USC Morning Buzz: Trojans Need To Avoid Bottom-Feeder Rap

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USC could use a victory over UCLA for many reasons: To snap a 3-game losing streak to the Crosstown Rivals and win the Pac-12 South are the two most prominent.

But how about to stop looking so much like bottom feeders? The Trojans did beat Utah. Big deal. Look at what the Utes have done lately. It’s time for the program to win a big game. If you are tired of four-loss seasons, then USC needs a victory to avoid a five-or-six loss season.

It just needs a victory to avoid the perception that in big games it gets outcoached or outmotivated or was overrated. Full story here

98 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Trojans Need To Avoid Bottom-Feeder Rap”

  1. A little rivalry week fun:

    Q: How many USC football players does it take to unscrew a lightbulb?

    A: Just one, but he got 4 units for it.

  3. In order to win big games, a program needs, 1.) have players, and 2.) believe in its coaches, its staff, and its culture.

    • Didn’t KU claim the #1 recruiting class for 2015? And don’t all KU fans claim KU team is the most talented team in the Pac-12? So based on those two assumptions, the “bottom feeding” KU FB program should have the players.

  4. It isn’t that USC is out coached, it is that they are not coached. These players are at the same level or lower than when the season started. It doesn’t appear anyone has invested in teaching, and the result is a tired group of players depending on their original athletic ability to overcome nagging injuries and other teams who have progressed.

    • I would agree on all points. This team has not progressed because of Pat Haden’s horrible hire. Sark may do to football what O’Neil did to basketball. New leadership is needed at AD before SC football will get back on track. How SC is a 3+ favorite over Sucla is any ones guess.

    • I agree I actually wondered if Wilcox left the building after Sark was sacked. I didn’t think much of him before that, but after that it seems they have been abysmal in the one area Wilcox is supposed to be in charge of. (D backs)
      When Kiffin Sr. was at the school I was always saying he was too old to remember that the forward pass was a legal play, but Kiffin Sr. looks good compared to Wilcox.
      Sark get sacked Wilcox knows he’s toast and checks out before he’s finished with the job he’s paid to do and starts passing out resume’s — Sounds possible to me

      • Wilcox better hope no prospective employers look at ape of the last 3-4 games, especially this past Saturday.

  5. Note to Scottie: if you are a bottom-feeder then that means you are sitting at the top – somewhere USC has not been for 4 years.

  6. Football ban observation: I feel for the kids on SC’s squad. CK has been a class act, outshining both LK in level of maturity, and in conduct compared to Sark. To me, the team has been thrust into the perfect storm–still a bit thin due to sanctions, a coaching circus with OC and DC who are over their heads, and injuries that have punched holes in the OL and beyond.

    UCLA football fan observation: The momentum this week is with the Bruins. Arguably one of the hottest QB’s in the nation with zero picks in 218 attempts, who has suddenly found his running legs, as well as a team that loves playing the underdog on the road, where they’ve won 14 of their last 15, including being the underdog the past three years vs USC.

    Worthy Trojan fans/opponents, I raise a cup (it’s early, this is my coffee mug) and say, “May the best team win.”

    • This reminds me of 2011 when Neuhiesal was on his way out. UCLA did not show up that game, and I’m afraid USC will do the same. I agree with you in the fact that it’s the players who are being punished due to the incompetence of a few adults in the athletic department.

      • This one reminds me of very little. Neuheisel’s last team did not have anywhere close to the talent this year’s SC team has. Both teams have shown flashes of playing well but have been inconsistent. It’s a tough one to predict, IMO.

        • 88…Neuheisel recruited really well, Mora even admitted as much. The big difference was Hundley, but the rest of that team was loaded with talent, just not coached up. Look at what Mora did his first year with that group. You had guys like Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Jonathon Franklin, etc.

          • I agree to a point. Neuheisel left the cupboard pretty bare in the trenches which resulted in his decision to switch to the pistol. We had very poor QB play as well. The 50-0 beatdown was the result after an already embarrassing beatdown and brawl in Tucson.

          • That was RN’s legacy: recruiting amazing skill position players, but tended to leave the trenches a little thin. Always caught up with him by the end of the season when the Bruins were playing third string guards at tackle.

          • I am not sure Brehaut got a fair shake, frankly. He was recruited as a pocket passer. Neuheisel made a mistake in burning his redshirt as a freshman and then switched to the pistol. Give him a couple of years with an offense better suited to his skill set and I think he would have done better. Plus, you need to give him a decent OL and we just didn’t get the players for that.

          • SC is loaded with talent, albeit young talent. My comment was a comparison with the talent on Neuheisel’s last team, not the rest of the league this year.

      • Encinitas is a classy guy. If you want to look at the glass as half full, both SC and UCLA are still playing for the PAC-12 South title after rather inconsistent seasons. SC had to deal with the Sark situation and all the turmoil that followed. Plus, they have had some key injuries. UCLA has had a very high number of key injuries and starts a true freshman at QB, although a very good true freshman. And even after all that, the game is for the PAC-12 South.

        • Right back at you, 88… Besides Christmas, this is my favorite week of the year. All my SC family members always insist that ND is the bigger rival, and that’s cool. BUT, there is still no other rivalry as unique as this one, with the campuses being just 12 miles apart. The greatest contribution RN made during his tenure as HC was agreeing with Pete Carroll to bring back the color jersey tradition. When that blue and cardinal line up across from each other for the kickoff, my heart skips a beat like a 6-year-old on Christmas morning.

          • They love to use the ND thing to get under your skin. Best to ignore. They are two different rivalries with two different meanings.

          • Nothing’s better than beating ND and nothing’s worse than losing to ucla. Lot of truth to that for me and my USC friends.

          • That pretty much sums it up. Nothing gained by beating UCLA other than not losing to them (and losing to them is REALLY annoying). I feel only relief in beating UCLA, not joy. I’m genuinely happy when SC beats ND.

          • Saul and Jack B, I am aware of that, but Saul I would disagree on one point. ND is a non-conference intersectional rival with a lot of history between the schools. However, the UCLA game can have greater implications as a conference rival….if UCLA is a competitive program. So, what is gained by beating UCLA this year? The PAC-12 Conference Title game and a possible Rose Bowl berth. The ND game didn’t have those implications.

          • ND is historically a great program and ucla is not. Beating ND is very prestigious. You should know. You’ve never done it. USC has beaten ND more than any other school and we take a lot of pride in that, even though they have beaten us more overall. USC and ND respect each other, USC and ucla do not. For the Trojan fans I’m referring to, it’s about respect, prestige, high rankings, national championships, behemoth programs, Heismans, and East vs West. ucla doesn’t offer any of those things. Sorry. That’s just the way it is. Winning the conference is great, but USC can do that against anyone and USC overwhelmingly leads the conference in championships. Not even close.

            Frankly for me, getting the right coach in place is tremendously more important than the game this Saturday. It’s not even close there either.

          • Jacky, you and I have had this discussion before!. At the time the rivalry started, ND was the big program in the East and SC in the West. However, the West got little respect in those days as there was even more East Coast bias back then There were no pro teams West of the Mississippi. In a way, ND put SC on the map by scheduling the game which I believe was the 1st intersectional rivalry. So, SC has two rivals. I am just saying that the UCLA game at times has Rose Bowl implications that the ND game does not. And at times, the SC/ND game has national implications. And we know that UCLA is 0-4 against the Irish as you love to point out! Not a large sample size and frankly it is our recent failures against Stanford that bother Bruins more.

            I wish UCLA was still doing a home and home with ND in basketball. There was a nice stretch of a rivalry there. Bruin fans hated Digger Phelps. Phelps has liked to whine about Wooden, although Wooden put Phelps on the map. ND basketball is best known for ending UCLA’s 88 game win streak and not much more, but the games were fun an competitive.

          • I’m not sure what all this has to do with there is nothing better than beating ND nor worse than losing to ucla.

            I know a lot more about USC football than you do. ND is our biggest and most important rival in football. Then comes ucla, Stanford and Cal with Oregon threatening to take spot #4.

            If you think ND isn’t our biggest football rival, all I can say is you wouldn’t understand.

            By the way, Digger hated Wooden because he didn’t like that Wooden got a pass despite all Wooden’s cheating. A lot of coaches knew what was going on at ucla, as they should being in the game, but Saint Wooden skated for the most part. Even today ucla people refuse to acknowledge what was going on, or they say it wasn’t that bad. None of us are immune from our own biases.

            I completely fail to understand why USC would be favored this Saturday. Did everyone just not watch that USC fiasco against ORE? Makes no sense to me. I would say spotty USC and it’s woeful lame duck coaching barely has any chance whatsoever. Michigan V Ohio State will be the real contest to watch.

          • I didn’t say either rivalry was bigger. You have your opinion on SC-ND. You are an SC guy. I am just saying that in some years the UCLA game has more impact on your postseason as ND isn’t in the Conference. We have discussed this before and no need to debate it further.

            SC is favored because it usually is favored, even if it isn’t necessarily understandable. SC was favored at least 2 of the last 3 games if not all 3. I don’t think it is important and has nothing to do with the game.

            No need to dwell on Wooden or Gilbert or McKay or Marv Goux. Different times and a different era and they are all pushing up daisies. Regardless of how Digger feels about Wooden, it was UCLA that put him on the map, whether it was Wooden or JD Morgan. ND basketball was nothing prior to that. Ancient history though.

          • I know it irks you ucla guys that you aren’t USC’s biggest rival in football. As I said, you’re tradition stinks in football compared to ND, so why would you be considered by USC the same way? Once again, they’ve got a shot at the top whereas ucla doesn’t. You never do. That’s just one of the reason’s you’re always second fiddle to ND in the minds of USC fans, regardless of your emphasis on conference play.

            The goals and expectations of ND, our biggest football rival, and USC are always higher than ucla. Go ahead and deny that. But the records of both ND and USC undeniably prove that to be true.

            Compared to ND in football, ucla is swiss cheese, and you’ve got your weak-minded Trolls over here every day to prove it.

          • You poked the bear, 88 (pun intended), evidenced by some responses below. For my relatives, they feign a nonchalance when it comes to the UCLA rivalry (a nonchalance that particularly reared its head between 1991-1998, and now since 2012). And I actually got my 30-something nephew to admit this (SC grad): SC fans love to follow the adage that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference, when it comes to UCLA. However, I agree with you that the SC-UCLA rivalry is simply a different animal from the SC-ND rivalry.

    • At this point USC’s only glimmer of hope is Mora tends to choke a bit in games that really matter.

      • According to KU fans further down the thread, the LA rivalry game isn’t a big game. So I guess Mora won’t have any problems vs the KU cupcakes at the crumbling mausoleum Sat.

        The mausoleum will be empty of KU fans by halftime.

          • Served up on a platter? The game hasn’t even been played yet. SC is favored by 3 points. Not like you to talk like this, RAH RAH,

          • What has improved about USC’s team since the beginning of the season?….being favored means nothing in this rivalry game… UCLA fans should know this better than anyone….

          • Yeah, but it isn’t like UCLA has been consistent with all the injuries. It is a tough one to predict. I don’t see either team beating Stanford, but one never knows for sure. It’s why they play the games.

          • Stanford should wind up playing in the Rose Bowl… but let’s see if their fans bother showing up…..

          • And my comment was really intended for Owns, who claimed that USC really didn’t beat Utah….and that Utah beat themselves….

          • They did. Throwing three interceptions to a rookie LB – their QB was throwing ball with his eyes closed.

    • ***I feel for the kids on SC’s squad…**

      Ignoring the obvious pedophile implication…

      I too agree that the kid (& not just because he too, is from Manhattan Beach) is phenomenal, having zip picks out of an N of 218 chucks does get ones attention. Given my druthers, I would prefer that Rosen gets a hosen’ this Sat, but would not bet our basketball mascots on it. Upon reflection…I retract that statement.
      UCLA being the underdog brings into question the credibility of the Vegas experts.
      Worthy Bruin fans/opponents, I raise my martini glass (loaded with Saphire on the flagstones) and I too say, “May the best team win.”
      Point of clarification…I speak with forked-tongue on occasion.

  7. Wait we have a guy who chums to the trolls telling us about bottom feeding? I guess he is the right man for the job.

  8. “It just needs a victory to avoid the perception that in big games it gets outcoached or outmotivated or was overrated.”……. it’s a little late to be changing that perception, don’t you think?

    • …only if you consider losing to Washington at home and earning 8 votes in the latest A.P. Poll as signs of being outcoached and overrated….

  9. How about this for a question Wolf. If USC loses to UCLA, which seems like a certainty due to USC’s lack of coaching, do they accept a bowl bid? I think it would be better for USC to put this nightmare of a season to bed for good, and get on with the process of hiring a new coach who is qualified to run a program like USC. From a players perspective, do they really want to go through a bowl game preparation with coaches that will probably not be there next season?

    • As much as I’d like to decline a bowl invite, and I do get your point, I think that having additional time to practice would only help our team for next season… after all, we do open against Alabama…..

      • I didn’t realize SC opens with Alabama. Quite the start for the incoming coach. UCLA opens on the road at A&M in a matchup of teams that historically start fast and then slump. Nice opening day.

        • I agree…. BTW, the out of conference schedule for USC next year is Alabama, Utah State and Notre Dame….for UCLA it will be Texas A&M, UNLV and BYU…….

          • And BYU is on the road. The only real cupcake is UNLV. Utah State is more like a breakfast bagel, a bit more substance!

          • Well, Alabama and ND are currently ranked in the Top 4, so noshing on Utah State shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of….Texas A&M are even ranked in the Top 25, which speaks to your comment about them slumping as the season wears on….

          • Not at all, Utah State is a respectable foe. Not exactly an FCS school like those in the SEC play!

          • I think we should schedule Monmouth in football. Might have a slightly better result than our BB team had.

          • It’s best not to pay attention to basketball in November. It’s a pretty lousy product for the most part, only slightly improved by March.

      • If the current staff was going to be in place I would say yes to a bowl game. From a players perspective you just want this thing to be over. I went through this my junior year when we went 4-6 and our coach petitioned the CIF to get us in the playoffs. Thank God we were denied and the year ended. The nest year we got a new staff in and went 12-2 and won a CIF title.

        • You’d be asking the school to say no to a million dollar payday, national TV exposure for recruiting and basically telling the players that they aren’t worthy of playing in a bowl game….saying no would be a risky proposition, IMO… unless the players were given the opportunity to vote on such a decision and allow the majority to rule….

          • A million dollars to USC is like $10 to you and I. USC showing up to a half tiered bowl game and going through the motions and embarrassing themselves again would do more to hurt rectuiting than anything else. This is like a bad relationship…time to say goodbye and move on.

          • Let’s see what happens Saturday before we talk about saying goodbye and moving on.
            Things could still turn out quite nicely bowl-wise.

          • …and, believe me, 50% plus one of the players would NOT vote to turn down a bowl invitation. [Besides, lest we forget, we’re STILL in the run for the Rose Bowl].

    • What’s ironic is UCLA faced this question nearly every season during the first decade of the millennium–through the forgettable Dorrell and Neuheisel years, where you could almost always pencil in a 6-5 or 7-4 season (the exception was 10-2 during Drew Olsen’s senior year). I think the answer is “yes,” you take the bowl game–as it provides nearly an extra month of practice for the young players.

  10. It’s a temporary situation, a blip on the radar screen, but Bottom-Feeder? That’s a synonymous term used to describe trolls like “owns.” Without doubt “owns” is a most disgusting individual, the antithesis of a gentleman. Sally owns “owns.” LOL

  11. I called them the University of Stupid Coaching for a reason. If these kids are as talented as the writers believe they are, and in some case they have shown, the only thing stopping them is coaching.
    It doesn’t take a football genius to see that USC has been out coached in every loss. Once Sark was history the rest of the coaches checked into the resume’ writing 101 class. Some may want to stay so they are working on improvement, but most are standing at the threshold coaching over their shoulder.
    Helton should be putting in plays that work and sticking with them on offense and letting ineffective coaches sit this game out.

    • Leave the assistants at home? For the Big Game? No, O.T., I think they should be allowed to sit in the booth as long as the telephones to the sidelines are disconnected. Otherwise, I can’t quibble with one word you’ve written.

  12. wolfman, we both KNOW the Bruins are gonna dish out an AZZZ WHOOOPIN’ to the trOXans on Saturday!!!

    the defeat will be a crusher, and the players will AGAIN have ABANDONMENT issues when yet ANOTHER coach they have bought into is cast aside like yesterday’s gar-BAGE!!!

    Cody is totally psyched out by Bruins, Helton looks shell-shocked, the team has given up, and the CHOSEN ONE is getting better each week!!!!

    #MyPrediction:PAAAAAIN!!

  13. If you have an average pass rush then it’s not difficult to beat USC, because the key to beat them is to get into Cody Kessler’s face. Clay Helton refuses to emphasize the run, even if the opponent is vulnerable to it, go figure? and I’ve never seen anything so idiotic. Helton says he runs the shotgun most of the time , because it’s easier for the offensive line to pass block, but most players at that position say firing off the ball for run blocking is an easier adjustment. And sure the starting O line is young, but prior to all the injuries they were still horrible . So if UCLA’s coaching staff studies the film like I think they will, then SC’s offensive line will make the Bruins average defensive line, look like all college all americans .

    • Fred, one critical matchup is our nose tackle Kenny Clark lining up over your third-string center. Also, UCLA’s D had 9 sacks in the first 6 games, but since the Stanford loss, the Bruins have recorded 17 sacks in 5 games. McKinnley and Clark, in particular, have really put pressure on opposing QBs lately.

  14. actually, #bottomfeeder would still be better than #clowncollege or #yesterdayU, so perhaps stick with it.

  15. Here’s to Stanford defeating Notre Dame later on the 28th November – Notre Dame plays 12 games and avoids a CC game (13th). The advantage is huge avoiding a potential loss but even more is save for the annual match-up with USC and Stanford they play 5 ACC opponents which means they can avoid road games against Miami or FL St., Clemson for as much as 5 years.

    It is to their advantage not to play the same teams every year as the schemes get known after a while (latter days of PC) by conference opponents.

    If Notre Dame is considered for the final four CFB then they should face off against the Big-12 leader on the 5th December- but there it is the Princess team – go Stanford

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