One Less Excuse

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USC’s 7-5 is even more surprising when you consider the Trojans were relatively injury free this season. Other than kicker Andre Heidari, there were not really any key players that missed multiple games.

And the big preseason injury — defensive end Devon Kennard — was a non-issue with Morgan Breslin’s emergence. So without injuries, it just illustrates even more why coaching was so important this season.

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  • http://twitter.com/heyladysupville heyladysupville

    Khaled Holmes. Silas Redd. Curtis McNeal? I guess those injuries don’t count?

    • CheattheSystem

      Barkley? The fact that Kennard was out, really hurt us defensively. If Kennard is Healthy, we have Kennard, Breslin, Williams and Uko on the DLine which helps out the LB and the secondary. The reason we had trouble in the not Robey CB position was that often we did not get pressure on the QB.

      On Offense, Holmes missed Stanford, we lost. Barkley missed ND, we lost. Redd missed most of Ucla and Oregon, we lost both. The only game we did not have injuries was Arizona–total meltdown and loss of focus in that game.

      To even suggest that we were injury free is ridiculous as best and farcical!

      Bottom line: WE LOST 5 GAMES that we should not have lost. PERIOD. We can blame Kiffin, we can blame injuries, we can blame bad luck. The truth is that in order to WIN, players have to execute. We did not get it done on the field when it mattered. I hope this ignites a fire under these guys and we take it out on Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech and we get busy for next season right now.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Doverz/1423558008 Ben Doverz

        LOL, SC won’t care in the bowl game. When was the last time SC played in one of these Mickey Mouse bowls and showed that they cared, the 1975 Liberty Bowl ?

        • CheattheSystem

          1977 Bluebonnet Bowl
          1981 Fiesta Bowl
          1993 Freedom Bowl (because of ’92 Loss)
          1994 Cotton bowl
          I’d throw the Sun Bowl vs. Texas Tech, but we only played one half of that game…

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Doverz/1423558008 Ben Doverz

            The Cotton Bowl is Mickey Mouse ?

          • CheattheSystem

            It hasn’t been relevant for several years.

          • Golden Trojan

            USC is 5-7 in non Rose/BCS bowls.

        • TrojanFan

          So what happened in 2010 when they played Boston College in the Emerald and won 24-13….do a little research before you post a bunch of BS…just saying

  • jetman624

    We all saw the games, Wolf. We all know the coaching sucked. Thank you again, captain obvious.

    The loss that hurt this team the most was not injury related– losing Mat Kalil was huuuuge.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dino-Marconi/571306734 Dino Marconi

      People keep claiming that Kiffin is such a great recruiter, and yet he has not been able to land any OL that have made an impact. On the DL, Williams looks to be a great find, and Breslin was good though he was an easy grab since he loved USC, Kiffin focuses on skill positions, but doesn’t even use them. What a waste

  • PoundSand

    Wolfie,

    Equal blame falls on lack of execution by the players. I don’t think that the coaching approach changed much from last year….

    • TrojanFan

      Exactly, coaching will put you in position, but the player have to make the plays

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Doverz/1423558008 Ben Doverz

        That’s right brain dead TrojanFan. Montes good coaching has his players 30 yards behind the line where players make so many plays !! Kiffins play calling at the goal line against ND was superb , too bad his players didn’t get it done, EIGHT TIMES ! How about a roll out? How about no throwing to a FB who has proven time and again that he cannot catch anything. You’re a brain fart TF and nothing more.

        • TrojanFan

          You fuckin idiot, it was a blanket statement about the relationship between a coach and a player. All the missed tackles, not keeping gap integrity, dropped passes and mental penalties falls back on the players. It doesn’t matter who is coaching or what play or scheme is being ran.

          So was it a coaching problem when the FB dropped the pass in the endzone, no!….It was a play that need to be made by a PLAYER

  • CardinalnGold

    I don’t remember hearing of anyone being injured during in-season practices this season. That may indicate that they weren’t practicing at full speed as past teams have. This probably contributed to the team’s poor tackling, lack of chemistry, and inability to out physical opponents this season.

  • http://twitter.com/TheMattSlavin Matt Slavin

    I think the importance of the injury to Khaled Holmes can’t be overlooked…

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ben-Doverz/1423558008 Ben Doverz

      1 game, really ?

    • TrojanFan

      Yes!, the loss of Holmes for the Stanford game was a real setback for the offense, and a healthy Barkley for the ND game might of changed the outcome in that one also

  • steveg

    Ever wonder what Kiffen would write about Wolf if he could? It has become painfully obvious there needs to be big changes, and it wouldn’t hurt to get a new sportswriter for this blog along with everything else.

    I look at it like we are at the end of the Pete Carroll era now so lets put a new face on USC football, lose the fuclan trolls and get back to football.

  • ThaiMex

    Oh yea….almost forgot about the Barfy injury (sweet, wasn’t it!) that prompted this headline
    “WITTEK GUARANTEES WIN OVER NOTRE DAME”…that reminded me of this headline
    DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN!
    fit on torgan!

    • SoCal_Native_59

      You prick. Wittek DID NOT say that. But of course never let the facts stop your bullshit.

    • TrojanFan

      Oh yea…almost forgot about the football player that fell off his scooter and got a scratch on his nose(sweet, wasn’t it!) that prompted headlines….