USC Morning Buzz: Now Comes The Real Test Vs. Washington

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USC won its fifth straight game Saturday and in my analysis I look at how it’s time for the Trojans to finally play a big game again.
Excerpt: Ronald Jones has flourished the past two games against truly awful defenses. That is OK as long as you also do it against the good teams. He gained 171 yards against Oregon and scored four touchdowns, but again, it was Oregon.
“I hold my breath every time he touches the ball because I knew there is a chance he could go all the way,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “He and the offensive line are doing a great job.”
But the line isn’t doing a great job all the time. Offensive tackle Zach Banner had two holding penalties in the first half and no longer looks like an all-conference lineman.

Full story here

76 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Now Comes The Real Test Vs. Washington”

  1. I kinda think Banner’s ankle still hurts him. Watch him walk. He certainly looks like he favors it.

    That said, he wasn’t “all-conference” before he got hurt.

      • When Banner gets his hands on a defender, that’s it, that defender is out of the play.

        The challenge is Banner getting his hands on a defender. He struggles getting low and he struggles with moving side to side. It’s counter intuitive to say a small, quick end is at a physical advantage over a 6’9″, 325+ pound goliath, but Banner’s game is zone blocking, and if you can force him to move side to side, he isn’t that effective.

        Viane is even worse. He is not athletic enough to play the traps and pulls Clay/Tee like to call, but what are the alternatives? Chris Brown is quicker and traps and pulls OK, but he cannot generate a push for the life of him, Jordan Simmons is fundementally much better than Banner, but he isn’t a tackle and Chuma — I have no idea what Chuma’s thing is.

    • The mere fact that Banner has to start for us shows you where USC needs talent improvement. If we had a better OL, we would beat UW. Will be interesting to see how we run the ball on the Huskies. That will be the key to our success, because we will be able to pass the ball.

  2. Banner drags the O line down. They seem to be more fluid when he is out. I take exception to what was said about the defense letting up against OR. I didn’t see a let up, I saw some mistakes. Clancy kept the players fresh, the offense kept the defense fresh, and they played well against what could have been an explosive offense. As for the WA game, it is time for USC to end using Adoree as a decoy and get him the ball.

    • Helton is playing rope-a-dope with Adoree by using him as a decoy in these games where he’s not needed and will turn him loose at UW. He’s just setting the table.

        • So they take advantage of their tape on UO directional punting and circle Pittman back. They hold what has been a much more explosive OU offense to under 300 yds while gaining over 500 and you still won’t give the staff credit. Say what you want about the staff, but the team has shown up prepared the past month or so and has demonstrated a tremendous ability to overcome adversity (Darnold’s turnovers) while their young QB learns the game. Is say the staff gets an A for the past 5 weeks. They’ve played poorer competition and beaten them like a drum.

          • Overcome adversity? The team has played a bunch of cream puffs besides CO. And Darnold is making up for the lack of coaching. Why do you rah rahs always support the hired help over the players?

          • You are a moron troll. Darnold is doing this all on his own huh? I suppose he just eats bon bons all week and rolls into the game. It’s ok I understand you’ve never coached anything that mattered. I’m sure this all looks very simple on your tv.

          • You are a brainless rah rah. Darnold has turned the team around and you want to give the credit to Helton.You brainless rah rahs always support the mercenary hired help over the student athletes. Go shake your pom pom in front of your TV.

  3. The Trojans still don’t have any real quality wins. The Trojans are loaded with 4 & 5 star recruit talent, they’ve beaten the mediocre teams they’re supposed to beat, lost to a sub par Stanford team, lost to a decent Utah team and got blown out vs Alabama. The real test is next week vs Washington. Trojan fans thinking yesterdays win over an Oregon, a team that is 1-5 in conference and 3-6 overall , was some great accomplishment, think again.

    • I’ve been saying the same thing for weeks, and it has nothing to do with me liking, or disliking Clay Helton. It has all to do with me not pretending, and being realistic.

      • Helton may be a nice guy, he seems to have a good rapport with the players, but he is not head coach material.

  4. Funny how the Blogger is so high on Pittman now when he said in the past there are no stars in this year’s class of receivers.

  5. Next week will put a true measure on this team . First quality opponent in a while in a tough road environment.

  6. First off, Zach Banner has never been an all conference type of player, that was all media hype, and USC’S sports information office putting that out there. So once college football fans decide to go back to doing the eye test, then they will eventually stop falling for the garbage of hyped up players, and schedule’s. And I’m looking forward to Sam Darnold’s performance against a real defense, and it will based on SC’s offensive line .

    • The eye test requires you to actually watch the game. Most people don’t actually watch the games. They watch highlights at most, but more likely read headlines and pretend to know what they’re talking about. You really think that there are as many NFL fans as the money suggests? Of course not. Just a bunch of people addicted to their phones who follow their fantasy apps on Sunday’s. Same goes with CFB. Just substitute fantasy app with mindless blogs that get folks through their work day.

  7. ESPN’s GameDay will officially be in Seattle for the UW/USC game. Great!

    Neither team has beaten anybody who’s any good, so it will be the telling Pac-12 event of the season so far.

    UW’s playing for a real shot at the NC and I expect the Huskies and Petersen to win. USC has at least chance though. Hopefully we use Adoree as more than just a decoy on offense. Get that sucker the ball in open space. Might help our chances.

    • The two talented speed burners John Ross and Adoree will determine who wins.It’s going to be a great game.

      • Ross is a great player. And I think it will be a great game. But If SC doesn’t find a way to curb our horrible penalty problems, forget about it.

      • Not really … Huskies are well coached play hard tackle in gangs and have a good mix between run and pass, they are a team.
        Gomer’s team is still a bunch of individuals , that are undisciplined and has been feasting , periodically on really bad teams.
        Stage is way too big for Gomer .. .biggest game for Huskies and their fans in 20 years , that place will be crazy. Could get ugly

        • I agree Huskies are playing good ball, but then so is USC. What you see as individuals I see as a team. Why is the stage to big for Helton (that’s his name), when it is the biggest game in Petersons career also.

  8. Chris Petersen is achieving more with less (talent). Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton have had the talent, but none of the three had been able to maximize the potential. There’s been no sign of real progression as USC has been unable to compete with the better coached teams in and out of conference play.

    In my honest opinion, there’s no way Clay Helton is going to out coach Chris Petersen in Seattle next week. The Trojans definitely have the talent to play with and beat any team in the country, including Alabama…we just don’t have the coaching to go along with it.

    • I know Helton has only been a head coach for less than a year, so it’s really not fair to compare him to Petersen. CP has been coaching for like 20 years and has an outstanding record. Helton is learning on the job, and that’s not on him that’s on Hayden for hiring a guy with no experience. It seems like Helton is progressing, even though as a jabronie sitting on my rented couch with the springs sticking out of it, I know I could call better plays still, he’s coming along. Trojans will win next week, I’d bet my couch on it.

      • The mere fact that Clay Helton has been coaching for 20+ years and has just recently been given a head coaching job opportunity should tell you something. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Clay Helton is not head coach material.

    • Wrong…we clearly do not have the depth on the OL or DL so stop selling this “we have more talent blah blah” we have very good skill guys and decent OL…DL getting better but still recovering from 30 scholis gone. It isn’t like the ncaa have us permission to sign 55-60 guys when the sanctions ended.

      • Please compare the recruiting rankings of UW vs USC the last 4 years and get back to us with an intelligent post.

        • You clearly don’t understand recruiting beyond how many stars a service puts next to a kid name or how positional depth is vital. I think everyone else here understands my point.

          • You clearly have no objective facts to back up your opinions. And please don’tr assume you speak for anyone except the brainless rah rahs.

    • CP is a proven coach and a better coach than Sark. But let’s be fair and or objective. Sark took a 0 win team that was in the absolute basement & raised it to respectability. He left a pretty good stock of talent behind & CP added to that talent base. Would Sark have WA undefeated if he had remained the coach? Doubtful. But don’t pretend that CP doesn’t have talent.

      • per PureHuskie:
        Sark recruited guys that liked to be recruited and is nothing but a front running loser like his boy Kiffin and could never retain players that didn’t excel immediately and as they have proven cannot run a football program over time. These guys may set a record for times fired in a career , passing Norv Turner.

        The myth of Sark saving the program is all BS too. Ty’s last team quit after Locker was out for the year and after the early blowouts. Otherwise they win 5 or so, same as what Sark did before he was able to gerrymander the schedule. Btw, had Locker gone pro like he should have Sark would have probably gone 0-12 his first year too. The guy has gone on to prove he is a joke.

        Petersen doesn’t f*ck around. That is why the program is where it is. If you put in the work and believe in what he preaches you will be the most successful version of yourself. It’s a clear blueprint, but as Pete loves to say “it’s hard”.

        You either want it or you don’t. Not this day care fun time Sark ran.

        Thank god Saint Haden took that drunk off our hands.

        • Peterson has never been in a game this important or threatening. You think Helton hasn’t been in big games? Your arguements keep coming back on you.

          • Please step back from the crack pipe, slowly.The last big game Helton was in was against Alabama. How did that turn out?

          • How did Helton do in the big PAC 12 championship game you brainless rah rah? He lost 41-22.

            Do you think before you spew your blithering nonsense?

          • As you continue to call names and insult others, consider nobody said he won, they said he has been in big games. Is reading comprehension a problem for you? Lets try to play nice for a while, I think we are all on the same team.

          • You said “Peterson has never been in a game this important or threatening”, which is clearly wrong and has been pointed out to you. Is reading comprehension a problem for you? You need to start thinking for yourself and stop seeking approval from the brainless rah rahs.

          • Actually he is correct. The “big games” Petersen has been in he’s been expected to lose. He’s never been this close to making a real run at a NC vs an opponent that can match up in a game he’s expected to win. He’s always been the underdog. Is a rah rah anyone with an open mind who’s can see improvement in the team? I suppose you wanted PC run out in a rail as well after a few games. You should get your own chat w Fred and you can bounce negative comments back and forth to each other.

          • No he isn’t correct, brainless rah rah. He said ,””Peterson has never been in a game this important or threatening”. He made no mention of who was favored. You simply can’t argue from facts. You brainless rah rahs should start your own blog… oh wait they already have one, it’s called we are SC.

    • 6-3 and 5-0 in the last 5 games.. Talent has been there, coaching up and trusting the coaches was an issue, even for me. I see a team regardless of their W’s and L’s playing much better.. Everyone seems to be on the same page. USlug is worried.. USC has that edge to push teams now.. I see us winning and shutting down Browning who has played teams with less experience and teams with injuries.. USC is NOT Rutgers or Idaho State and the many teams who are injured that USlug has beat.. And really haven’t beaten convincingly! USC 55-USlug 24

  9. Next week will be our Superbowl, even though we don’t usually play in the Superbowl anyway. At least I don’t. It doesn’t look like Utah is going to lose another game, so they’ll have the honor of losing to Washington a second time. Seattle is pretty loud and has a great fan base, but nobody goes undefeated, so I guarantee a USC win, and it may be a brutal one because our guys want that Superbowl ring. Plus I heard Pete Carroll is going to coach USC next Saturday since he’s not doing anything else on that day.

  10. Enough of this “Clay Helton has only been head coach for a year” business. Clay Helton has been with the Trojans for 6 years now, it’s not like he is unfamiliar with his players and the Trojans football program. Clay Helton has had plenty of time to figure ways to get the Trojans back on top, he knows the players and we all know the talent USC has, Helton still hasn’t found a way to utilize or maximize the Trojans potential. How much longer is Helton going to be given a free pass to right the ship against quality opponents?

    • Money says at least through 2017, so settle down and be patient. Your arguments have going on around here about 40 times a day this season. Everyone knows Helton is very likely over his head, but Swann is wise enough to know how to handle it, we hope.

  11. Everyone is acting like UDUB is the second coming of Alabama. They went OT to beat Arizona and got lucky to beat an average Utah team. If USC can stay onside and cover people on defense, they can win this game, but those are big if’s.

  12. Jones has two good games and wolf says it’s because the defenses was horrible. Helton says the offensive line is doing a great job, wolf says, “They are not Doing a good job ALWAYS.” Wolf says, “..Darnold got a bunch of unusual looks from Oregon’s defense and still did fine.” It seems to me that wolf has a boy crush. He loves Darnold, but hates USC.

  13. The offense will be ok for SC, sufficient as long as Sam is on his game…is the defense ready and HEALTHY…key to this , is the defense ready…I thought they might be, a couple games ago…now I wonder.

    • The defense to me since game 1 has come a long way and has evolved from a nonreactionary bunch to an aggressive group working as a unit. I think Clancy has done a good job. Just wish he would help recruit.

      • Ya’but injuries… to key and already thin areas could mean trouble. AND why is an undefeated #4 ranked team only a touchdown favorite over a 3 time loser???

  14. This will be a great game. Even better if SC wins! That said, I’m looking for a good game and finishing strong against UCLA and Notre Dame. Finishing strong and winning their bowl game will do wonders for next year’s outlook and recruiting!

  15. Nice that there were few negative comments about Coach Helton sans some lunatic using Tebow’s name.

    Of course, when one wins one wins admiration– at least in the athletic sense, which is about as shallow as it comes.

  16. All of America is pulling for Washington to beat USC..

    We want to see Washington play Alabama for the natty.

    USC has come back enough to let their superior recruiting classes take over, but it won’t be enough against Washington.

    Washington is for real. USC is jynxed to forever play in the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

    Get ready for Lane Kiffen to come to Oregon and resurect the program!

    • That would be something USC would love. Kiffen as HC at Oregon, where would that lead. Perhaps he would bring Sark with him.

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