What is USC’s offensive identity? It ran the ball with more conviction in Week 1 against Western Mchigan that it did in Week 5 against Washington State. I really don’t know what the identity is other than, “Let’s hope Sam Darnold can rescue us.”
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11-1 is USC identity. Get healthy in the next two weeks and that’s USC identity. Fight On.
SC is not going 11-1, no way
No matter what they do, it will be better than your little bruin team that wears all white to a home game.
Not a bruin you senile diaper wearing old fool, just a realist who sees a team that’s coached by morons
Killer = clueless tool
Steveg —one of your followers seem to be in need of those mandatory anger management classes that come as conditions of probation for guilty pleas….
Ya !
Unfortunately the staff is learning on the fly. This is not acceptable at USC.
They want to be a b@ld, poorly dressed, f@t guy…?
Do you mean Wolf or Hugs Helton ?
It’s a legitimate question – this is a huge cross roads these next three weeks.
They know what they want to be! They just can’t do it. Run the ball and be physical = fail. Give credit to the ret@rds across town; they know they can’t run and made adjustments.
Only SW would completely gloss over the injury issue on the offensive line. Sure SC could have maybe should have won that game. For every blame the coaches thread there can be one for blame the QB who has greatly underperformed this year. I am a huge SD fan, but his picks have cost SC am awful lot of points this year. There could easily be a blame the PAC 12 thread for the horr modus schedule this year. Who makes a team without a bye play back to back on the road and on a short week?
Darnold is the problem? He has an OL, even when healthy, that’s awful, his WR’s STINK and the OC is a functional idiot.
Darnold would be smart to blow off the meaningless bowl game they will play in and go pro so he can be coached properly
That’s what Matt Barkley said!!
#freesamdornold
Matt will look back someday, Ted, and say to himself, “I would do anything to go back in time and play in the Sun Bowl with my blackened-eyed Head Coach and the 59 mile an hour winds swirling around the stadium floor —-but I’ll never get that opportunity back. It only happened once —and, then, it was gone.”
….and I thought no one could have a lower football IQ than Wolf, you have proved me wrong. I’m serious dude, most of the time you have no idea what you’re talking about. You should be embarrassed…. Mental issues suck
I hear you but I also am moving swiftly away from support of the head coach and his offensive staff.
Yes, I HEAR you, Alv. A lot of people are reluctant to criticize Clay because he’s such a gentleman —-really a wonderful man in so many respects. I’m rooting for him, too. But a lot of folks are offering excuses for what’s happening, rather than facing facts. Here’s the truth. I know a bit about trying criminal cases and I could always spot the talented amateur by how they’d approach a case with ONE plan of action. In order to guarantee victory, you need a Plan B and a Plan C and, probably, a Plan D.
How often did you hear great athletes, like Ali or Federer, talk about the need to switch tactics in the middle of a match? Coach Helton actually entered the season apparently not anticipating that he was going to need every single o-line back up ready to play a full game, or that something is not right in the development of our receivers (yes, ONE of them has definitely stepped up —-but we should be expecting more from such a talented group —I don’t buy “the light bulb goes on at different times”—that seems to discount the very notion of coaching), or that we might not want to, at least, experiment with having Carr and Rojo on the field at the same time in case the running game got stuck in the mud.
A prosecutor huh? I say sir fine stuff there! Never was nor been a fan of Cassius Marcellus Clay aka Muhammed Ali. An arrogant braggart and clown who finally fought one fight to many – Leon Spinks – way back in 1980.
As to your other points – brilliant if I can say – yes! As a teacher the old adage always holds “What’s worst than a bad plan?….no plan!”
Helton is as you say a sweet heart of a guy but I’m at a loss as to where else that has succeeded – Jerry Faust? Pepper Rodgers? Or the latest Ed Orgeron? Maybe take a look at Leach’s contract – FBS version of TJ Simers….as a head coach for USC.
One more loss and the rumors will rise like a forest fire on dry grass.
My original reply is being censored for some reason —but, yes, Coach Helton’s seat could get as hot as a seat can get this season. It actually seems the near-impossible has happened: Mora and Rosen are handling the pressure better than Clay and Sam (and Rosen has the same huge expectations and poor o-line Sam has to deal with). I would love to see Sam stop overthinking the game and play “just let it rip” ball like last year. We’d still see the interceptions but we’d see a whole bunch more touchdowns and 15 yard scrambles too.
The over thinking you mention were more than likely caused by the coaches messing with Sams throwing motion. He is not confident in himself anymore because he is thinking too much on his throwing motion.
I think that’s true. And I’d add that he’s probably second guessing himself on when to roll out, too —since he’s been told to stay in the pocket. What’s that old saying about ‘never forego results that are good in a protracted search for results that are perfect”? I wish the coaches had recognized that the old Sam was plenty good enough to win them a Pac 12 Title.
Teacher, eh? That explains the frequent literary and historical allusions! [I come here for the football —-but I stay for the education]!
I think you probably meant hallucinations, not allusions, right Mickey?
Or waves of rumors like the wind sweeping over fields of wheat, whistling over acres of future bread (not gluten free of course)
What a tool……
Always fascinating to read posters sharing how cool they are.
An attorney and a football expert.
You are so cool.
Michael is a good guy, lay off ruin.
Are you sure the NCAA sanctions are not affecting your team?
You have to consider the nasty flashbacks that coaches and players are probably still experiencing.
What is USC’s offensive identity? Struggle and confusion. Unfortunately, it will go only as far as Darnold goes for the remainder of the season. In fact, the same applies to the whole team because the coaching staff doesn’t seem to be capable of improving it a great deal with so many delinquencies.
Watch it or you’ll be labeled a bruin by the brain dead rah rahs for you honest comments
Of course we all want a balanced offensive game plan that works week after week. What we do not have is the ability to make adjustments, or as in the last couple of weeks, use what works until it doesn’t, then change it up. No, USC wants to run plays which do not work time after time, hoping the result will be different. Now that the inadequacies of the offensive minds have been exposed, it is time to look at making changes, painful as it may be. Will they have the courage to put the program ahead of individual feelings will be telling. Lets hope Swann has the courage to step in and right this floundering offensive mess before the season goes totally south.
45% of this team is made up of freshmen/redshirt freshmen. There are no true sophomores. This is a young team, lacking maturity in experience and conditioning. If the starters can go, this is a very good team. Go deep into the depth chart and you are playing guys that aren’t ready. You run the plays your team can best execute. How can you go deep into the playbook with guys that are inexperienced? Give them time to mature. Hopefully, the starters get healthy and the young guys get better over the next month. I’ve said it before, this will be a better Trojan team next year. Darnold should come back, he is not NFL ready.
That’s the way I saw it coming into this year. Lost some huge playmakers and a bunch of guys off an experienced defensive line. Without Gustin, teams can double Nowosu coming off the edge which hurts a lot when the other team QB looks for option 2, 3 downfield. Yes, Sam is really good, but he should learn from Sanchez’s mistake in leaving early. Your point about keeping the starters on the field (healthy and available) is dead-on correct. If Gustin could have played last week, the 27 points would have been enough to win in Pullman. Yes, they were overrated coming into this year but if people stay, next year will be the one to aim at. 3-year starter at QB, 3 deeply experience running backs, most of the WR’s are back and a couple of tight ends as well, although O-Line takes some graduation hits. Defense would have Nowosu, Gustin, and experienced linebackers and DB’s and safety, and special teamers are all back. Gonna be hard to do better then 9-3 this year, although very good shot at playing in and winning the Conference Championship and then the S$$$-Storm will get cranked up when the PAC-12 champion does not make the CFP. Fight On!!!
This is where I wish the Daily News would hire a reporter, who has access, to ask coaches these questions instead of just offering snark. Scotty, it’s not that tough, and you might even feel good about yourself if you do some actual reporting!
The Daily News also has Joey Kaufman who is the assigned beat reporter for USC, Wolf is strictly a commentator nothig more nor less. The problem is no one is really pressing Helton and his offense staff as to why there appears to be an ever increasing erosion in offensive performance.
Recruiters are great. But you can have the best players in the world and that does you no good when you are calling plays that run right into the strength of the opponents defense. Tee Martin might one day be a great play caller but the place to learn those skills is not on-the-job and USC. Get another play caller and put him back at receiver coach. When he was strickly a receiver coach, we deceloped a lot of good receivers.
Coach Helton needs to get Gritty Tough and Demanding. USC players and coaches needs him to stand on their necks and push them. That’s what the great Head Coaches do.
I had no idea this blog was populated by so many successful football coaches. Bunch of internet Lombardis, Belicheks and Donahues.
Donahue?
I think he is referring to Terry Donahue, winningest coach in Pac 12 history (but I’m not sure)
You mean the cut rate 32 year old assistant hired on the cheap who managed to blow his one chance at a national championship 29 years ago by losing to Washington State?
And we have you Golly Noidd, a unsuccessful professional Starr Warrs costume contest participant and decade long stalker of the blogger. I hear you might give up on you Chewwwy costume after 302 straight losses and go as C-3PO this Saturday at the Javits Center.
I think this coaching staff can do well, however I’m not confident in Baxter or Tee Martin anymore. The evidence is in the games. It doesn’t look good for USC if these coaches can’t make adjustments/improvements.
Baxter is TE’s coach, Martin is WR’s coach.
Coincidence?
Why are we always in the shotgun?
Are theTrojans now the west coast Western Kentucky?
wolfman, if the coaches and the Dummies LISTENED to the literal BLUE PRINT for success you provide weekly these trOXans would probably have 3-4 REAL Nattys by now, instead of claiming worthless paper nattys from last decade.
you tell ’em to run the ball….they pass on every down.
you tell ’em to spread the ball around….for the last 7 seasons, they throw to one guey and wonder why they can’t convert a 3rd down in the clutch.
you tell ’em to throw to the backs and TE’s….they throw only to one WR.
#WastedResource
Well, last week they wanted to be in the final four with a Heisman trophy candidate QB.
This week, who knows?