Clay Helton said linebacker Jabari Ruffin will sit out first half of Utah State game and write apology letter for his actions.
Helton said negatives were running game, busted assignments on offensive line and big plays allowed by defense. Helton said DE Don Hill and LB Osa Masina are allowed to practice and go to team meetings by the university right now.
Helton said USC threw 26 drop back passes because of lack of running game and that many drop-back passes “are not us.”
Helton said Max Browne went 56 snaps and Sam Darnold 18. He said he put Darnold in game in third quarter to see him play against Alabama’s No. 1 defense. Helton said the stage of the game was not too big for some players but too big for others.
Helton said once it was impossible to run the ball, USC tried to get the ball to players in space, especially the interior receivers. On playcalling: “Last night was a great learning experience for everybody.”
Hmmmm… Let’s see…? “This one’s on me”; “we’ve got to get better”; “we won’t let this get us down” … Platitude, platitude, platitude…
Ruffin escapes the one unsupervised up-down punishment.
How about the addressing the issue of how USC takes the field before the game? I don’t know who came up with this garbage of taking the field in the manner in which they did last night, but it was emblematic of the level of effort by the Trojans…embarrassing. Also, who is the genius who came up with the concept of the cardinal trim and the number style on the jerseys? Who allows Nike to come in and dictate to USC how their jerseys are going to be style? Do you think Alabama and Ohio State allows this crap to go on? This is another example of the dysfunction that is rampant in the USC athletic department.
The jerseys were nothing compared to the coaches shirts! Nike needs to fire the person who designed those shirts.
It is not Nike’s problem. It is USC’s problem. USC is the customer. If the coaches shirts, game jerseys, etc. are not up to snuff, send them back to Nike.
They keep showing it on ESPN all day today.
Talk about a slap on the wrist! If I were the head coach I would have suspended him for a while. What he did was criminal.
He should be gone for the rest of the month of September. That would send a message to the rest of the team.
That is what I was saying. Not just game suspension, but suspension from being at practices, too. Remember years ago, when legatette Blount of Oregon punched that guy after a game. They suspended him a long time after that. This is kind of similar to that.
Yep…same situation. Blunt did not come back until the 10th game of the year. Add to the fact that he could not miss one class or tutor session or he was gone.
We were all told the ‘O’ line was one of the best in the country – they failed repeatedly to open any lanes for the running backs – the poor kids were constantly sweeping the line to try to gain yardage. The ‘O’ line was one of the biggest failures seen from the very beginning of the contest.
Those players were either out of shape or poorly coached or both.
Who is the poster boy for the offensive line? Mr. Comedian, Zach Banner, who hasn’t done a damn thing worthwhile during his career at USC. Best offensive line in the country? Sure it is. They got abused by Alabama due to a lack of heart and effort.
Being the head coach at USC is way above clay Helton. There is no on the job training g at USC. Pat Haden has to go down as one of the worst athletic directors in ncaa history.
In a USA Today article about Haden’s Compensation, Max Nikias said “We believe that Pat Haden is the very best AD in America”. Big problem at the Top
How can he say he is the best AD in America when he had no practical experience as an AD to begin with? That quote says it all right there, along with, “Sark gets SC”. They should use this case study at the Marshall School of business as what not to do when running an organization.
You’re so lucky that you now have Lynn Swann as your AD now…. because he has SO much AD experience (All Sarcasm Fully Intended)
Southern cal is going backwards. They hired a TV game announcer in Haden… Now they hired a sideline reporter in Swann! What are they going to do next? Hire a cheerleader??!!
#southerncalbeingsoutherncal
Agreed!!!!!!! All of the above is true and will continue…
If anyone thinks there are any changes coming, or that Lynn Swann has any idea whatsover as to how a progam like USC, let alone how an entire athletic department should be run, you’re in for quite a ride…He’s in way over his head and from what people say he’s not even attemptimg to learn the gig.
This has Haden Part 2 written all over it. Bad hire after bad hire…It all stinks from the top down. Swann is a stuffed shirt at best and a possible fundraising ploy, but nothing more. As somone with a bit of knowledge form the inside it’s only gonna get worse.
It’s a shame. Bad hires from leadership to AD to coaching…
Last night was a debacle, but one eveyone should have seen coming for months.
I can only imagine how pleased Kiff would have been to have HADEN still involved to take that lump on the chin…
The two rapist that are going to do prison time are allowed to practice with the team, really? Lol Unbelievable! Clay Helton is every bit the Bozo I thought he was, and then some. But I still expect the Trojans to win 8 games, and go to the mediocrity bowl.
Did you see BYU work over ARIZ at the end of that typical Wildcat collapse? They have the worst D – looked like us against ‘Bama. The Pac-12 is the definition of mediocre.
Next thing you know Helton will be crowing about how so many problems were fixed in the Utah State game. Makes me gag.
Helton looks like a guy who knows he’s way over his pay grade and is hoping his kind personality will make up for his obvious lack of preparation.
Long season ahead. I’m just glad we’re playing this week unlike Stanford waiting two weeks to play us.
I’m still blown away we looked so bad. Clueless Clay had no escalating game plan. Any mental midget would have known Saban was going to shut down our run game, because he knew he could based on tape, and close of JuJu, which he could do by doubling him. After that, we were left grasping at straws with a slightly scared, stiff QB and a bunch of Big Softies. I felt sorry for our excellent RBs. No lanes whatsoever.
I had given Helton/Martin a lot of undeserved credit before the game started. Now, Helton’s talking about how much he “learned.” Another on-the-job-HC-trainee at USC. Shocker!
But maybe the biggest shocker was how the new super tough Trojans just quit so early. Even Herbstreit was stunned. Doesn’t look good.
Pretty much sums up what we all saw.
That line from ‘No Country For Old Men”
Wendell:
“It’s a mess, ain’t it, Sheriff?
Ed Tom Bell:
“If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here.”.
Jack, you know what is scary? Rich Rod had the Alabama job and then backed out at the last minute.
Remember Mike Price had it and they were smart enough to pull it back.
Price got busted at a strip club after spring practice.
I doubt they cared where he was to sack him – he could have been in a monastery. They figured out his luck was Ryan Leaf and that was it.
You’re kidding! Wow. They would have given Rich Rod the Bill Curry treatment – bricks through the window.
And the stomper only misses the first half of the Utah State game. There’s a tough disciplinarian.
They will struggle to win 6. They are not beating Stanford, Utah, UW, ND and UCLA on the road. That is 5 more guaranteed losses. Then they have to run the table against Oregon, ASU, Ariz. Colorado and Cal. They aren’t beating Oregon. They are a 5 team at best
Some “great learning experience” Helton. What a wimp we have for a head coach.
How do you like the line up of 3-star recruits Helton has been working on? Don’t think Jack B. that this program is going anywhere in the near future with Helton as HC.
half a game for the dirtiest play ever seen on a football field??
#ManUpHell-TON
If it was the ruins, it wouldn’t have been dirty, just normal.
Bruins are pure of heart…we are incapable of committing a dirty play.
More confirming reports – Sarkisian is traveling to Tuscaloosa to meet w. Sabin et. al..
Have to wonder how hiring another USC coach is going to set with the other members of the AL coaching staff.
The two of the (Kiffin and Sarkisian) were both justifiably dismissed and if this goes through they’ll regale each other on how ‘blanked’ up USC is…how they didn’t get a fair chance at USC on and on
Sabin is no fool but if this goes down this is a foolish move on his and AL:’s part..
Who cares what Kiffer (the a-hole) and Sark (the drunk) think or say about USC? Are you serious?
Huh? Calm down – the report is legitimate and if AL and Sabin are foolish enough to make this move then good luck. Kiffin will sink his talons deeper into the AL program and that’s not going to set well with the coaches that haven’t moved on who have been there a long time.
Yeah I am serious
Nobodies excited. I just think it’s silly. Hope that’s okay.
Works for me
EASY, break it up, girls!!!!
you Dummies are TEARING EACH OTHER APART!!!
the fact is Saban is simply proving that he can turn chickensh!t into chicken salad, a true ego maniac, but i’ll be damned if he dint pull it off with KIFF!!!!! now he’s gonna turn Sark into another reformed hero!!!
#UltimateStreetCred
Can’t believe these USC fans are taking about Sark and Kiff. Unbelievable.
I can’t believe you’re here or that little gutty Trolls even exist. But you do. What saps.
Go Aggies. Run it right by Vanderdoes.
Who cares. Bama can do what they want. Has nothing to do with USC.
If Saban retires, does he care? Let kiff take over and sark is the new OC.
Probably right but I doubt it’ll be the end of this year esp. if AL fails to get into the game on 9th January. Kiffin has bored deep into the AL program.
Good for Kiffin. He’s a smart guy with a few tragic flaws. Hope he becomes ALA’s HC. That’ll be fun to watch. Who knows? Maybe he’ll have figured it all out by then and be ready. He’s certainly no more antagonistic than Saban and he probably learns a new Saban secret every week.
We have to understand, right now Helton has nothing. What do you say after that game. He will be the coach for at least the next two years so we gotta bite the bullet. USC cannot afford to fire another coach midseason. Nobody of any quality would take the job.
Yup that’s the basic skinny – like it or not we’re stuck with the porky sunshine guy through December 2017
All the big money alums and SC can’t afford to fire this head coach? That explains why the program has gone downhill since Pete left.
Money is not the issue. It is whether or not Nikias will give the go ahead. I think it is safe to say that he views football as a necessary evil and doesn’t want to spend too much time on it.
Helton is the poster boy of mediocrity. He synonymous with The Haden Era.
If only he was medicore. Sark is medicore. Gomer is bad.
Facts
What we are witnessing…and have been for quite some time…is the inevitable decay of USC Trojan Football. It looks like institutional DRYROT from here.
The NCAA sanctions may have put a dagger into the heart of the program, but IMO, it is the unforgivable arrogance, blundering, and stupidity of all those charged with (and paid well) to revive SC football. Their ineptitude is unforgivable.
That and PC booking out the door just as the sanctions were descending – he could have given us one more year. I know the SEA job was up with all the bells and whistles but NFL hc jobs appear every year. Pete did us no favor bailing out as fast as he did as 2010 started.
This is the product of one Patrick Capper Haden.
“…blundering” and “stupidity” and “arrogance” from the SC administration?
Yep.
Helton said he had been planning for the Bama game since December! What happened was a disaster! No half time adjustments, no actual impromptu game change plan during each quarter! Just kept flinging it to the wall to see if it would stick! I know we’re stuck with him for now, but I have hope Swann will cut his losses with these “on the job training” hires! Enough is enough!
We’re stuck. We just pulled the Tarmac and the Drunk good-byes mid-season. Helton’s got two years even if he falls into a coma.
Not sure if Kiffin is still on the payroll. Sark sued so not sure if he is but Helton signed a 5 year contract [who does this, oh yeah Haden does this]. Bringing in another guy would mean another 5-year contract and it will take that guy at least 2 years to change the culture of ineptitude if all goes well. Texas looks like it is finally finding itself in I believe Strong’s fourth year.
Helton said.
Helton said.
Helton said.
You would think one of us was writing this stuff and not a man who actually gets a paycheck.
I’m not looking forward to leaving for the game at 4:30am on Saturday, but I’m hoping we a better performance. And I BETTER GET A MARCUS ALLEN BOBBLE HEAD!
I still find it ironic that Offensive Guru Kiffin got fired by Haden immediately after USC scored over 40 points on the road with a sophomore QB.
Tee Martin is the new Hue Jackson
I’m still speechless about that performance last night, I’ve been a USC football fan since the 80s , and that was a horrible loss for the program!! Trying to stay positive, let’s hope this experience motivates the team and put’s some fire in there heart’s!
The reality is southern cal has a Mid-major Coordinator as the HC and Mid-Major position coaches coordinating offence and defense. Helton would have had a hard time securing a HC position at a mid-major program but southern cal gave him the HC job…. The cadre prophesied the coming clasp but non of you rah rahs would hear it.
I hate to tell you I told you so but….. I told you so!
you totally DID tell ’em!!!
#TheyNeverListen
Oh Clay, it certainly was a learning experience…FOR US!:
We learned:
1. That you are now 0-3 as a head coach
2. That you have not instilled discipline on the team
Two rapists are being allowed to practice
Crotch stomper only has to sit out a half and say sorry
The team looked like a bunch of morons entering
3. Bama could completely disrupt the run and pass by only rushing 4 guys
4. USC cannot make adjustments
5. Poor communication exists on defense when both backers blitz leaving easy pickings for even a true freshman QB playing in his first game
6. You and your staff do not know how to prepare
7. You are totally capable of making the program more irrelevant
8. The team gives up
9. Adore never gives up
10. That we have buyers remorse regarding your contract
Slow your roll