A Prediction To Forget

Joe Williams runs wild in No. 19 Utah's 52-45 win over UCLA

Someone who listens to sports-talk radio tells me 710-AM host John Ireland predicted UCLA to go 12-0. Surely that had to be a joke. Right?

200 thoughts on “A Prediction To Forget

  1. I’m sure Harry Hysterical Pete Arbogast had USC at 11-1 maybe even undefeated

    How Do You Do

  2. Ireland also said Jim Mora would have UCLA in the Rose Bowl last season. He’s a radio Homer for the Bruins and Lakers. No middle ground at all. But he’s a good guy.

      • What are you talking about they’ve only scored 1 run for him in 12 innings. The offense only has 1 hit. We haven’t scored any runs the last three games in the first 5 innings. Are you even watching? You must’ve lied about playing ball in high school. Troll on.

    • He actually is a good guy. He interned at Santa Anita when I was Dr of Marketing in the early 90’s.

      • He does seem like a likeable guy. He just doesn’t know how to dial it back when it comes to his favorite teams.

        • Trying to remember where he worked before coming over to Santa Anita.. The Times or DN..He’s also a San Fernando Valley kid.. I was thinking Notre Dame HS as well.

          • Newport Beach Corona Del Mar HS and LA Times.. Before interning at SAP and then graduating from Ucla and working in various cities a sports reporter!

          • The one I was thinking and mixing them up with info is Bill Seward..he worked at SAP as well. Bill went to NDSO.

    • It turns out the ruin program has a ceiling just short of being a national power and then reverts back to being a bottom feeder.

      • According to Thuc Nhi’s followers Jim Mora’s attitude and the way he acts in interviews is getting worse. They say he acts like he’s above any kind of question and that he looks dog tired. Mora’s falling apart.

    • The same staff that had SEVEN downs inside the Cal 10 yard line and couldn’t score against their porous defense to win the game ?

      • FOOTBALLISDEAD. TALENT has no place in your bivouac. Jack Nicklaus once missed a 10 yard put that would have won the US Open. Despite that miss, he became the man to beat during his lengthy career and is today considered to be America”s greatest Professional Golfer.. Your post and your username tells me you aren’t good enough to play with us Big Boys.

  3. Ireland is a major homer supreme for the little gutties but he doesn’t reach the absurd heights of laughable Matt Stevens who would predict a bruin victory over ALA if they were scheduled to play next weekend.

  4. The LSU/OLE MISS game is an exciting deal. Half way thru the second period, it’s 14-13 LSU. Fournette’s wild. What a setting. The atmosphere there is something you rarely, if ever, see in the Pac-12.

    I was at Tiger Stadium in ’79 when we beat LSU 17-12 and it was one of the greatest football experiences I’ve ever witnessed. Those people CARE! And drink!

    Also, ESPN’s GameDay will be at SLC next weekend for the UW/UTAH game. Remember the days when Game Day used to come to the Coliseum – all the time? Seems like long ago.

      • Ya, neither USC nor ucla are much to crow about these days. Neither is even ranked, but at least USC will go bowling. Hopefully, we won’t show up like we did last year in San Diego. With Darnold, I think we will.

  5. You all still on the Herman bandwagon? So ridiculous, I’ll take Helton any day over Herman. Being a head coach is not conducive to our ADD culture.

  6. SMU is up on Houston 31-14 in the 4th quarter. Can we get off the Tom Herman Love Fest?

  7. Let me get something right. Correct me if I’m wrong. Some USC followers want Tom Herman as H.C. Now, is this the same Tom Herman that lost to Navy? The same Tom Herman that went into O.T. to beat mighty Tulsa? The same Tom Herman that’s about to lose to a 2-4 SMU 38-14. Because if it is I think you people are in dire need of professional help.

    • I wanted him. His stock is falling, but keep in mind that he’s coaching a roster of 3* kids. Not bad if you ask me.

        • Houston is still Houston. Even Navy gives ND trouble. No big deal. So you wouldn’t take Herman?
          You wouldn’t take a coach that’s beaten Bob Stoops and Jimbo Fisher in less than 12 months?

          • No. I would take Stoops and Fisher over Herman. We know their resume. They have won National Championships. Why settle for a unproven coach with no HC credentials when you can have proven winners.

          • Stoops recruits mostly in Bakersfield and the Fresno area. He’s getting guys we want and he keeps falling short. Please keep Bobby away from Troy.

          • Stoops is intriguing. I see where you are coming from. But I wonder, is he on the down slide? Or could he be experiencing a bit of burnout at OU? And might benefit from a change of scenery.

          • I think he’s burned out at OU. And I think he wouldn’t be all that great at SC. He probably should have bolted for Florida a long time ago. I would pass on Stoops. He’s set in his ways and wouldn’t change anything if he moved to Los Angeles.

          • The little gutties are speechless. All that talent and they have one of the worst teams in the U.S. FaceCup that!

          • They look good every other quarter… I wonder if Mora puts Rosen on the MIA list with Mique.. So he heal from his injuries.

          • I don’t know Trojan5. He did beat Alabama a few years ago in the Sugar Bowl. His team was in the playoffs last year. He can recruit QB’s. I don’t know if Swann would take him. Your guess is as good as anyone else.

          • One thing to like about Stoops is beating Saban gets him going and he taunts the SEC … he drilled Saban last time and f ing play off dicks last year made sure Bama didn’t get OU in 1st round of playoffs last year

          • I agree. He’s a proven winner. Whether or not he’s the right coach I couldn’t tell you. I leave that to bigger and brighter stars.

          • Yes I do. I remember the 2001 FedEx Organge Bowl, 2006 Rose Bowl, 2014 Sugar Bowl and what four teams were in the 2016 NCAA football playoffs.

        • Look at it this way, his roster is full of kids from the local area, and he has done a great job with what he has.

      • Herman is the poster child for the “Overreactors”. Fans & media over react to instant success & initial failure and almost always use a very sparse sample size to reach their conclusions. From all appearances Herman is an up & comer with a great upside. But let’s pump the brakes before we erect a statute on the Houston campus.

        • Maybe, maybe. But how does he beat Louisville, a top10 Memphis team at the time, and beat Jimbo Fisher in the Peach Bowl which is a major Bowl. Plus he beat down Bob Stoops. He’s no one trick pony. He runs laps around Clay Helton.

          • He worked under Meyer and ran a pretty good offense, that won a National Title. At SC, he would have top talent to work with.

          • Yes. That’s why he would do well at SC. He’s the one who ran the ball down Nick Saban’s throat and Oregon’s.

          • I remember when Ohio State’s O-line lined up against Alabama’s D-line and they were as big as Alabama. I loved watching their blocking schemes. I wish SC could play that way.

          • Memphis was not a top 10 caliber team. The polls after the top 4-5 mean almost nothing. Everyone between 6-40 are probably interchangeable on any given Saturday. The polls are a popularity contest. The Fla St win is impressive, but is similar to the Utah win over Alabama….one team clearly wasn’t too interested in that bowl game. That win doesn’t overshadow the losses to Navy and the blowout by SMU. SMU is not a good FB team.

          • USC isn’t even a ranked top 25 team by either the coaches or the AP. That takes some doing with the talent USC has.

            And the polls are a lot more than a popularity contest. The elite teams don’t lose games like USC does, which is why USC is where it is.

            You like Gomer? Good. We’ve got him. Too bad his own AD has to have meetings with him about what to do and how to manage the Trojans. We could have done a lot better.

          • That’s the understatement of the year, Jack. The last 7 years have been one bad decision after another.

          • Brent I have to strongly disagree with you. You don’t beat Bobby Petrino, Justin Fuente, Bob Stoops and Jimbo Fisher all by luck. That means he elevated the play of his football team. He prepared them for those games with less talent. That says something.

          • He’s already made his name. He’ll be coaching Texas by December and the Longhorns will have a very good recruiting class. Fast forward to next season…Texas will be relevant and I will gladly except your apology. Respectfully.

        • Here’s what Herman brings to the table.

          A win over…..

          -He helped stomp out Nick Saban in the playoffs
          -He helped embarrass Oregon and the Heisman Trophy winner.
          -He beat Bobby Petrino
          -He beat Memphis and Justin Fuente (another big name coach)
          -He beat Bobby Stoops
          -He beat Jimbo Fisher

          That’s two National Championship winning coaches he’s beaten, not to mention the Ohio St games he helped win.

          Compare that to any coach in the Pac 12 not named Shaw or Peterson.

          • Herman didn’t win any of those…he was an assistant…a very important word to remember.

          • Yes I do. We’re trying right now. Still not there yet. Are you a Helton fan or Sark. Or are you still waiting for Paul Hackett to return? What advice do you have for me and Tom?

          • Sure he just sat there and stayed quiet. You are obviously a big Helton fan or just ok with “hoping” he turns into Pete Carroll 2.0

          • I’m a stability fan Sam. I don’t believe in changing coaches on a whim, especially given our recent coaching history. I believe the culture of the team is moving in the right direction. I don’t believe in firing a guy who’s team is clearly showing improvement in an effort to fast track the resurgence under an unproven coach who has lost to 2 teams this year with far less talent than his own.

          • I really understand where you are coming from. Don’t get me wrong I’d take Del Rio, Harbaugh, both Harbaughs really, Peterson, Gruden, etc. over Herman, and I don’t want to hire another coach. But are we really improving or is Sam winning ball games. Pendergast is clearly not doing what we all thought he would and he brought an NFL DB coach with him. We have to start over. I mean fresh. Away from the Pete Carroll, Kiffin, Ed O, and Sarkisian tree. It’s the only way. I’m not saying fire Helton right now or even this year. I was, but I am willing to see him through this season. Ultimately I think we’ll be looking for a coach real soon. For the record I would LOVE to be wrong and admit it.

          • Not sure what happened on the defense but they sure came to life. Clancy has to get some of the kudos for that. I have seen improvement in the db’s this season, even AJ. Our D line is now performing beyond what anyone anticipated. Some people want to change some coaches, others want to change everything. I keep saying lets let the season play out under the leadership we have and show that USC has some stability in the football program.

          • We really don’t have any choice, do we? It’s absurd to think Swann’s dumping Gomer soon. It’s Swann who’s helping Gomer with suggestions to keep him above water.

            Too bad Gomer was unprepared for the season. ALA’s obviously too much to handle for most everyone. No crime in losing, but 52-6 with USC’s talent is ridiculous. And Gomer just mailed in the STAN game. What a joke. Had he started Darnold right after game 1, chances are we’d have beaten UTAH and be in the South driver’s seat right now.

            Bottom line is USC insists on hiring coaches who need extensive early on-the-job training. Gomer doesn’t look like a NC coach to me based on how he compares with the nation’s truly elite coaches. He looks strictly mid-major to me. But at least he’s not calling three time-outs in the first 7 minutes anymore, so we should be happy.

            We’ve been used to mediocrity at USC ever since Carroll left, so what’s new. At least we don’t stink like ND and ucla. God help us if they beat us.

          • All I can really say or believe when it comes to Clancy is in the three biggest games Alabama, Stanford, and Utah we looked like a joke. We have to remember that this man just came from the NFL ranks and brought his own DB coach with him. When he does it against a worthy opponent I will be impressed.

          • Did the defense come to life or did the schedule provide soft Pac 12 competition? What is the signature win so far? Beating the Buffs?

          • Sam nobody on that list is coming. The Harbaughs are NFL bound. Del Rio is actually achieving in Oakland and Petersen wants nothing to do w the Southern California area. If Gruden wanted to coach again he would have already done it and he did have some pretty poor seasons in TB after the one SB win. The D has greatly improved. I always hear on this board: 1. Get the running game going 2. Pressure the QB 3. Involve the TE more. Are they not doing all 3 now?

          • Why do you have to kill dreams. Just kidding. But the the running game is has been good. I like what I’ve seen from Petite and Imatorbhebhe in the TE area, they’re making plays. The pass rush in my opinion is still very far behind. With the exception of blitzing Nwosu we haven’t been getting much pressure, but that’s my opinion.

          • You are gracious Sam. I was at the Alabama game, believe me nobody was more disappointed than me. Your right the pass rush isn’t where we need it to be, but getting better. In my opinion, changing coaches numerous times leads to this type of disconnect. Coach A recruits specific positions and player types to fit a system. When the system changes there’s a leanest curve and physical types of players that don’t fit the new scheme.

          • Good point. I would love for us to be done with the coaching carousel. I really hope Helton can win these last few ball games. Upset UW, win out November, beat UW again in the Conference Championship game and we are rolling. It can happen.

          • Must be Helton’s wife. Remember when Pete Arbogast’s wife used to write in and defend him in the newspapers?

          • Apparently she works side by side with him and is his biggest supportter. I Google Drive it and there was a story about him talking about “getting tail thrown his way, not sloppy seconds, penis size”

            That’s crazy. He actually fits in at USC.

      • A roster of 3* kids losing to rosters of 1* and 2* kids. You cannot bash Helton and advocate for Herman anymore. Helton has not lost to a team anywhere near the lack of quality of Navy or SMU.

        • Imagine Gomer coaching at Houston… can u say fired already btw how come Gomer this long time USC OC was never offered a HC job ??? hmmm

    • A lot of us still want Tom Herman! He’s losing because the team knows he’s gone after this year. Tom Herman would kill it at USC with our talent! Come back to Cali Tom! We’re here!

      • You realize USC still has a coach? So your saying he cant motivate his team? 3 weeks ago he was curing cancer and solving the middle east crisis.
        #delusional

        • Truth!
          Tom Herman has done more than Helton has during his head coaching career.
          Truth!
          Helton is saving his job because of Darnold!
          Truth!
          The team is rallying around Darnold because of his leadership skills! Helton’s milk & cookies is not motivation. It’s coddling!
          All truth…..

        • Rico you do realize that we got beat 52-6 by Alabama on National TV with what many call the best talent in College football after Bama, and Ohio St. We didn’t even score one TD. Oh and we lost to a sad Stanford team. Oh and we couldn’t stop Utah on ever 3rd down.or 4th down. Oh and Helton is 0 for like 5 vs ranked teams.

          Rico you do realize all that has occurred with a USC roster full of 4&5-Star players. Think about that my good friend.

    • Tom Herman won’t be the flavor of the month too much longer, because the media said so.

      • Beating two National Championship winning coaches is pretty far from flavor of the month. 1 maybe. 2 means the guy can coach.

          • True. But here’s our argument for someone like Tom Herman over Clay Helton. It’s pretty straight to the point.
            Helton got the job because his players pleaded for him.
            Herman called plays for a National Championship winning team. On his own he’s proven that he can win ball games against the top coaches/programs like Bobby Petrino, Bob Stoops, Justin Fuente, Jimbo Fisher. There’s really no comparison. Helton loses in that fight.

          • I agree, I like Tom Herman, because he earned his stripes, unlike the three previous coaches

          • When it all comes down to to it this is not about Tom Herman coaching at USC, it’s about a coach who’s not proven who is coaching at USC.

          • Not with a proven Head Coach record like Tom Herman’s! I haven’t read any bad press about Tom.

    • I’ve heard Greg Shiano’s named mention quite a few times over the last couple of weeks. He’s the former University of Rutgers/Tampa bay head coach, and is currently Urban Meyer co-head coach, abd defensive coordinator. Other coaches, and not the media thinks he’s the best available candidate.

    • And some here were trashing the Penn State coach James Franklin…that;s is what makes college football so amazing. Nobody, even big mouth Clay Russell, knows what is going to happen each week.

      • When a coach wins at a lesser school, that means he’s a good coach. And that’s what James Franklin, and Shiano did .

      • Hi Marv. Actually I was one of those that didn’t trash talk him but gave some stats. on what he’s done in league play(SEC & Big 10). Which looking back at it I wasn’t being very fair to Franklin. Same thing to Kevin Sumlin. I’m still trying to get my foot out of mouth on that one. You are absolutely correct. How anyone can predict what a bunch of 18-19 year olds will due on a Saturday afternoon is beyond me. Care to guess who recruited Sam Darnold?

  8. He’s only winning because of the players he helped recruit and coach…ok what’s your point?

          • During the Arizona game, SC went for it on 4th down. The replay of that down showed JuJu walking during the play. The play called for a slant pass to Rogers. Why is JuJu walking and not running a route? That is unacceptable for a ‘leader’ on the team.

          • Exactly. He cried during last year’s Pac12 title game. Talamaivao had to shut him up. He cried during this year’s Stanford game, and two plays later dropped a TD pass because he only used one hand. Then during the Colorado game he kept on telling Darnold to throw it deeper showing him up on camera, and he left the huddle angry that game while the rest of the team was still waiting for Darnold to call the play. He lost that leader quality a long time ago. I admit he was a worker staying late after practice, but he’s been all “me first”.

        • Truthfully. Juju’s antics are pi**ing me off. He’s a quiet version of Keyshawn, but in College.

  9. Whoever predicted that UCLA was going to go 12-0 must have been smoking something. But UCLA is a good team that could beat most teams on a given day. I think that there defense is solid. Their passing game is great especially when they get Rosen back. The problem with UCLA is that they have a non-existent offensive line and a zero running game. But they are better than a lot of people think and I wouldn’t take them lightly in a grudge game like UCLA-USC.

    • This win will go long way in helping Coach O get the gig full time. LSU is entering toughest part of schedule. Doesn’t need to bo undefeated, but has to be competitive against Alabama.

      • And if Herman goes to Longhorns the LSU fans may want to stick with Ed O. He has them playing good D and they’re actually putting up points with him.

        • The only issue I see is that Ed O is currently doing well with Les Miles’ staff.

          Good for him for doing well with another coach’s guys. But if they were to give him the job permanently, do you let him clean house and bring in his own choices for a coaching staff? Because the last time he filled out his own staff, his tenure at Ole Miss wasn’t that great.

          Or does the LSU AD pull a Pat Haden and tell Ed O which assistants he should pick? And if that’s the case, then maybe Ed O reads between the lines and thinks twice before accepting the LSU job.

          I don’t know the AD situation at LSU but I do know that having a meddlesome AD is not a great situation in which to take a HC job.

  10. To the board, let’s see how Helton performs from here on. How well the team is prepared and disciplined for Cal and UW. How we play in those games. How we win those games or how we lose those games. Did Darnold win those games or did Helton have this team ready to play. Then he still has Oregon, Notre Dame, UCLA and a bowl game. Lots of Helton to be talked about.

  11. What a lie. There is no someone who listens to the John Ireland show, just someone that was flipping stations and heard something unbelievably ridiculous being said. Which happens almost 24/7 on the AM dial. Has anyone ever heard of Dennis Praeger, check him out for 90 seconds you won’t stop laughing. Yes he lives on earth, I can’t believe it either.

  12. I would never actually “root ” for ucla but needed them to win to benefit USC. As usual ucla never fails to disappoint. Bad D man bad @&$)(;:?! D to paraphrase Chas Barkley. Usually when you score 45 you usually win but ask Texas Tech who scored 52 and lost.

  13. What about ESPN knuckleheads Joey Galloway and Danny Kannell predicting ucla would be a playoff team?

  14. Get over it guys. We have a coach under contract. He’s not going anywhere. For better or worse, we’ve got ourselves a Helton.

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