Morning Buzz: Will The Next Pro-USC Fox Analyst Please Step Forward


I don’t think Skip Bayless really cares if USC wins or loses. He’s no Colin Cowherd. So who would you take if USC played Alabama? One thing I notice about Alabama’s defense is it knows how to tackle. Sounds simple right? But have you watched a Pac-12 game lately? Tackling is a forgotten art in most conference games. Colorado, with a top 20 defense based on the stats, had some shocking missed tackles against Washington in the Pac-12 title game.

If USC played Alabama again with Darnold, it would be interesting at least. But a lingering question after this season is why the season opener was too big of a moment for USC? The players said it was but that should never be an excuse for USC. And it wasn’t exactly Clay Helton’s first game either after he coached most of last season. Oh well.

57 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Will The Next Pro-USC Fox Analyst Please Step Forward

  1. Let’s face it. Bama is the superior team overall mainly because of their powerful interior lines on both sides of the ball and the master head coach in Saban. With that said, I don’t think it would ever be another 52-6 game if SC played them right now. The QB play and defense have vastly improved ever since the season opener, and we have the momentum of an eight game winning streak. Would we beat them? Honestly, it’d be a tall order, but considering how special a QB Darnold is and how much he can evade blitz and pressure with his exceptional mobility, quick decision and release, I’m sure we’ll keep the game at least close. And if we could somehow keep it that way into the final minutes, anything could happen. But all of these hypotheses are moot and for entertainment purpose only, since the rematch isn’t happening this season.

  2. Scott, all clear on your thoughts that Darnold should have started earlier. I think Washington will give Alabama some problems if they can protect the QB. Petersen with 30 days to game plan will put up a good fight. You need to pass against Alabama to win and open up the running game.

    • Yeah, but the question is, could Browning pass well against Bama’s pass rush and blitz? I’d say it’s doubtful.

      • I think they can if he stays off trying to set up and throw the long bomb all night. If Browning can throw off the rpo and the roll out keeping the pocket moving and throwing 10-20 yard shots they can give AL some problems.

        • OK, you have a point there, but how accurate could those long bombs all night be? Either jackpots or busts. Not very dependable.

          • I still don’t see it happening. Browning reminds me of Jason White of OK over a decade ago, and he might choke in this game. A winner in the intermediate level? Yes. But on the top level? No.

  3. On tackling I agree. USC has been a bump outa bounds team for several seasons. I hope that is turning around a bit, but it was in order to avoid injury in recent years. I still say practice hard play hard.

  4. Skip Bayless also thinks Tim Tebow should be starting in the NFL . … lol. Alabama would beat USC every time with the current rosters, because their offensive line would wear them out by halftime. Would the score be lopsided like the first game? Of course not, because Sam Darnold would sustain drives, keeping the ball away from them.

    • I’m not so sure Bama will have their ways with SC if they played again this week. Darnold is a winner, and you never know if it’s just one game. Strange things happened in the past in football. Things that were much stranger than SC beating Bama at this point.

    • How could Tebow do worse than the disaster they have going on in Jacksonville now?

      2016 2-10 4th– AFC South
      2015 5-11-0 3rd — AFC South
      2014 3-13-0 3rd — AFC South
      2013 4-12-0 3rd — AFC South
      2012 2-14-0 4th- AFC South

      At least Tebow led the Broncos to the AFC playoffs and a win over the Steelers.

    • My first thought too, the USC defense would be gassed by mid 3rd quarter, not able to stop the run. Game over.

    • the line play is sick on both sides of the ball. anybody who understand the game knows thats where the victory begins and ends.

    • Fred, I actually think Bama’s defensive line would grind SC’s run down. Still, Darnold would get some first downs and our defense has improved a lot. Alabama is way too deep for anyone to beat this year.

  5. Sure hope UW can make a game of it against ALA. When at BOISE Petersen famously shocked the world and Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl 43-42, but OU was only a 7.5 pt fave. Go Huskies. Humble Saban like USC humbled you.

  6. The current SC team would be more competitive against AL. But no way they win. AL is far and away the best team and program in America. Skip Bayless has a platform to spew his nonsense—but having the platform makes him right.I doubt he truly believes SC should be favored in a rematch. Everything that comes out of his mouth is designed to attract ratings. Truth, accuracy and analysis are of no interest to him.

      • Yes, but Skippy is in a class by himself. He has zero credibility. Enough people love to hate him, so he gets sufficient ratings to justify his salary.

    • Agree completely. The only team that came close to beating AL was Ole Miss, with long passes – they couldnt run the ball. LSU lost to AL by 10, but LSU had less than 200 yards in total offense. Competing with AL requires really good line play, and I dont see Trojan O-line at that level right now.

  7. If you ever listen to Bayless he is bizarre and just trys to stir things up. More of an entertainer than an analyst

  8. Honestly, none of the other Top 10 teams would really be anxious to play Bama. They’re a steam roller. Chris Peterson laughingly said to the media, “We’re glad to be in the playoffs, but are we happy to play Alabama? Who is?!”

    As good as SC is right now, I’d still have to go with Alabama in a rematch, say, 42-24.

  9. And SW voted Michigan #1 the entire season when everyone and their mother knew Alabama was the best team in the nation. Both Skip and SW are troll mongers. Shocking.

  10. One thing to consider is the team mindset. It’s totally different now than from the start of the season.

    USC embarrassed itself with that opening pre – game clip showing them pretending to be “caged monsters begging to be let loose.” They were crawling on the turf and pretending to be holding each other back. Then they got crushed. Also, USC had a player got caught crotch stomping a Bama player after a play. Then, Juju having a practice temper tantrum a week later.

    All of that stuff has pretty much disappeared. Instead of all that non – sense, Helton now has the team much more focused for each game.

    All the Sark theatrics have been replaced by players who are more game aware (Juju sliding at the end of the Colorado game).

    I won’t say USC would beat Bama but I think it’s more than just having Darnold at QB.

    • Juju’s tantrums continue BTW They’re just less reported on because the team has been winning.

  11. Anyone who doesn’t think QB can make a huge difference in a result, just look at Oregon last year with and then without Vernon Adams. With Darnold, Alabama would probably put a 2015 Stanford type whooping on us (10-20 points), but the score would not be anywhere close to 52-6.

    • Blogger is petty and overly snarky (even for me, who enjoys quite a bit of snark). However, blogger reports his beat well. Blogger broke almost all the big SC stories of the past few years (tarmac, Sark after dark, the botched pool rescue, etc..). Bayless and Cowherd are blowhard hacks who take themselves way too seriously. No shame in being a clown. However, a clown who sees himself as a rocket scientist is offensive. Point: blogger’s shots at Bayliss/Cowherd (however petty) are understandable.

      • Shouldn’t journalists report on their teams, rather than on each other? I personally don’t care what other sports pundits say. It’s a symptom of 24 hour sports news channels but 45 minutes of sports news.

        It’s like when Olbermann attacks Fox News. Report the news, not the pundits. There’s no less interesting person in the world than a pundit.

        • That I agree on. Never a fan of Steve Hartman, but he once said something I found quite profound; sports-journalist is an oxymoron

          • Agreed! Now the next thing Skip Bayless says that makes sense will be his first. I have never listened to Colin Cowherd so I can’t comment. If it wasn’t for this blog, I would never have heard of him.

      • There’s no greater clown than cut-n-paste SW. He misses a lot more stories than he exposes. And his negative bias against USC only makes him a laughable, jealous sideshow player compared to national TV/radio personalities Cowherd and Bayliss who focus on all of sport, not just the negatives of one team. Big difference.

  12. Will the one USC hater from the Daily News please step forward. Don’t be a hater Mr. Blogger.

      • They just set in on his way without even doing any proper evaluating. The first sign to keep him undrr evaluation was when he shot and killed a man at stop light. Crazy.

      • Tim, SC B-BALL 8-0! Time to sneak up on college basketball the way Gonzaga did years ago.

        • the loss of boatwright hurts for now, but we can see that enfield has them on the right track.

          • I agree. 5 weeks is long in any sport but we’ll see if we can keep it moving without him and win some tough road games to give the team some extra confidence.

    • Meanwhile the murder of the USC professor has been long forgotten. Doesn’t fit the Narrative.

  13. Clay Helton has a window of opportunity right now. He needs to win this next game. That will make USC a hot commodity among the recruits. He needs to recruit well this year. Then next year we have most players back including Sam Darnold. We need to have a great season next year. Then we need to capitalize on that great season and have another great recruiting class. Then if Darnold decides to leave, we will be well stocked with great athletes to continue the rise in 2018 and on and on it will go. Lane Kiffin had that same window of opportunity at the end of 2011. He had a great year in 2011 ending in a 50-0 victory over UCLA. Many writers said they were the best team in the nation at year end. Recruiting started great in the early part of 2012. They were building the greatest recruiting class ever. Then they fell apart in 2012 and went 7-6 and lost to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. The great recruiting class disintegrated as one recruit after another de-committed. At the start of 2012 those players believed that Kiffin could take them to the promise land. At the end of 2012 the players no longer believed in Kiffin and 5 games later in 2013, he was fired. He had that same window of opportunity. If he had taken advantage of it, he would still be our coach today. He missed the window and lost his job. Clay Helton is in the same spot today. If he takes advantage of it, he’ll be our coach for a long time to come and SC will become a powerhouse again. If he misses that window, we’ll be looking for another coach in a couple of years.

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