USC Morning Buzz

And now back to some football. The Pac-12 title odds from BetOnline show USC is the favorite:

USC +125
Washington +250
Stanford +600
UCLA +900
Oregon +1200
Utah +1600
Washington State +1600
Colorado +2000
Arizona State +3300
Arizona +8000
California +8000
Oregon State +8000

106 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz

  1. Not sure why SW insists on publishing these odds all the time, unless you care about how the rest of the Pac stands.

    Everyone already knows USC is a relatively big favorite to win the conference and has been for months. What’s new? Without USC, the Pac would be completely unremarkable for its football, except for its consistent mediocrity.

    • I’ll still feel a lot better after we take out (600+) Stanford, Jack.

      • I agree and ya, that’s a big one. We owe ’em after they humiliated us last year in PA.

        It was after that beat down that Swann spoke with CH the following Sunday, Darnold became the starter, and things changed for USC.

        The rest is history but we need to come full circle and give the Cardinal a big dose of payback.

        • Bigger than the one Randy Quaid gave the aliens in Independence Day…..

          • Ya, if we lose to Stanford at the Coliseum, that would be a huge setback. I somehow think that game might be a sell-out!

          • Norman Mailer wrote that “some things just have a way of setting the tone —-like the first kiss in a love affair or the first punch in a fight.” Beating Stanford will set the tone.

          • That’s so like Mailer to juxtapose kissing and fighting.

            Wish we played Texas before Stanford, instead of vice versa.

          • I could not agree with you more on the unfortunate sequencing of the Stanford and Texas games. If we beat Stanford everybody is going to sigh a big sigh of relief —-and Texas is gonna be a tougher game. The only plus to the scheduling is that Stanford counts toward the PAC 12 Championship Game and Texas doesn’t. But that’s not much consolation for all the fans who want to see us in the playoffs. We need to forget the Stanford game the moment it’s over (and, hopefully, come out of it at full strength —–something we haven’t been able to do recently).

          • I see us winning both those games convincingly but then going to the trap game up in Pullman.

          • True —we’re not really out of the woods til the plane trip back from Pullman. We get that far without stumbling and something tells me Helton will be lifting the NC trophy in January.

    • Anybody who can handle the pressure that comes with a one and three start and a murderous L.A. press, can handle anything, Pinky. Helton is a tough dude.

          • As they should – look he’s got the most dominant QB USC has probably ever had with a less than daunting schedule (7 home 5 road – not facing WA or OR regular and TX in severe decline). If Helton loses it’s all his

          • I agree with you on Darnold, pardner —-but, I promise you, the Texas team that comes to the coliseum in September will not look like a team in severe decline…

          • We agree to disagree – TX is in total rebuild mode regardless of their alleged pedigree – Herman has a huge hill to climb as a 1st year coach there. They’ll have their mob or moronic fans that’ll empty before the 4th quarter begins – there be a long day for the Longhorn faithful a comin’.

          • TX opens up at, 2nd Sept. home against MD. The Terrapins went 6 – 7 last year and a sterling 3 – 6 in conference play Then TX plays San Jose at home – their 1st road game is @ USC.

            USC will know real fast just who they are because they’ll have faced Stanford.

            I wouldn’t give a darn or a hope to TX chances on the 16th Sept. regardless of what they do before they face the Trojans. Herman has enough problems the way he left HOU last year before the Vegas Bowl after being there at Houston for two years – almost matched Kiffin’s escape hatch from TN and we know how that played out when Kiffin arrived here.

        • The Trojan Players on the Field will have to beat the Trees. Not the Coaches, not the Refs, not the Sport Writers, not the Weather. You’ve been riding Coach Helton’s back for quite a while Alvarador. He’s Proven Himself and his Coaching Staff. One thing look forward to, Coach Helton will not make the mistakes Kiffin and Sark made, he will only hire Division ! quality coaches.

          • Yeah I have and the reason is that until Darnhold leaves I and nobody else really knows how good Helton is ‘because’ Darnhold is a once in a generation talent.

            Sorry it upsets you how I rag on Helton – until September 2018 rolls around that’s it – he is still an unknown quantity i.e. great coaches go through tough troughs as they emerge as real coaches – still not sure on whether Helton has the real stones to win with an average ‘qb’ and neither are you.

  2. College football is a beautiful thing. Anything can happen, and over the course of a season, it usually does. I’m wondering what would be considered successful. Would you judge by w-l record, Pac 12 championship, playoff appearance, or championship game appearance? What if we go 11-1, but don’t get into the ccg because of a tie breaker, and end up in a lesser bowl? Unlikely, sure. What will define our success this year?

    • In 1967 USC beat everybody they faced (Texas, Michigan State, Notre Dame, UCLA) —–except for Oregon State.
      As you know, my bud, that was considered a pretty darn fine year. If losing one game in 2017 keeps us out of the playoffs, I think Trojan fans will chalk it up to politics as usual
      …..and still be proud and satisfied.

      • Yeah that ‘mud bowl’ and Dee Andros up in Corvallis. The Beavers also tied bel-air tech that year at the Coliseum 16 – 16.

    • IMO, success will be making the playoff for this year’s team. We’ve got the QB. Hope we’ve got whatever else we need. Another Rose Bowl win, this one putting us into the NC game, would be amazing. Can’t ever have enough RB wins. That would be #26.

      • Yea, more games is always better than less. I’m certainly expecting us to whip furd this year. I’m just hoping there won’t be some sort let down, or a young team getting to full of itself against a lesser opponent. But, stanfurd, nah, no excuses.

        • We’ll be way up for STAN. A loss and we’re suddenly not even a top 10 team anymore. If we lose, I don’t believe it will be because we weren’t ready.

          • I agree, it seemed to me in the past, we’ve had more a tendency to lose concentration or drive, when playing lesser opponents. Much like the osu game from ’67.

          • Wasn’t that the game where O.J. hurt his ankle? He was amazingly resilient and rarely hurt.

            People criticize the 2016 SC team for being nothing much without Darnold. That may be true.

            Truth is, the ’67 USC team wasn’t much without O.J. And we would never have come close to the 21-20 victory without him.

          • As a big John McKay fan, I hate to admit it, Jack —-but you’re right. 12 points in that game came off two miracle plays by O.J.

          • Andrusyshyn had a dream before that SC game that if he wore gold shoes, he wouldn’t miss a field goal. He went to Prothro to ask to wear gold polished shoes but Prothro said no gold shoes.

            Andrusyshyn, normally a great kicker, missed three makeable FGs (two were blocked) as well as a conversion.

          • USC thanks you, Tommy —-you definitely made the right decision……

          • Honestly, don’t remember the details of that game. Alvarado, would do better answering that.

          • That’s why I love this game..kids doing kid stuff. Ever can tell where they’re going to end up. Who thought that Leinart would suck the air right out of nd stadium with that 4th and long, then the bush push? Loved it! All those screaming Irish fans going stone cold silent was a beautiful noise.

          • I’ve never heard the Irish fans in near such pain as when Jarrett caught the 4th and niner from Leinart and was sprinting down the sideline. Sounded like a wounded animal.

          • I hope that the NCAA gives us back that win at some point. We deserve it.

          • I wouldn’t count on it. USC isn’t a part of the McNair lawsuit in seeking any relief whatsoever and made a decision long ago not to pursue this any longer. USC has moved on.

            The NCAA isn’t in the biz of just doing favors for USC and while some feel otherwise, I don’t think McNair is working behind the scenes for USC here. He’s lining up for his own well-deserved pay day, as are his lawyers, and he’s not asking for a reinstatement of any wins for USC.

          • I don’t remember the timeline anymore, Jack. Has it been proved by reliable evidence that Reggie himself was receiving illegal benefits as early as the Notre Dame game? If not —and the NCAA is found to have conducted a bad faith investigation —-why couldn’t USC petition to have that win reinstated?

          • I just don’t think the powers-that-be at USC care about this like Trojan fans do. Sure, anything’s possible, but I don’t think USC wants to get into it anymore. When they originally decided not to fight harder, that was upon the advice of their lawyers. So, read from that what you will.

            I don’t know why USC didn’t gladly cough up an extra hundred grand per year for a better women’s hoops coach, either. But they wouldn’t. So now we’re stuck with journeyman Trakh.

            As far as the NCAA goes, they’re basically judge, jury and executioner as far as schools go and the schools agreed to this. McNair has different standing, which is why he is being successful.

          • So we’re left with Pete Carroll’s assessment, Jack: “The NCAA can do whatever it wants —-everybody knows who won those games.”

          • Yep. I wish we could have the wins reinstated, just like you do. I just got tired of wishing and am too old to be bothered as much as when I was younger.

          • Yes the meeting with the agents, Reggie and his step father to take the benefits was shown to be before the 2004 fuucla game.

          • Well, then…..crap.
            #ItWasStillExcitingToWatch
            #NothingIsForever

          • Probably the way to go when you have O.J. Simpson at halfback and Steve Sogge at quarterback and you’re playing for #1 in the country.

          • Actually, it was Toby Page who called the audible on the 64 yder.

            And without O.J., we would have lost regardless of who our QB was, because he sure wouldn’t have been better than Beban, who was pretty awesome that day despite playing hurt all game.

          • Yeah, those ribs didn’t catch up to Gary until the next game against Syracuse.

          • Would be interesting to see how the football fortunes of the schools may have changed had the bruins won.

            Somehow, I don’t think things would have changed much. But it sure was an amazing win. And McKay needed it badly as Prothro really had his number.

          • Vermeil was their last top quality head coach. They went on the cheap ever since.

          • Soggde was, at best, an ‘average’ qb. That was proved by his being drafted by MLB and NOT the NFL in the Spring 0f 1096 = the Cubs as I recall.

            ‘blank’ jack b

    • One loss might not hurt. Depends who it is and how that team does for the season. For example, if we lose to Stanford and go undefeated the rest of the season, including winning the PAC-12, I think we have a good chance of getting into the CFP. The schedule is pretty tough. Last year the CFP committee really scrutinized UW for playing two FCS teams. Who know’s Pudly, this season there might be a two loss team in the CFP. Just have to wait and see…..Fight On!

      • What about two losses, and not qualifying for the PAC-12 championship? Same two losses. Remember OSU last year didn’t even make their own conference championship game. Albeit, their were mistakenly put into the playoffs.

        Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about it. Fight On!!

        • Your right. I think the CFP struggled with Penn St. In the end it was the two losses that hurt them. What do you think would happen if USC and UW were undefeated and ranked 1-2 and USC lost in the PAC-12? Or try this. UW has one loss and beats USC in the PAC-12 in O.T with USC ranked 2? And no teams are undefeated. That would be crazy!

          • The beauty of college football, hope springs eternal every spring! Various scenarios and multiple combinations, but if we’re undefeated and lose a close game in CCG, we would stand a good chance. It would be better if Washington played somebody in their non conference games though. Mind boggles at the possibilities. Have a nice night, Fight On!

  3. I know I start every season with expectation that we will win the conference. If we don’t I’m disappointed but life goes on

  4. Texas vs. USC ranked as the #2 most important game of the regular season by Fox sports. Alabama vs. Florida St voted the most important game overall.

    • Right you are, Sam —-and the whole season rests on USC dominating those “two big time football games back to back”!! Nobody’s gonna be looking forward to meeting a team that takes out Stanford and Texas in September.

      • You know the only thing bothering me about the schedule, isn’t our lack of a bye, it’s that stanfurd gets theirs the week before our game. They play the week prior down under and then have a week to prepare. Letting their qb heal up a little more. I’d much prefer him not having the extra days recovery.

        • For reasons I totally don’t understand, some people are saying our schedule looks easy —– for the reasons you just stated (compounded by saying hello to Texas the following week), I think our schedule has a bunch of built-in problems. But champions find a way, yes?

          • You know there are many publications saying this is not only the hardest schedule in the PAC, but one of the five toughest in the country. So, yea, I feel what you’re saying. This schedule could be worse (harder) by adding one or another team, but that doesn’t discount the fact that it’s still tough. Back to back road games on a short week? Never easy, especially going to the Palouse on a short week. Talk will surely test the mettle of Jack-jack. Wasn’t WSUin it at the end of last season when they played Washington? Much could happen, as in any season. That’s why I love it.

          • All great points —-and how come we have to go up to Washington again this year? We just played there last year —and I don’t care if they switched out Washington for Washington State —-it’s still two trips to that cold, wet state in a row.

          • Exactly, and you bring up the other great point of weather. I wonder what the temp will be for our visit to Colorado? November in the Rockies ought to be a blast, especially if the PAC-12 schedules us at night.
            There are teams with much easier schedules than ours, but if it was so easy, why are the teams with longer winning streaks always falling? Making it sound easier than it is makes it easier to blame the coach. I still think there are some hoping for him to fail to validate their opinions from last year. It’s almost passive aggression.
            But none the less, I have great faith in this team, and their ability to overcome, like every year at this time. Fight On!

          • Some ARE definitely trying to set Clay up for the fall —but here are two thoughts for them to ponder, (1) If SC falters, it won’t be because Clay lost his touch over the summer, (2) by October, and certainly November, they’re probably gonna have to eat crow.

          • Ever the optimist, I’d rather they hop on board, and hopefully they’ll have reason too. All the talk about coaching searches and methods and who to consider and such has never worked at SC. From John McKay, John Robinson, even PC. Carrol was hardly popular. Winning is what made them popular, not their resumes.
            Contrary to what’s usually said, most coaches don’t flock here for the job. Too much media, too much scrutiny, and who can live up to those expectations? Most other powerhouse programs are in little college towns where they control the press, try that with a Wolf at your door everyday.

          • Yeah, there is just no where to hide in Los Angeles. Every week of the season your product is on display in front of tens of thousands of paying customers— and millions more on television —-so there is no getting away with a dumb time out or play call (unless, of course, the game is on the PAC 12 Network). How many of us could survive that kind of scrutiny in our line of work?

          • Very true, you’d almost need to have exhibitionist tendencies! Not afraid to get caught with your pants down, so to speak. I wonder how Saban or Urban Meyer would last in this sort of environment? This jobs not for everyone, that’s for sure!

          • Saban —as talented as he is —-is a prima donna who would get eaten alive in Los Angeles. And poor Meyer would hyper ventilate until he exploded on tv. All credit to Clay for patiently playing nice guy with the press while getting the team ready to play smash mouth football. [And —let’s give the devil his due —-all the while Scott is getting 60 plus hits during the slowest months in college football—I’ll bet he’s good for 200 once this season starts —it’ll be a real lively forum]…..

          • The guy does know how to draw a crowd.
            Given the kind of interest in the 2017 USC football and 2017/18 basketball teams, it’s gonna be one crowded site starting pretty soon…..

          • Count our/your blessings – we do play WA St. on ‘Friday’ 29th Sept. but hey it beats going north as CO does 21st Oct and stanford shall, 4th Nov. – look – historically USC represents the sole game every year for every EVERY opponent we face – esp. for ‘the Princess’, bel-air tech et. al..

            Truth be told – west of the Mississippi WE are the sole program that every team fears and wants more than anything to defeat soooo I’d rather be, after they play OR St. (1tth Sept.) the next ‘in conference’ to face WA St. than have to travel north in Oct/Nov as that left-progressive leninist rat hole and the Ducks shall ‘blank’ the cardinals/indians or whatever that elitist rat hole claims to be

          • It’s not cold or wet in late September east of the Cascades. The historic high on Septmeber 29th is 81 degrees and the historic low is 49 dgrees.

          • Kinda agree Mike. The Wassu game Friday nite is concerning. Back to back travel games with a short week.

          • I keep hearing from folks (i.e., our enemies) that the fact we get a week’s rest before the PAC 12 Championship Game makes up for all the week to week challenges built into our schedule—–but, sorry, that argument only works if we get by all the crap we have to deal with in September and October. If this team makes it to the PAC 12 Championship, they will have earned it Big Time —and I think they will!

          • No – they (USC) will have defeated a cabal of also-rans (esp.’stanford, TX, ‘the Princess’ and bel-air tech) that arrogate to themselves that which – collectively – save for TX none of the other 3 have done in over 28 years – won anything…..man how I hope Helton 1. proves me wrong and 2. Kelly stays on as head coach at ‘The Princess’

          • Yea. Agree. That’s not even a point they are making. The Saturday we have off we might have to wait until all the games are finished. That’s rivalry week for most teams. Won’t know who to prepare for until then.

          • I didn’t even think about that part—-how are we suppose to USE the “extra” week if we don’t know who we’re playing? The only plus is we get to heal up —-other than that, we get zip from this setup.

        • Once they get past Stanford, with due respect, usc is in the easier part of the schedule. Hopefully the freshman can come in sooner to give the starters a rest

          • The freshmen have two different reporting dates this year. The early enrolled and four others will start the early session of summer school and workouts. The rest will start the second session. I’ve also heard that there will only be one prp per week, with much more emphasis being put on conditioning and weight training. The team then I believe reports for camp somewhere around the 25th of July, with practices starting that Saturday.

          • Tuipotu, Tufele and Pili will make a difference this year. As great as Stevie was for us, he was only one guy. This rotation will keep the line much fresher, and while they’re similar in size, their styles are quite different. I’m hoping this frees up our linebackers even more.
            On the other side I’m thinking maybe two get in the line rotation, which would be a big plus. Can’t wait to see it play out!

      • Sam just has to lead again and I think he’s gonna take us far. Our guys had a taste of great football and they should all continue it. Gustin, Green, Cam, Marshall will be juniors now and their all about to erupt because they had pretty good years last season and really stood out. And it feels like its just coming together the way we envisioned on signing day with that #1 class. But I think we’re gonna see three new names step in to make our defense better. I think Marlon Tuiopulotu, Jack Jones and John Houston all start making it a tougher defense that’s gonna do it’s part and help Sam win games. Our defensive guys are break out this year. Betiku is gonna make noise too. But the defense is gonna be flying around the field this year. Too much talent and experienced now. Texas and Stanford are well aware of the athletes we have and pose a good challenge but there catching us at the wrong time this season.

        • You’re the only guy, Sam, that keeps emphasizing Sam’s LEADERSHIP. The rest of us keep referring to his physical skill set—but you, I think correctly, keep arguing that the difference maker in 2017 is gonna be Sam’s ability to put the team on his shoulders in tough, come from behind situations. There are a lot of great athletes who have play quarterback over the years that lacked that kind of greatness. We’re real lucky to have this guy and we’ll miss him big time when he decides to leave for the NFL.

      • Yeah they did. Strong recruited well. Not Mack Brown recruiting but he got players so I think the view from others is they believe Herman is going to turn them around soon.

        USC 30
        Texas 13

        • Herman was at HOU for two years….that’s all. he was an assistant coach elsewhere. Franklin was the head coach at Vanderbilt before he was offered PA St., Harbaugh was the same with stanford prior to his landing the ‘hc’ w. the 49ers’ in the NFL and then to MI, Nick Sabin was ‘hc’ at Toledo, MI St., LSU (nc), NFL – Miami Dolphins and since 2007 w. AL. Urban Myer – Bowling Green, UT, FL (nc) , OH St..

          Herman has 2 years as a head coach which admittedly is 1 more than Helton but that’s it – 2. USC more than prevails – it crushes TX and all their white/brown./black trash with a mission fan base…..get ready for a beat down Longhorns.

          • I was being polite to the Texas fans (Owns, Ted, Richard, seriously where’s Charlie he was cool with me). But it’s gonna be a long day for Longhorn fans. They’re gonna bi*ch about the Coliseum or location, talk about Kenny Chesney or Conway Twitty and then get roughed up by USC.

      • Herman will have a special package or two for us. He did very well against some of the better teams on his schedule the last two years. Don’t think this will be a walk over early. Figure by th fourth quarter we should pull away. But they will be fired up, they do have some players, and the coach will have a couple rabbits in his hat.

  5. I can’t get into country. I just can’t. Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson yes but are they country?
    My brothers are fans of Chesney. Happy wife happy life I guess.

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