Sarkisian: Distractions Not Important

Steve Sarkisian said this morning the team is not affected by the past two weeks of controversy and he did not feel it detracted from the team getting its due for being 2-0..

“Not at all,” he said. “Inside our walls, they get plenty of attention. They know what’s important. The goal is to never be motivated or distracted by outside factors.”

30 thoughts on “Sarkisian: Distractions Not Important

  1. Living in a major media market like Los Angeles there will be distractions by the media blowing up when ever someone sneezes.. They will get use to it.

    • They are used to it. This team has been through more than any I can think of. The more ish they throw at them the tighter they become. They have an us against the world attitude and that’s a good thing. Sark just needs to keep their emotions in check and they will do the rest. When the Capt was ejected Saturday, they didn’t skip a beat, next man up. This team is special.

    • or saves a nephew from drowning, or jumps from a 3rd story window, or calls the coach a racist! #clowncollege

  2. E-S-P-N grades from Saturday’s game below. I agree with all except the coaching grade of C. I thought Sark did a great job of fooling Shaw by focusing on passing and the new freshman during Fresno and then went with a ground game against Stanford. Plus he went for the 53-yard field goal and won the game where Shaw consistently punted in lesser field positions. I would knock him down to a B for the sideline drama.

    Passing attack = C+
    Cody Kessler wasn’t spectacular, but he did what he needed to against Stanford. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 135 yards. He didn’t throw for a touchdown, but he didn’t turn the ball over, either. Nelson Agholor caught a career-high nine passes and was targeted a career-high 13 times. Kessler passed on 10 of the Trojans’ 14 third downs. USC converted on seven of those. Kessler is now 2-0 against Stanford as a starting quarterback, which is the only number he and the team really care about.

    Rushing attack = A
    Javorius Allen ran for a career-high 154 yards on 23 carries against Stanford. It was the most rushing yards the Cardinal have allowed to a player in a game since the 2012 season and second most against a David Shaw-coached Stanford team. Allen rushed for 113 of those yards inside the tackles, which is more than any player has rushed for against Stanford since the start of last season.

    In the trenches = A
    Not only did USC’s offensive line create the holes for Allen, it also gave Kessler enough time in the pocket on third down, which hasn’t always been the case for USC quarterbacks at Stanford. USC’s defensive line came up big at the end of the game when Stanford was in position for a game-tying field goal, at the very least. First, Leonard Williams sacked quarterback Kevin Hogan to push the Cardinal back. Then J.R. Tavai ended the game with sack and fumble, which was recovered by USC linebacker Scott Felix.

    Defense = A-
    The Trojans have had to depend on a bend-but-don’t-break strategy on defense since they’ve been on sanctions. They usually end up breaking in the end. Against Stanford, they bent and bent and bent but never broke. Stanford drove inside USC’s 35-yard line on all nine of its drives but scored only 10 points. After breaking USC’s 35-yard line, Stanford averaged just 3 yards per play. Much of the blame is going to Shaw, Hogan and the Stanford offense, but some of the credit must go to USC’s defense, especially after ending the game with back-to-back sacks and a fumble for the win.

    Special teams = A
    For the second year in a row, Andre Heidari made a long, game-winning field goal to beat Stanford. On Saturday, Heidari hit the 52-yard winner, which tied the longest field goal of his career. Late in the third quarter, Heidari drilled a 25-yard field goal to tie the score. He also had four kickoffs averaging over 60 yards, including a touchback after his final FG. USC deflected Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson’s first field goal and got good pressure on him later when he missed a 26-yard attempt.

    Coaching = C
    Normally, beating Stanford on the road and getting USC back into the top 10 two weeks into the season should be good enough for an A. But Steve Sarkisian takes a hit for not only getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty but also summoning USC athletic director Pat Haden down onto the field to have him take over arguing his case with officials. The bizarre incident resulted in Sarkisian and Haden being reprimanded by the Pac-12 and Haden receiving a $25,000 fine from the conference and a self-imposed two-game ban from the sidelines. It was an unfortunate incident that took the attention away from a big win for USC.

          • trOXans….i don’t know if all the Dummies on here are actual trOXans (i guess 50%), but there are real trOXans i know who know me and who laugh and laugh at how the Cadre pulls you Dummies apart like tangerines!! that’s gotta hurt!!

            #CadreStrong

          • Come on you can do better. Telling yourself we are annoyed does it make it true.

            What if everyone is just happy which is true. Means you aren’t doing your job.

            You just type letters into your computer and expect what?

            #delusional

          • “Telling yourself we are annoyed does it make it true.”

            oh REALLY?? have you READ some of these Dummies’ replies???

            i know some are literally shaking with rage!! others, tears of frustration!!

            me? ALWAYS smiling!

            #FeelSoAlive

  3. The latest “best” college ratings have Stanford and Cal in the Top-10, and SUCLA and SC in the low 20s.

    Not bad for a “clown” university.

  4. Perhaps the SUCLA posters might try to come up with their own put-downs i.e. clown, instead of copying some wag’s comments.

    • Your posts are causing advertising support of this blog to dwindle. You’re only 50% correct now, when you call Mr. Wolf a cash cow. Definitely too dumb to come in out of the rain.

    • Your posts are causing advertising support of this blog to dwindle. You’re only 50% correct now, when you call Mr. Wolf a cash cow. Definitely too dumb to come in out of the rain.

      • Advertisers care about hits, not individual kooks on a blog.

        you Dummies never explain why it is you complain about the wolfman and gobble up his posts like skittles!!

        i wish i could open a restaurant where 90% of the customers cried about how bad the food is, yet RETURN EVERY day to stuff their faces!!!

        #LureOfTheWolf

        • Advertisers care about return on investment, so if a hit doesn’t result in a purchase then the advertising dollars were wasted.

          The food is not bad – it’s the servers of the food that are incompetent. And the homeless people that hang out in the restaurant is just sad.

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