Discuss The USC Game

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What a debacle. I’m curious if anyone can excuse this? How many double-digit underdogs can you lose to? And Colin Cowherd was here. Is USC “freaking rolling” Colin?

What was the offense’s Plan B without explosive plays? Steve Sarkisian is 12-6 but with losses to four significant underdogs.

209 thoughts on “Discuss The USC Game”

    • AH, AH, AH!!!! i LUFF to COUNT!!!!

      Zark vill count to Sewen Vins zis zeason!!!!!

      Vashington SCHPANKS zee trOJinxs in zer own HOUS!!!

      AH! AH! AH!

  2. Too many problems and weaknesses to even go over. Sark will never make it. Not really much of a team, especially in the trenches. Team even looks unmotivated much of the time.

      • KU: Overrated and underperforming.

        Hey, K deserves another SI cover for his outstanding field performance: 0 TD’s and 2 Int.

        Once again, KU SUCCumbs to even competition.

    • Arguably the most talented athletes in the P12 paired with a mediocre coaching staff spells a very unpredictable season for SC.What was with the FG attempt with like 4:30 left in the game? Very odd choices on Sark’s part.

      • Agree 100 percent. Was about to break the TV screen. Why are 5 running backs touching the ball in a close game. Sark has no feel for the game.

      • EncinitasBruin, the filed goal was a cream on the top of all the mistakes. Coaches went out of their ways to give this game away.

      • You make a great point. I was simply appalled by the call, but why it isn’t talked about in the media is beyond me.

    • ohhhh come on Jackie Boy…..say it ain’t so…you ain’t really giving up ….not with all those MYTHICAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, and honorary degrees…..I gotta admit I was wrong when I predicted 2 and 2 after 4……but….3 and 2 after five pretty darn close……
      fight on, losers……

      • i sink Yack vill be cross-dressink TONIGHT!!!

        he vas BORN a VOMAN in der Mans body!!!!!!

      • I never did make excuses for him. Not once…and I’ve been worried bad about the OL/DL since Stanford.

        You just won’t read me saying the same lament day after day after day here. I surely thought we were good enough to beat UW, but USC’s got some problems in both coaching and talent that can’t be cured right now. And no, we’re not the most talented team by a longshot. USC has more gaps than I can remember seeing in a long time. Very uneven in the speed dept too. Strange brew.

    • Itchy, how about dem Toejams. Another ugly loss to a double digit ‘dog.

      You gotta love the Toejam’s getting their teeth kicked out by a cream puff team at the crumbling mausoleum.

    • I thought Haden was right not to fire Sark after the drunken episode, because I thought it would leave the team in a lurch.

      My foresight was way off. That was the perfect excuse and moment to rid USC of a guy who was unlikely to get it done. And probably pay zilch because of the incident. I didn’t care much about the incident, but I lacked confidence in Sark. Now, there is still no one to step in, and it’s mid-season.

      My analysis was just wrong. But I’m an amateur. USC does not need an amateur, trainee AD. Haden’s smart. He must see that. He should replace himself by year end.

      • Don’t be too hard on yourself. Who was that Sunshine Pumper that bad mouthed UW and Peterson in particular every chance they got since Sark arrived here?They are the ones that should be apologizing to the board now.

    • You nailed it. Not much of a “team”, just 11 players out doing their own thing thinking they are 4 and 5 star recruits who can do it all with shear athletic ability with discipline to work together. Coaches are not USC caliber, that is Sark’s fault and Hadens fault for hiring Sark. Keep T Martin and send the rest packing at seasons end.

  3. There is no possible way Sark was not ripped out of his mind tonight. The coaching was horrible!

  5. 17-12 with the ball and we call three pass plays … 3 and out. That was just idiotic.

    • What if Sark ran the ball twice and passed once and went three and out??!! YOu would still be on here complaining! It is not Sark’s fault! Don’t you know that it is the sanction?

      • Putting sacks aside, we ran the ball for 6.3 yards per carry last night. Everyone in the Coliseum knew we should run the ball in the 4th Q, except you. You’re clearly a troll.

    • I do agree that the run game was working. Madden avg 7.1 per carry, and Jones 8.1. Those two guys were unstoppable. Odd decision to throw every down. The only productive part of SC’s game plan was the run.

  6. Like I’ve said since the season started, Bob Connelly, and the regression of his offensive line, will cost Steve Sarkisian his job. And please don’t mention youth , when Washington started 3 true freshman on their offensive line, along with a freshman quarterback fresh out of high school. And here’s the baffling part, why didn’t USC pound the ball all night long? You know why? It’s because Sarkisian thinks he’s an offensive Guru….What a clown!!

      • Nobody was complaining about Banner when Tim Drevno was his coach, and Wheeler was always a weak link

        • I thought losing Max Tuell or whatever his name is #75 the center was a major blow to you guys last night. His sub snapping the balls too low made Kessler scramble around the pocket too much. The dude was skiddish last night!

      • Nah! Im use to bloggers coming down on me, because they really let me have it when I said Lane Kiffin was a clown, and his Father had to go!

    • I totally agree with your other post that Sark needs at least a couple more years to get past the sanctions. The roster is gutted and we are still bowling in December. FIGHT ON!

  8. Where are all the Sark supporters?
    RAH, RAH, RAH
    What a disaster USC football has become, just sad, thanks Haden.

  9. Sanctions, there’s nothing else to say #Sark needs more time, Petersen still doesn’t “get” #Clown #Sarkfor4more

  10. No second-half adjustments … again. awful coaching. JW and Sark are in the Dark! They have no idea how to adjust, game-plan … just sad

  11. Scott, leave Colin out of this. Only YOU thought (want) the Trojans to lose. Poor coaching. Poor play. Equals a loss. There will be more.

  12. I thought we played pretty well when you consider the sanctions. I wish we could have won but sometimes you don’t get the breaks. We are still on pace to go bowling despite the sanctions. Things are still looking up. FIGHT ON!

  13. The only silver lining is that the Trolls are back until they lose next Thursday.

  18. Cowherd think we are still freking rolling after this game? And defending Sark against the media. What a joke?

  20. We have to remember Haden went out and hired the best coach possible and his staff. Just unlucky to lose to a 17 point underdog

    • Basically traded Petersen for Sark — a coach that came very close to getting fired at UW.

      • Agreed . I like the direction of UW football . Petersen much more disciplined in developing his p,ayers and program. Definitely an upgrade from Sark at UW

        • Their offense was pretty pathetic tonight. He needs this season and next … then they could be really great.

          • Sark emphasis in recruiting skilled players at UW left the offensive line a little bare. His last two years of recruiting were average at best at UW. He left at the right time or Dawgs would have been stuck in his mediocrity

        • Bucket, have you seen Helen? She’s never around when the Toejams choka, choka, choka.

          I tell you I have to agree with her; Ricky Town should have started the game.

          • That’s the Sunshine Pumper that has been bashing UW and Petersen since Sark came here. She should banish herself for
            her incredible stupidity and gall.

          • Now she is back, making more pronouncements and pretending she never said a thing about Petersen and UW.

  22. December is still another month away but it just feels like Christmas all over again.. .

    #ClownU gift that keeps on giving

      • Guerrero is obviously not everyones favorite but I don’t understand why there is any question as to who will be the AD in November. What did Dan do to possibly cause questions regarding his being retained? I thought he was part of the ‘Good Ol’ Boy’ network, and as such, immune to being 86ed.
        I have seen no such indication on bz.
        Please elucidate.

  23. Kessler is still in line for greatness. Thursday games are anyones game. We need to stand behind Sark and strive for a bowl game. Fight On!!

  24. Every body remembers usc won under carol, but not everyone remembers how many come from behind and close games usc won under carrol. This sc team has same amount of talent as alot of carrols teams, but not the same coaching. It was obvious during the 4th quarter that sark was being more of a nervous, rowdy, wishful fan then a calm, confident, and in tuned coach. To much talent to be losing to teams like these. PS why are 5 running backs playing in

  25. Is there a train back from South Bend. Sark ain’t gonna make the plane.
    Can’t wait to hear Cowherd’s spin.

  30. Carrol won a lot, but no body remembers how many close games he won. Sark appeared like rowdy, nervous, and wishful fan more than a confident leader focused on winning the game. To much talent to be loosing games lime this.

    • You are totally right about Sark doing a good job rebuilding. We are going to win at least 7 games and continue to FIGHT ON!

    • How dare you speak of #Sark this way, if it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have all this great 5* NFL talent type players, clearly you missed the sanctions..

  31. Seven win Sark is going to scratch to get his team to 6. The coaches lost this game. A high school jv coach would have called better O plays, like run the ball. Trojan D is poorly schemed. A pitiful waste of Trojan effort and talent.

  32. Maybe Haden will make the same mistake the Maryland AD made and give Sark a 3 year extension .

  33. Cant wait to hear Sarks comments . ” have to put this behind us, we still can win the Pac12 South ” . Our goals are still the same and in signt

  34. Oh, and why are u attempting a field goal on 4th and 9 I believe with 3 minutes left and u already burned two rime outs. Especially, when u burn 2 time outs on the drive it tells me it’s do or die.

  37. Cohweird is an albatross to usc. Such an idiot. The only thing rolling is sarks man boobs! He should have rolled out the man boob shirt again. Maybe he would have got another gift wrapped win like the ASU game.

  38. What a joke. Just got home and burned my jersey. Its time to clean house. Starting with sark and his lame play calling staff. #firesark

  40. Keep going to carrol tree( kiffin, sark) and hoping for the same results. Not happeming. SC hit a jackpot with carrol, and jackpots are well almost impossible. Cut the losses short and get a decent ciach. Who’s worst sark, kiffin, or pat hadden?

  41. Besides big expectations i see us in the Music City bowl or similar by years end. Many of us havent been to Nashville before so look forward to the trip

    • My boss is an Eagles fan. I was telling him this morning that we will be glad to take Chip off the Eagles’ hands. Win-win for both fan bases.

  43. Good news is maybe this will inspire Haden to go out and hire an accomplished college football coach not someone just wit USC ties. Before tonight i thought Sark was at least a good offensive coach but that is no longer true

  45. funny how at halftime, borrOcho was saying “Cody will be all right!!”

    ALL he could think of was getting Cody his stats, RATHER than the fact they could run the ball at will!!

    pure WAC ballin’ yo!

  46. Sark sucks. Cody is not a big time QB. He has never lead a comeback. On the first down pass at end of game Whitney was open in the middle of the field. He defender was three yards behind him. And he throws to JuJu with press coverage on the sideline with a safety over the top. No test of Washington’s defense up the middle, tight end anyone. Playcalling sucked by Cody missed a ton of open people that are not named JuJu. He needs to spread the ball around. Season over!

  47. Why does Kessler continuously abandon the pocket? Why keep using the same front when all the interior linemen aré double teamed at the point of attack? The middle was wide open all night.

  49. Reading down the line of comments, the consensus is that by 2045 Sark will be a mediocre coach and Wilcox will still be rushing 3 players so that an opposing QB with 2 blown out knees can complete 80% of his passes. Hello Pat, YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!

  50. The media, and Steve Sarkisian cheerleader fans were so busy patting him on the back for his off season recruiting , that they forgot it takes a little bit of coaching to go along with those players . So maybe the next time Pat Haden hands the keys to coach, he won’t be a glorified recruiting coordinator .

  51. This loss was on Cody Kessler and Clay Helton primarily. Cody is just limited. He doesn’t have a canon arm, he doesn’t have good feet or pocket presence, but usually he’s a good game manager. If he’s not being a good game manager (he obviously wasn’t tonight) then he has very little to recommend him.

    If Kessler is struggling it’s all the more reason to run the ball down their throats. The first play of the game was a play action pass and you could see the run was there on that play. We could’ve run for over 300 yards tonight, but Helton insisted on getting the ball to Juju and Adoree. You had a team you could’ve bullied and pounded and you decided to employ some other philosophy. Now the trolls will be back like the swallows to Capistrano. Nice Thursday evening…

    • Steve Sarkisian is still the head coach of that program, and if he doesn’t have the ability to force Clay Helton to make adjustments to run the ball, then what is he there for ? To be a figure head coach, and a cheerleader ? How many times have we seen Nick Saban get in the face of Lane Kiffen ?

      • Sark is his own issue. Helton was supposed to be better than this regardless of what Sark is doing or not doing. I’m only disappointed because one of the guys that I thought was competent did some incompetent stuff tonight. There was soooo much running room there especially right up the middle and he passed on it. This is our offensive coordinator who wasn’t a part of Sark’s staff and we all wanted him to call plays. He wanted to be cute instead of just winning the damn game. 2 or 3 backs could’ve gone over 100 yards, but Helton had to get juju and Adoree touches. That’s alarming and so was Cody.

    • The last part of your comment literally made me laugh out loud. You’re alright, Russell.

    • Hi Ho Mr. Russell. Enjoy the Toejam home defeat inflicted by a cupcake, double digit ‘dog with a shaky freshman QB?

  52. Coaching is crap, plain and simple. When is the last time team came from behind to win in the 4th qtr. They are absolutely dysfunctional in the second half time after time. 10 vs. Stanford, 7 vs. ASU, 6 vs. UW. Sark is a decent offensive coordinator and that is where he belongs in college or pro ball.

  53. It’s almost as if Steve Sarkisian wanted to lose the ball game if he couldn’t win it his way, because it was so obvious that USC could pound the ball down Washington’s throat, that the Television analysts were even baffled. What kind of egotistical Bozo do we have running the SC football program?

  54. sorry usc boosters and spectators, but this joke comes at quite an apt and opportune time:

    Q: what is the difference between a usc fan and a three-week-old puppy?
    A: eventually the puppy will stop whining

    • Maybe she realizes she knows absolutely nothing about football and will spare us her pronouncements for now on. We can only hope.

  56. -Banner and Wheeler are bookend tackles who can’t block. Seniors who in my opinion who are highly overrated and average at best.
    -Tre Madden heard footsteps twice dropping two key passes.
    -that last drive we ran the ball well and we were gaining some momentum, but on 1st down Helton goes deep, then runs, then passes. HORRIBLE PLAYCALLING!
    -attempting that field goal was beyond disbelief. Wow….
    -So far through 5 games this might be the worse pass rush that I can remember.

    GO DODGERS!

  57. So Steve Sarkisian was exposed as fraud on national television this evening, and the Notre Dame game will be nationally televised , also . Thanks Pat Haden, your the greatest!

  59. Washington got a gift from God when Pat Haden decided to pass on Chris Peterson because he didn’t interview well. Tell me Patty…. who’s your next hire….Tony Robbins, the motivation speaker? I’ll bet he’ll max that interview. What a joke! Are you trying to tell me that this guy is a better A.D. than Mike Garrett. What are you smoking? I don’t blame Steve Sarkesian. He’d have to be one brick short of a full load to turn down the SC job for that kind of money. I blame Mr. Haden. This isn’t Cal Poly. This is USC, the richest school in division 1 football with probably the most tradition. There’s no excuse to bring in a guy averaging 7 wins a year when you are USC. They should be able to bring in a great coach and they had one that wanted the job. THANK YOU PAT HADEN.

      • Chris Peterson wanted the job. Why would he have interviewed twice for the job if he wasn’t interested in it?

          • I still say that he’s head and shoulders above Sark. Everytime I watch SC play UCLA, the thing that stands out is the toughness of UCLA and the lack of toughness for SC. They play smash mouth football. Sc plays a finesse game. He may not be able to beat Stanford and Oregon but how would he fair against those teams if he had the talent of USC.

          • Sorry Jim. I just don’t think a guy who loses every home game (& attendance continues to rise) and can’t beat the two champions of the PAC 12, he’s 0-7 and most likely gonna lose Thursday can coach at USC. I’ll give you this. He’s definitely outcoached and is tough against USC. I’m just being honest. He just got a taste of reality against ASU….you have to beat every team, not just USC.

          • I’m not saying that Jim Mora is the next Urban Meyer. I just think that he’s been a better coach than anything that SC has had since PC, although Lane Kiffen was pretty good in his first 2 years before he lost it in 2012. I do believe that SC will begin to challenge for the national championship in the near future. Hiring Sark over Peterson was a bad decision on PH’s part but just a minor setback. If they don’t do it under Sark, then Sark will be gone. He might be gone after this year. It depends upon how this year turns out. If they only win 7 games, I think that he’ll be gone. People will say that 2 years are not enough. Look at all the money they will lose on a 4 year contract that Sark signed. True, but SC is one of the richest universities in the world(not just America). They have the money. They also have the incentive because SC has tradition in football. UCLA has tradition in basketball but the Trojans have that tradition in football. They also have a business incentive to challenge for the national championship. They have taken over the coliseum and are spending at least 100 million to renovate it. How do you pay for that? By filling the coliseum on saturdays. You’re not going to fill the coliseum by winning 7 games a year. In this world, unfortunately, money talks and everything else walks. If they have to get rid of PH and Sark, they’ll do it. Moneywise, it’s a much better decision to get rid of Sark after 2 years, pay him 8 million for his last 2 years and get someone in there who can fill that coliseum and get them into the playoffs. SC will be back.

          • I’m like every other fan at the present time. Unhappy. But I’m confident that if Sark is gone this season we’ll definitely find a coach capable of coaching the talent and winning. For the record I want Sark to win these remaining games, beat Notre Dame and UCLA. But all signs say that is gonna take a huge turnaround. This is my opinion and I’m certainly no expert, but I think Sark has to beat UCLA to keep his job. Haden is sinking with Sark. And BTW I like Haden and I like Sarkisian. I’m all for the “let him coach, it’s only been a 18 games, give him a chance” thing. But the way we lose and losing to the teams we should beat (especially at home). This in my opinion is speeding up the process and Sarks time is running out at an alarming rate. Like you said money talks. Football at USC is the Money. It’s almost time to start collecting money. I was hard on Sark yesterday, but it wasn’t hate or a sudden outburst. I’m gonna ride with Sark and hope he proves me and everyone else wrong. But we both know he might not make it to next season at this pace.

          • Who knows. He might turn it around and become a great coach but he better start moving in that direction real soon because I think the higher ups at USC are already discussing who will be the next trojan coach. They play ND and Utah next. They could be 3-4 after the first 7 games. This is a team that was picked to challenge for the national championship before the season. Then don’t forget California which comes after Utah. They are presently 5-0 and they beat Washington. At what point do the players start to think that this coach isn’t the one to lead us to the promise land? At the start of 2012 the players really believed that Lane Kiffen could take them to the NCAA championship. After the Georgia Tech game, Kiffens career at SC was over because the players had lost confidence in him. He lost the team and although he coached 5 games into the 2013 season, his SC career was over after Georgia Tech. Sark is dangerously close to losing those players. I like Sark. I hope he makes it. At this point I’m not too optimistic.

      • You go out and get the best coach, instead of acting like a teen age girl waiting for the phone to ring on Saturday night.

  61. I don’t think it was the field goal attempt that gave this one away. Instead it was throwing 3 straight incomplete passes after Ronald Jones ran 3 straight times for a touchdown and USC got a three and out and had all the momentum. So the coaches make a stupid decision to pass 3 times which they couldn’t do all night anyway. Those passes were absolutely bizarre, just incomprehensible why SC didn’t keep running the ball. The other two things were when Tre Madden missed the 2pt conversion catch and Justin Davis dropped the 1 foot dump off/screen pass from Kessler. That was absolutely horrible and would have been a first down at least. As a Bruin fan I was so hoping for a showdown of two highly ranked undefeated crosstown rivals at the end of the year. Looks like now the game will be meaningless for both of us.

  62. And another completely bizzarre thing is why does usc only rush three guys? I don’t understand it.

  63. Not only is Sark not qualified to coach at USC, his staff is terrible also. Knowing they could run the ball all night, the OC continued to try to pass, thus putting Kessler in jeopardy and fearing for his life. This reflects on the OL coach who cannot coach at this level. Our line has talent, but no leadership. Defense is filled with speed, but we don’t use it, remaining almost without a pass rush, little blitzing, and cover two in the backfield. When a head coach can only bring in substandard coaches to a program like the Trojans, it truly reflects how other coaches do not want to work for him, thus, he is not qualified to coach at USC, nor is the nutless AD that hired him. USC clean house, start talking to Chip Kelly now.

    Another thing about the coaching I have noticed, the players are not disciplined in their execution, thinking they have enough athletic ability to make up for not covering tightly or rushing in a particular scheme. That shows we have 11 individuals on the field, not a “team”. Coaches fault all the way.

  64. There are too many great teams in the PAC-12 to ever so arrogantly assume that all we need to do to blow out a team like Washington is just show up for the game. The whole team looked out of sorts and were obviously unprepared for a very hungry Washington team. Husky fans are very happy to have gotten rid of Sark!

  66. Play calling was obviously horrible.

    BUT

    I think a big part of Scs problems today, comes from Recruting.
    Is not just about the star rating and the rankings is about filling the positions of need by a team.
    USC got horrible recruiting classes last couple of years in terms of filling the team needs in the trenches.

    Does it matter when you have 5 starters back on the O-Line when 4 out of 5 suck.
    How can we have 5 top RBs and a guy like Chad Wheeler start at Left Tackle?
    And in this years class, am sorry to point out that the Wolf is righ on how many WR do we really need?
    Wheres the recruting strategy? USC staff recruits like builiding a fantasy footbal team.

  67. At a storied program like USC you should never hire a coach with potential rather than a proven coach with a track record of success i.e. Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Chip Kelly, Jim Harbaugh, Les Miles, etc. Sark does not know how to create a successful elite football program because he has never done it himself.

  68. This all falls on Pat Haden. Everyone is ranting about Sark, when it is Haden who made this hire. I am still pissed about Coach O not getting the job. Haden is living in a 1972 fantasy land, of USC is still relevent. Mike Garrett, I miss you!!

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