USC Morning Buzz: 10 Things To Improve To Beat Texas

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Here’s my top 10 things USC must improve to beat Texas. Excerpt:

Fewer penalties: The Trojans average 92 penalty yards per game, which ranks No. 119 nationally. That is the sign of an undisciplined team. Is the motto, “we’re just too talented so it doesn’t matter” going to carry USC past Alabama?

Cheer less. Coach more: Sometimes the USC sideline looks like a pep rally instead of a brain trust. Granted, most of these young guys are not full-time coaches, but they shouldn’t be jumping higher than the players when Stephen Carr is racing down the sideline.

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91 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: 10 Things To Improve To Beat Texas”

  1. ok Dummies, shut up and get in line for your weekly Proctology Appt with Dr Wolf…as usual, he is no nonsense and cuts right to the heart of the matter!!!

    #WolfKnowsBest

    • Knows best about what? Every doughnut shop in Whittier? Speaking of proctology, shouldn’t you and the rest of your ilk make an appointment for removal of your collective heads out of your rectums?

    • Thats right beefy, thinking good health first. Am I assuming you enjoy proctology appointments as much as you let on?

      #NineInchFingers

  2. Good to see that the keys to beating Texas this week include settling for a field goal instead of scoring TD’s, cutting penalties in preparation for some theoretical game with Alabama and the beaten to death “develop freshman receivers” because letting veteran talent carry the team is always a terrible strategy.

    Despite having 8 rushing TD’s and 4 passing, SC has somehow been relying on Sam Darnold too much? 82 Rushes… 59 pass attempts.

    Reduce penalties, good coaching and winning the turnover battle… If you’re going to include the”keys to victory” to pretty much every game ever played, why don’t you just write a one line summary and say “Score more points than the other team… and develop freshman receivers”?

    • You never want to trade TD’s for FG’s it could bite you in the end

      Once again low football IQ……The Daily News should be embarrassed of this guy

  3. Penalties? USC had 45 yards in bogus penalties against Stanford, begging the question that Kiffin used to ask you all the time; what game were you watching?

  4. After the great win over Stan, there were aspects that were apparent that would need improvement to make playoffs. That’s part of the journey. First and foremost to Me would be how they would handle an opponent after a huge win.Enter Texas.Texas is primed to play us.This is a big test.

    • He must not want people to click on the Daily News when the first two are BS.
      “Coaches jumping and Cheering”
      SMH with what this guy is focused on during plays.

      Next he’s gonna say the players are drinking too much water or Gatorade during games.

      • My friend, I seldom read what he writes. I glanced at his heading, not reading content. I love how team came together last week.Yet for me it won’t be until game 5 or 6 will I get true sense of team..see how they truly handle the week to week.Texas I think is as dangerous as we thought before season started.

        • Same here. Every once in a great moon I’ll read something and only if he headlines it like “Freshmen are pushing for playing time”
          It has to be something along those lines for me to tap on his click button. I might even believe the info coming from one the guys who sell T-shirt’s outside of the Coliseum before Mr. W*lf. He has that effect on me.

          Texas is not on our level or where they want to be right now, but they still have a really good group on the roster that is capable of upsets and competing so we have to show no mercy and find out more about our team and what else we have. The Stanford win was a great win for us for many reasons, but I have to see a lot more and Texas is no cupcake.

          • Until the game is put away, I see Texas like a
            Mike Riley coached team.Texas may not be on our level, but like a wounded predator you give it respect.

          • Yep. Strong wasn’t recruiting like Mack Brown but he had some good classes that for Herman to start with and I know Clay Helton is telling the guys that it’s a new week and we have to play hard at all times so don’t think for one second that things can’t go wrong.

        • You couldn’t be more right, peter. Texas is a talented, motivated team. They are not Cal. They have an offense which can pose problems for anyone. And it doesn’t help that some of our players are already saying we’ll be 5-0 against Texas after Saturday (especially players who might get burned by Texas receivers, like, say, Chris Hawkins). Taunting the other team is never smart—whether they’re having a good or an off year.
          #TexasWon’tPlayUsLikeTheyPlayedMaryland
          #FightOn,USC!

          • Spot on Michael “Taunting the other team is never smart ”
            Champions respect then go out and dominant. We’ve seen to many years of buying hype. Western Michigan was our Mulligan. Last week showed what standard we are as a team.our base. Now we build week to week, peaking in playoff final.
            Have little concern about our O this week.Healthy. We will learn a lot about our D depth Saturday.

          • We DO have some health issues on BOTH sides of the line. peter. And Texas has been pointing toward this game since Herman came on board. So….We need to be focused on THIS Saturday, not LAST Saturday.
            As Roger Federer put it. “Respect Everyone, Fear No One.”

          • Great way to put it and it’s the way every athlete and team should go about things. “Respect Everyone, Fear No One.”

          • Thanks, Sam. When I heard Federer say it, I thought, “that’s a motto I want to pass on to my kids.”

          • I know when Andyain’twinning has a game with Oregon, that’s exact his thoughts.

            Ore BB 9 or 10 – Andyain’twinning Zip.

      • Hey, SoCal should bring back those bench warming towel twirlers they had a couple of years back and all of those alumni that dressed like coaches and roamed the sideline.

        • Yeah, they learned that routine from one of UCLA’s coaches a few years back. It went from towel waving to face cupping.

          • I’ll never forget the amazing Mora Face Cup. Had to be seen to be believed, Boy, was he ever desperate.

            How many times can you expect to see one of your major assts just walk off the field in disgust?

            Leave it to The Chimp. He’s perfect for ucla.

        • OK J Meth,

          What about that Leslie Nielson looking guy from Donahues, Toledo’s and Dorrell’s teams????

          Was he the Bruin towel boy as a kid who never left the locker room and just started living in there or what?

          • Ed Kazarian, I believe he played D end for UCLA, then went into coaching, then athletic admin, then graduate towel waiving. He was an innovator in that field. He thought seriously about pantomime but gravitated to rhythmic towel gymnastics. It didn’t really catch on until the SoCal bench warmers brought it back a couple of years ago.

          • I thought you would have soft spot for bench warmers since you were ummm you know a uhhhhhh bench warmer.

  5. USC needs to establish a running game against Texas, then everything else will take care of itself.. I guarantee!!

        • Jackie the trans who threw Helton under the bus last year only to come back and say he was the second coming of PC. Which is it Mrs Senile ?

          • Helton started the wrong QB, almost ruined the 2016 season by beginning 1-3 and has now repositioned himself by playing be best college QB in the U.S.

            You’re still a Troll. Me, I’m a Trojan fan on a Trojan board and USC has one of the best FB teams in the country. Too bad Troll Boy. You lose. We win, again!

          • Surprised as all get out. We’ve got so many positives working for us here, I just can’t see us blowing this one.

            Those TEXAS kids don’t know how to win yet and haven’t played anybody. We do and we have.

            We’re a very big favorite and will be playing before the largest home crowd BY FAR in the history of the Helton era. We’re gonna be jacked and we’re loaded with stars, versatility, balance, great kids and some real offensive trench power for the first time in many years. It’s not just Darnold, though he has affected this team and staff like no other single USC player since Palmer, who was our one-man team back in the day. It almost killed him.

            No, I don’t think TEXAS will figure out this Trojan Horse. But if they do, I’ll eat crow, just like I would have if STAN beat us. But I’m a lot more confident about this team now. I respect David Shaw a lot. When SC got done with him, he had the look of someone who just knew it was out of his team’s grasp. STAN played well actually. They were still overwhelmed.

            Fight On! Beat the Horns. Get ready for CAL and Wilcox’s sad homecoming.

          • A good coach learns from his mistakes and evolves. Even the best coaches have their haters…..Did you miss your morning SEC podcast?

    • Exactly… Make them load the box to stop the run. Which then puts their corners on an island with our wideouts…..Then Sam starts to work his magic

    • This ls Helton’s weekly plan and he’s stated publicly that at USC, it always starts with the running game. He called that “Trojan Football.”

      We’re in good hands. You don’t think Helton built this awesome running attack for nothing, do you?

    • Fred, I agree. Pound the ball on the run game. Take control of the game and the clock with run. The o-line is the best kept secret. Not once has Scooter mentioned them. I guess they are doing well then else he would complain. Good job

  6. Scott is right about getting the sidelines under control – the jumping and yelling assistants to the lead coaches do nothing but might invite a ref against us when a questionable. marginal call comes up. This all started under pete and I wish it would cease.

      • Nah it’s not necessary and it often times leads to mocking the other side i.e. that 2007 Rose Bowl game against MI might have been the 2009 against PA St., with all the cartwheeling and juke stepping. I understand times have changed but I still think there’s a time and place for celebrating and a professional demeanor inflicts far more trepidation in a foe than some clown assistant doing jumping jacks.

        • Ruskie is right.
          Look at what happened to Matty Barks the year after he and his ilk taunted UCLA. Anthony Barr ended his career. Payback
          #here’syourchange

          • J, please come up with another play, please I’m begging you. After all these years, and all you’ve got is one lousy play…what a life.

          • Says the guy that can stop the 1968 Sam Gilbert reference……
            But it was a such a beautiful play the way he hit, wrapped and lifted Little Matty completely parallel to the ground then dropped him like a stuck pig and planted him like a tulip…… Awesome really.

          • J, wrong again my friend.. never did I ever mention Sam Gilbert and/or his contributions to the ruin program..my only reference to him was to say that I had no knowledge of it and couldn’t speak to it.

            So back to my original request, PLEASE find something else, the, maybe you could rotate between them, if you can remember more than one thing at a time.

          • Sure beats having an athletic director who, well let’s have the record speak JD Morgan

            ‘Over the years some found him difficult, even arrogant. He was known to
            engage in battles with alumni, the press and referees, oftentimes vilifying the officials as he sat on the Bruin basketball bench during road games. These outbursts were so frequent that in an effort to limit
            his public displays, rival Pac-8 basketball coaches came together and voted to ban athletic directors from the team bench.’

            The above was from bel-air tech’s very own alumni site

  8. Hey coaching staff, please don’t let you body language interfere with your purpose, coaching. The great analyst, Scott Wolf, feels this might be detrimental to the outcome of the game…..thanks for your cooperation
    why this guy(wolf) is given a platform to post this garbage is puzzling.

  9. This is the second time you have said the halftime score was 21-17. It was 28-17. I guess Darnold’s first half performance also glossed over your mistakes.

  12. 10 Things to Improve a sports journalists coverage of the USC Football Team:
    1. Eat less / sleep more
    2. Check grammar / spelling
    3. Study / read books on football coaching
    4. Avoid being overly redundant
    5. Respect how difficult the coaches jobs are
    6. Don’t let wage envy cloud reporting
    7. Get regular exercise
    8. Try to educate readers (see Kevin Bruce’s articles)
    9. Periodically self evaluate (read your past 90 days reporting)
    10. Don’t be such a bitch

  14. When my students struggle with their instrument I give them something I know they can play and then praise them for their effort. This is called positive reinforcement cheer all you want sidelines. Coach before the game and you can cheer during the game.

  15. Somebody’s clicks must down. “Coach more” – that is literally one of his “pieces of analysis.”

    “Don’t rely on your QB so much” – at this point I’m looking around the room to see if I am being pranked.

    “Play better on Special Teams” My IQ drops with every sentence.

    But in this spirit Wolf forgot to add 11-15:

    11. Catch the ball. With both hands. In bounds.

    12. Don’t get injured. Supposedly there was an emphasis on this in the offseason, but I have yet to see any evidence of that so far.

    13. Run faster. Where is all this 5-star speed the coaches keep talking about?

    14. Don’t let the other team catch the ball. Remember this one when Texas catches a ball on Saturday. Am I the only one who notices when this happens?

    15. Click the hyperlinks to the SW blog 9-10X a quarter. My job literally depends on it.

  16. You constantly bring up the young coaches jumping around on the sideline and act like it doesn’t go on at every other school. Especially at the school your crush James Franklin coaches. Penn State celebrates every big play like they won the freaking Super Bowl. The QB has like three different celebrations he does after EVERY SINGLE touchdown. Even the head coach jumps around with the players, yells in celebration right in front of the ref or players of the opposing team, and punches his assistants in the chest for calling good plays.

    It’s alright for other teams to act like fools but USC has two grad assistants high five players after a big play and the blogger has a fit.

  17. But you know nothing beats that hard working fireman aka ucla chancellor ‘chuck’ young ‘running’ like a bandit down the side lines at many a bel-air tech home game.

    I believe it was the 1984 Rose Bowl against IL that chuck was truly at his finest. His screaming was so indelible and it was seared into the viewers as he leaped like a ‘gazelle’ down the sidelines….ever seen any other school official in such an ‘inflagrante’ pose?

    Why is it everything over at bel-air tech always has the stench of corruption? You losers over at bel-air tech correct me if you need to.

  18. I guess USC really blew it lining up on defense not prepared to stop the 70 yard td. Why weren’t they giving headphones to Wolf, he knew the 70 yarder was coming. What a total tuurd. Then what is the matter with USC not putting in the second and third string receivers so they can become stars. Really Wolf, this is a serious chase for the NT going on. They will play the best they have on every play. It is called going for it Wolf. This season!!

  19. #9 on your article was wrong – the halftime score was 28-17. Nobody glossed over anything. Fans were euphoric because they let Sam air it out in the last few minutes of the half and get a TD rather than running out the clock.

    And #10 is just stupid. Pete Carroll won plenty of championships cheering and jumping like a 20 year old.

    Scott, I appreciate your ability to view the team realistically, but the amount of negativity and contempt in your blog and your writing is overwhelming and detracts from the quality of your product. Lighten up already.

  20. 1) Win the turnover battle: That’s where Sam needs some work. The RB’s are doing fine.
    2) Fewer Penalties: Hard to do. Contrary to what you say, the refs are generally anti-SC, as is everyone else in the country.
    3) Get in the right formation: You’re right. Being in a nickel when you have 2 tight ends and a fullback on offense isn’t a phi-beta-kappa decision.
    4) Develope some young receivers: Agreed. I would take a look at Pie Young and Randall Grimes and Joseph Lewis.
    5) Avoid a letdown: I don’t think that will happen but it better not. But if they play their A game, they should win. Tom Hermon is a great coach but I don’t think that he’s a magician. He’s not going to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
    6) Make special teams special: Agreed. We need to find someone who can kick the kickoff out of the endzone. As far as the field goals are concerned, let’s just hope for the best. That problem was not created by Baxter, it was created by the feminazi’s and amazons on the social conduct committees at USC.
    7) Kick a field goal: They should give him a chance. He’s got the leg. He just needs some game experience. Let’s not wait until it’s the national championship game and we’re behind by 1 point with 3 seconds left and we have the ball on their 30 yard line.
    8) Make tight end a dangerous position: Agreed. They have some good pass catching tight ends. They need to start throwing to them down the middle.
    9) Don’t rely too much on Sam Darnold: I’m not sure that will be possible this week. I think Texas will come out with the game plan to stop the running game and take their chances with Sam. I really don’t think that they will go with a 4 man D-Line the whole game like Stanford did.
    10) Cheer less, coach more: Get real. These coaches aren’t robots. They have emotions too and they should. I never saw Pete Carroll standing there watching the grass grow while Reggie was running down the sideline on a 75 yard TD run.

  22. 28-17 at halftime, Wolfie, not the 21-17 you just wrote. Big difference, and that half was worthy of the standing ovation the team got as it sprinted into the tunnel at halftime.

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