Sunday With Clay Helton

Clay Helton said tonight to have 536 yards offense and 21 points against Colorado was “frustrating.”

Helton said Sam Darnold is “so creative at breaking out of the pocket” but needs to keep his off hand on the ball while scrambling.

Cornerback Jonathan Lockett suffered a sprained knee late in the game, Helton said. Helton said he has no timetable for the return of Justin Davis. He is probably going to be out several weeks based on how he looked yesterday.

Helton complimented JuJu Smith-Schuster for sliding to the ground near the end of the game instead of scoring a touchdown. Do you agree?

The press conference fizzled out after about 10 minutes. Blame the presidential debate.

34 thoughts on “Sunday With Clay Helton

  1. The same Darnold that Helton passed over in favor of the human sloth Browne to start the year

  2. Yes, I do agree with Juju’s decision. Keep the ball out of Colorado’s hands and ensure they dont have an opportunity of pulling off a miracle.

    • I agree. When JuJu passed up on the touchdown I thought it was a mistake but it turns out Colorado never had a chance to get their hands on the ball meaning they had zero chance of winning.

  3. Once JuJu got the first down, it made very little difference if he scored or not. The game was basically over. But since he decided to slide, it makes no sense to publicly criticize one of your better players, who is also overly temperamental.

      • If that’s really true, I don’t think Swann will stand for that, which would work in favor of a replacement sooner rather than later.

      • One of the great things about this blog is even knuckleheads like you can voice your opinion, and prove how ignorant you are.

  4. In my opinion if USC was up by one falling just short of the goaline would be a wise astute decision. Up by four making the game a two score difference puts the game away and makes everyone a tad bit happier about the end result.

  5. One of the characteristics of a good team is consistency and minimizing mistakes – you know what to expect from a disciplined team and its players. But it is not clear what Trojan team comes out, week in and week out, and it seems clear that Helton doesnt have have sufficient control, nor has he made much of a leadership impression on his team.

  6. Juju should have scored.

    If Colorado wanted the game, let them go earn it by driving the length of the field and scoring twice. Have faith in your teammates and the defense to win a game, too.

    Whatver happened to Pete Carroll’s mantra “Always Compete?”

    • Ju-Ju scores, 28-17. Colorado is flinging the ball around, scores, 28-24. Onside kick, somehow Colorado gets, it nail biter time. Who needs the aggravation for stats, drop and run out the clock. Smart move Ju-Ju.

      • If the mindset of the coaches and team is on all the negative stuff that can happen one after another, then the mindset of the team needs to change.

        Play to dominate your opponent and make him submit on the field of battle right in front of you. Look at him right in the eye as he fails right before you right between the hashmarks.

        A win is a win but great teams go out and finish a team off.

        Always Compete.

    • In a snap decision while on the way to scoring, JuJu decides to slide. He thought it was smart. I think it just clicked into his head and boom, he slid. Personally, I wish he would have just run it in, but it matters little except to Vegas.

      JuJu clearly beats to his own drummer. As a HC, you can only control so much. There’s plenty to disparage Gomer about but neither JuJu nor Gomer should take any heat for the slide job.

      • I agree, Jack B, with your conclusion. However, the slide by Ju-Ju was the right thing to do. I have been waiting 60 years, since the Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl game, to see a college football player do what Ju-Ju did. Ju-Ju chose NOT RUN UP THE SCORE to avoid Colorado circling next years game on their calendar..

        • I have no beef with JuJu one way or another. I don’t know whether JuJu slid to hold the score down or to guarantee victory, or both. Somebody like SW would have to ask. Would be interesting to hear his words.

          But since this involves USC football, everything’s magnified X 10. Over-rated non-issue.

          I don’t see how you could call the late two possession score a run-up, so I don’t believe CU would have had any locker room material.

  7. I do agree with Juju sliding. You slide down and the game is over. You score a TD and you go up 28-17 but they could run back the kickoff 100 yards and then get the ball with an onside kick and score again. Not very likely but it could happen. You slide and the game is over because they have no more time outs.

  8. Does anyone really think JuJu did this on his own? USC called a timeout right before that play. I’m sure Helton stressed, get a first down and the game’s over. If I’m right, then Helton’s smarter than most on here think.

    It was the right move. Lots of crazy things have happened with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. Nothing sweeter than the victory formation.

    • Crazy things have happened to USC in the last minute of a game over the last few years. Juju’s play was smart. No need to run up the score for style points when you already have 3 losses. Just keep the wins coming and the clock rolling.

  9. Wrong, Coach Helton. A runner shouid never put both hands on the ball while moving forward unless the runner is about to cross the goal line on short yardage. Of supreme importance is keeping constant maximum arm/nand pressure on the ball which should remain crammed against the runner’s upper chest until the runner is down.

  10. Those would have been hard earned points and a 2 score lead..Sam earned a TD pass and receiver a TD reception, it was the wrong move, but fortunately they did not need the cushion. Having 4 fumbles the first down was nice but still precarious,11 points not precarious.11 point win is not running up the score .

    • Sliding short of the goal line essentially puts SC’s chances of winning the game at 100% because it guaranteed CU wouldn’t get the ball back. Had he gone into the endzone SC is up 2 scores with over a minute left. SC’s chances of winning would be extremely high but not 100%. There are scenarios, however unlikely, where CU could win. How is giving you team a 100% chance to win not the right decision?

  11. His decision was heady as it ended the game. Yes the odds of CU scoring twice are minimal, yet still higher than taking a knee three times and calling it a day. However, a better reason is by ending the game there is no need for a kickoff or to play defense for another 1:30. This means there is no opportunity for one of our guys to go down with an injury. Imagine if Adoree or Cam blew out a knee playing D in that last 1:30…we’d all be asking why JuJu was selfish in scoring and he should have just slid after he got the 1st down. Think people!

  12. Completely agree with Clay and JuJu. Was very smart play, one that guaranteed the win by keeping the ball away from CU. Otherwise after scoring, the Buffs could have scored a TD AND get an onside kick. Very smart play

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