USC Is 18-2

USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold #14 ...

Clay Helton pointed out USC is 18-2 in the past 20 games. So why are so many (including myself) basically treating this stat in a matter-of-fact manner?

Is it the weekly frustration of watching USC play below its potential? Is it the fact Sam Darnold is responsible for so much of the success? Is it the fact expectations were so high this season? Is it the general sloppiness of play this season? What else?

208 thoughts on “USC Is 18-2

  1. There were so many wins among those 18 wins that could easily have been losses, so I wouldn’t glamorize them too much. And yes, there’s no question Darnold’s last minute heroics have attained many of them as well, despite all his relative inconsistencies this season, compared to last year.

      • Yes, but the truth is the whole world knows the Pac-12 is lousy with teams that don’t play physical football and with no tough defense. In other words, they’re soft and cute. LOL!

        • I guess but the PAC 12 is 15 and 9 the last 3 yrs. in bowl games. That’s 63 percent soft.

          • The guy likes to hear himself talk. When someone disagrees with his BS, he goes into attack mode.

          • And how many of those bowls are pathetic non-New Years Day Vegas loser bowls? Larry Scott has us with a much worse bowl arrangement than the Big 10 has.

          • Are you slipping already? Haven’t you used that miserable line at least fifty times already? But yeah, I understand. Being a minimum paid spammer must have its grief.

          • and I’ll use the line 50 more times when appropriate. Just a long time Trojan fan since childhood.

          • A real Trojan fan wouldn’t deride and attack a true SC fan and alum like me. You’re a phony with another twisted agenda and self-serving intentions, like making a minimum wage through spamming, and you know it’s true.

          • Quit with the posturing. Your making a fool of yourself. Don’t underestimate my knowledge of football, and the history of USC football in particular.

            I was watching USC football games when you were still running around with sh*tty diapers.

            Take some time off, it’s a win,win for all of us

          • You still haven’t answered my question, and you’re obviously dodging it because it hurts you too much to accept the miserable situation you’re in. So I’ll ask you again. How much do they pay you to do what you’re doing in here?

          • $1000 a day…..are you happy now!….guess not, when it’s more than you make in a week. I call it easy money. Bashing tools like you is a pleasure

          • And you know what? I know you hate me. Why? Because I know you and what you’re doing too well. Yes, even twisted ones do not prefer to be read like an open book. LMAO!!!

          • Your words scare me!…I’m shaking in my boots (o’wait, I don’t own any)
            Please, go easy on me, I’m emotional fragility

          • Here are the facts regarding Pac12 defense ratings per the NCAA.

            Washington 4th
            Wash. St. 10th
            Utah 31st
            Oregon 49th
            Stanford 65th
            USC 71st
            Cal 100th
            Colorado 108th
            ASU 113th
            Arizona 115th
            Ore St. 118th
            ucla 123rd

            Based on the the current data, with the exception of Wash., Wash St, and Utah, Pac12’s defense is weak this year.

            Gabby, RT has a point.

          • Thank you for those stats, Trojan96. And they show that my earlier assessment on the weak defense of the Pac-12 in general was accurate.

          • It’s a product of the strong offenses throughout the conference. Twisting numbers to fit your agenda……pathetic

          • Strong offenses…LMFAO!!! You really crack me up, peter wolcott!!! And you keep barking about low football IQ? BTW, you haven’t been Texas Hoosier lately. Don’t be so mean to it, OK?

          • Pac12 Total Offense current ratings 2017 – NCAA

            Arizona 6th
            USC 13th
            ucla 26th
            Wash St. 28th
            ASU 41st
            Oregon 42nd
            Colorado 46th
            Utah 56th
            Washington 63rd
            Stanford 66th
            Cal 84th
            Ore St. 109th

            So besides SC, about half of the conference has a top 50 offense. You can easily argue that the lack of dominant defenses in the Pac12 supports a more successful offense in general. With ‘the exception of SC and maybe Washington, Pac12 doesn’t have the physicality other conferences such as the SEC. Yes, ucla beat a poor Texas A&M and Cal squeezed out a W vs Ole Miss this year, but we are talking about two of the weakest teams in the SEC West. With exception of SC and ucla, Pac12 teams have historically performed miserably against the SEC.

            Don’t get me wrong, I hate the East coast bias crap that we have been dealing with for years. My Point is that Pac12 play is not very strong as other years. It’s just an off year for the conference as a whole.

            With or without Darnold, I think SC will be a very dominant team next year. At least the young talent on paper is showing that to be true.

        • Washington gave Alabama a game last year. It was anyone’s game until the 4th. Did much better then Ohio State!

          • Washington had some costly turnovers that put them in the hole early. But never gave up and stayed competitive.

            Peterson went toe to toe with Saban. I think washington started to wear down late in the game.

            On paper, it looked like the margin of victory would of been larger. They represented the Pac12 well. No one expected them to win.

          • Yeah, but they still lost because they couldn’t win in the physical side of football. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I also enjoy it every time SC wins, but we still need to be objective about where we are, or we might relegate ourselves into the league of the sucla gutties that relishes every single win regardless of the quality of opponents. We are SC, for heaven’s sake. We need to be competing for the NCs with big boys annually whether or not we win it. Can we say we have done that since the departure of Carroll? Did we have a coach befitting our place in college football ever since? I’ll let you answer those questions.

          • “we still need to be objective about where we are”

            “We need to be competing for the NCs with big boys annually whether or not we win it. Can we say we have done that since the departure of Carroll?”

            Outside of the SMU death penalty, USC received the harshest sanctions ever. The sanctions were put in place to cripple the university, and the repercussion still echo throughout the program. The depth and recruiting were greatly impacted for 5+ season.

            With that being said, Would a true objective fan, given the consequences, expect the team to “competing for the NCs with big boys annually whether or not we win it” after Pete left.

            You continue to make uneducated comments/opinions without comprehending the facts. There is no shame in having a low football IQ, embrace it

          • I’m sure that crotch kick hit home. If you want to run with the big dog, know your s**t, just saying

          • No, you are correct. I definitely believe that we can aim higher with our head coach selections. I don’t know why we haven’t with all the resources at SC. But remember, PC wasn’t a popular selection and wasn’t even the first few choices. So, you don’t ever know. But, we shall see how this all plays out.

          • Don’t know about that. USC needs to assert itself in the conference and the conference needs to assert itself in the ncaa. Larry Scott needs to be replaced with a leader. Nikias needs to be less pc or needs to move on.

          • Regarding Nikias, either option is good although I would prefer that he moves on. He prefers academia and fund raising to leading and making tough decisions.

      • The problem is there’s reality and perception. If you watch ESPN and all the Big 10 SEC analysis then your in the (money) perception. But then there’s 21 and 12 reality.

      • In the college game u can win 9 games on talent alone … it’s those tough road games vs good teams that make the difference
        Can u see a Gomer winning a tough road game without Sam? Not happening

      • Any win the Trojans come away with you try and play it up like Gomer just won a National Title…in his first year coaching. LMFAO!

      • You are right! A win is a win. Good coaches and good teams are falling every week in college football. That’s what makes it so great! 18-2 is good no matter how close the games. Plus we don’t play lower division teams like Alabama this week before Auburn. The SEC teams always get two bye weeks.

      • USC Football fans are the collegiate version of what Brazilian soccer fans call “joga bonito” or playing beautifully. If we don’t win (and I mean we, I went to SC) spectacularly, then people complain. Wolf is ringleader, and guilty of what political pundits call Confirmation bias. That is, ignore some of the facts, and focus on the ones that support your theories. We’re poorly coached because we had multiple penalties. And FAIL to mention we had zero turnovers. Again, CONFIRMATON BIAS…..Candidly, it’s lousy journalism too…

        • Yes!…that’s exactly the term to describe it. Great perspective on the diagnosis of this mental condition. Wolf has been guilty of this condition for many, many years, and this way of thinking has manifested itself into numerous posters that live on this blog.

        • Before I answer the question, define what “signature win” means to you.
          The term means different things to different people

    • A good deal of that frustration was because of Darnold turning the ball over. And frankly the only last minute heroics that I remember were Penn St and Texas.

  2. Remember when “just win baby” was all that mattered. Now it seems we need style points too. I am a frustrated fan too at some of the things that happen but sometimes we need to remember the “W” is what that coaching staff is being paid to accomplish and they have!

  3. Should be 19 and 1, not sure if we would of beat nd. Couple of those games we won , could have easily gone the other way. At USC we want to win them all. FIGHT ON

  4. Good Question! 18-2 is 18-2 but I suppose if they were 20-0, there would still be people complaining. I guess that’s a good thing. It just shows that the fans, supporters and the alumni will not stand for mediocre football.

  5. With our OL, CBs, and spotty asst coaching, especially at those positions, 18-2, and 9-2 is fantastic! The TEXAS and UTAH victories this season, and the Rose Bowl in January were some of the most exciting ever.

    We’re not elite now, but we’re good, on the way to another ucla bashing and hopefully to another giant bowl game, this time another Fiesta and a top 5-6 finish if we win. Not bad at all.

    I never thought for a second we were gonna be undefeated this season and we’re right where we belong. I bet we’ll play WSU for the championship, which gives us a perfect revenge shot!

    All we need are a few staff changes, get Darnold back, and we’ll be in the top 5 heading into next season. We need recruiting success big-time in the trenches and all will be well. If we don’t improve there, expect more of the same.

        • Perhaps, but they still don’t have what our beloved Trojans have- a good QB. Even if Darnold leaves.

          • If you remember, TEXAS’s frosh QB had a fantastic game against us. He made some amazing completions under pressure.

            Hopefully, Helton wins out. If he doesn’t and especially if he doesn’t make the Fiesta Bowl and loses to WSU twice, he’ll be on the hot seat all summer.

      • And that horse at Zona and at a good young Stanford team and that is with Sam
        Without him 4-8 and bye Gomer

  6. We might as well sit back, and enjoy the Clay Helton show while Sam Darnold is his quarterback. We’ll see what Helton is really all about once Darnold leaves

      • USC signs excellent QB’s every other year, so what ? Nick Saban wins championships with mediocre quarterbacks, with players who dominate the line of scrimmage. So who’s blueprint would you rather use, Helton’s, or Saban’s ?

        • Fred, if you don’t have the personnel to fit Saban’s blueprint then your point becomes moot.

        • There’s only one Nick Saban, probably the best ever. Why are you using the best in the history of the college game as an example? USC isn’t the #1 program in the history of the game. I consider us top 5, but we’re not #1 and we never will occupy that position.

          Helton finished #3 in his first year. If he wins out, he’ll finish top 5 again. Two finishes that high would be unprecedented in the history of USC football.

          That would be an amazing blueprint. Let’s see if Helton can pull it off. If he wins 3 more games in the next 2 months, he will have done it.

          Compare to Saban. In Saban’s five years at MICH ST, he was 34-24-1 and never finished higher than tied for 2nd in the Big Ten and was usually 5th or 6th in the Big Ten.

          His first 3 years at LSU he was 26-13 and never finished higher than 7th.

          His 1st 2 years at ALA, Saban was 14-8 and in his 2nd year, he finished 6th.

          Personally, I see his team losing to AUB this year. No way that group I just saw against MISS ST wins the NC. Too many injuries – yes, they do matter. His defense is really vulnerable.

          Is Helton ever gonna be Saban? No way, obviously. But in his 1st two years, Helton puts Saban to shame based on what he did at MICH ST, LSU and ALA.

          • JB, I clearly see where you’re coming from, but your assessment on Helton is still based on three rather big IFs , which is beating all of the three possible remaining opponents in sucla, the Pac-12 championship game, and the bowl game. I’m not so sure if he and his team can handily accomplish the feat, but yeah, it will have been a progress on the team from last year if it indeed happens.

          • Like every coach in America, each is only as good as his last game. Brian Kelly looked like a genius after he beat the pants off USC with his great new staff. Against MIA, he looked pedestrian and like a lightweight. ND fans now hate him again.

            I just pointed out the numbers, which don’t lie. Helton’s beginning has been amazing compared to every single USC coach except John Robinson, who started off 11-1 and recovered from a bad opener loss to Missouri of all opponents.

            USC’s gonna beat 5-5 always underachieving ucla easy. I’m sure the little gutties will come loaded for bear, but they can’t stop a flea.

            I have no idea if USC will win the conference championship or a Fiesta Bowl against someone like OKLA ST. We’re not a great team. We’ve got some big holes on the OL and at CB. Our LBing is sketchy. Sometimes our secondary leaves people WIDE open and RoJo is very good at creating something out of nothing.

          • True, JB. Sports fans are real fickle with a very short span of memory. It’s truly “What have you done for us in the last game?”. But we’re still having fun being shallow like that, aren’t we? LOL!

            The record Helton has put up so far is quite respectable, but we must also consider the content of it. And we all know it was achieved with way too much drama and inconsistencies for comfort with many of the games could have gone the other way. I don’t think the team is on par with the best ones of our past by any measure, except for probably the most dangerous QB ever, as we agreed previously.

            I don’t know about you, but I’m not so confident about this team winning all the remaining games out, including the conference championship game and the bowl game. The little gutties, however, should be conquered handily, barring any hidden surprises.

          • We have a bad OL and they cause a lot of problems for Darnold and our RBs. We can always lose with that group, unless the opponent is downright bad like the little gutties.

            Personally, I doubt SC will win a Fiesta Bowl this year. We haven’t looked like a team that can do that IMO. But Helton’s gonna be with us through the 2018 season, so get used to it. And if Darnold stays, I’m betting Helton will be here through 2019 too. By then, a lot will probably look pretty different with our assts and the USC team in general.

          • Your mama shoulda listened to that sailor. You should have been nothing but a stain on the sheet.

          • You get twitchy too don’t you my little schizo bittch… don’t even recognize reality anymore??? Just hold your breath, the monsters aren’t real..

          • The guy is a lonely little p*ssy, who hides behind his keyboard, starving for attention.
            When someone calls BS he throws a vulgar tantrum. It helps him deal with confirmation bias, a mental condition he suffers from

          • Jack, probably one of the best defenses of Helton to be posted on here. We have been impatient no question about that. Imagine where Helton and USC would be with an effective staff. I try to stay away from bashing the guy, he is a very good man, humble, and likable. As you said, we shall see.

    • That would be too sensible.

      You are missing the whole point of this blog.

      I remember reading even more complaints about Caesar during the Pete Carroll era.

    • Darnold will be missed, Fred, but Helton and staff have recruited a lot of big bodies and some good looking depth. While I disagree with a lot of your posts, I do agree with you that you can’t go wrong with winning the line of scrimmage.

  7. The utah game could have easily been a loss. Wittingham went for two for the win rather than tie and move on in OT. Dodged a bullet on that one.

  8. So Gomer is 18-2 in his last 20 games, huh? The reason why he goes with the last 20 is because if you look at the 4 games before that he lost 3 of the 4.

    • Pete Carroll lost 4 of his first 5 with Carson Palmer. John McKay went 12-8-2 in ’70 and ’71. Snapshots are deceiving.

    • You can make stats look a lot of different ways . So he would be 19 and 5 over the two seasons

    • He’d better forget his record in the last 20 games and do his job! That is: get the players emotionally and mentally prepared for a smash mouth dog fight with the bruins Saturday.

  9. The Trojans have 32 losses since Pete Carroll left after the 2009 season, Clay Helton owns 9 of those losses during the 2 and a half seasons that he’s been head coach. Helton inherited a Trojans team no longer under sanctions and loaded with 4 & 5 star recruits. The one thing Kiffin and Sarkisian did right when they were at USC was recruit.

  10. Same mistakes made week in and week out and inability to find a fix for many of those mistakes.

    O-line holding, unsportsmanlike penalties, the same dive running play up the middle that never gets fixed.

    I don’t mind playing close games (they got players and coaches, too) and the occasional mistakes but some issues shouldn’t still be there this late in the season.

  11. “So many (including myself) basically treating this stat in a matter-of-fact manner.” SW, you should always speak for yourself. Many of us know the obvious reason. USC has won 18 out of the last 20 playing High Quality College Football. Sloppiness is your Bag.

  12. It seems the bozo u FB program has doctored the true bozo u FB record including the Toejam disaster in Tixas…..19 – 5.

    But I admit 18 – 2 sounds much better when bragging loudly about bozo u FB success.

    • Heads 2, 3, 4
      and 6 need some toilet paper sounds like you’re going to have a busy night . Regaltrojan would like some work. The soup kitchen just laid him off

      • Gabby, you write excellent posts and have a good perspective. This is why It surprises me when you write snobby posts that seem to frown upon the common blue collar worker. I know that you are just trying to get a rise out of Regal and you’re entitled to that (I think Regal is more level headed than you give him credit). I don’t know, I’m not here to tell you what to do. Anyway, keep writing your terrific posts.

        #Notabluecollarworkermyselfbutrespectmanyofthosepeoplesworkethic

        • Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate, and enjoy reading your thoughts and opinions. If my comments seem inappropriate, I apologize.

          #NoOffenseToBlueCollarWorkers

    • “permanent”…thats played out. And so is that, “Helton has only been head coach a short while”…routine. Helton has been with the Trojans almost a decade now, give it a rest.

    • Soon to be 20-5 (.800), the best winning % by far except Gloomy Gus Henderson. Helton’s off to a magnificent start but obviously has a lot to prove if he ever wants to be considered great. As of now, he’s only good. But he’s definitely earned that label.

  13. How many more yards rushing would Ronald Jones have if he had FB and or TE blocking for him. Half of Ronald Jones carries, he’s getting hit by defenders behind the line of scrimmage because theres no blocking for him. The offensive line got banged up early in the season, inexperienced linemen were brought in and still Helton never tried to bolster protection with a FB and or TE. WTH? does Helton have 3 and 4 WR’s spread out when everyone knows he’s going to run on certain downs, in short yardage situations. The guy (Helton) is clueless, he still hasnt figured it out and he’s fooling no one but himself.

  14. With Mike Riley’s impending dismissal after their final game against IA on Friday 24th Nov. @ NE is Mike possibly returning to OR St.?

      • Yeah I agree – this would be Mike’s 3rd bite at Corvallis – mutually better if they move on different roads.

  15. Helton’s signature wins this year, one, vs Stanford. Give him a contract extension…LMFAO!

  16. Trump is pulling strings to help the socialistic, imprisoned little gutties in China, one of life’s most recent amazing ironies.

  17. I know your blogger doesn’t like to cover positive news but your WR Burnett was named a Biletnikoff finalist along with Andrews from UCLA.

    Another name in the final 10: David Sills.

    • Great, then maybe UCLA’s AD should show interest in Helton and lure him away to Westwood. LMFAO!

      • Maybe your “posse” should lure you away into the LA River and leave you without internet access for, like, forever….

  18. Look, here’s the plain and simple truth, Clay Helton is never going to be able to coach any Trojan football team up in order to beat the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Auburn, Florida St., Ohio St., Oklahoma, Georgia, and the list goes on and on and on. Those are big boy physical teams, Gomer is all about finesse. Gomer despises the FB and TE positions and those two positions are relief upon when playing big boy football against the elite.

  19. bRuin bloggers are praising Helton and the job he’s done…Oh my side hurts from laughing so much!

    • I think they mean he was good by SoCal standards as in he wasn’t a horrific, embarrassing drunk like his predecessor.

  20. Helton coached the Trojans up to produce 64 yards rushing and 130 yards passing vs Alabama. YIKES!

  21. The 52-6 thrashing that Alabama put on the Trojans doesnt go on Gomer’s record because he didnt think at the time that Darnold was good enough to start that game. LOL!

  22. If you look at the CFB scores, week after week, you will see that not a single team – not even the so-called “Bama Juggernaught” – has produced a record worthy of a CFB World Beater. EVERY Top 15 team has stumbled and fumbled at least once…yet the “sportswriters” can’t figure out how a mediocre Miss State can take Bama down to the wire, or how Georgia could be blown away, or Clemson b*tch-slapped by Syracuse…or Iowa State pulling an upset…or Ohio State’s annihilation at IOWA…or…

    Although SC has not purred along like a Maserati, as the Trojan “Faithful” always expect, the team is 8-2. Doing well. In position to run the table through a top tier bowl game. Still, the jackals HOWL like… little men.

    • Everyone acts so surprised when a “great” team loses. A classic example, one week Ohio St. gets mauled by Iowa- road game, then the next week they destroy Michigan St. at home. These are still developing, sometimes very immature, young men who can be completely intimidated in a hostile environment.

  23. Petros had a coach (didn’t cacth his name) who bluntly stated the reason the Pac-12 doesn’t have dominant teams unlike the SEC is the fact that 300 lb fast and agile linemen populate the south and it is hard to pull them from the region to play elsewhere – thus the lack of skill and size (he claims) that is endemic throughout the Pac-12 and its’ lack of respect by national media.

    • Walnut, thanks for the plug.

      Toejam u is 18 – 2, but only if you ignore the fact bozo u is actually 19 – 5. Sounds like Roy Moore arithmetic.

  24. All the above….and add inept coaching to the list. Near zero player development. Look no further than the Rams to see what a difference good coaching can mean to a team.

  25. That is an absolutely amazing and admirable record. And let me say, they are the worst 18-2 team I’ve ever watched in my life, which is also amazing. Since there is a stat on worst mass shooting in a church, I guess it’s fitting to have a stat on the worst-to-best 18-2 teams in NCAA history. I’ll look for that ESPN 60 in the weeks and months to come.

  26. The alternative is killing everyone (U-Dub), and then losing the games at Zona State (U-Dub) and Stanford (U-Dub) – two teams clearly their inferior. At least the Trojans win….

  27. Sloppy play + undisciplined players + off standard play calls + 3rd qtr. defensive lethargy = mediocre coaching.

  28. CONFIRMATION BIAS…..It’s lazy, and candidly, shouldn’t be tolerated. You have a set of facts. You either discard or ignore many of them, and highlight the ones that support your theories. It’s what is done in politics. It has no business here. Shame.

  29. It all comes down to coaching, or lack thereof. There are many teams that do extremely well without the highly rated recruits. Kids arent getting better by playing football at SC. Perfect example is Adoree Jackson: 5 star that never learned how to play CB. His success was and is due to his God given abilities, nothing more. Another great example is Imam Marshall: 5 star CB that is a liability on the field…and he’s a starter. YIKES!

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