Morning Buzz

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Matt Barkley believes he’s “managed the games tremendously well” this season and admitted “this is not a year for me to start complaining about stats or anything like that.”
Link here.

33 thoughts on “Morning Buzz”

  1. It depends on the meaning of the word “well.” Does he honestly think he managed the Stanford game tremendously well? Does Matt think he deserves the Heisman?

  3. Looks like Kiff’s preoccupation with stats has befallen Barkley as well. If you constantly have to tell us you don’t care about stats…

  4. I’m not so sure Barkley is managing games tremendously well, but USCs D is sure looking a lot better than it did last year. The most important stat is scoring D. USC has gone from allowing 23.58 points/game through 12 games last year to allowing just 17.25 through four games this year. (But it should be noted that these figures include points scored by opponents Ds & STs, which USCs D did not allow). USCs rushing D has held relatively steady allowing just 5.58 yards per game more than last year. USC is giving up less yards through the air though, allowing 229.50 yards per game this year after giving up 263.33 last year. More importantly, USCs pass efficiency D has improved greatly from 130.32 to 109.00. That has improved USCs total D from 374.75 to 346.50. Turnovers gained are up due to an increase in INTs. TFLs and sacks are both up. USC is doing a little better on 3rd down D but theyre giving up about the same number of total 1st downs/game. USCs 4th down D has been pretty poor so far but their RZ D has been outstanding. If USCs D keeps playing at their current level they should be recognized as one of the better Ds in the nation. But theyre going to have to step it up against OR, ASU, UCLA & AZ.

  5. Exactly. Nothing lies like numbers. Let’s see how these stats pan out after the Oregon game.

    And wasn’t UCKLA No. 1 or close to it in offense after a couple of weeks? Oh, but that was before Oregon State

  6. OregonSt would beat Goat like …. well, like Stanford does every year. Hard to believe a USC coach is 0-3 vs Stanford. Hackett like stuff there.

  7. Good job, NJ. Our defense played well against Stanford and even gave us a chance to tie. That loss is on Matt. He came back to win the Heisman and lead us to a national title. The good news is that is we beat #2 Oregon we are back in it.

  8. I’m sorry, you don’t become a head football coach of a very top program by not knowing your business inside & out. #1-You know very well what you do successfully in previous games, the next opponent is going to study it and try stopping it. Kiffin force fed the passing plays the first 2 games when he should have used his RBs & O-line much more. Lord knows it really needed work, any idiot could see that. Stanford had enough of a gameplan & the “D” to stop Kiffin’s playcalling throughout the whole game. And when he needed to run the ball, there was nothing there (surprise?)and the shakey “D” gave up the winning scores. You live by the sword Kiffin, you die by it. #2-Kiffin spent how many years under PC? And we are all still waiting for any halftime adjustments to happen. Good Lord, doesn’t anyone on the coaching understand you have to react to what the other side is doing? The most amazing number of the who damn game was 0 points scored the 2nd half by the offense. Barkley & the O-line were not responsible for that number. It was the playcalling… the whistler knows!

  9. Translation: “I know I made a mistake returning to this mess called. Our season is going straight into the shitter, so why even bother discussing stats, when I know I’m being outplayed by a freshman QB across town”.

    @Lawyer John “UCKLA’s” offense is now #1 in the nation.
    our QB is #7 passer in the nation. yours is in the 20s
    our Passing game is #10 in the nation yours in the 50s
    our Running game is #10 in the nation yours in the 50s

    UCLA still had 440 yards of offense despite having 7 passes dropped with two for TDs…had two of those long passes not been dropped our yardage for that game would have put us at 600 yards.

  11. Rob,

    4 games. Talk to me in November. Or better yet, after a bowl game. Remember when UCLA beat Texas two years in a row? Yeah, me too.

    UCLA: Where promising starts happen.

    50-0

  13. While USCs D has gotten better the O has clearly fallen off. It shows up tellingly in the stats. Rushing O is actually up just a couple of yards/game & fumbles are down slightly. But passing O is off by nearly 40 yards/game. More importantly pass efficiency is down from 161.10 to 141.66. Total O is down by more than 30 yards/game. INTs went from about 1 every other game to 5 in just 4 games. Fortunately due to the drop in fumbles turnovers lost are down. The OL’s sieve-like performance has led to significant increases in TFLs & sacks. The dropped passes, the TFLs & the sacks are hurting USCs ability to sustain drives. 1st downs/game are down by 10%. 3rd down conversions are down too & so is time of poss. Surprisingly RZ O is up slightly.

  15. The good people from Fucla just can’t quit nipping at our heals. It is tough being a vastly superior program year after year, but we will do it again. Like I always say, “its gotta suck to be a bruin”.

  16. Moron,
    UCLA fans weren’t the ones claiming an undefeated season and a National Title and spouting off that this was the most powerful Offense in college football history, and Barkley would be the greatest Trojan ever, etc. etc.
    Yes it’s only four games, and for UCLA it’s one game at a time.

  17. UCLA is mean & nasty under coach Jimbo. I like mean & nasty. Remember when we beat SC 8 in a row? I know it’s ancient history but, it’s history. Nevermind losing 50-0; losing to Oregon (moral victory) and losing to Illinois in the Kraft Hunger Bowl (which I attended). Stayed @ the St Francis Hotel where I was welcomed with open arms as the most highly decorated graduate of Cerritos College.

    Don’t worry about how compelling the UCLA program is that we must bus in high school bands/spirit squads to make the end zones look full at the Rose Bowl.

    Don’t worry about our most wealthy doners aren’t willing to build football facilities on campus to attract athletes… we don’t have anybody to name the facility after anyways.

    If anybody wants a tour of my vacectomy scars, I’ll take $3 per 5 min tour. Just see anybody urinating at McArthur Park and they’ll point me out. Can somebody help a bear in need?

    Rob

  18. The fault for the O decline has to be attributed to Kiffin. Hes the HC & play-caller. Polamalu may be the nominal OC & Helton may be the passing game coordinator but everybody knows thats Kiffins O. USC started the season with 9, count em, 9 returning starters from an O that was 21st in total O & 16th in scoring O. Kiffin deserves credit for getting them to that point but he deserves blame for allowing his O to slide back into mediocrity. Saying that Ds are scheming successfully to stop the passing game is admitting to being out-coached. Woods has been dealing with nagging injuries but he was dealing with nagging injuries most of last year too. Only 1 starter left that OL. Sure it was the blind side T but Kiffin picked him. In any event with Walker, Martin & Graf he’s got at least 3 healthy road-graders & he went out and snagged one of the better TBs in the nation. (I have to admit Redds done better than I thought he would). We keep reading all this hype about Flournoy but he hasnt caught a pass yet. Agholor appears to be underutilized as well. And as spedjones keeps asking, wheres Farmer? (Actually, hes been practicing with the team this week.) Was he wildly overrated or is it at least partially Kiffins fault he hasnt caught more than 5 passes in 2 years?

  19. btw UCLA is the defending PAC 12 Southern Division Champions notwithstanding what’s posted on the PAC12 website.

    Bite on THAT trOJans

  21. Rob,

    I certainly never claimed “most powerful offense in history.” But I’d agree with Barkley being the greatest Trojan when it’s all said and done! Most accomplished or winningest? No. But greatest, yes. For what he has done for USC and may yet do.

    MB74HEISMAN!

    (50-0)

  22. There is hope. As long as Barkleys not getting the snot knocked out him hes pretty good–just look at those stats from last year. Kiffin seems to have remembered that he has a running game. It seems like Vainukus getting more involved. I think the TEs just need to be more consistent in catching passes. I counted at least 3 drops in the 1st Q at Syr. (I wish the NCAA kept stats for dropped passes.) And maybe the OL will perform better over the next few weeks (theyve gone from 6 to 8 to 12 to 4 in TFLs & 1 to 2 to 4 to 0 in sacks).

  24. Trojan Offense problems are not that complicated.

    Kiffin has no commitment to the running game. Never has so far as I can remember. Most of the yards gained running this year have been from an occasional long run. Take those out of the mix and USC usually gains about 2 feet on its average running play. I’ll bet first down average on runs is very weak despite having 3 lame run defense opponents out of 4 games.

    This is unfortunate because USC clearly has the O linemen, the tight ends, the fullback and running backs to run on almost any opponent. Just having Lee and Woods backs off defensive backs on run support. Had USC been able to pound the ball at Stanford we would have covered by 2 or 3 scores.

    The result is that way too much pressure is placed on Barkley. Kiffin has generally tried to avoid that by throwing short to the sidelines more than any other college team I have ever seen. I recall being stunned by that tendency in the 1st half of the Minnesota game last year. Minnesota. Who can’t run on them?

    Kiffin does knows something that few in the Trojan community seem to comprehend – Barkley is shockingly slow and unathletic. Easy to trap. No threat to run. Three plus years and he has crossed the line of scrimmage on his way to a broken play run for a frst down maybe once per season. How many runs for a first down much less a big gain this year not counting sneaks? Career?

    Part of the problem is Kiffin who clearly has no interest in running but should in order to take the pressure off Barkley. And the other part of the problem is Barkley who cannot seem to handle pressure.

    The gaudy 2011 stats were misleading if they predicted the Trojans would want the ball in Barkley’s hands with games on the line. Woods yes, Barkley no. This is a player who tightens up with the game on the line. He threw the last pass of the Stanford game over the sideline. Who throws a Hail Mary pass out of bounds? Anywhere near an endline?

    Will his 4th year end without a comeback win? The fact that fans have to reach back to the Ohio State game to name a comeback win should help explain the 4th quarter of this year’s Stanford loss.

    The inability to run in football also means that a team cannot protect leads. Such teams hand the ball back to their opponents at the end of games when 2 or 3 1st downs running would end the game.

    With Kiffin and Barkley in the driver’s seat, USC fans should be concerned about even road trips against very mediocre teams like Utah and Washington.

  25. Can one of you two fuckin idiots explain to me why there is an asterisk next to that title

    Bruin Rob is my idol said:
    btw UCLA is the defending PAC 12 Southern Division Champions notwithstanding what’s posted on the PAC12 website.

    Bruin Rob is my idol said:
    The impostor forgot to add “and ready to defend our Pac-12 south title, against the SUCky trOJans”.

    ….And while you’re at it, please explain 50-0……that’s what I thought….LOL

  27. trOJanfan, sure I’ll explain why there is an “*” it’s because
    University of
    Sanctioned
    Cheaters were banned from participating in post season games…don’t cheat next time, and feel lucky you even have a football team, because in reality, your should have received the “death penalty”.

  29. Don’t worry Trojan fans. When the Bruins lose to the worst PAC12 team in Colorado this weekend, like cockroaches, they’ll disappear. 12 of 13 and 50-0
    FIGHT ON!

  30. Why all the vitriol? And I notice that it comes mostly from four posters: Trojanfan, BR IM Idol, BR IA Moron, and ElTroj.

  31. ^^^^run along dude, go back to where you came from, it’s not your job to police this site…thank you

  32. EL CONDON wrote: “Don’t worry Trojan fans. When the Bruins lose to the worst PAC12 team in Colorado this weekend, like cockroaches, they’ll disappear”.

    I sure hope you don’t gamble for a living, loser! 42-7
    4-1 overall.

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