USC-Texas Report Card

It’s time for the report card from the USC-Texas game. Read away!

QUARTERBACK

Sam Darnold might not be perfect but in crunch time he bails out the Trojans (and the coaches). Imagine how good he would be with some coached-up receivers?

B+

RUNNING BACKS

Those gaudy yards-per-carry averages finally came crashing down to earth. USC’s running game can be stopped. But the question going forward is how many teams in the Pac-12 have a front seven like Texas?

D+

WIDE RECEIVERS

Dropped passes. Failure of any young receivers to emerge. Don’t mention Tyler Vaughns in response to that comment. He averaged 6 yards a reception. This is the result of the coaching staff not developing a lot of young receivers.

The best young receiver is a tailback (Stephen Carr) and the best TD reception was by a tailback (Ronald Jones).

D

OFFENSIVE LINE

Everyone was so happy after the Stanford game. But it must have been that Stanford’s defensive line was poor. USC was 0 for 3 on fourth down. There were the penalties. Sam Darnold got sacked three times. Wonder how Alabama would do?

D-

DEFENSIVE LINE

Porter Gustin had two sacks in just one half with a screw coming out of his foot. And Texas averaged 1.9 yards per carry. Just like USC! Clay Helton praised Uchenna Nwosu and Christian Rector. But will Gustin be out now?

B+

LINEBACKERS

Part of the effort that stopped the run and without starter John Houston. But who was supposed to cover the tight end on TD pass? A linebacker or defensive back?

B

DEFENSIVE BACKS

What a performance against a true freshman QB who was really a backup. A lesson was delivered by wide receiver Collin Johnson, who had 191 yards receiving and managed to burn multiple cornerbacks. Freshman Jack Jones had a nice interception but is celebrating or talking throughout the entire game.

D+

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chase McGrath nailed two field goals under pressure. Especially the first one because USC loses if he misses. Special teams coach John Baxter needed to burn a timeout before a punt. Last week it was before a kickoff. One punt inside the 5 was because Texas inexplicably caught it. Still work to do.

C+

COACHING

They didn’t provide any timeouts for Sam Darnold on his final drive. They didn’t have Ronald Jones or Stephen Carr on the field for third-and-1. How about trying to throw a pass with 30 seconds left in the half? That didn’t hurt because of Ronald Jones’ miracle play to end the half. When will some young receivers be developed? So this was the nation’s best QB against a true freshman in his second start. Better to just out-talent teams.

D-

103 thoughts on “USC-Texas Report Card

  1. I actually agree with Wolf on this. The one statement he makes that hits the nail on the head is about Jack Jones. This guy is all mouth all the time. He made one play in the game and he thinks he should be a shoe in for the HOF. As I recall, he also got beat three or four times in crucial situations in the second half. Remember, this is the kid who showed up last year and announced he was a Heisman candidate. Ever since he did that half a** video for his college announcement, I’ve had misgivings about his character. Helton needs to have a sit down with him and get his mind right.

    • This game really made me miss Adoree’, who, incidently, also proclaimed himself a Heisman candidate, but backed up his talk with plays on the field.

  2. Yep that’s about right… DB’S need help, help meaning pass rush…
    DB’S could not cover anyone on Saturday… How did that 6’6 kid get out of California?

  3. The grade that really matters is the O-Line’s grade. I can’t mark down the backs for having nowhere to run, especially when they are out there catching crucial passes. I can’t mark down Sam for having people in his face all night.

    The most important thing to take from Saturday’s game is the fact that we are going to struggle against athletic, physical defensive fronts. The kind Alabama and Clemson have, not the kind Stanford and Washington have. People are having problems quantifying the team because they are considering the team in a vacuum. The matchup matters.

    • Reading between the lines, Clay —-we’re a good team that is gonna have problems in the playoffs —if we get that far. We all might have slightly overestimated this team —based on unrealistic expectations regarding the rebuilt O-line and incoming receivers. [Both units will wind up proving themselves, by the way —-they just aren’t championship caliber yet].
      P.S.
      Nice to see you.

        • USC will beat little ucla by 20 minimum at the Coliseum.

          What’s you’re SC/ucla game prediction little gutty boot licker?

          • Hey, you fragile little snowflake. If both Rosen and Darnold are healthy come mid-November, Helton will prove that he’s gotten lucky with Capt. Caveman as his QB.
            UCLA by 8 pointeritos.

            #kleinerMann

          • That’s probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever said Troll boy, and that’s saying a lot when it comes to you.

            ucla didn’t get one single vote this week by either a writer or a coach in the polls. Bruin football doesn’t really exist.

            As usual, SC football is the talk of the town and voted overwhelmingly as the most popular team in Los Angeles.

            I actually feel sorry for you little gutties now that you lost to Memphis. No sense piling on anymore. I’m always playing with house money when it comes to you.

          • What a pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better after a horrible exhibition by your cheesy team and the fact they barely eeked out a win at home against an UNRANKED and untested team. Sad.

            Usc will be exposed as the #papertiger it really is as the season progresses and
            Chubs Helton will be in the hot seat by season’s end. Next year, when Darnold is gone, you’ll be crying into your corn flakes. Especially when you realize that despite Darnold, your team still bites.
            If you think usc can hang with teams such as Bama, Clemson, or even your #sanctiontwinsie, Penn State, you’re more deluded than I thought.
            Get your head checked, flake.

          • usc couldn’t beat its #SanctionsTwinsie right now even if they put it all on the line.
            Don’t delude yourself.

          • Enough about Southern Cal, What do you think about your team and haw they did on Saturday?

          • Well put, Jack [You know, I think I liked jackass better when he was recycling his extension course political science papers on this site……]

          • Don’t ever feel sorry for a ruin, ruin football, or the university of ruins. Everytime I think of them, I think how much of my money is going towards the U Commies of LA.

          • LMAO, first you are assuming that Rosen is still standing. he has Stanford, Oregon, and Washington in the wings to break him. If he goes down, ugly is sunk. Second, to get to Rosen, all you have to do is force him out of the pocket, once that happens he is a deer looking into the headlights.

      • Thanks, MG. I think the secret is to just do less reading.

        With regards to who we are right now, we’re a big fish in a small pond. We can easily lose focus and slip up against some of these PAC 12 schools, but we’re demonstrably better and more talented than they are. That is not the case nationally and that’s what worries me. We have to use the teams we’re playing now to get better for the teams we can’t see on the schedule yet.

  4. Outside of the hugely underrated and remarkable Deontay Burnett, SC’s receivers look as bad as ucla’s did last year. That Darnold just shrugs off drop after drop is just another amazing feature of his excellence and all-around superiority.

    And Biggee Marshall has to be as bad a CB as USC has had in years. I don’t know how SW managed to overlook this because he caught everything else.

    Maybe it’s not Biggee’s fault because he’s really a SS. But he commits pass interference on every play and the refs just let him slide while he’s physically abusing every WR within a yard of him. As overmatched as he is, the dude lives a charmed life. Were I the opposing coach I’d throw at Marshall every play and watch 75% of my throws go for 1st downs or TDs.

    Still, USC somehow won and it wasn’t all Darnold, just mostly Darnold at the most critical times. And boy, were they ever critical!

    Can’t wait to see USC/CAL. Very intriguing. First away game. First decent CAL team in years. USC coming off absolutely one if its most insane wins ever. Will an injured USC be drained after totally emotional back-to-backs against STAN and TEXAS?

    Fight On! Beat the Bears!

    • Answer to your question, Jack: Due to mounting injuries, and some units not playing to potential (receivers, defensive backs), EVERY game, including Cal, is gonna be a dogfight. That doesn’t mean we can’t win them all —it just means we fans can’t sit back with a hotdog and a beer and relax while watching.

      • Good point and I agree, except about the DBs playing to “potential.” The WRs yes, they could improve greatly and I suspect they will. They’re in a slump – I hope.

        But Marshall just isn’t that talented. It’s obvious to me at least. They don’t call him “Grabby” for nothing. He’s ALWAYS been this way and has never looked good at corner, so I don’t see the big potential there you do. He’s trying as hard as he can and I think he deserves props for effort. But “Grabby” can’t hang with anyone unless he’s all over them. So I hope the refs continue to look the other way, because if they stop, Grabby would be put in CB jail.

    • Are you really building up the bears? Don’t you understand that Stanford was not very good–but all the Trojans couldn’t wait to sing the praise of mighty Stanford after the game! Cal will be no problem–and if they are, you really are an average team.

  5. If J Jones is out there woofing and clowning, Chris Hawkins and Cam Smith need to be shutting that krap down when it’s happening. Captains should be policing their units and making sure the young guys are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

  6. A note on cornerbacks… If I had to choose, I’d prefer that my cornerback is over-confident rather than insecure. It’s rough out there on the corner and you need a confident guy manning that spot.

    I know Biggie is an aggressive corner, but he was mugging his man and was lucky not to draw some flags. Biggie doesn’t seem like he’s very fast and you have to be more physical if you’re trying to stick someone who is faster than you. I still think he would be better at safety, but I’m not sure who would play corner.

    • Agreed. [How can we be so short in defensive backs that we’re having this discussion? This is the pass happy PAC 12 we’re playing in —-Falk and Rosen are coming up—and probably Browning, too].

  7. SC recruits WR’s off of recruiting lists. How about actually looking at film for guys who have some breakaway speed and aren’t 5 star 4.7 slugs ?

  8. I agree with Wolf on this one. I think he’s actually being kind, which means he may have some Trojan left in his soul after all. The D backs were torched and without one player to bottle up the line, the defense was bend and only break when it’s important to the other team.
    Who teaches the team to not cover an eligible receiver? Who let the quarterback throw so many passes? No rush no pass protection and very little spirit on the field.
    I am not going to stand up and howl myself hoarse if the team isn’t going to make a stop on 3rd and long.
    Very frustrating to watch.

    • It’s a bad staff and you can thank Pat Haden for that.
      I get the impression that Swann wants to get rid of this bunch but can’t because Darnold keeps saving Gomer’s bacon

      • Really? Can you specify what Swann has said or done that gives you that impression?
        P.S.
        Don’t get me wrong —there ARE a lot of better coaches out there. But Helton has hung with some pretty good ones —-even if he did get outcoached by Herman.

  9. One more thing. There is a coach at CAL who knows every play in our book. Does anyone expect they will be ready for us?

    • I know every play in our playbook. I think you do too. There is no magic there that Wilcox will be able to sniff out. We have a white-bread playbook. Wilcox doesn’t really have an “in” there, although he may know a few tendencies of some of the older players he coached that he can exploit.

  10. SW says the same things weekly, “out talent” the other team and praise for his man-crush Darnold. lol. I like them going for more points at the end of the first half, but the receiver dropped a perfect pass. Bad luck. Here’s what drives me crazy on the coaching. Fourth down and one….put Darnold under center there for a sneak or a power run. Way too much east and west by the backs on those calls in Helton’s scheme
    .

  11. This is why USC recruiting bigger corners. I always thought 2018 is the year the defense can be something special.
    Go look at Nick Saban record at Michigan St. That was his first HC job. 34-24 over 5 seasons. Never came in first in the Big 10. He only won one SEC one time outright at LSU. John Wooden was hired in 1948. He had some good teams until 62-63 when they were in the final four, but couldn’t get out of the regionals until then. But he was given a chance. Saban was given a chance at LSU and another at Alabama. It’s much harder to win a PAC-12 championship now then it was when Pete was there because: 1) coaching and the facilities at the schools are so much better. This attracts better players to different schools. 2) There is a League championship game. 3) even if you make to CFP that’s a additional two games. Now your up to possibility 15 games. My point is USC is recruiting well. Need for this coaching staffs plan to play out for a few years before we start telling Coach Helton or Ronnie Bradford how to do their jobs. It takes time. BTW, Pete only won 1 NC. The other was shared. Compare that to Saban or Urban Myer…Fight On!

      • So now comes down to what is acceptable. I’m fine with that. Winning the PAC-12 and getting into the Rose Bowl has always been Pete’s goal. How many times he’s said that. I agree. For other people I don’t know…Fight On!

      • PC was every bit the outlier that Bush was. Twenty years in the NFL, where only coaching and scheming keeps you employed, but his appearance and fun, joking approach made him an instant hit with teens and familes. What other CFB coach is like that? And he was selling Sample’s top 25 university, the horse and song girls, and blue skies. The synergy was surreal.

        • One of the best insights into “Pete-ness’ I ever read. You totally nailed it. Somehow we lucked out and got ourselves a coach who was kind of a combination of Knute Rockne and Paul McCartney.

          • Until he let petty jealousy derail his dynasty and replaced Chow with the basketball playing suck ups Kiffin and Sark.

          • Ha! [Kiff and Sark have problems that go WAY beyond pick up basketball ……]
            #WayWayBeyond

      • Yes the coaching is much better now then when Pete coached. Here are some of the coaches Pete went up against. Are you ready? PAC -10 record:
        1) Tyrone Willingham. Washington. 6-29
        2) Bill Doba. WSU. 16-25
        3) Mike Stoops/John Mackovic UA. Combine total. 34-61
        4) Buddy Teevens/Walt Harris/Jim Harbaugh. Stanford. Combine Total 13-45.
        Rich Rod won the PAC-12 South in 2014. Jim Mora Jr Bruins have played in a PAC-12 Championship game.
        So who would you rather coach against? Who Pete coached against or Mora, Graham, Rich Rod, Chris Peterson, David Shaw or Mike Leach. Take your time taking your foot out of your mouth. I’m not going anywhere.

        • Who could disagree with you on any of that? A lot of things have equalized more. Plus, every year, the “early NFL departure” count gets higher.

          • So, this is your summary: The conference is no more balanced and equal than it ever was. You expect USC to win the conference every year…and easily. You lack confidence in their current coach and staff.

            So, if you were czar of the USC universe, what plan of action would you take?

        • You forgot 5)Tedford was coaching Cal quarterbacked by Aaron Rogers who beat SC in 2003, 6) WSU had Mike Price, who denied SC an undefeated season in 2002 and who would be hired and fired by Alabama. Your selective amnesia is stunning. Get your own foot out of your own mouth. Rich Roid has destroyed Arizona football, Graham Cracker is a joke and Mora’s program is going down the drain.

          • Dennis Erickson? Erickson lost more games in the PAC while Pete was there. At Oregon St he was 7-9 and at Arizona St he was 13-14. Scratch off Erickson. Mora and Graham have winning records in the PAC. They get scratched off. If your going to cherry pick, show some stats rather then lip service. Again the question is: who would you rather coach against. The coaches that Pete went up against or the coaches that are now?

          • I showed you stats and you ignore them. They get in the way of your rant. Oregon Stae was a perennial loser for 3 decades until Erickson showed up.

          • Who cares what happened prior to Pete getting there.
            Erickson was still a loser when Pete was coaching. This shows what a idiot you are. My post was the PAC -12 is harder to win now then when Pete coached. I gave you names of coaches that lost more games 2001-2009 then won games in the PAC. Then you gave names of coaches, that most of them have winning records in the PAC. You seem to ignore what you wrote down about those coaches. Have Mora and Graham won more games in the PAC then Stoops, Tyrone Willingham or any of the other coaches I named? And I named a lot more coaches with losing records then you did. Your losing the argument.

  12. ucla loses at Memphis and should have lost to an average A&M team
    Cal is nothing
    U of A is nothing
    ASU is awful
    Ore St is awful
    WSU is OK
    Stanford is average
    Oregon might be pretty good
    Utah is Utah, will give SC fits due to their running QB
    Colorado struggled with N Colorado
    UDUB has played no one
    USC wins despite Gomer & Co

    No much of a conference

    • Sounds good. The Trojans have always been the only true national bell cow of the Pac – all the Heismans, conference championships, Best of the Century players and coaches, NCs, AAs, draft picks, NFL HOFamers, bowl wins, especially RB victories. Could go on and on here, ad infinitum.

      So what’s new? It’s USC as usual. It’s good to be King!

        • The Pac was pathetic when PC was coach too. He won two NCs, almost three, so it didn’t hurt us then.

          Besides, what do I care about the rest of the Pac? They don’t support USC; USC doesn’t support them. The Trojans have always been the ONLY consistent football power out here.

          So what if ucla stinks every year? I’m all for it. Good. I love the fact that the bruins are a perennial also-ran disappointment. That’s right in my wheelhouse.

          It’s good to be King, as always.

    • The two college teams in the southland are 2-0 going against the state of texas this year. And ugly is horrible.

  13. Imagine if Wolf covered Texas how much he would be bagging on Herman right now. Talking about how Texas has had 5 years of top-10 ranked recruiting classes with no sanctions and yet Herman can’t win with talent. How could the offense only score 10 points against a team that gave up twice that to WM. OMG and all those penalties and can’t you find a center that can snap the ball? And you only have one go-to receiver and no running game! And how in the world do you let a team drive down the field in 45 seconds to tie the game? Man Herman would be hung out to dry.

    • Yes, that could ALL be said. But that’s not the name of the game our Scott is playing.

  14. Oline stunk, play calling was not up to par, and db’s are not practicing what they are learning. Defensive front 7 were awesome. Rb’s protect and catch the ball well, receivers need to calm down and let the ball stick in their hands. Where is Fred Blintkoff and his goo when you need him.

  15. I don’t blame the running backs if they are no holes. That is more of a credit to Texas D. As far as our D, I think they played pretty well in stopping the run. Totally agree w SW on the need to develop receivers. Underwhelmed with Jalen Greene, especially for letting ball go through hands so that Texas could get that interception for score.

  16. WR, OL and DBs performed poorly but how can you give the RB and Special Teams bad grades when they made critical scores to pull out the W? WRs are distressing – would love to see more of Joseph Lewis.

  17. Regardless of how this year turns out for either team, the game in Austin next year (likely at night but still hot) is going to be a sight to see.

  18. QB—–I agree. B+ to A-…….He did a lot of great things but he missed some passes to.
    RB’s—–B…..They made some key receptions. The lack of a running game was not their fault. That has to be handled through the proper play calling.
    Wide Receivers—–I agree….about a D….I counted about 7 dropped passes.
    O-Line—-About a B…..It’s amazing that they got 71 yards against that kind of pursuit by the Texas D. I question whether Wolf has ever played football before. Texas had unbeivable pursuit. They were swarming to the ball on every running play with 10 guys. You can’t block that kind of pursuit. You don’t have enough blockers. You must handle that kind of pursuit through the proper play calling that makes the defense play honest or pay a big price. CH and Tee are going to have to sit down and watch the film and determine what they could have done differently in their play calling to cut down on that pursuit. If Tom Herman would have been SC’s offensive co-ordinator in that game he would have schredded the Texas defense until they stopped sending 10 men on every run play. He’s a great play caller. Tee is still learning the trade. SC has an outstanding O-Line.
    D-LIne—–I agree….about a B+……for three quarters I would have given them an A but in the forth quarter they ran out of gas and it was a different D-Line in the 2nd half.
    LB’s—–I agree….a B…they did a good job.
    DB’s—-about a D…..I don’t think that they have done a good job in recruiting DB’s in the last two years. They’ve been a lot of good ones out there and they’ve missed on them.
    Special Teams—-About a C…..They have to find someone who can kick the ball through the end zones on the kickoff.
    Coaching—-B…..Aside from some of the play calling, they did well. The defense certainly played well and the offense gained 470 yards despite the fact that the receivers dropped about 7 passes. The defense gave up 17 points in double overtime. This was a team that was averaging 48.5 points a game in regulation time games.

  19. When you are trying to cover a 6’6″ receiver and you are 6′ or 6’1″, you are not going to prevent that ball from getting into the WRs hands sometimes if the ball is catchable. especially going one-on-one most of the game. Biggie was trying to lean on the dude and get him off his route or slow him down. You just know Texas practiced their QB lobbing the ball up for the tall guy to run under and catch. we used to do that with Mike Williams. Now as for Jack Jones, he obviously doesn’t see his actions as being counter productive.

  20. QB B Plus-A minus
    Running Backs C plus
    O-line C minus- C
    Receivers C minus
    D-line B plus – A minus
    linebackers A
    Corners and safety C minus
    Coaches C

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