Offensive tackle Chad Wheeler is out for the season with a torn ACL in his knee. Wheeler got hurt on third play of game but went another 7-8 plays afterward. Defensive end J.R. Tavai will be out several weeks with an injury. Javorius Allen banged up his shoulder but is expected to be OK, Steve Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian said the Trojans “need to develop a killer instinct” in games. Asked if a smaller roster explains why USC wilts at end of games, Sarkisian said, “I won’t ever lean on that.”
Sarkisian said, “I don’t feel this conference race is over,” despite the Trojans being fourth in the Pac-12 South. “There were some really cool things that came out of the game that get lost when you lose.”
Sarkisian said USC was “totally prepared” for a pass on the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left.
hopefully the really cool thing that will come out of this will be sark is fired.
anyway more blah blah crap from Sark on why he blew another game..we have 2 loses already in the south and yet to play UCLA but he thinks the race is not over. Well if we win the pac 12 south with 3 loses that will be a miracle. As per killer instinct, kind of hard for them to do that with horrible play calling by sark
Hey what if ‘jimmah’ loses on the 22nd November – think bel-air tech will sack him? Same for Kelly on the 29th November will Notre Dame get rid of him?
Sark is here for at least two more years – deal with it.
Got to agree with you. All this whining about getting rid of Sark is for naught, we are stuck for a while. Even PC had a rough start. I don’t always agree with Sark but for right now he is the coach, take it or leave it. I am in awe of what we could do next season.
Stevie…welcome to what it is like to be a Bruin fan…. “I am in awe of what we could do next season.” We say that every year in Westwood! 🙂
Not sure why Sarkisian is awe-inspiring.
I don’t want him excommunicated like a number of USC fans out there. But I’m very skeptical about he and his staff’s ability to win consistently against good teams. He never did it in five years at Washington and his first season at USC has been mediocre at best.
No sense comparing Sark to PC and his rough start. PC didn’t insist on calling offensive plays and was a defensive mastermind who made great on-the-go adjustments. Sark thinks he’s a genius play caller and he obviously knows little about the Trojan D. Wilcox is his man on defense. You think he’s awe-inspiring too?
Sark is right. Don’t give up on this team—they sure haven’t given up on themselves and they might just hold a few surprises for UCLA and Notre Dame.
UCLA surprises UCLA.
Tip of the hat to you, Santiago. (But don’t be too surprised when USC helps them along).
At this point, nothing can surprise me.
The cool things were that SC looked really good, both defensively and offensively. The offense did bog down in the third quarter, but so did Utah’s. Give the defenses some credit.
Another cool thing is how opposing teams react when SC comes to town and how they act if they beat the Trojans. This was a major holiday for the Utes, the biggest game in their history, and when they salvaged a victory their fans flooded the field. That stadium was pulsating with more energy than I can ever recall in any stadium.
Kessler’s development is another cool thing. This kid is really good. And the defense did a nice for the most part stopping Utah’s running animal-man.
Sark is too much of a man to admit it, but he would love to have more bodies to spell his first team in readying for the opposition’s 4th quarter charge.
John…since Southern Cal is jonesing for more bodies, Sark should bring back Shaw, Blackwell, Anthony brown?? Makes sense! If Sark brought them back earlier maybe Southern Cal would be undefeated!
“Their fans flooded the field”…..just like SoSo Cal fans did after beating Stanford last Year.
fit Un Stanford of the South!
Stanford had owned SC for a few years which had built up a great deal of frustration for the Trojans, and they were not supposed to win that game. Come on, I know you love to be Mr. SC Negative around here, but it is fun to see fans storm the field.
And “your” SUCLA team in 2006, after 7 terrible losses in a row to SC, would have filled the Rose Bowl floor after their team’s victory but for the entire Pasadena “cavalry” guarding the field.
No Jersey, SUCC wasn’t worth the effort, never has been.
And bRuins of SUCLA will be losers with a caiptal L with no f’g tradition until the end of time…LMAO!!!
PlasticSUCC, do a joint and get a grip.
We lose a few games here and there, but you’re historical losers. See the difference?
Genuine enthusiasm is great in college football isn’t it?
Hey wolfie, did you hammer him with the tough questions?……O’wait, wrong guy,
Wolf isn’t allowed to ask the coaches questions. It is why he asks his readers all the time.
Kessler would be a premier qb in the nation if Sark quit imposing his will on him and let Kessler throw down the damn field instead of dinking around throwing to the sidelines. He showed true pocket presence last night and if they cut Kessler lose and let him throw, the run game would open up. To bad, Sark thinks we have to run in order to let Kessler throw.
Next year will be Kessler’s big coming out party
Man, I hope he sticks around because I think you could be right.
Wherever USC goes, the stadiums are always filled and we get the home team’s best shot. The college football world has always loved paying attention to the Trojans.
Hopefully Sark can figure out what being “totally prepared” really means because he has no clue right now.
Until then, we’ve got some great, amazing players to support. Hopefully, Sark grows into a role that works or we get someone else into the job with real talent who doesn’t care if he’s calling plays and knows how to win.
I’d really prefer someone with a great defensive background. Am tired of these so-called playcallers who can’t see the forest from the trees.
Siete: “I won’t ever lean on (shollie reductions)”……oh, REALLY??
from his first sweat-hog interview with Jim Hill, Siete has never STOPPED talking about the reduced schollies!!!
and wolfman, you forgot to ask Siete about the latest illegal block by his desperate O-Line!!! is he gonna call Whittingham to explain what happened???
Everyone knows the loss of 30 scholarships hardly matters. It was foolish of the NCAA to think they were hurting us, right?
#75 again with the illegal chop block. Course Dough Boy doesn’t know squat.
reminds me of the illegal chop block from the movie North Dallas 40…..i don’t think i’ve seen such a dirty cheap shot since that movie than what Max Turd has been dishing out.
The cool thing about all of this, is that you are starting to be exposed .
Sarkisian said the Trojans “need to develop a killer instinct”
If that were the case, who would we replace our HC and DC with?
O.J.????
fit Un!
Thai, you KNOW i love El Zancudo like a BROTHER, pero lo Mataste, hermano!!!
#O.G.CrotchKick
Since we’re not going to get new coordinators for a spell, Larry, maybe we should wish for attitude adjustments in the ones we have. Sark needs to stop thinking “If only the game could be over right now!” every time we get the lead. The same plays that got us the lead early in the 4th will work late in the 4th too (and it’s idiotic to milk the clock with less than a touchdown lead, anyway). As for Wilcox, the same blitz packages that worked on every other drive, will work on the last drive. Carroll kept bringing the heat every time the other team had the ball, up to and INCLUDING their final drive. Good things seldom happen when you hold your breath and wait for the best.
See, this is why I am realistic and I think before I make silly rah rah rookie mistakes:
Let’s see, Peter Clay predicted that USC would “beat down” Utah for four quarters.
Rusoviet predicted a small USC win at 41-17.
Wolftardian Like You predicted a ‘modest’ 38-14 heinie-wooping which features a 150 yd. day for Buck. Please.
Gldn Trojan 24-10 USC win.
Brad Hutchings 38-19 USC.
Steveg predicted a whopper at 48-24 USC slamming UT. He added “Allen gets 180 and Kessler 320 yds 3 td’s. Take it to the bank.” That’s cute.
Bucket (26-23 UT) and Encinitas (24-22 UT) were a lot more realistic and came very close with their predictions. You gotta give credit where credit is due.
Whoever thinks our team is anything more than average this year when all is said and done is deluding themselves. There is way more parity in the Pac-12 and USC can no longer simply dominate like we used to.
I concur 100% after Saturday’s loss. Parity is obvious and the real parity is in coaching which brings us to Mora and his hysteria in the papers published today – he claims he’s the best new coach after a preceding bad coach in ucla history i.e. ‘…don’t look at what we thought we were this year rather what we are compared to 2+ years ago…’
We have Sark for a minimum of two more years and Chris Dufresne believes all shall be well by then – maybe right esp. next year’s OOC
Well, Comrade, I actually agree with some comments I read by Jack B the other day. We agree a fair amount although on opposite sides.
How many truly elite coaches are out there and how many would actually come to USC or UCLA?
Is Chris Petersen elite? I think he is very solid, but I think he quietly rejected both schools. It was pretty clear he prefers the Northwest.
Kevin Sumlin? Just had a Lane Kiffin offense put 59 points on him and his teams have never played defense.
James Franklin? May be an up and comer. Who knows? But not proven as elite.
Do you think Urban Meyer or Nick Saban would come to coach SC?
Who really wanted EITHER job? I would think SC would be an easier draw, but with a team just coming out of sanctions with a demanding, and at time unrealistic fan base, it isn’t a job for the faint of heart.
Mora’s star is fading a bit with the underperformance of an over-hyped team this year. Bruin fans may want to remember that there weren’t a lot of candidates lining up for the job and that the program is in better shape now than it has been in over a decade. Jimmy reminded them!
Not sure that the game on the 22nd will be for any more than the usual “bragging rights”. I don’t think it will even affect recruiting all that much this year.
It’s hard to come to the realization that your team isn’t going to compete for an NC. Believe me, I know the feeling.
Has USC’s administration ever hired a high-priced headcoach with a great track record? McKay was an assistant, PC had a 500 record in the NFL, But they beat the odds and became legends. Robinson (1st time good and 2nd time a bust) was an assistant as was Tolner & Hackett. Larry Smith didn’t have a great winning record at Zona. Gloomy Gus Henderson & Howard Jones may have had resume’s showing success in being hired back in the day? Jess Hill was a track coach and then you have the Don Clark’s that didn’t win.
Why doesn’t USC go out a pay the big price for a top winner (a Saban. Meyer, Chip Kelly, even a Harbaugh) who will in turn bring success and earn every penny he is paid instead being cheap? USC is trying to put in millions of stadium upgrades and needs sell outs as well as more wealthy boosters. Coaches like Kiffin & Sark are not making it happen!
What happened to all the clean uniformed dancing girls from the Oregon State game? Enough of the lack of players! Just a bunch of crybabies!