29 thoughts on “Sam Darnold On How USC Overcame Slow Start Vs. UCLA”
S.W. let me guess, what if USC had started Donald from the beginning? Winners don’t look back. They perceiver and move forward. That’s what USC coach Helton plus the Trojan family did last night. This program endured malicious and prejudicial treatment from the NCAA. Yet we acted and performed like a top five program. If your a Trojan, last night was the true meaning of Fight On!
Jim Mora analyzed and raved about this special player’s talent towards the end of his post game interview. You guys should all check it out. I think he was spot on!
Darnold is a very special player. He has extended many drives with his mobility. He has also helped keep the defense off the field and allowed Pendergast to play a more aggressive style defense, knowing the offense can move the ball. How much better will this defense get, when they can start developing players and not be forced to play these kids because of depth issues. Fight On!
Jojo, agree with you that the D needs depth and would add it needs big nasty linemen as well. Disagree with you a bit about development. Unlike the previous years you can see improvement as the year has progressd. Iman, Gustin & hell even Adoree have definitely improved since the beginning of the season. Hopefully, with a little coaching stability and solid recruiting the Trojans can become elite defensively.
Pendergast also started to rotate more players as the season went along. He wasn’t forced to throw guys in when they were not quite ready. You are right about these players getting better as the season went along. Coaching stability and their success will bring in some good recruits, especially now that the media is giving SC some deserved attention.
Meanwhile Rosen watched a real quarterback from the safety of the sidelines. What a bust!
Thanks for the audio.
There’s this thing called lighting you might want to read up on.
It made Thomas Edison a very wealthy man.
Tell me about it, I write checks to that A-hole every month and he turns my lights out if I’m a minute late.
You actually write checks to Thomas? I thought he was dead.
Ahhhh waking up to USC at #8 in the AP..CFP should have us right at #6 on tuesday night! #rosebowl
SC still has to win 2 more games, and it’s up to a team that just lost to Oregon at home to win for SC to even play a 2nd game.
Lots has to happen!
…Utah, who beat USC earlier in the season.
And around the circle jerk predictions we go.
In the “You can’t make this up” category:
UCLA had just over 16 minutes time of possession
They had 2 of 11 third down conversions and 10 first downs.
Hopefully, the So Cal recruits deciding between these two schools saw the very different directions of these two programs.
Also in the same category for recruits to contemplate, UCLA just hired Jim Mora’s ex-wife as their AD. That’s going to be awkward.
Then I would they they had 1 good quarter.
Two biggest keys to USC’s success this year IMO are insane defense and 3rd down conversions. Really rare to see a team that turns the ball over at least twice a game continue winning like this. Credit to Clancy P who I confess I thought was an overrated coach. Meanwhile the Trojans seem to convert 3rd down after 3rd down. Fantastic formula for winning! Beat ND and go Utah!
You got the two keys to success exactly right. And the two keys for failure are turnovers and penalties. USC might get by ND without correcting these mistakes, but anything past that game will be a factor. I put it on the coaches to fix this.
Especially the false start penalties, over and over and OVER again. But on the flipside, at least we haven’t seen Iman Marshall getting flagged for PI every game. He’s gotten better.
Not sure, but I don’t remember the defense getting a penalty last night. You’re tight – same characters on the OL.
Marshall is getting better, but Adoree has had two pedestrian games. On the plus side – Jack Jones is playing more and looking good.
What if Darnold had started the season.
What if Darnold had started for Carroll.
Sniff sniff.
What are the chances of sc getting in the playoffs assuming they beat ND, and win the pac 12 championship game. WIll the committee take 3 loss sc over oklahoma, Ohio state, michigan, and, Wisconsin.
Larry Scott allowed this game to aired late and most likely the CCG will be played on a late Friday night, so no.
Error. The committee will take the best teams at the time when they take their final vote. Very simple, there are no politics or political correctness involved.
Even in the high scoring Pac 12, the defense has not allowed more than 24 points during this winning streak. Only Alabama and Utah have exceeded 30 this year. After 8 years, back to playing USC Defense again.
Ucla was held to their season low tie of 14 points. It’s 7th consecutive game that USC has held it opponent to a season low in points.
I would have bet money that wazzu and Utah would have won yesterday.
S.W. let me guess, what if USC had started Donald from the beginning? Winners don’t look back. They perceiver and move forward. That’s what USC coach Helton plus the Trojan family did last night. This program endured malicious and prejudicial treatment from the NCAA. Yet we acted and performed like a top five program. If your a Trojan, last night was the true meaning of Fight On!
Jim Mora analyzed and raved about this special player’s talent towards the end of his post game interview. You guys should all check it out. I think he was spot on!
Darnold is a very special player. He has extended many drives with his mobility. He has also helped keep the defense off the field and allowed Pendergast to play a more aggressive style defense, knowing the offense can move the ball. How much better will this defense get, when they can start developing players and not be forced to play these kids because of depth issues. Fight On!
Jojo, agree with you that the D needs depth and would add it needs big nasty linemen as well. Disagree with you a bit about development. Unlike the previous years you can see improvement as the year has progressd. Iman, Gustin & hell even Adoree have definitely improved since the beginning of the season. Hopefully, with a little coaching stability and solid recruiting the Trojans can become elite defensively.
Pendergast also started to rotate more players as the season went along. He wasn’t forced to throw guys in when they were not quite ready. You are right about these players getting better as the season went along. Coaching stability and their success will bring in some good recruits, especially now that the media is giving SC some deserved attention.
Meanwhile Rosen watched a real quarterback from the safety of the sidelines. What a bust!
Thanks for the audio.
There’s this thing called lighting you might want to read up on.
It made Thomas Edison a very wealthy man.
Tell me about it, I write checks to that A-hole every month and he turns my lights out if I’m a minute late.
You actually write checks to Thomas? I thought he was dead.
Ahhhh waking up to USC at #8 in the AP..CFP should have us right at #6 on tuesday night! #rosebowl
SC still has to win 2 more games, and it’s up to a team that just lost to Oregon at home to win for SC to even play a 2nd game.
Lots has to happen!
…Utah, who beat USC earlier in the season.
And around the circle jerk predictions we go.
In the “You can’t make this up” category:
UCLA had just over 16 minutes time of possession
They had 2 of 11 third down conversions and 10 first downs.
Hopefully, the So Cal recruits deciding between these two schools saw the very different directions of these two programs.
Also in the same category for recruits to contemplate, UCLA just hired Jim Mora’s ex-wife as their AD. That’s going to be awkward.
Then I would they they had 1 good quarter.
Two biggest keys to USC’s success this year IMO are insane defense and 3rd down conversions. Really rare to see a team that turns the ball over at least twice a game continue winning like this. Credit to Clancy P who I confess I thought was an overrated coach. Meanwhile the Trojans seem to convert 3rd down after 3rd down. Fantastic formula for winning! Beat ND and go Utah!
You got the two keys to success exactly right. And the two keys for failure are turnovers and penalties. USC might get by ND without correcting these mistakes, but anything past that game will be a factor. I put it on the coaches to fix this.
Especially the false start penalties, over and over and OVER again. But on the flipside, at least we haven’t seen Iman Marshall getting flagged for PI every game. He’s gotten better.
Not sure, but I don’t remember the defense getting a penalty last night. You’re tight – same characters on the OL.
Marshall is getting better, but Adoree has had two pedestrian games. On the plus side – Jack Jones is playing more and looking good.
What if Darnold had started the season.
What if Darnold had started for Carroll.
Sniff sniff.
What are the chances of sc getting in the playoffs assuming they beat ND, and win the pac 12 championship game. WIll the committee take 3 loss sc over oklahoma, Ohio state, michigan, and, Wisconsin.
Larry Scott allowed this game to aired late and most likely the CCG will be played on a late Friday night, so no.
Error. The committee will take the best teams at the time when they take their final vote. Very simple, there are no politics or political correctness involved.
Even in the high scoring Pac 12, the defense has not allowed more than 24 points during this winning streak. Only Alabama and Utah have exceeded 30 this year. After 8 years, back to playing USC Defense again.
Ucla was held to their season low tie of 14 points. It’s 7th consecutive game that USC has held it opponent to a season low in points.
I would have bet money that wazzu and Utah would have won yesterday.