Toa Lobendahn Moves To Left Tackle For Chad Wheeler


Freshman guard Toa Lobendahn switched to left tackle today to replace the injured Chad Wheeler. Steve Sarkisian said no final decision has been made on who starts at left tackle. But considering how the coaches have been less-than-thrilled with Aundrey Walker since training camp, Lobendahn is the favorite.

Damien Mama, who tweaked his knee in practice but said he was OK, moves over to Lobendahn’s spot at left guard while Viane Talamaivao starts at right guard. That means three true freshmen could start.

Above, Lobendahn talks about moving to left tackle.

44 thoughts on “Toa Lobendahn Moves To Left Tackle For Chad Wheeler

  1. Not good– too much inexperience in that line.

    How the West Was Won (a.k.a. how SC can win the South):

    SC has to win out;
    Utah has to lose twice and it is highly likely (ASU, Ariz, Ore, Stan)
    Ariz has to lose once (SUCLA, Utah, ASU)– highly likely
    ASU has to lose twice (Utah, @ OSU, @ Ariz)– probably not, but not impossible

    • This is the same way Alabama did it, I think.

      BTW, you could have just quit at “SC has to win out”.

    • Get serious Jersey, you got nothing but SUCC Rah-Rah fantasy. Washington St. beat Utah at Utah. I got W. St. winning by at least a TD, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that SUCC is blown out by a substantial margin.

  2. “That means three true freshmen could start.” – Yeah, depth and scholarship reductions are clearly not affecting this team. It’s coaching.

    • Nobody is saying depth problems aren’t hurting USC. They are. But USC lost three games this year, not because of depth, but because of blatant coaching errors and failure of elite, extremely talented Trojan players to make plays when it counted.

      If you think USC has been a well-coached team so far this season, more power to you. Just imagine how USC would look if our team were really well-coached and not falling all over itself when the games are on the line. If that’s not true, why is Sark always apologizing for his staff’s inferior effort after every loss?

      • Ok, let’s go down the “coaching is the issue” path. What do you want to do? Hire David Shaw, the best coach the last 5 years in the Pac-12? He is 5-3, with a loss to USC. How about Jim Mora? Texas was about to give him the world. He has UCLA in 5th place in the South with a Heisman QB and a full allotment of scholarships. All the coaches that Scott Wolf wanted are having below average first years at their new programs. So, give me your plan for firing Sark? Make sure you include the next 2-3 recruiting classes taking a step back because of USC having 5 head coaches in 3 years.

        • I never said we should fire Sark now, so why would I have a plan? He’s not doing a very good job which is why we are no longer a ranked club and have three losses despite having more talent (yes, it’s true) than every team we have lost to.

          Fact is, we’re stuck with the guy. It’s too late. Fire him now and it’s too expensive and nobody decent will take the USC job where a coach is fired in his first year. That’s pretty easy to understand.

          That doesn’t mean he was even close to the best hire, as his previous mediocre record proved at Washington, where they call him Seven Win Sark (that’s a clue!) and he was frequently blown out in big games.

          Personally, I would have liked Gary Patterson or Pat Fitzgerald. Not sure if we pursued either. Maybe they wouldn’t have come anyway.

          As I said, we’re stuck. Will Sark improve? That’s all we can hope for, because he wasn’t ready for BC and their secret all-world running game and defensive stopping power, allowed ASU to brutally take advantage and miraculously score three TDs in the final three mins to win at the Coli and doesn’t have his team prepared to recover an obvious failed sideways lateral against Utah. Everyone saw it but the USC players and coaches. The ref even signaled it on the field as soon as it happened.

          Maybe his players just don’t listen to him, because he says, no insists, they drill this stuff all the time, just like they were supposedly prepared for Utah’s pick play to win the game. Some preparation there. The USC coaches and players didn’t even protest likes FSU’s did against ND. Strange indeed.

          All we can do is hope Sark quickly starts to figure out the head coaching game which apparently presents frequent new problems to him which befuddle him as he publicly laments about never having encountered before (e.g. Hail Mary’s, laterals, how to teach your center to shotgun snap, how to stop a two-minute drill, what to do when your running game is getting stuffed, basic clock management, how to find out out if an opposing team’s kicker is hurt, et al).

          • Considering all of the things that Sark does wrong, you make me wonder if you ever see the good. How does the freshman class look? Do you think Gary Patterson, coming off of a 4-8 season with no past recruiting presence in Southern California, would have kept that class together? I think not.
            Gary Patterson, lol. The Big-10 is the worst conference in America and he is 29-39 in conference over 9 years (Sark is 28-23 in the Pac-12, a much tougher conference). This is why I trust Pat Haden over what you think or Scott Wolf thinks. Wolfie wanted Mike Riley, lol.
            Sark took a team from 0 wins, the only team in Division 1 football with 0 wins that year, and turned that program around to a 9 win team. That’s what I expect at USC. Improvement from 1 year to the next and turn them into Rose Bowl/NC contenders year in and year out. He hasn’t even had the chance to recruit his players for his system.

          • Good for Sark. He’s got a fan.

            In the meantime, Sark coached at UW, a place with 1000X the football tradition of lowly Northwestern or TCU. He should have done very well with the Huskies, especially because he had no where to go but up.

            Yet, he never even won nine games as you incorrectly state. Wrong. In fact, he never finished better than 5-4 in conference and he lost two of three crappy bowl games he coached in five years. Whoopee. No wonder Husky fans were glad to see him go.

            Patterson won a freakin’ Rose Bowl at TCU in 2011. Sark couldn’t win a Rose Bowl at a place like TCU with an eight game free win head start and TEXAS off his schedule.

            And USC practically recruits itself. If you don’t know that, you’re uninformed. With all the needs this historically great school has sitting in one of the largest recruiting hotbeds in America, you think they’ll have some good commitments? For now, the freshman commit list looks good, not great.

            As I said, I hope Sark the play caller improves. If he doesn’t, Haden will have to answer for it (unless he’s gone by then) as he’s already answering for some of Sark’s bone-headed coaching which has led to three last second losses against better coached teams.

          • 2 plays from being 7-1 and you think the sky is falling, haha. “Sark couldn’t win…” Making blanket statements with no factual information again.

          • Ah, the old “we coulda been a contenda” excuse. Typical weak-minded response. You want facts: 5-3 with a defense that is powerless against the two-minute drill. Fact.

          • UCLA defense was powerless against the same 2 minute drill. Hey, I don’t know, maybe UTAH IS PRETTY FRICKING GOOD? They are 2 points away from being undefeated in the toughest conference in college football. But, yeah you know best.

          • Utah lost to Washington State, one of the nation’s worst teams, AT HOME. Try and keep up rah rah.

          • Ok, I’ll keep up. Utah clearly sucks. So does USC. Anything else you want to explain?

          • I never said Utah sucks. I never said USC sucks. I said USC is often poorly coached. Try and keep up rah rah.

          • Jackie Boy….you got style! “26 posts in just 4 days”…hahahahahahahahahahahaha
            This Peter Clay bonehead reminds me a lot of the young chosen one, AMIR. Unfortunately Amir is no longer available since taking over the family’s “Ranching business”.
            fit Un Clown School!

          • By your logic, 2 plays by utah, fumbles inside the Southern Cal 5, Southern Cal would have lost in a blowout… It is stupid to say “if only this play went this way or if the ball bounced this way we would be 7-1”

          • And can we please stop with the “USC recruits itself”. That’s the dumbest Scott Wolf quote of all-time. Did USC recruit itself when Paul Hackett was 19-18? Did Texas recruit itself with their current 3-5 record? Did Notre Dame recruit itself when Charlie Weis was 35-27?
            “It’s coaching”
            “USC recruits itself”
            Blanket statements with no factual proof.

          • You obviously don’t know much about recruiting or coaching.

            Let it go. You’re just two plays from being 7-1. You and Sark think alike.

            Do you also apologize to the USC fan base after every loss? Sark does. Habit I guess.

          • He took Washington from 0 wins to 5 wins his first season but SC is not a better team this season under Sark than it was last season. We had 10 wins last with all kinds of dysfunction. This season we’ll probably win 8. He wants the kids to develop a killer instinct but he’s not setting them up for success. Why have Agholor in the backfield to run a stretch play to the short side of the field on 4th & 2? Of course he’s not going to have a great feel for the sideline, he hasn’t played RB since high school.

            How do players not know to go after a dropped lateral pass? Why are basic fundamentals not being drilled in these players heads?

        • There are zero circumstances under which David Shaw would consider any Clown U offer. Pat Haden knows that. David Shaw has way too much class for SUCC.

        • Tell us again how the team is shorthanded and that’s why they lose because THEY CAN’T GO TWO DEEP on SPECIAL TEAMS.
          knucklehead.
          fit Un Clown College!

      • Bad coaching lost SC two games this year–both n the final 10 seconds of play. Not scholarship reductions, inexperienced players, or player mistakes. Bad coaching.

          • I think Caesar is doing just fine on his own…unless he needs a ghostwriter for his next book.

        • I’ve read PC’s posts and he at least makes some compelling arguments about scholarship reductions playing a role.

          On a purely anecdotal note, I played Pop Warner and High School football and fatigue plays a factor, no doubt. In the words of Vince Lombardi, “Fatigue makes cowards out of everyone.”Or, something like that. That said, coaching could be better.

  3. I like this move by Sark. It puts the most talented players starting and gaining experience. Sure, they will go through some growing pains this year, but next year and beyond we will have a good, experienced OL. Why waste time playing Walker if he is a short-timer?

    • I appreciate that your reply is on topic. I got caught up in the Sark sucks / doesn’t suck debate above and forgot with this post was about. I also like this move by Sark. Last thing we need is another Walker brain fart (missed assignment) that sends Kessler to injured reserve.

      • It wasn’t Kessler Cardinal and Tin, it was Barkley who wound up with a shoulder separation. Quit flirting with H/H and get your SUCC facts right. I must assume you haven’t seen H/H’s ugly, red, pulsating zit on the tip of her nose.

        • baaaaazing!
          Helen….don’t worry….nobody will notice the pulsating zit when you go out Friday night. You might even win best of breed!
          fit Un Clown School!

  4. Does Toa have the measurables to play LT ( 6’3″ 280lbs.)? Size and looks aren’t everything ( didn’t Kiffin once say that Walker looked the part?) Toa definitely has the feet to play LT, and it isn’t like Wheeler was pushing people around at 6’7″ 280. Maybe the LT spot in this offense doesn’t really have to be imposing. I see a him rotating at the spot with Walker getting some time there.

Comments are closed.