Interim coach Ed Orgeron spoke on the Pac-12 coaches’ teleconference today and maybe the most interesting thing he said is that the Trojans need to “get the ball in the hands of more players.”
That’s been a criticism of Lane Kiffin the past 18 games, especially his use of the tight ends. Even wide receiver Nelson Agholor had just eight catches in the first four games. It will be fascinating to see how Clay Helton changes things now that he is allowed to actually call a play.
he’s saying the right things, thats for sure. seeing so many guys get the ball when Lee went down was refreshing. we’re supposed to spread it around to get some pressure off him so he can do what he does – Fight On Coach O!
so you don’t have enough players? or kiff just wasn’t USING enough players??
which reminds me, i asked on this very blog weeks ago, why would Kiff risk the best player in the county on kick returns especially against the like of HI, BC, etc???
i said, sure use him against UCLA or ND in a pinch but why on EVERY kick return???
this was not asking, but BEGGING for trouble!!! why not let Notorious Javorious Alllen return kicks?? Lee didn’t do that great a job anyway this year on returning kicks.
why am I the only one who said this? do I have to do all the thinking around here?? (no disrespect to you, wolfman)
You can’t get a Heisman without all purpose yards. Of course you can’t get a Heisman if you don’t catch the ball. Just running up field instead of doing a jucky dance would also help. But the guys injured so I’m just being mean to criticize now. Hope he gets well soon we DO need him.
well i don’t disagree with the fact many other teams do this….but Marqise is so thin it makes me nervous seeing him on those returns.
yes this is the real Bucket. i admire Marqise, he is an exemplary young man and a tremendous credit to his parents! i am hoping this turned out to be minor, although when he went down i though he was finished for the year. i know the Agin’ Cajun will not let him come back too early.
This is something i questioned 2 years ago when he had woods doing returns. I soon realized that that’s what he was gonna do, and that it wasn’t going to change so i moved on and just looked at it as a stupid decision.
Good point Bucket. I’m sure it was another case of Kiffin playing for trophies and records instead of wins. He probably thought it would increase his Heisman chances.
Is this the real bucket or the fake one?
if it’s the real one, I didn’t know the real bucket talked football because this is actually a good question!
My answer: I agree that your stars would risk injury more, but keep in mind that it’s been an accepted route at the college level for a long time now.
Look back at many of the past WR, CB, and even RB stars like Reggie Bush, Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, etc and they ALL returned kicks/punts.
I agree we need to use all our weapons but don’t you think Lee shouldn’t have been in there late in the game when he got hurt?
Not in a blowout like that. If you played any sport, you know how much you press yourself beyond good judgment when you’re getting embarrassed or playing form behind.
In hindsight, I actually think Kiff and staff were being overcautious with Lee in training camp. If you watched any of the practices, you’d see how many of the WR drills he’d miss out on.
Combine that with 3 different QB’s throwing to him on limited reps and you have the disaster we have today on offense.
……fascinating?…….who do you think you are?…. Mr. Spock?…..
Please use the FB as well.. Sark use to get Havili the ball. ALSO move Buck Allen to WR. the kid has a ton of potential, and deserves to be on the field.
For real– how many times did Fred Davis and Stanley Havili get us out of 3rd and long… SO many times… Kiffin never did anything similar with his TEs or FBs, and had a terrible conversion rate.
Agreed.
gotta say, these great TE’s need to prove it – have had some drops, same with the FB. These guys arent Fred Davis or Havili, but again, maybe they can be coached to be.
not coached to be, but given the confidence and believing they can produce
This is all about Kiffin’s fear of using the middle of the field. I am consistently amazed at how little he used crossing patterns of any sort. TE hitches, which were a staple of Carroll’s offense, were just never used. This will open up the sidelines for the wideouts for big plays
Don’t you remember the Notre Dame game? We need to recruit a FB who can catch like Havili.
who cares. Let’s get back to the coaching search! When asked about being on the short list, Shaw said “it may be a short list, but it’s one person too long.” LOL.
It will be real fun to see how the staff and players do without Kiffin. Coach O can now have the authority to light a fire under the offense.
Perhaps he should focus on a D that give up 62 to an ASU team that was utterly destroyed by Stanford the week before?
For sure the D was exposed but if the offense hadn’t the turnovers it would have been a different game. Now without Kiffin sucking the life out of this team, Orgeron can get the whole team dialed in.
a different game? Meaning SC would have only given up 50?
Those turnovers took USC’s momentum and gave it to ASU. Who knows what happens if USC doesnt fork the ball over 4 times.
how many turnovers did Wazzu have against SC? And how many points came from them?
7 points the difference in that game, neither offense did squat in that game, Wazzu’s D won it.
21 points off turnovers plus a big shift in mo with each one!
Yes without those key first half turnovers we should have been leading at half, then when we scored that touchdown in the second half we would have had a big lead and could have withstood the ASU 3rd quarter onslaught.
Exactly AZST only converted 2 picks into 10pts.
Is that Ed’s way of saying Marquis is out for the year? Can he still redshirt?
D stunk up the place! “If the offense didn’t give up 3 turnover” give me a break! They scored 2 field goals and 1 pick 6. southern cal gave up over 60!!!! Defense stinks! D needs to be fixed.
Actually, UCLA is southern Cal Berkeley; a satellite campus in Westwood. USC is USC.
Southern Cal (ring a bell?)
fit Un!
Arturo, did you go to usc? smh
With a fresh knowledgeable mind calling plays and a Head Coach that will demand discipline on that line of scrimmage, I really do think the offense will be a lot more effective.
It only takes the little things to turn this around. A HC with confidence enough to open practices, willing to open the game up, not afraid to chew a$$, and demanding the respect from his staff and team that he gives them. Orgeron may do wonders, it may be his time, who knows. I can’t believe he isn’t on anyones list. He has my full backing and support. If I see a big laminated menu in his hand, all bets are off.
Why not put Buck Allen at FB but not necessarily to block only. Also, how open are some of the players to playing a new position; Bradford is playing LB up in Seattle and was recruited as an LB. Across town, Mora saw an OLB in Anthony Barr- 2 examples i can think of.
It’s nice to see everyone so upbeat. Reality check: there really is a depth problem, and a vulnerability to fatigue and injuries. This is not an NC team waiting for the right coach to ignite it.
Still, Kiffin was failing when graded on a curve, and it doesn’t have to continue like that. 🙂
I hope you all beat Stanford this year. And win some games.