USC Morning Buzz: A Thrilling Victory Amid Some Strange Decisions

There were heroics last night at the Coliseum: Chase McGrath’s field goals. Porter Gustin playing in the first half with a newly inserted screw starting to pull away from the bone in his toe. And this analysis, some weird coaching decisions either made in the game or developed over time: Not having any reliable receivers outside Deontay Burnett and Steven Mitchell nearly caught up with the Trojans.

And not running out the clock the end the first half, which resulted in a pick six. Only Ronald Jones’ amazing play to end the half made up for that. Full story here

135 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: A Thrilling Victory Amid Some Strange Decisions

  1. I don’t believe they were strange decisions. To be more accurate, they were inexperienced decisions since there are several members in the SC coaching staff who are now executing their positions for only a year or so. Hopefully, they’ll learn fast, or the lack of experience and maturity will be exposed again.

  2. Trojans6942 had the game at 34-24, and I predicted a 31-20 final score, and stating “Why do I smell turnovers and lost opportunities for both teams in this one?”

    And it seems Wolf is cloning himself on this blog as I counted 90% of the comments were negative.

    C’mon folks. It’s only a game. And SC won it! And won it in a very dramatic fashion. If it’s entertainment you want, you got it.

    Give Texas some credit, that front seven looks like the best in the nation and their defensive backs aren’t too shabby either…SC’s defense stopped the run…The Texas quarterback came alive late in the game when he found his confidence…Darnold with 45 seconds to play, hits 3 straight passes down to the 12 yard line to set up the tying field goal, and should have won the game prior to that with a td pass that was dropped. And I loved how he stopped the clock twice by spiking the ball. The guy has a very high football IQ…As often happens, coming off a rivalry victory (Stanford) takes something out of a team for their next game.

    • What’s gonna look really bad now is your crap uca football program. If you little gutties can’t even beat STAN (your constant dominator) just how BAD are you little gutties!

      Things are looking grim for baby ucla as usual. And as usual, IUSC is up top swimming with the big dogs and beating the big programs.

      Get ready for your big Trojan beat down in Nov. It’s coming and you little gutties are gonna get slaughtered again in the Coliseum.

      • His statement is correct, though one wonders what kind of loser “likes” his own post.

        • It’s not that STAN lost. The same would apply to USC if STAN barely won.

          But my point still stands. Pac12 fan is a ucla honk (who likes himself as you point out) and if his little gutties don’t beat this subpar STAN team, they’ll look much worse than they would have just a week ago.

          And while STAN is subpar, TEXAS is obviously far superior to what we thought. So whatever shine USC lost because of STAN was more than balanced out by beating a physically dominant and well-coached ‘Horn team. We really hooked ’em bad!

          • We’ve underestimated 2 of 3 teams — though, again, how Pendergast did not run a “I dare you to pass” defense against WMich is beyond me…

            Let’s not take 3-0 cal lightly as 3 teams already have and look what it got them.

          • Come on, it’s the Dirty Hippies. We will crush them. The team will play with their hair on fire after this narrow escape from disaster.

          • The Dirty Hippies! That’s classic. Those Dirty Hippies! I’ll never feel the same about those Dirty Hippies again.

          • Cal’s a very old traditional rival that we will always play as long as there is football and there is actually a pretty fair amount of animosity between the schools. When they beat us, there is an earthquake in the Bay Area they get so jacked about it.

            In the great position we are in and after the ‘Horn close call, I severely doubt we will overlook a rarely undefeated Cal team coached by a former detested USC D Coord, but I guess anything is possible.

          • We have underestimated 2 of 3 opponents and WE have spent nearly 2 full games cussing at our team and coaches. I don’t want to spend the Cal game the same way — and with the way we converted 4th downs yesterday and all the dropped passes, I’m not writing off any opponent.

          • We didn’t underestimate TEXAS. They’re damn good as will be proven over the rest of the season. I’m sure our coaches and players knew they’d be in a dogfight regardless of all the other noise.

            Who said anything about writing off any opponent? I just said we’re not going to overlook one of our greatest rivals that beats us about once every 10-15 years. I can’t guarantee our WRs will suddenly learn how to catch, but USC will be ready for this game, just like they were against TEXAS and STAN.

          • Bookmakers certainly underestimated Texas.

            WE, as fans, underestimated Texas. The final score predictions on this blog show this to be true.

            “We,” as coaches, underestimated Texas, why else would they continue to run RJ on 3rd- and 4th- and-short (among many other things).

            “We,” as players, underestimated Texas by thinking that good passes by Darnold would magically stay in our hands if we simply put up our hands in the general directing of Sam Darnold.

          • Actually, the bookmakers set the line based on what the public thinks. It has nothing to do with what the linemakers believe personally.

            TEXAS got downgraded solely because they lost to perennial nobody Maryland at home. Brutal. Everybody now knows that was a fluke because TEXAS wasn’t ready. The TEXAS team, especially their D, that showed up against USC wasn’t remotely like what they resembled in week 1. What I’m saying is that I believe the USC coaches and players knew what to expect in terms of TEXAS talent.

            You say USC wasn’t ready. I say USC was very ready for that team. The Trojans just discovered our OL isn’t as good as we thought and all of our WRs outside of Burnett can’t catch well and we really miss Dan Imat bad. Darnold’s playing with one hand tied behind his back. So many of his picks are tips.

            I love our running game and our running game coord, the new coach from Indiana. He’s awesome. But no running attack will work when you are getting crushed at the LOS, which is what TEXAS showed they could do to us.

            USC’s got problems and limitations at both the WR and OL spots that have nothing to do with getting ready IMO. You can be all fired up for any game as a player and still make lots of drops because of talent or just having an off day. The TEXAS DL showed us where another weakness on our team may prove to be. We are starting a true frosh at RT much of the time. He’ll be really good some day, but he isn’t ready now. Anyway, our OL got hammered. I doubt our coaches knew that was gonna happen, but they know now. So that helps us against CAL.

            We were ready against TEXAS which is why we won the game. We just found out we’ve got weak spots which either may or may not be fixable.

            We’ll be ready against CAL too. And their DL won’t be able to push us around like those TEXAS 5-star monsters did. No way.

            USC will comfortably beat CAL by 14-21 points. WSU is the one on Friday that really worries me.

          • There was one sack where I was screaming “why did you (Voorhees) just stop blocking!” The replay shows the DE just threw him out of the way, but it looked like Voorhees was thinking the DE was going to go anywhere but to Voorhees’ left…The DE was there for Voorhees…and then suddenly he wasn’t.

          • Well we all know f uucla is going to lose to the Indians so they will collapse after this week. By the time we play them they will be down to their 4th string QB, their stadium will stay empty and recruits will be fleeing. The Pac 12 South will be ours for the next decade with Arizona, ASU and the fuuclans in disarray. KInd of like 2002 when SC took off under Pete.

        • Mama always said you have to like yourself before anyone else gonna like you. And I think that explains this loser. Mmmmm, taters.

  3. Gomer used up all SC’s timeouts early, leaving Darnold no help, other than to make Darnold even more heroic….

    • Compare how Darnold reacted to adversity versus how Rosen gave in to adversity. Darnold is going to lead us to the title in spite of questionable coaching.

  4. Coaches fault he ran a 3 yard route? I remember Wolf saying USC under Sark played not to lose. Going for it in the closing of the half was playing to win. Big Difference. The trolls are here bad mouthing everything they can. Great Texas defense, no doubt one of the best. Dropped passes were huge in the end result. Keep recuiting WR’s until we can find a crew that can hang on to the ball. USC defense looked A+, especially line and linebackers.

    • D … what D , that frosh qb did whatever they needed in final quarter
      Was scoring winning TD until didn’t secure the ball
      a true frosh !

      • I don’t know about an A+, I’d give them an A- as the pass rush disappeared in the 2nd half. The silver lining is that some quality depth is beginning to develop with Rector and even Dorton getting some quality PT.

        • Injuries hurt the past rush in the second half. But bullseye on Rector not just the force fumble but overall. Injuries or not his play earn playing time. Very excited about he’s grade. He dominated.

        • They were A+ for the first three quarters. Unfortunately, the offense was less than stellar. Add in some injuries and being on the field too long, Texas began to move the ball. Much to their credit, many of their drives converted 3rd downs and on their regular final drive I believe they converted 2 4th downs. Their young QB played great at the end.

    • Reasonable people have reasonable thoughts….Glad you’re not overreacting to the window dressing

  5. Here we go with doom and gloom again. This coaching staff doesn’t know what they’re doing. You can pick apart things in every game across the country. Look at Urban Meyer last week. All I know is that the team has won 12 straight games. I think they could win 25 in a row and the NC and SW would still be complaining!

  6. You(wolf) wrote:

    “If you do not blame the coaches because Greene let the ball slip through his fingers, then they should play someone else”

    “USC had wide receiver Tyler Vaughns run a 3-yard route on third-and-5. He caught the pass but was short of a first down.”

    Please explain why you would blame a dropped pass on a coach(s) standing on the sideline. Greene runs theses plays everyday at practice, it’s well within his skillset to make that catch.

    Receivers are taught to break their route off beyond the first down marker. Tyler made a mental error and cost USC a first. How is that a coaching issue.

    Sure, there might be some questionable coaching decision, but calling the coaching staff out for those two plays is ridiculous.

    Your low football IQ is embarrassing, The Daily News needs to find a replacement. immediately

    • SW doesn’t know the college football game from Parcheesi.

      Anybody who thinks the coaches should be blamed for Grreene’s brutal drop must give the USC coaches all the credit for our walk-on freshman’s walk-off FG perfecto.

    • Instead of the predictable attack on Wolf, why not admit that Greene has not performed well in 2017?

      Wasn’t that the third INT this year that he touched first?

      I was a Greene fan, but I’m fading quickly…

        • He should be in enough to allow for a double pass. AND, we should use the double pass more than once a year to keep the threat real.

      • Staying consistent with your thoughts, then Sam should be benched for the 6 INT’s through three games

        • You just conclude what you want to conclude, regardless of what I write.

          Don’t make absurd remarks about what my thoughts are; at least half of Darnold’s INTs were because his target didn’t catch the ball. For you to say that I would blame Darnold is just hostile.

          Wolf isn’t 100% wrong or 100% negative. Greene is stinking it up right now and I’ll bet that Greene would admit that.

          Why don’t you just stick to attacking Wolf 6-12 times each day with so many of the other people and ignore my posts.

          • Give me a break! We have a difference of opinion(s) and you call it “absurd”. This site isn’t for the thin-skinned souls

            If you comprehend my original post. I did point the blame at Green, blaming a coach was a pathetic excuse.

            FIGHT ON!

    • First, kudos to you, Gabby, for staying cool while a lot of us were, in the heat of the moment, being overly critical of the coaching. Looking back, the coaches did admirably with the cards they were playing —-and it wasn’t a full deck due to numerous key injuries. I think Scott has a point, though, when it comes to Greene. Sure he catches those passes in practice. Sure he represents experience on a team with too much youth. But there comes a point where you, as a coach, have to see what everybody in the stands can see —-Jalen has a history of catching one, then dropping one. Every receiver can be excused for a drop —but Jalen’s are frequent and they always seem to come on balls that are PERFECTLY thrown.
      I remember one of our Special Teams coaches telling a kicker, “anything you can do in practice, you can do in a game!” Yes, theoretically speaking, that’s true. And it’s a great thing to tell a struggling player. But the hard fact is, some players never play as well when the lights are on.
      #Now,IfOnlyVelusWillStartHoldingOn….

        • I didn’t want to put it that way —but yeah. The problem is this particular kind of stage fright results in a perfectly thrown ball bouncing off of outstretched hands high into the air where anybody can catch it.

  7. I love how USC homers, before the game, said Texas was crap — but now that they took us to the limit, they’re “tough” or “very talented.”

    Same went WMich and Stanford. BSPN was just wetting themselves over Stanford destroying Rice. Stanford hasn’t won since.

    The Stanford loss to SDSU is more significant than the TX loss to that team with the WNBA uniforms. Texas (Like WMich) was under new coaching and could be expected to be less prepared in the first game under their new system. But this is Texas with the hot new coach, not WMich with an unknown coach. In their 1st games of 2017, few people expected Tom Herrman’s team to flop and Tim Lester (HCing his first game) to have his team primed and able.

    We are a talented team that has some serious issues to resolve. –The inability to crush a team with a new coach, new system, new QB and all new WRs is very troubling. (How Pendergast did not run a D in that game that said, “Pass, I friggin’ dare ya,” I don’t know!)
    –Soundly beating Stanford appeared to be impressive until Stanford struggled and lost to SDSU last night.

    Stanford 2017 is clearly not Stanford 2016. Love is a stat production replacement for McCaffrey; having 4 returning starters on the OL helps a lot. But the D is missing Solomon Thomas more than anyone thought they would and Chryst is still so green Ruby Rhod is convulsing in ecstasy (Christ had a really bad game last night!)

    3 games in the books tells us a lot more about a team than the first game of the season. I’d rather be Texas today, than Stanford (except for Texas’ next 4 games!)

  8. Cal is 3-0 and WAY better than people thought, while we’re just getting by. This game is Wilcox’s Super Bowl…

    • SC plays Cal next week in the moseleum so we’ll see whos way better and who’s eye to eye. Maybe that 13 point home win over Weber St. isn’t as impressive as you think.

    • Come on, it’s the Dirty Hippies. They see the Cardinal and Gold uniforms in warm up drills and surrender like good Snowflakes.

    • UCLA runs this town, and they practically have owned Stanford and Oregon the past decade. I think they call it “The Decade of Dominance”.

    • Hard to say. f uucla is eliminated from the national title now so they will be down. They have the worst defense in thier long history of mediocrity, giving up 38 points per game. The Indians also suck but they have the winning streak going against f uucla and always dominate the f uuclans in Palo Alto going back decades. Stanford can just run the ball on them all night long. So I pick the Indians over the f ucclans in the Crummy Bowl.

      I think Rosen goes down this game and then pulls a McCaffrey and sits out the year preparing for the NFL combines. Glad it is on at 10:30PM EST so no one on the East Coast will see it and drop us in the polls for being in such a lousy conference.

        • The only factor is how long it takes Stanford to run up and down the field. Quick scores, like Memphis’ first TD run, take the overs.

      • Rosey and Caleb make UClowns better than SDSU; that’s all I’m saying.
        UClowns would be a 7-point favorite in SD and 10 at home.

        • Rocky Long is a good coach and they aren’t your father’s SDSU. I actually suggested that we scrimmage them in the spring if the NCAA allowed such things.

          • Rocky Long IS a good coach!

            But he’s still working with 2- and 3-stars. The number of 300-pounders he has in the trenches is far fewer than what the Clowns have. And few of them come close in speed or other skills.

            The Clowns, at full strength, don’t lose to Memphis, nor would they lose to SDSU very often. Down 3 starters, they lost Jaleen to a rolled ankle in the 4th and then another DL for Targeting.

          • I don’t doubt that they are short of 300 pounders, but they have things UCLA lacks: heart, cohesiveness and a sense that they can overachieve. That stuff matters and they have it in addition to a better head coach.

            Your comment was a good one.

  9. I’ll tell you another strange decision.
    The Daily News’ putting such an unprofessional writer on the USC beat.

  10. USC used Malepeai on third down and short various times last week vs Stanford. sw didn’t complain about that last week. The defense played well, despite having injuries during the game and playing the majority of the 2nd half. Texas has some 4 and 5 stars on that team. This is going to be a good team Herman is building. This was a huge game for Texas and USC needs to realize every team they play here on, will be playing their game of the year.
    USC put drives together when they had to. The offensive line needs to work on holding their blocks longer so the backs can penetrate the line.
    That’s 12 wins in a row now. Fight On!

    • 12 wins in a row is what matters, of course. However, it’s hard to expect another when the team is so inconsistent. 59+ minutes of great D in this game and our O in the Stanford game is all we have in consistency.

      Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield is rightly the Heisman front-runner and Oklahoma looks like the best team in the country with their consistency.

      • Everyone wrote this team off last year and they finished ranked 3rd in the nation. They are finding ways to win.

      • ” it’s hard to expect another(win) when the team is so inconsistent.”

        So how do you explain what happened from week 5 through the RB, last season?
        Vegas makes a ton of money on people who overreact…just saying

        (Wolf’s koolaide is contagious)

        • Well, it’s like this:
          Game 5 -9 of 2016 were pretty consistent wins where the team played pretty consistently; ergo we all had realistic expectations that we would win game 10.

          With continuing consistency in winning game 10, we all had realistic expectations that we would win game 11, etc.

          I’m confident that Darnold, Deontay, Cam, Uchenna, Porter and Burdrovich will be very good or great at Cal.

          On the other hand, every other group has had an “off” day or an “off” half in just three games so far. Saturday, UClowns’ Olo-run-from-me had more rushing yards (in only a dozen carries) than we did by himself. Rosey would have been our 2nd-leading rusher with HIS 32 yards.

          I’m also very confident that we will have at least 4 “stupid” penalties.

    • USC players and coaches need to get over the fact that every team will play against them like its the super bowl. They will get everyone’s best shot, so prepare for it!

  11. The Austin Statesman is questioning why Texas didn’t go for 2 in the First Overtime. I guess the Arm Chair QB Media loves to second guess coaches.

    • All the TX fans in the sports Bar I was in wanted that at the time.
      It’s unfair to attack a printed statement as second-guessing after the fact — do you expect a printed paper to be delivered to you the moment the writer thinks a thought?

  12. Like I said several times before, the coaching staff needs to put more I formation plays in their playbook, because quarterbacks need to be under center in goal line situations, because you lose yards lining up in the shotgun…smh

    • I was thinking the same last night, concluding the staff figures Darnold is perhaps mobile enough in their schemes.. The other idea, liken to Ucla ‘ouch’ utilize a lineman as the lead blocker on goal situations to push the pile forward..had they lost, it would have been on the coaching staff for bad prep.. We actually got a lucky win.. But a W is a W.

    • Fred, I too would like to see the QB under center, but that style of play has fallen out of favor. Maybe, the next “genius ” will revolutionize the game and kick the shotgun to the curb

  13. Observations:

    USC consistently was catching the ball (when they were catching it) a yard short of a first down

    Texas was consistently catching the ball a yard past the first down

    3rd and 5:

    Gomer: “Guys, lets run a 4 yd route…then I will needlessly burn our remaining TOs.”

    Herman: “Guys, make sure you run at least a 6 yd route…no where the first down is!”

    • Too bad Herman still lost with what is obviously a physically dominant team.

      Herman should be required to start attending prevent D classes immed!!! He has absolutely no idea of how, when or even if to deploy them.

      Helton totally schooled Herman at the end of each half. What a total wipe-out loss for TEXAS. Poor ‘Horn coaching obviously.

      • Wasn’t this Herman’s first loss to a top 10 team after a large number of victories? 6-0…now 6-1. I’m a die hard Trojan fan.Have been sense 1964.Loved our win over Stanford, still saw Texas game as a close one.never thought it would go to OT.
        I said during week I have respect for all the opponents ahead.California is 3-0,big win for them last night.
        Even after last week I wondered if we were the team that beat wmu or the one beat Stanford. I believed we would not have a good read of team til after WSU…..we are 3-0,I’ll take it.a lot has been tested in 3 games. A lot to correct and improve. Questions of health. Yet we are 3-0,with an Cal team with a swagger ahead.

      • I’m glad you have the insight to notice that. Yet wolf gives Tee no .credit for the great play he called

    • That’s been a problem for several years. Routes that are two yards short of the sticks. Need situational and game awareness.

    • I totally agree. USC keeps throwing sideways and a yard or 2 short from the first down marker. Texas runs ALL routes 1 yard passed the 1st down marker. That’s simply coaching.

      Oh, and Texas caught every ball thrown to them while usc receivers played volleyball out there.

  14. Why is E! News on this page, aren’t there any tampon companies that would be less annoying?

  15. Reading a comment on social media from a former USC All-American and NFL Hall of Famer..

    Defenses win National Champions

    USC defense play lights out, once the offense clicks ..We will be in business..

    Quote.. Defenses WIN Championships..

    I commented on his social media..

    I hope you share these thoughts with the coaching staff.. They need to understand this.. Somehow, they forget their job titles- hence, coaches..

    Pendergast gets a A tonight

    Martin gets gets a D tonight

    His response.. I agree with you 100%

    • Thanks for sharing. The thought that defense wins championships is a new one. Quite revolutionary.

      • Ucla has no defense hence…these high scoring offenses are in these games.. Look forward to Stanfurd putting Rosen aka the ‘Frozen One’ in a body bag..

      • Now that your football season is over I have some good news for you. You will have plenty of free time be a advisor for a great new program at f uucla…

        “UCLA paying students to fight ‘whiteness,’ ‘patriarchy’

        UCLA is paying 8-10 students an undisclosed amount to serve as “Social Justice Advocates” next semester. An application form states that Social Justice Advocates will help their classmates “navigate a world that operates on whiteness, patriarchy, and heteronormativity as the primary ideologies.”

        The University of California-Los Angeles is offering to pay students to serve as “Social Justice Advocates” who will “educate” their peers about “systems [of] oppression.”

        The Social Justice Advocates program seeks students who want to help their classmates “navigate a world that operates on whiteness, patriarchy, and heteronormativity as the primary ideologies,” and comes with a quarterly stipend, the amount of which has yet to be determined.

        “…navigate a world that operates on whiteness, patriarchy, and heteronormativity as the primary ideologies.” Tweet This

        “Social Justice Advocates will systems [of] oppression and how they intersect and build upon each other to maintain the status quo,” the description continues. “Most importantly individuals and the collective will be empowered through liberatory scholarship and practices and strengthening their emotional intelligence to create change within their spheres of influence.”

        The application for the inaugural students asks aspiring Social Justice Advocates to explain their interest in social justice, list their preferred gender pronouns (such as “zi” and “hir”), and describe any experience they have in facilitating workshops on “social justice” issues.

        Successful applicants will join the inaugural cohort of 8-10 Social Justice Advocates for the upcoming fall semester, during which time they are expected to commit three hours per week to their duties, which include weekly meetings and crafting presentations.

        The program is funded through the Bruin Excellence & Student Transformation Grant Program (BEST), which receives funding from the university’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and from Gold Shield, Alumnae of UCLA.

        Several workshops were preemptively created as part of a pilot program this year, including one addressing “Social Justice Myths,” which promises to discuss the “truths” behind topics such as “reverse racism, allyship, intersectionality, and LGBTQ rights” with the goal of “expanding the views of students and [promoting] empathy for marginalized communities through conversation.”

        Another, called “All Aboard the Struggle Bus,” endeavors to teach students about the “unfathomable struggles” that minority students face “on a daily basis.”

        A third workshop explores how people of color can “navigate desire and love” in a society “where ideals of beauty are based on Eurocentric standards,” asserting that “our most personal decisions hold political connotations whether we like it or not.””

        • That’s an impressive amount of work you put in there, Marv. Are you guys still allowed to ride Traveler? I think that was SC students that were upset. Maybe that renowned conservative, Dr. Todd Boyd from SC put them up to that. Do you really believe that there aren’t “lefties” at USC? Certainly not everyone can make the economic contributions of Carmine Puliafito or medical contributions to the steroid community like Dr. Ting and his 2 sons. Certainly they helped the career of Brian Cushing.

          • Susan Estrich has been a prominent lefty at SC for years, Pat Haden used the AD office for his Democrat Party soap box and now the administration has gone leftist and is running off players on heresay. So you are probably right that Nikias will soon have our students out their fighting whiteness and patriarchy just like you f uuclans.

    • That all American can’t give Pendergast an A for puckering up and giving up a 90 yard drive that put SC down with 45 seconds left. That’s grade inflation.

      • Last drives by quality College Teams frequently are successful because Defenses are fricken TIRED. Coach Pendergast and our defensive players both get an “A”.

  16. I thought this was a debacle. It wasn’t. It was an exciting thrilling victory. Screw the revenge angle.

  17. There’s no doubt there were some questionable coaching moves especially early in the game when you really should be trying to accumulate points more than anything else. Sucks we’re dealing dealing with so many injuries with no bye week, but the 2nd team players got some seriously valuable experience last night in a tough game. Bottom line, USC needs to win these types of games too if we’re gonna get to the playoff. This won’t be the only ugly win. And as a side note, how about San Diego State? While the gutties were getting punked by a lower division school they scheduled as a “gimmie” game before conference games start, SDSU just took out two pac 12 schools back to back. How about kicking ucla out of the pac 12 and bringing in San Diego State instead? They’d represent our conference much more professionally and favorably. Anyway, GO TROJANS and BEAT cal!

  18. Guys, here’s the story: This is what we’re going to look like against any SEC/Southern style defense. The kind of defense we saw from Texas last night is the same kind we would encounter in the playoffs, only they will be better. I asked what Stanford would look like if someone took their running game away from them and last night we saw what happens when someone takes ours from us.

    This is why I continue to stress the importance of recruiting players out of Texas and the south. We need to be mixing it up with teams like that more often and influencing players in their states. You had a team in Texas that isn’t that good yet, but they were extremely athletic and motivated on defense and that athleticism allowed them to stay in the game all night. Tell me a 16 team super conference with USC anchoring a West division and Texas anchoring an Eastern division wouldn’t create some compelling football. We’ll have our hands full going into Austin next year, but we need to be rubbing shoulders with teams/players in areas like Texas and SEC country.

  19. Charlie Strong recruited well. Now, Texas has a very good coaching staff. USC defense shut down the running game. That’s what you want a defense to do. Most of Texas offense was Collin Johnson. He should have been double Teamed in the Fourth. It’s not easy to win. Just ask Stanford. But we won….Fight On!

  20. Our team is built to play against Pac12 opponents, with our D’s strength being side line to side line speed. We played, Texas, with there big hosses, only Stanford even comes close to their size in the Pac12. The Trojans will be better off having played Texas, learning how to beat a different type of opponent that we won’t see in Conference play. Sam refuses to loose.
    I wish Sam was calling the plays, I would love to hear what was in his head when Tee called for a Shotgun formation on 4th and Goal. We have a linebacker playing QB, how bout we sneak that one in for 6. Great game, the Trojans can draw on this game later in the season.

  21. Vaughn had 4 catches and a ball in the end zone which I find funny that they never reviewed or showed a replay at the Coliseum.

  22. Wolf, u are a debacle. I tried playing the winning field goal and all I get is a Comcast commercial

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