Time to answer some questions.
Q: briankeithedwards said:
If you had to select three Trojan numbers to be retired besides the current ones, who would you choose and why?
A: Hmmm, I’m generally against retiring numbers. But to answer your question, I’d probably retire No. 83, worn by Richard Wood, USC’s first three-time All-American. Or 77, worn by Ron Yary, USC’s only Outland Trophy winner. You could also make a case to retire No. 55 because of all the great linebackers that wore it.
Q: dtksr1 said:
Scott, I think Kiffin’s response to the Stanford loss is telling in that it exposed his mis-management of the playcalling not only that game, but the first 2-games in not giving the RBs & O-line enough gametime work it needed to come thru when Stanford effectively stopped the passing game the 2nd half. The claim Barkley made 2-bad choices at the end of the 1st half means nothing… as the Trojans were still ahead at the half. Kiffin made no noticeable halftime changes and his playcalling got the offense 0 points the 2nd half. Very telling.
A: I’m a little disappointed since the game in how many excuses have been made (Khaled Holmes, Andre Heidari were out, Cyrus Hobbi was inexperienced, etc). USC knew these things going into the game and did little to adjust to the situation.
Alex Wood made 50-yard field goals in practice so a 30-yarder in a game is not that big of a deal. The offensive line is below full strength? Then call plays don’t require a lot of blocking. When Norm Chow got hired at USC, he used to sound a buzzer after three seconds so Carson Palmer would get rid of the ball quickly each play because Chow did not trust the offensive line.
Stanford’s loss to Washington showed USC really had no reason to lose to the Cardinal. And I agree with you, the problems at Palo Alto rested at the top.
Q: You say timeout, I say touchdown! said:
Why do you have such a contentious relationship with Lane Kiffin and the USC Football program?
A: I wouldn’t say it is contentious. Obviously the incident two weeks ago makes it seem that way but I haven’t really had any disagreements with anyone in the football program. I’m sure I write some things that bother Lane Kiffin but I’m always around if he has a complaint and he hasn’t said anything to me. The only real incident was when I was banned over the Andre Heidari story. And after two days, he apologized and said I did not break the practice injury policy.
I agree that a big percentage of the blame does fall on Kiff’s shoulders, but i still believe if Holmes had played the outcome would of been different….
Trojanfan, that is true of all teams- if they never lost any star players they would win more games.
USC traditionally has depth that programs like Stanford and Washington lack so when starters go down there is little drop off, and as the season wears on and injuries pile up the Trojans annually separate themselves from the other Pac 12 teams that only have talented starters.
I share your frustration about the center position but invoking the “what if” rule is usually the practice of our competitors. The injuries to the OL have exposed our failure the last 5 years to recruit enought OL.
We have to anticipate that we will lose talented OL after 3 years to the NFL. We were cheating the hangman the last few seasons and now we are finally paying the price of stocking up on too many skill players like WRs and QBs and not enough OL.
I’d like to hear what you and NJ think of our OL woes.
@gotroy22: It all starts with the OL. With 85 you want 15 min & 3 WOs. But keep in mind you can only travel with 70 in P12 so you have to be able to win with 11 or 12 max. USC has a good (not great) 2-deep with Walker, Tuerk, Martin, Markowitz, Holmes, Hobbi, Martinez, Galten, Graf & Guertler. But losing your 2 best Cs hurts. RF FR Hobbi just wasn’t ready for what SU threw at him. But niether was Walker. Quantity is no the issue–quality is. Coaching too.