Here’s my position-by-position look at the Trojans as they embark on the second half of the season.
Here’s an excerpt on the offensive line: “Some tough questions need to be asked about player development. Offensive tackle Zach Banner was on the scout team until he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Offensive guard Jordan Simmons was a non-factor until tearing knee ligaments this week.”
Full story here
Inside USC with Scott Wolf
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What a complete joke you are, Wolf…..NOW you are second guessing recruits from several years ago?….USC wasn’t the ONLY school not to offer Marcus Mariota…….hindsight is such a beautiful thing, isn’t it, Scottie?
but he grew up a USC fan and wanted to go to SC.
But don’t stop there, Kiff also told BOTH Bryce Petty and, get this, Tajh Boyd, they weren’t up to snuff when he took over at Tennessee. He’s quite a man, that Kiffen!
For someone who claims to “live in the present”, you sure do like to bring up yesterday, every single chance you get……hypocrite…….
Har har – all three of those guys are playing tomorrow. That’s the present my friend. But let’s be clear – YOU are the one who raised the “hindsight” issue, not me. I’m just showing you the reality of Kiffen’s recruiting yesterday and its impact on the game TODAY!
Nice try……your countless posts (See, T-Mex!…. I used it as a plural) CLEARLY say otherwise…. admit it….you’re a hypocrite….admitting it is the first step to recovery…..
Hardly, my friend. I live in the today. The today where Clemson and Baylor and Oregon have outstanding QBs and SC has, well, what’s that kid’s name again?
BS…BS… BS…….you are a JOKE!!!!
…..The lady doth protest too much, methinks……..
In your head. In your head. You hear me in your head.
I don’t get why you continue to defend the stupid decisions of our ex-coach. Maybe SC can set up a 12 step program for deluded rah rahs to learn how to become knowledgeable SC fans again.
I could make a better argument to defend our ex-coach’s decisions than to defend your existence on this blog, idiot……Generalize on, Moron…..
I feel you, 22, I feel you.
You are not defending Kiffin when you disagree with another’s logic. You can’t sign every player that “makes himself known to” a school and coach. It is easy to say who you should have signed 3 to 5 years ago. Can’t believe you continue to defend Bruin trolls.
No, but you can certainly analyze the talent. Kiff whiffed on MM, after he did the same at Tennessee with Boyd and Petty. Can you imagine that anyone would tell a committed Tajh Boyd that he wasn’t wanted and to look elsewhere? Harhar.
I grew up a USC fan too and never heard from them either. Mariota was offered by Oregon and Memphis (per Rivals) so you might want to kick another hundred coaches for missing on him.
More “insightful” hindsight from Azz-hole the Hypocrite……
Why in heavens name are you still defending Kiffin?
You are delusional……you would find a way to accuse me of defending Kiffin if I asked you to pull my finger…..
the difference, Tom, is that Marriota made himself known to SC and Lane brushed him aside. Just like he did Boyd and Petty.
Wolfie is so SPOT ON here. But let’s be real here for a minute – Kiffen recruited well, and then let the kids turn to sh$t. Same thing happened at UCLA under RIck. Good recruits who stagnate or regress once they arrive. It’s a shame, not for the Troxan program, but for the kids the program has failed.
I have to agree. There’s nothing like having a coach capable of developing players. That should be the first thing Haden looks for when searching for a new HC.
Scotty, if you’re reading this, please do a story on how hard it will be for SC to even fill the 5 empty scholarships it has left over for the Class of 2013! Who will fill those spots, if anyone?
anything that will take your mind off fucla’s sh!tshow tomorrow.
haha, why do you think I’m going to be so upset with a loss to Oregon? They are better than we are. Doesn’t make SUC’s sh!tshow of a season any less painful for you though, does it?
Sure, WSU was a disappointment, but after that, we’re just happy to have gotten Lane out and knowing we’ll have a good coach coming in for next season. We’re just having fun watching fucla’s team of the century crash and burn, on nationally televised College Gameday! It’s too bad I’ll be at the Coliseum, so I wont be able to witness fucla sh!tting their pants on national TV.
Curious why you think you’ll have a “good coach” coming in? New hires are never guaranteed and your next one has nothing to work with. In fact, sanctions will hamper your program for at least the next 3 years, particularly if no new coach is hired in time to fill those 5 rides you still have for 2013 with quality players. And please don’t worry about UCLA. We’ll likely lose, but nobody’s sh*tting their pants at UCLA – in fact, I’d put money on SC cr@pping their pants at least 4 more games this season, including, of course, against THE MIGHTY BRUINS!
You gotta wear shades because you hope that nobody recognizes you at the Rose Bowl…….”We’ll likely lose”….. at least you’re being realistic…..
That is true, but there is a reason they play the games. Strange things happen. Some of Pete’s best teams seemed to lay an egg once a year, so anything can happen. With 3 true freshman on the OL it may need to be an ostrich egg but we will see Your boys will have their hands full on the OL as well.
I realize that strange things can happen and that it obviously why they play the games…..Both OL’s are clearly the weak links and will probably determine the outcome of these games…..Utah’s D-Line is better than some people give them credit for…
Utah should have taken the ruins to OT and an eventual loss. If we beat the Utes tomorrow that would be a great win for Ed.
That’s a BIG “if”, but I have a heck of a lot more faith in our ability to beat Utah, than the Ruins actually beating the Ducks tomorrow on national TV……It will be run, run, run tomorrow for USC….and that includes Cody Kessler…..hopefully, our defense gets a turnover or two and give the offense good field position…
The Ducks are the #2 team in the nation and are playing at home. We would be underdogs if we were playing at. Utah. We are fortunate we aren’t going to have to play Oregon this year. Stanford may be a nightmare.
Stanford WILL be a nightmare……..they are way too strong for us in the trenches, especially for 4 quarters…..Their QB will pick us apart, unless we can get a decent pass rush on him……
Whatwhatwhat? A trojan who is grounded in reality? Who knew? I also find TH’s position laughable. He’s only slightly more sure SC will beat a very average Utah team at home than he is UCLA will beat MIGHTY OREGON on the road. How the times have changed.
Funny stuff. Little Gutty “peak of success” is like getting into the Rose Bowl almost 30 years ago and beating a 4-loss Illinois team. Bruins are so mediocre you don’t even expect to beat the good teams. USC is moving on. UCLA is settled in to another season where any bowl game will be an accomplishment. The crappier – the better. Then you’ll at least have a shot at winning. Bruins have been making the lame “gotta wear shades” remark for 15 years. What are all you guys? Albinos?
WSU was a disappointment? That’s like saying the Titanic was a disappointing cruise.
still pouting, huh troy? It’s okay, I’m sure your life will turn around, keep your chin up.
I love how you rah rahs are always “moving on” from one disaster to the next with no introspection. What a way to live your lives.
you’re an idiot…..and “introspect” THIS, you jerk……
My MARRIAGE was a disappointment…..Titanic-esque, if you will……
Ya, USC’s in big trouble. We get it. It’s called interim coach, get out of NCAA jail, Azole. In the meantime, UCLA is gonna lose another big game, and in a big way. Nice to see UCLA always struggling to beat anyone good. The Little Gutties can never do that. Always the also-rans who can never win the conference or go to the Rose Bowl. Love the Duck blow-out coming up! Typical Little Gutty nightmare, even when your team is better than it’s been in 15 years!
You mean it will be like our nightmare loss to the Ducks at home on national TV last year.
Wolf…Did you suggest USC go after Mariota or Manziel back in 2011? If Hundley or Manziel would have chosen Oregon would they have taken Mariota too? If Hundley or Miller picked USC would they have taken Wittek and/or Kessler too? WTF am I asking for? You don’t even answer questions from your “open forum”…Hindsight On!
I agree that I don’t see enough evidence to make a reasoned judgment about which players were recruited and which were not.
I do see enough evidence to question whether USC’s highly ranked recruits are being developed to their full potential. I don’t have a conclusive
answer to that question, but the entire teaching and strength/conditioning process at USC should be subjected to a critical analysis.
It’s one thing to lose to ND, which has players equal to those of USC, based on high-school rankings. ASU’s players are not quite equal. WSU’s are nowhere near equal.
There are those who dismiss hs rankings. However, several statistical analyses confirm that hs rankings are in fact predictive of both the
success rate of a player in CFB and the success rate of the teams that sign a lot of highly ranked players. There is always the outlier such
as Manziel or Mariota, but Winston, Hundley, and Miller are more the norm. The optimal strategy is clearly to sign more highly ranked players.
But then you still have to coach them
up. That’s where USC may not be succeeding. Something that USC is doing keeps younger players on the sidelines, and it’s not always that
the older starters play great. Several position units have not improved much, if at all, with individual skills and coordination among players
involved. Errors of a repetitive nature persist. Am I simply hyper-critical, or is there a teaching problem, or a system-complexity problem?
Bingo! Tom Oday doesn’t want to face the fact that USC’s highly ranked recruits are not being developed to their potential. If we recruited Mariota he would be holding extra points or would have transferred to UNLV by now.
I agree 100%! Something is definitely wrong with the development of the OL and QB’s. Missing out on Peat and Murphy was brutal. My point was Mariota is a exception and hindsight is 20/20.
Good coaches have backup plans. There are now other alternatives for good players other than SC. Stanford has proven to be a great place for linemen and a great school. The landscape has changed quite a bit in the last 5 years.