the game. In fact, according to Wolf, they were concerned enough with Sarkisian's sobriety to actually pull Sarkisian out of a player huddle.
While there's no evidence to substantiate such a claim, Sarkisian's rapid fall from grace - or from lukewarm acceptance - over the past few weeks has been astounding to say the least.
First, it was revealed Sunday that Sarkisian had been "sent home" by USC athletic director Pat Haden prior to Trojan's practice. Clay Helton was then named interim head coach and it was announced that Sarkisian would be taking a leave of absence. Why?
So that Sarkisian could enter an alcohol treatment facility.
While the story already seems ludicrous and unfortunate enough, if Wolf's report is accurate, there may, in fact, be much more to it. And Sarkisian's time at USC could very well be drying up - or out -quickly.
