USC Ranked No. 5 In AP Poll

USC dropped a spot to No. 5 in the new Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Trojans are also No. 5 in the coaches’ poll. Full AP poll after the jump:

 
1
Alabama (45)
Record: 3-0
PV Rank

1

Points

1,504

2
Clemson (15)
Record: 3-0
3
1,446
3
Record: 3-0
2
1,432
4
Record: 3-0
5
1,306
5
Record: 3-0
4
1,241
6
Record: 3-0
9
1,154
7
Record: 3-0
6
1,141
8
Record: 3-0
7
1,081
9
Record: 3-0
10
1,031
10
Record: 2-1
8
1,015
11
Record: 3-0
13
940
12
Record: 0-1
11
922
13
Record: 3-0
16
730
14
Record: 1-0
17
606
15
Record: 2-1
15
596
16
Record: 3-0
20
553
17
Record: 3-0
532
18
Record: 3-0
21
419
19
Record: 2-1
14
356
20
Record: 1-1
24
308
21
Record: 3-0
22
272
22
Record: 3-0
201
23
Record: 3-0
194
24
Record: 3-0
158
25
Record: 2-1
12
153

129 thoughts on “USC Ranked No. 5 In AP Poll

  1. SW voted USC #10, right behind #9 FSU, which hasn’t won a game all year and already lost its starting QB.

  2. Thrilling win; congratulations. SC weaknesses, however, shined through: suspect OL, mediocre receiving corps, and average, unimaginative coaching. Those of you who have been on here a while no I’m not a hater. But it really would be quite miraculous for this SC team to run the table. Just not enough depth yet coming off the sanctions era. The surprise to me thus far is Darnold’s interception bug. He’s a once-in-a-decade-or-two talent, but unless he cleans up those picks (7 TDs to 6 INTs), SC will lose a few–because he’s the franchise. That OL does not seem strong and deep enough to create a consistent running game to take the pressure off Sam. The Cal game will be a good one. Interesting back-stories with Wilcox.

    • I don’t know they manhandled stanford last week before the Aztecs found them out. You’re right about the receiving corps save that when it mattered it happened…..the three consecutive 1st down passes at the end to set up the game tying FG were lights out. CA will be a tough game if only because Wilcox was so mediocre when he was here = he was truly awful i.e. he has something to prove.

      I sense the Big 10 getting shut out this year and the SEC having trouble due to it being AL and all the rest. The Big 12 and ACC look rock solid and were TX to run the table it puts what happened last night in a whole new view – these two are the among best in the nation.

        • Honest question: how does it feel to know you will never win a national championship in football in your lifetime? The program is getting worse in Mora’s 6th year, the crowds are sparse in the cavernous Rose Bowl, the spirit is non-existent and the recruits are fleeing. It’s like being a Cubs fan when the Wrigleys owned the team. Rosen is like when the Cubs had Ernie Banks and nobody else. Do you like being loveable losers? Shouldn’t you think about moving to Carson where at least the place will look full with 30,000 fans?

          • I tell you what, I’ll meet you back here in 30 years and if UCLA football has not won a NC, I will tell you how it feels. Deal?

          • Do you see any hope for the ruins? I mean, put yourself away from being an alum and look at the program. It’s a mess and your administrators are much more devoted to producing Social Justice Warriors and bringing in illegal aliens instead of backing a patriarchal sport like football. How long do you think before they get rid of the dance team for being exploited by misogynist males? Division 1 college football simply doesn’t fit with the mission your Chancellor has for the school.

      • The ruins need to go the UCSB route and devote themselves to turning California into Venezuela like the University of Chicago dropped football to devote themselves to developing the atomic bomb to stop Germany and Japan.

    • SC won’t run the table and we have obvious talent weaknesses. But we still have a good shot at the P12 title and we’ll hammer ucla bad in November in the Coliseum.

      Can’t believe your 5-stars lost to the Walk-Ons in Memphis. The Chimp is a piece of cake for any program with a good coach, and that includes USC and STAN, who will probably make it 10 in a row over you on Saturday. Good luck. You’ll need it.

      • It’s interesting that the game is even odds in Palo Alto. We do have the #1 QB in the nation (Yds, TDs) and the best receiving corps we have had in a good while, and Stanford’s secondary is very exploitable. Rosen never has two off games in a row.

        • Ya, but STAN owns you mentally and Rosen has never shown the ability to win a big game. He tends to feast off also-rans, and while that may be what the Cardinal is this year, I think they’ll be really up for ucla (so they can continue their huge streak) and the bruins start classes this week – historically always a very bad sign for ucla football.

          I think the line will swing to STAN but regardless – not one soul associated with ucla football knows what it’s like to beat STAN. Also, you’re not very healthy. I really can’t believe the even odds though. Shocker for now.

        • Stanford is going to beat you guys again. Nothing fundamental has changed and it’s still not a good matchup for you guys. The odds aren’t interesting if you understand how odds work. With all due respect, UCLA is a bad team.

          • Without Rosen we were bad last year (1-5). With him this year? We will see. Lost a thriller in a brutal 9AM kickoff to a solid Memphis team. The difference this year is UCLA has a batch of good receivers–that is why Josh leads the nation in TDs and yds. Still find the opening even odds interesting as home team gets 3-4 points automatically.

          • Bad scheduling … Why go to Memphis ? Dangerous game for anyone even Darnold who would somehow pull it off despite the bad receivers and crappy coaching.

          • Luck and a spunky QB saved you guys from being 1-2, while playing a very weak schedule so far. Are you curious as to why I think Stanford is still a bad matchup for you guys or would you rather continue thinking with your heart?

          • Fire away. Why do you think Stan is a bad matchup? Also, my heart has nothing to do with Rosen’s impact on UCLA. Without him, we are mediocre at best. That’s not emotionalism. Same as Darnold’s impact on SC, or are you forgetting life with Browne?

          • You’re not even mediocre without Rosen.

            I’ve given you the answer in previous posts about UCLA. Stanford is going to run the ball down your throats. Are you planning to install Rosen at Mike backer or something? What is Rosen going to do to Stanford while sitting on the bench watching his defense get beat up and eventually broken?

            Don’t worry because I know the secret of your heart. Rosen will get plenty of opportunity to pad his stats and burnish his heisman credentials because you guys HAVE to throw to win and have no real running game. This will only lead to a higher disparity in time of possession and more pressure on an already porous defense. You’re excited about Rosen’s numbers, but a heisman candidate does not a team make.

          • You know the secret of my heart? That’s amazing Clay. Cuz I’m not sure some days what my heart wants. Grandchildren from my three daughters? To be able to retire by 65? That and more. Rosen to win the Heisman? Meh.

          • You want that heisman for Rosen. You wouldn’t keep bringing up his stats if you weren’t fixated on the heisman. What good are all these stats you keep referencing unless it’s for the heisman? You must know UCLA isn’t going to win anything meaningful with those numbers except a heisman. The problem with that is that it’s hard to win a heisman when your team is barely over 500.

          • I probably want a Heisman for Rosen as much as you want one for Darnold. IOW, not that much. I’d much rather win a P12 title. Neither are going to win it, so it’s best to place hopes elsewhere.

          • Have always loved stats. And it’s really interesting when your QB is tops in the nation. You can connect those dots to a Heisman if you want.

          • if you cared more about winning, you’d understand that his numbers aren’t something to be proud of, but worried about. It’s a symptom of the fact that your team is one-dimensional. If not for the award, why consistently highlight such a liability? Even if you don’t see it, your team is playing to win a heisman and nothing else. If Mora and UCLA could help it, Rosen’s numbers wouldn’t look like they do. They say much more about your team than your QB.

          • Who’s consistently highlighting the Heisman? Not me; you made that assumption. I’d check the marketing dollars spent by SC’s marketing dept on their pre-season Heisman campaign for Darnold before pointing at a UCLA fixation for Rosen. Also, we already covered The Mahomes Factor last week. I’m the one who made the point, as you will recall. Old ground; no disagreement.

          • I said highlight his NUMBERS not the heisman. Just forget it. You like to come onto a USC blog to talk about Rosen’s numbers because you just have an innate love for statistics and enjoy sharing them. Got it, thanks.

          • I agree.. Stanfurd losing to SDSU .. I think they will take it out on the ruins.. Doubt Frozen finishes the game in one piece .

          • And you guys caught some lucky breaks last night to avoid 2-1, such as UT’s OT fumble. What’s your point?

          • But your team was cruising along 17-7 in the second quarter so the early start didn’t seem toi be a factor. Your lack of developed talent and inexplicable coaching decsisions seem to betray you every game.

          • Stanford will run the ball against ucla and ucla cannot stop the run. Stanford will take their time and control the clock thus not letting Rosen on the field as much. He then will have to play catch up and Stanford will force him to throw and roll out which is his weakness. Sorry, but it will be a loss for ucla.

    • I think your analysis is close except for the receiving corps being suspect. I agree here. They remind me of Elway’s 3 amigos receiving corps except without the explosiveness. Burnett is a baller, but not a true go to guy. Mitchell isn’t bad, but he should be backing up Barnett at the slot. Green should not start. Someone, a tall deep threat, needs to emerge. Despite the Oline being inconsistent, I think that they’ll be fine against most teams. Clemson, Alabama, Ohio St., and teams with quality Dline players will give the Trojans trouble. BTW, Texas has some good players with size. Lastly, Darnold’s INTs dont concern much. He is pressing no doubt ( his weak receiving corps having everything to do with this) , however, he shakes them ( the INTs) off well.
      On another note, I think the Bruins will be bowl eligible. I also hope that you beat Stanford this week.

      • I have not seen some of your younger receivers. Like always, I’m sure your cupboard is loaded for the future. If Rosen stays healthy, I Agree UCLA will be bowl eligible. The “homer” in me would like to think we could win 8-9, but without a consistent run game and depth on D, a realistic Bruin goal is 7-5. Which pisses me off, but there ya go.

    • Encinitas, about three passes that have been intercepted was because the receiver let the ball hit their hands and the ball pops up. The defender goes ahead and grabs the ball out of the air, which is called an interception. I don’t like how the NCAA or any other organization calls that an interception when it hits the receiver and they turn it over. There should be a new category for that. Maybe rule it as a fumble or receiver give away but not an interception.

  3. We should move up not down after all our quarterback scored 21 points in the first half alone.
    The game proves nobody is a pushover. We spent Stanford last week and SD state proved it. If Texas loses next game we could score a million points and still go down in the polls.
    I’ll take the W and take note that nobody will care in two weeks.

      • Can’t coach? Last night was a game that will be on both team’s memories for years to come esp. next year @ TX. Herman is great coach and proved it last night. It should not have been as close as it was but this game was all on the players – I didn’t see coaching have all that much last night in terms of a negative.

        Helton is making me a believer.

      • Cortez, Helton is 12-0. Use your Head to think, Senor. The USC idiot coach is our Offensive Coordinator who completely blew the Texas game until the very end. PATHETIC PLAY CALLING THAT PUT NO PRESSURE ON THE TEXAS DEFENSE.

      • Without Sam’s heroics we would have blown it at home against a team that gave up 51 to Maryland.

        • Yup. Sam and the rest of the offense shined when allowed to “put pressure” on the Texas defense. No more runs to the left side of our center. I wouldn’t be surprised if our yards per carry averaged less than 1.5 yards after what must have been 40 attempts..

  4. Perfect that these idiots reward a team for playing a Div II team and killing them instead of playing a traditional power and winning close. .. Classic! Won’t matter. The winner of the U-Dub / USC game in Levi Stadium goes to the Playoff….

    • Penn State has played Akron, Pitt, and Georgia State. Quite the nonconference schedule!!!!! Heck, Western Michigan is much tougher than any of those teams!

  5. The dude who took a real hit this weekend is Ed Orgeron at LSU. Wow! His honeymoon is over times 10. He might last 2 years if he’s lucky. Worst D for an LSU team I’ve ever seen.

    • That’s surprising as their DC, Dave Aranda, is considered a rising star in terms of defensive coordinators. His name did pop up briefly before USC settled on Pendergast.

      Aranda was also college roommates with Tom Herman in the Southern California region. Word is that Aranda is interested coaching somewhere in California if the right position comes along. As long as he doesn’t stink it up at LSU with Coach O.

      • He sure stunk it up yesterday. Total blowout!

        If Ed O suffers some more crucifixions like yesterday, his down home demeanor won’t save him from the negativity which has already begun.

  6. These games are all about matchups. We had to be 3 different teams to beat the 3 different opponents we’ve faced this year. The range of teams we have to face and prepare for is pretty crazy and we’ll need to switch gears again for Cal.

    For now, we just have to be good enough, smart enough and healthy enough to beat the team in front of us on a weekly basis. However, when the playoffs start, we’ll be facing teams that look like Texas and we need to have better answers for teams that are constituted the way they are. We won’t see another team like that until the playoffs. The teams we call tough guys in the PAC 12 are being graded on a curve.

    • A lot of people just think “Stanford equals tough.” And “Texas isn’t a power anymore.” And that’s the beginning and the end of the analysis. But losing players like McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas and Dallas Lloyd hurt Stanford a lot. And Texas has as many 5 star players as we do —and a coach who knows what to do with them. Yesterday wasn’t the blow out fans wanted —but they should have seen it coming after the physical, bruising game we played last week —-especially given the motivation we gave Texas all week by saying we’d soon be 5-0 over their team.

      • Fans shouldn’t have been expecting a blowout, but I saw many that were.

        Looks like Pudly is done with this blog and I’m considering the same move.

        • I sincerely hope neither of you leave —it would be a loss for everybody. I mean where would we be without Pudly and Clay?
          I notice that you always stay on track, never rise to the bait. No cheap shots. No extremist views. Just excellent analysis. Please stick around.

          • I heard we played so bad because DC doyenne and WaPo On Religion columnist Sally Quinn put a voo doo curse on the team for the Texas game.

          • I hope so! One of my favorite old movies was Veronica Lake and Frederick March in “I Married A Witch” and of course what boy of a certain age didn’t have a crush on Elizabeth Montogmery playing Samantha Stevens in ABC-TV’s “Bewitched”? I hear Sally is making the talk show circuit this week.

          • Hilarious! First movie I ever saw! All I remember now is the witches disappearing by transforming into smoke and hiding in bottles on the shelf.

          • It’s okay, gt —James Garfield kills him in The Postman Always Rings Twice.
            #All’sWellThatEndsWell

          • MG, you’d be just about the only reason. I have been in here writing a dam guidebook for the last couple of years. Yet I watch Wolf and the “mob” just all over the place talking about nonsense. There is an actual reality and not everything is open to opinion. If you are perceiving things correctly, there shouldn’t be such dramatic swings in the way you view the team. WTF?? They go from “let’s fire everyone” to peeing on themselves because, all of a sudden, they’re going to win the national championship. Wolf, at least stays consistently negative, but he doesn’t really know anything about football.

            I think the problem is that very few people who come here actually PLAYED the game of football with any success. I think I’m around a lot of people who have spent a lot of time watching and reading about playing football, but were never actually special at it themselves. These aren’t real football people here and after a couple years of trying to give them some insight and trying to help them, I’m getting a little fed up. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT AND WOLF IS THE RINGLEADER OF IT ALL. What am I doing here?

          • As a guy who, one year, got his leg broken before we even started league play in high school, I definitely qualify as being part of the population you’re describing, Clay. But I love listening to people who understand the nuances of the game. Recently,I was talking to an old football buddy– who went on to coach high school football— and he corrected my view of what constitutes holding. I was screaming ‘holding’ every game at stuff that was totally legal. In my opinion, it’s important to have a mix of guys like me and guys like you on this blog —it’s like a law school classroom with para legals, cops and complete novices. Everybody adds to the mix.
            Stick around, my friend!

          • That sounds like wisdom to me and I’ll just go until I won’t. We’ll see, but you’re a good guy.

        • I expected a blow-out too but loved what I got instead. Much better this way. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better way to beat TEXAS. It was so perfect. That loss will sting them bad all season. Next year they’ll probably beat us in Austin. But until then, we’re 5-1 against the ‘Horns and we just CRUSHED their hopes last night, big-time. So sweet!

          • Fun, fun, fun. After Texas scored last night I thought my husband would go nuts, instead he turned to me and said “watch this. They left too much time, Sam will get it back.”
            Crazy, he was right. What a fun game!

          • Wow. You married a smart dude. I had serious doubts at the 45 sec stage with no timeouts. And we almost won it in regular time.

            Darnold was a master thrower and clock manager. He’s got the chip, whatever the heck that is. Some guys are born to play QB. He’s one of them.

          • Your so nice to say that. But I won’t ever tell him he would have the biggest head. I was so nervous but he just said that Sam made touchdowns right before halftime last game and again this game. He didn’t seem nervous at all.
            He did say he thought Sam was great the way he kept throwing the ball into the ground, said it looked well practiced?

          • I was seriously pacing about like a brand new dad for much of the last 6-7 minutes before OT.

            That’s why I could never be a coach. They’d have to have a circular tread mill for me work out on on the sidelines. Remember Lou Holtz? He was the same way.

            Ya, don’t ever tell your husband he has a 200 football IQ. You’ll lose your edge then and you don’t want to EVER give that up! Never!

          • It’s great the way it worked out. They were on the verge of hanging another really nasty loss on us. I’m not ashamed to admit that my heart was beating fast with 45 seconds left and down 3. Sweet Jesus.

          • They had us until they didn’t. Then we suddenly crushed the ‘Horns as only an unforgiving turn of events can.

            The strip-fumble? Be serious. They were going in. One of the great USC plays of all time. I’m gonna have to find a way to get it onto my desktop. The Johnnie Morton corner catch from Marinovich to beat ucla needs to be replaced.

          • Your heart should have been stopped considering that they had 1st down with 39 seconds on the clock.

      • If Texas is so good, Michael, how did they give up 51 points to the traditional Big Ten cellar dweller Terrapins? That’s a ruin defensive effort. I think it was all about our team thinking the season was won after the outstanding effort against Stanford. In other words, it was the infamous “trap game”.Our players were 8-10 years old when SC lost to Texas in 2006 for the BCS title so they didn’t have the fire we feel for the Longhorns.They were complacent and flat and had to turn it on right at the end to save the game.

        • Texas has what it takes to be a real problem for anybody —-but they aren’t a week in, week out power…yet. Add to that the fact they were playing their first game with a new coach while world news was focusing on the major mother of a storm that was tearing up parts of their state—-and you got a team that wasn’t tip top that particular Saturday.
          #Okay!I”mReachingOnTheStormPart,GT

        • Well not to exonerate some poor play calling last night, but Maryland scored 63 the next week. It’s a better team offensively than the past.

      • Michael you make a great point: Texas, like SC and, to a lesser extent, teams like UCLA, are always going to have talent. When that talent plays together, is focused, and prepared, they can beat you. Upsets are predicated on one team rising up and playing to their potential while the other team suffers a letdown, or doesn’t match the first team’s intensity. Smart players and coaches always talk about matching the other team’s energy and intensity. When this doesn’t happen, upsets occur. It is just false logic to think that Team A beats Team B, Team B beats Team C, therefore Team A beats Team C. Wrong. Each game is different and needs to be played out.

        • Absolutely, Arturo! And fans’ biggest disappointments come from their playing the “A beats B, etc.” game. To switch sports, I recall Ali saying, “I think I’m the best —but you never know when you’re gonna face some good fighter who, on that night, would rather die than lose.” That’s what we saw in that proud Texas team.

          • And now we play undefeated Cal. Just in:

            “UC Berkeley Faculty Calls for Campus-Wide Boycott of Class: Faculty, staff claim ‘there are forms of speech that are not protected under the First Amendment.’

            Okay, you’ve persuaded me. Now, you’re fired for boycotting class. . . .

            Meanwhile, I’ll repeat: If some evil genius on the right set out to destroy the reputation of the academy, he couldn’t have done better than the academy is doing for itself.”

          • Yeah, you have to give them credit! If I spent 10 hours a day for several weeks trying to produce a detailed plan on how a university could cut their enrollment in half, I just couldn’t do a better job than the Berkeley Faculty. Lots of great students are looking elsewhere to avoid becoming part of the circus.

          • Ken Norton used to beat the crap out of Ali.

            Last night TEXAS, loaded with talent, came ready to win. They REALLY thought they were gonna do it, but we busted their chops at the last hour and sent them home weeping. What a killer USC victory. One of my favorites of all-time because I really thought we had lost it and more than once.

          • Oh, did Texas bring it! You remember I wrote that I had a bad feeling about this game. Well, it was because I was reading about how much it meant to the Texas players as far back as spring practice. That’s exactly the kind of game we would have lost with Sark or Kiffin at the helm. Or, Kessler at quarterback. This team’s only serious problem is the growing injury list.
            P.S.
            Ali beat up Kenny pretty bad in the second fight. I remember Bryant Gumbel saying after the fight, “two things were abundantly clear —Ali was beating Norton and Ali will never be champion again.” Later that year or the next, Ali knocked out Foreman.

          • I would say Norton beat Ali twice, were I judging.

            I think our OL has been exposed against real tough DLs (playoff type). We got handled and abused big-time. Still not athletic enough there and as a result, our running game was zippo, despite our great backs. That was a rude awakening and I’ll bet it surprised the coaches a little too.

          • It totally surprised the coaches, Jack. They kept running Rojo on the same plays that worked against Stanford, thinking “he’s gonna break the NEXT one.”

          • I think they HAVE to (at least against good teams), for reasons I don’t entirely understand. You can’t just shut it completely down. If you could, experienced coaches wouldn’t do this. Yet they do, and they know a lot more than we armchair guys do.

            I mean, if you’re playing weak sister A&M and you’re ucla, which can’t run the ball any way, you can afford to pass every freaking down like Rosen did because Sumlin is too stupid to stop you with scheme adjustments. bruin receivers were just WIDE open on most plays.

            But if you totally abandon the run game against strong teams, that formula never seems to work. Usually you get picked off, and suddenly the party is over. At least that’s how I see it.

          • Keep trying the run while the score of the game is tight, keep it close, don’t let the other team have too many offensive plays. We can bank 14 points in two drives with Darnold if you keep trying to pound the ball. You win the game, maybe not cover the points. We have adult coaches again, not PlayStation coaches!

      • USC should be Forged Steel (need injury update on Gaston Porter) after those two games and the Pac12 better watch out. Nobody is going to come out and punch us in the mouth. Trojans biggest threat, need to watch out for the Husky’s disciplined approach, we need to eliminate the sloppy penalties.

        • Surviving a a virtual ‘death’ experience does tend to make one stronger,JB. We now know we can come back in less than a minute with no time outs against a strong defense.
          #HopeWeDon’tHaveToDoThatTooOften

  7. It is funny that win Nama wins against a division 2 team by a point, they are rewarded and move up, yet when USC plays legit very tough teams and win but don’t cover the point spread, they go down. What gives?

  8. Beat Samford, Pittsburgh or Bethune-Cookman and move up. Struggle to beat Mercer and stay the same. Beat Texas and move down. Nice Poll. Fight On!

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