USC Morning Buzz: 13 Wins Divided By 4 = Mediocre

usc-ucla-2015Back when USC was 1-3, it was pointed out the teams the Trojans played were 13-2 overall. So let’s look at the final four teams on the schedule: Oregon, Washington, UCLA and Notre Dame. They are a combined 13-13. Eliminate Washington and it’s a 7-13 record.

Increasingly, the UCLA game looks like a trap game. If USC wins, it might be considered a non event with UCLA’s struggles. But a loss would be a catastrophe from a fans’ perspective.

97 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: 13 Wins Divided By 4 = Mediocre

  1. Looking at where it stands right now, the outcome of the UCLA game should depend largely on whether Rosen will have fully recovered from his injuries by the game day. Losing the starting QB is always devastating to the offense as well as the overall psyche of the whole team.

    • Yes, I agree. Losing to either SUCLA or Notre Dame would definitely challenge the way fans are viewing the season at the moment. Losing to both would open up all kinds of bottles of worms for Helton.

    • Losses against those two rivals would be pretty difficult to swallow because they are beatable this season.

  2. “If USC wins, it might be considered a non event with UCLA’s struggles.”

    When is that not the reality of bel-air tech?

  3. UCLA is just getting that power football game going. Once they figure out how to stop getting negative yards on1/3 of their running plays things are going to start clicking.
    #uclapowerfootball

      • Yes Jimmy Mora said at the start of the year he was going to play power football. I think he might be a nephew of Fred. So I’m sure Klemm and Jimmy will figure it out and start running for + + yards. When that happens watch out.
        #tictictic

      • Your still alive! Praise the lord. How is that minus 3 yards and cloud dust football working for you? I heard Chosen One is already thinking about transferring.
        #facehugispower

  4. yes, the bruins are struggling, and Helton’s seat will be red hot is SC were to lose. But only “America’s worst beat writer” could describe a victory as a non event.
    Why can’t Wolf get reassigned to the baby blues?

  5. Based on the talent level, USC should run the tables, but that’s never been the case because the team has been underachieving since Pete Carroll left. Opposing coaches have said for years, that the Trojans always have the most talent in the conference, even with the scholarship restrictions. But when you have weak leadership like SC does, then you can’t count on a win, regardless of who you play.

    • That’s the best argument I’ve heard for the mediocrity that is the Pac 12 conference- even when USC was on NCAA probation it still had the best talent in the league….

      • Yep, they always sign the most decorated high school players in the conference, year after year. Now what they do with that talent is a different story. Some may think lots of the players were overrated, and some may think the coaches didn’t develop them correctly. I think it was 70/30 coaching.

        • But DO we have the best talent ?

          I think these recruiting services are a joke. Anyone who saw Ricky Town’s motion knew he wasn’t a top QB, yet he was rated very high, why ? Well because he tore up a horrible high school league. Darnold was a 3 star, anyone think he’s a 3 star ?

          The OL is awful, is that poor coaching or poor player evaluation ? The LB’s are OK, nothing great, but all seemed to be highly rated. Again, poor player evaluation or poor coaching ? Why can’t USC recruit a blocking TE ? Well we know why, because the ex head coaches wanted to run the spread.

          With the changing demographics of So Cal, USC had better start heading to the east, midwest and south for it’s trench players. Let’s be honest, Asian’s and Hispanic’s don’t make up the majority of football players.

          • It appears recruiting services rate quarterbacks on stats, and not ability. Because can they really explain the difference between a 3, and a 4 star rating? Some high school quarterbacks are surrounded by better talent, abd some play against better competition. But do the recruiting services take that into consideration ?, I bet they don’t.

          • Of course they don’t, it’s all about the stats. Most of these so called ” experts ” probably never played football. Tom Lemming was a mailman, how does he qualify as a talent expert ?

          • Again, a huge amount of what goes on with the rankings is what the college coaching staffs think, who they are recruiting, who their targets are. And they go off of film, visits, measuring athleticism, size, etc. and having these kids at camps. This goes on for years. Sam Darnold for instance broke his foot and his hand. He missed a lot of time but teams like Oregon were watching him every step of the way, and he was rated a four star despite missing all that time.

            Sure there are biases so that when a kid in a place where there are more respected programs on their tail (like SEC country) it may help you not get overlooked maybe. But that’s still the coaches driving it.

            The climate a kid walks into, the development physically and mentally, and the development as a player definitely can move a kid in a few years, (come to think of it, so can steroids lol) but really, what a program gets is what it gets. What it makes of them is what it makes of them.

          • Alabama goes after the top rated recruits. Alabama and top programs evaluate players, helping to fuel the rankings. Alabama gets the #1 ranked classes. Alabama wins championships. I think the experts pretty much got it right. The problem is our coaches are not experts.

          • The formula is:
            Good/great coaches +excellent talent=’Bama
            Mediocre coaching +excellent talent=USC

          • Man, I have been saying that for years. There is no such thing as an “expert” when it comes to judging talent or teams.

        • I think you’re being too generous. The players were not just the most decorated, they were the most sought after by opposing coaches and the top programs in the country. So any issue of “overrated talent” would be something that all coaches who rate that talent with their scholarship offers would experience as well.

          And the disparity between USC and the rest of the conference is night and day when it comes to signing day. It’s just a matter of coaching.

    • Cubs have superior talent, Dodgers have superior depth. Over a season USC may have a bunch of 4-5*, many of which are young (due to scholi restrictions). Other teams may have more 3-4* which are older, stronger and more experienced thus more depth. Saying USC is better because they have more 4-5* is only one way to judge the team. Half of the 4-5* are 18-19 yrs old. Get a few 20/25 man classes in and let’s see what happens.

      • That’s exactly right. Forcing many of these kids to play early than developing is due to the sanctions. The stupid coaching hires have hurt because good quality coaches were not going to come here, as long as Haden was still running things. Hopefully Swann can change the culture and return it like it was.

        • Jojo, you make a good point. But it still doesn’t feel like we are seeing 4-5* talent at times.

      • I agree, but Sark brought in great talent and Helton brought a really good class as well. Let’s just go off our last 3 classes….They’re not being coached up and/or not performing up to expectations. It’s our reality. I’ve been a big recruiting follower/rah rah, but it’s clear to me that we aren’t getting it done both on the field and on the practice field. IMO.

        • If we look back honesty our ability to bring in 12-15 man classes severely limits out depth today. This is why Kiffin had a really good seasons few years ago, the restrictions had not impacted depth yet. When you need a LB, CB, OL and DL but cannot get 2 of the 4 which way do you go? Do you take a mediocre DL over a really good LB?. Anyone who says the sanctions are an excuse doesn’t understand how physical bodies matter in FB. When they hit we had a bunch of young DL, which graduated last year. If I were recruiting I wouldn’t have stockpiled DL either since we had a bunch up until last year and we had very limited options elsewhere. As far as guys not performing I beg to differ. Ju ju, Adoree, Nwosu, Rodgerrs, Cam, Wheeler, and a bunch of others have performed very well. Certainly there are kids who have not, the difference is we generally do not cut kids like other schools. Their is why Alabama and Aunurn brig in 25-29 kids every single year while we typically have 20-25. Over 4-5 years that is an entire class those programs cut that we don’t.

          • To a lot of people Wheeler has been a letdown down. In my opinion he’s been very average. Banner=very average. A lot of people think Rogers has been a letdown down. He’s a senior and really hasn’t become the #1 receiver he was recruited to be or the #2 WR we were hoping he’d be after Juju emerged. Cam has been money, Juju money despite some of his “me-me” ways, Nwosu has really stepped it up. Credit Sark and his staff for that one. Going off just heat say, some of the other sites are wondering why Betiku barely got his fist game action and why Connor Murphy hasn’t played much. It’s a valid question when Scout, Wearesc and Rivals all share the same opinion. One things for sure BKU has to come up big on signing day, too many kids looking elsewhere from the area.

          • Sark always overemphasized skill positions in recruiting. Petersen would attest to that at Washington when he first got there. It took 3 yrs to fix the attrition and depth positions that Sark created there. Finally he has the offensive line at UW he needs

          • Sark cleaned up in the 2015 class. All position areas he went and got top kids, but I’d say USC recruits too many Offensive Guards after WR’S of course. And for a school who had the first Offensive Tackle drafted two years straight (Tyrone Smith, Matt Kalil) We really didn’t take advantage of recruiting big guys up front. Lots of guards.

        • Sark never recruied to depth and attrition of departure . Offensive lines and defensive lines werent a priority with him .

          • He only had two classes at SC. His Washington defenses were pretty good. Lots of NFL talent there. But he had to save what he could with his first class. Adoree Jackson said he wouldn’t have signed with SC if Lane Kiffin was the coach. Sark pulled in Jackson. He even sealed the deal with Juju and Mama. All in a months time. One thing Sark did right was recruit in his short time.

          • Your response kind of agrres with my comment. He did have Shelton etc at UW. But he focused more on Skilled positions (JuJu, Adoree). Plus he didnt develop behind their graduation or attrition to NFL in his recruiting . He did the same at USC as far as the trenches were concerned. Petersen said it would take 3 years when he arrived to fix the situation at UW

          • Peterson inherited a good group. He said what he had to say. Fact is he’s a better coach. Even Sark was pulling classes that were in the top 23-25. That’s not bad. Peterson would win do wonders with SC’S guys.

          • It took three years for petersen to fix the flaws in Sarks recruiting based on developing depth at position due to too much emphasis by Sark for recruiting skilled positions rather than the trenches

          • From what I remember all the media publications said Sark and his staff left UW in a good spot defensively. I know Coleridge Miles had to retire at QB, but he was a big time recruit. Still when it’s all said and done Peterson makes Sark look bad with what he was given.

          • Just saying that Petersen wasnt happy with the way the roster was developed for attrition and depth. That was pretty public knowledge in Seattle.

          • Supposedily, Petersen was in shock with what he found at UW when he inferited on how the roster was developed . Being the guy he is he never threw Sark under the bus.

      • Main thing is we need to stop having excuses and bet back to winning and be part of the National conversation. Then we will know we are back. If you cant be part of that at USC with the talent base there is something wrong.

  6. I don’t care who the coach is, or what the records are, losing to Ucla just hits me wrong.
    There is always an angle at which the game can be viewed as a bragging rights game. But I don’t like losing to them.
    It’s not like losing to Stanford where the rude fans become obnoxious after the game. It’s more like losing to a friend who is always making wrong choices.

  7. Any time USC plays the other school, it is a big event Wolf. I think that this season has been a perfect example of how badly the “experts” did in projecting USC with the toughest schedule in football. The Trojans are not the same team that was 1-3. There is obviously huge life in the offense, and the defense has become what everyone hoped they would be. Even the D line is doing a good job. How it all plays out is going to be a very exciting final four games plus possible conference championship and bowl game. Lets enjoy the ride.

    • I will try to enjoy the ride, but I’ll be nervous because it could come to a screeching halt with a loss or two against the rivals.

      • It’s hard to deal with the agony of defeat, we have all had enough of that. USC is rolling, take it one game at a time.

          • Optimism is always well placed, and yes it makes losing taste bitter, but even in our loss to Utah there were good things that came out of it.

          • Yes, I agree. However, if we lose to either or both of our rivals, optimism will wither away quickly and many questions will arise.

    • Here’s an update to your moronic post yesterday about George Allen coaching for years at LBSU

      He coached ONE year, ONE, 1990 and he died at the end of the year. He coached at Whittier from 51-56, not quite LBSU and not quite 60’s & 70’s, you sunshine pumping D bag.

      • Thanks, I appreciate the input. Really don’t need to be an a-hole about it though. You must have gone to a lot of work to come with that though, congrats.

        • But he does need to be an A-hole because that’s what he is. I’d tell him myself, but he’s scared of me and he’s blocked me. When you talk to him again, do me a favor and tell him Clay says he’s an A-hole and if he has a problem with that, tell him to talk to me about it. You could just copy, paste and post this. Thanks.

  8. Still whining about the schedule? What’s the point?

    Soon we will start reading about how terrible Thursday night games are and limited parking and…

    • Thursday games do suck, the parking is limited, no tailgating on campus, trying to get to the game in weeknight LA traffic is awful, why play on Thursday in LA, oh because Larry Scott thinks it’s a way to make more money.

    • SW is right about Thursday night games—-also tv dictated start times that are really stupid for the fans who attend the games. PAC-12 sold their soul to tv–season ticket holders be damed!

      • Oh stop being a wuss and deal with it. If you can’t deal with the start time then stay home and watch the game on TV.

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