A Lousy Job, Part II
USC coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said they discussed going for 2-points on the Trojans’ next touchdown with about 14 minutes left and a 21-15 lead. That was before the Trojans actually scored. USC did score with 5:52 remaining but Carroll forgot to go for 2 points and no one reminded him over the headsets.
``We had talked about it before the drive and said we wouldn’t. But we didn’t say anything (right after the touchdown),’’ Kiffin said.
Asked if he tried to remind Carroll, Kiffin said, ``It’s not my decision.’’
Carroll again took full responsibility for the decision Tuesday.
``I’ll take the blame,’’ he said.
Protecting Monte's little boy again, Petey???
When will PC's debt to Monte Kiffin end?
This turned out to be of no consequence.
What is the point of beating a dead horse? It's over, we won the game and Pete Carroll took the blame. It's not a big deal.
Scott are you Trojan? Why are you blasting Pete Carroll? If you are a true fan one should never question the coach. We should all blindly support him no matter what.
"I'll take the blame..." Of course he should take the blame. The way the Trojans have been playing, it looks to me that Coach is going to be taking quite a bit of blame in the upcoming games. Thus far, it is clear to me taht this team has alot of growing to do--mistakes by the coaching staff will not help this process.
So did someone remind Pete Carroll when we scored, I mean you know the guy has 50 different things going on from Offense, Defense, Special Teams I would think that Kiffin would have a least said something to make sure that they didn't want to go for 2, and whether it's his decision to make the call or not he definitely is the one on Headsets with Carroll and can say hey if we go for 2 we'll be up 2 touchdowns???????????? What H E double hockey sticks??
Scott,
These are the posts I don't get. Not only was this issue already discussed in a post from yesterday where Carroll took full responsibilty for the error but now you repeat the exact same story and try to make Kiffin out as the bad guy. Even though in this story he gain repeated that it was discussed before the drive and determined that they wouldn't go for it. Still though you felt the need to put the "It was not my decision." quote in there for good measure.
It's clear that Kiffin does not have final say on the playcalling. As a matter of fact when Norm left Pete said it would be run exactly like this. Kiffin and Sark would choose the plays Pete would veto them if necessary. This was clearly a Pete veto in action and Pete took the blame for it.
It seems that now your aim is to feed the "Fire Kiffin" crew with ammunition. Kiffin's not an extrememly affable or likeable guy - we get that. He doesn't have to be. He's not at USC trying to make friends. He is the OC on the most visible program in college football, with a brand new young team, trying to replace a coaching legend. Cut him some slack already.
It seems like this recent run of success has really warped a lot of fan perspectives. Teams don't start 4-0 by chance - just look at the rankings. All the mediocre teams have lost already and realistically USC is least experienced of the undefeated teams remaining - meaning the coaches must be doing something right. Any fan who thinks that talent alone is enough to justify blowing teams out clearly hasn't been watching Miami or Oklahoma lately.
Let it die. You don't chase points if you are controlling the game unless you have a terrible kicker. We have a good kicker so we don't go for two. It's just not a good idea.
Our problems are performance based. Coaches can't control dropped passes and fumbles. They can work on it during the week, but come gametime there's nothing that they can do except change personnel. These kids are competing! and that is exciting to watch. Despite all of the "offensive woes" that many of you are whining about SC is still in the top 10 - 15 in most offensive categories and we have not played the cupcakes that some of the teams ahead of us have. Our 3rd down percentage is in the high 60's and our 4th down is 57%. So it's not all explosive plays, it's methodical....It's winning games that matters! Fight on!
no, I'll take the blame.
The point is not that they almost lost it is that they did not lose. Being a Champion doesn't mean you never struggle it means you learn from the struggle and never give up and move up from there.
Sometimes you have to stumble a little bit to really gain a strong footing.
Scott:
You may not like some of the posts I've put up here, but the least you can do is prevent imposters like the person who posted above from using my unique screenname in an attempt to put words in my mouth I've never said. You can tell if its me or not by the email address I use...
And for the person using my screenname. Grow up.
Who the heck gets up in the morning, logs onto his computer at 7:25am and decides he wants to impersonate another poster on a blog? That's pretty pathetic, but not surprising.
Scott--you know which poster is which by the email address requested. You also have admin privileges on this blog in allowing comments. You don't think it counts as a 'malicious' comment if someone impersonates someone else?
ionolsen23 I am really impressed!