Question Of The Day

Then again, in the Arkansas game, we had a healthy Jarrett & Smith, we had a breakout performance by Ryan Powdrell, the best athlete on the team in Pinkard, and a solid Sed Ellis. Not that those are the reasons we won huge in that game, but it may also show you where the Pac-10 stands relative to the SEC. The Pac's average teams (Wazzou, Washington, Arizona State) are simply vastly superior to the SEC's average teams (including Arkansas). How does the cream of the SEC (Auburn) get its ass kicked by the same Arkansas team? And does anyone remember a certain Ohio State team that won the National Championship a few years back after escaping a number of average to poor teams (anyone remember the San Diego State game back in Columbus??) in the dog days of the season? They survived and advanced, only to take down the flashy Miami team when it counted. I wouldn't take this SC team lightly if I were Cal, Oregon, or Notre Dame. That injured dog can be dangerous.

We sux, no "ifs, ands, or buts" about it.

THE 2006 USC TROJANS SUCK!!!

Hey all you bandwagoners, get ready to throw away all your USC gear come November. Thankfully, Lakers basketball (or Clippers if they're your team) has arrived!

USC 2006: Holiday, Insight, or Las Vegas Bowl bound!

It is hard to get better when you are scared to let your team play. USC is playing 'not to lose'.

What ever happened to the 'playing to win' approach over the past 4 years?

Start trusting the players and let them play!

The team looks much faster than last year, but it appears a lot less intelligent. They did not allow themselves to be cheated outside on the 3-4 defense so much this week by sometimes playing the tackles on the inside gap of the O guards and tackles, but mental mistakes hurt big time. It was not a good day for No. 10 on both sides of the ball. Cushing has a persue mentality and closes like linbacker rather than maintain contain, the primary job of a D end. He got burned on counter plays and made a big off side mistake. ASU used the speed of the D to take the D itself out of of many plays by misdirection, but there were also lots of bad reads that I saw and ASU QB called audibles sucessfully against the wide tackle 3-4. This team should be able to pick up those audibles at mid-season, but it did not. I was calling the audibles to the people I sat with because it was so obvious. We sit in Section 20 and saw that last ASU TD where USC's speed allowed an untouched TD. That says the team is not improving because it misread the keys and overpersued the play. Despite what Carroll said the other No. 10 played miserably. Booty loses confidence big time when he makes a few mistakes in a row rather than making the adjustment and using concentration and force of will to get back on track, which is needed from a championship QB. So the O is defenitely NOT IMPROVING at mid-season and Booty's accuracy and judgment in velocity, placement and arc of the ball is horrible right now. The good news is that Washington had the right stuff abd if the running game can make the play action pass more effective Booty may improve. He has a cannon for an arm but appears to lack the mental sharpness to fully potentiate his physical ability. Could the pressure put on him by his dad, much like Todd M's dad, be intefering with his confidence? Remember his dad enrolled him early at SC thinking he was going to jump Leinhart, Cassel and Hance right away and replace Palmer. Booty is going South. I think Sanchez is the real deal and will eventually prove his abilities. In the meantime USC is not getting better, but it better get better by the next home game in defense of the PAC 10 championship against the Ducks and then the Bears. With this team we have to think PAC 10 first and hope it does get better enough to play in Glendale AZ. in January. Right now the team is not improving. Finally, someone has to tell Holt and Carroll to show more 4-3 be less predictable on D.

I don't understand this team. I don't understand this season.

I'm still optimistic, but something tells me that the players on the Trojan D are as good as they are ever going to get this year.

What ever happened to Averell Spicer, Walker Lee Ashley, Kyle Moore, Sed Ellis, Jeff Schweiger, and LoJack? I thought those guys were supposed to step it up this year.

It hit me like a ton of bricks this morning. If Cal is that awesome of a team, what happened to them in Tennessee? Personally Tennessee is not that good. Arkansas will prove that. Enough said about that.

The Trojans have two weeks to get healthy. We have two tuneup games vs Oregon St and Stanford just in time to come home vs Oregon and Cal.

SC is still the standard in the Pac ten. You can't win a pac ten championship without going through USC. SO OF COURSE WE ARE GOING TO GET EVERY TEAMS BEST SHOT!!!! INCLUDING LOWLY ASU.

The Trojans are 6-0 with an extremely young team, and they still have not played their best football. Could it be coincidence that we will see it against the best teams in November? HMMM...

Just wanted to say Hi to eveyone and that I am on my way.

We're spoiled...if these results (close calls/game winning drives/6-0 record) had come in the Hackett or JRII eras, we would be pinching ourselves.

The realities are these:

1) the team is young and not as dynamic as the last few USC teams

2) the team and coaches aren't developing at the pace everyone expected

3) the team will likely not go undefeated this season (Oh mercy nurse!!!)

4) the team is undefeated and ranked in the top 5

5) USC students/alumni/fans are way too spoiled.

NEXT STEP: Return to the top of this message and begin reading all over again.

No.

They've lost three fullbacks, their best DL is coming back from surgery, their three most experienced receivers are either out for the year or coming off serious injuries, their defensive player is gone for the season.

Worse, teams have figured out the Booty can't see the field beyond ten yards downfield, so their is no threat to go over the top.

On the plus side, Chauncey, if he can stay healthy, is a stud.

Now nobody can say ANYTHING to Scott for ranking SC #6. He's there everyday at practice, at every game and he knows the capabilities of this team. For all of you who say he's an idiot or has only negative things to say, remember that he's seen this coming since August. Being a SC fan is one thing and you are entitled to your opinion, but do not bash Scott for his. As a die-hard SC fan myself, I can't say in all seriousness that this is even a good team.

Whatever your opinion of Lane Kiffin might be, it's probably right...too conservative, bad timing, using wrong players, you name it..and you're dead on. Jody Adewale? JODY ADEWALE! You know a player is bad when all of the other players at his position go down and nobody mentions his name as a replacement. Kiff: What made you think that he could do anything with the ball??...AND IN THE 4TH QUARTER OF A TIED GAME?!?!

JD Booty seems to be fixated one one receiver the entire game and we all know him as DJ. Does he not remember that there are guys like Smith, Turner and even Hazelton? Yea, there's a guy named Fred Davis, too.

Here's a good question and one that I'm sure most of you have asked: What the hell is the point of lining up Mike Brittingham or Brad Walker out wide? Are we trying to trick somebody? If I was a defensive back, I would feel comfortable walking to the sideline and replacing myself with a water bottle to cover these guys. Put REAL receivers in there and let's play some TROJAN FOOTBALL.

Please somebody...disagree with me.

Did we just watch the same game three weeks in a row? Can JDB telegraph his pass attempts any more? When SC plays some one good they will tumble. OVERATED!!

I blame all of USC's trouble on you, Scott. Thanks a lot.

Well I have been saying this all along, trying to knock some sense into the people who keep posting "WE ARE UNBEATEN SO LIGHTEN UP!" haha

News flash for you people: Rutgers is unbeaten too. It doesn't mean they are a good team.

Yesterday was a total and complete disaster for the offense. The defense was superb. I don't think ASU even got 250 total yards. Whatever the problems were with the defense they have been fixed. Very good work by PC and staff. They might even be able to ride their D into the BCS game it is so good.

But the offense..They have turned into the three stooges. penalty. fumble. Interception. penalty. sack. punt. punt...penalty..I was actually laughing yesterday during the game. They had one series where they got a penalty, threw an incomplete pass, took another penalty, ran it for 2 yard loss, got another penalty, then punted.

They again got lucky yesterday. They were stopped at the ASU 7 yard line at the end of the game, and would of had to settle for a field goal. But luckily ASU went offside to give them the first down on the 2 and we went up 28-21. What if they had missed the field goal? They have no running game, Moody ran for about 30 yards and Gable about 20 or something. They can't stretch the field passing. They fumble. They take penalties. And I know this might sound premature, but it's time to put Mark Sanchez in. Booty can't throw the deep pass, fumbles often, and has been on a downhill slide since the Arkansas game.

That was his fault on the interception, not DJ. DJ read the CB in man coverage and took off downfield, which is correct. Booty couldn't do that, result? TD ASU.

Listening to PC right after the game he knows they have problems. I am not sure why they can't get them fixed. This can't continue. This kind of play will not get it done vs. Cal or Notre Dame or Oregon or a Bowl opponent. I couldn't imagine this squad with it's fumbling, penalty ridden, inept offense playing Ohio st. We would be embarrassed on national tv.

People forget that Pete's teams traditionally have shaky late sept/early october games before blowing it up going into November. This team being younger than he's had to deal with in a long time is taking a bit longer to find its groove.

Arkansas was playing wrong QB and turnovers did them in. They quit in 2nd half. Opening games are rarely indicative of a season.

Look at Cal. And Arkansas.

USC not only had a fullback that game he was MVP. Powdrell loss was huge. Offense has not recovered. What is suprising was how well USC's defense played that game and its decline since. PC is needed back at coordiantor.

And it is suprising is that Fred Davis has never been the weapon he was in that game. The other notice is how well opponents are game planing and the dissapearance of the traditional PC 2nd half adjustments.

:Over the past several weeks there have been those who have been less than pleased with the USC offense, and in particular with Lane Kiffin's play calling. For the most part, I have not personally been very critical. However, tonight, the play calling, especially for much of the second half until the very last drive, seemed to be pathetic at best. Am I the only fan who wondered if Paul Hackett and his mindset had returned to USC? Seriously, exactly how many side line-fade type of routes were run tonight and how many were completed? That's what I thought. Yet time and again, that certainly appeared to be the play that was called. Does anyone understand why? The guy with whom I watched the game was as surprised as I to see that on that final drive, the one dominated by Chauncey Washington, the last two passes that were attempted were thrown to Jody Aderwale. Sorry, but throwing that pass at that time, was strange enough the first time, the second try was unbelievable"

Editorial/opinion posted by Michael J. Davidson on www.wearesc.com, for all the booty/kffin supporters :o)

As per these posts that say "I would be happy with 2 loses and victory in the holiday or rose bowl"

If you are not going to play for the national championship each season and are content with 3 loses then what's the point of playing the season??? Isn't that the goal of the year? To win the national championship? How many top shelf recruits are going to commit to a USC team that goes 8-3 every year?

No way I believe that stuff. Save that for Pittsburgh or Texas Tech.

Where in your paper is there any real criticism of Booty?

1. He has played the last three games scared.
2. He locks on his receivers.
3. He doesn't trust the freshmen late in the game.
4. He throws virtually every pass like a fastball when a touch pass is called for.
5. He continually hurrys throws needlessly without reading the defense fully.
6. He passes up the opportunities to throw deep against single man to man coverages unlike both Leinart and Palmer especially on first down.
7. There is very apparent friction between him and his All-American receiver, DJ.

I know the most popular player on any football team is the back up QB. If Booty doesn't progress and soon, the boos will become louder.

Some of the bandwagoners may not remember the senior year of a Rose Bowl winning QB named Brad Otton. By the end of his last season, his new name was Brad "Rotten". JDB is starting to have that aura.

yes, i could imagine it because stuff like this happens every season in Pac-10 play.

well we have dropped in the AP poll, and only have a slim 5 point lead over West Virginia. So next week or the week after we will be #4 and dropping...also lost our #1 spot in the harris interactive poll..Wonder if we will be #1`or #2 in the BCS poll when it comes out today, or if we can keep it.

Sorry all you guys who post "we are 6-0 what's wrong??!" or "I would be happy with a 2 loss season!" or who are now posting all these things about John McKay and "smash mouth football" but this situation isn't good enough for me...:)

There is old saying, "you either get better or you get worse." Going by this theory, USC has gotten worse in each game since destroying Arkansas.

Arkansas game was a fluke thanks to Nutt-jobs bad coaching. Felix Jones put the ball on the ground three times, losing two. As a result of McFadden's busted toe over the summer, coaches decided no tackling RB's in fall camp. At game time, that was the first tackling they experienced and it showed, coughing up the ball. That plus they were using the wrong QB. Since then Arkansas has improved leaps and bounds, SC is regressing. Play that game today and maybe Arkansas wins. Sorry, that's how I feel.

Scott, why the regression? In two words, Powdrell, Pinkard. Powdrell gave Kiffin and JDB so many more options not to mention solid blocking. And Pinkard was the inspirational leader of that defense not to mention its best tackler and the team's best athlete.

Don't expect this team to progress unless it finds two more players of their calibre to play those extremely important positions.

Definitely not better. Until ASU, I was a Booty fan, but, he looked shaken and has lost confidence. It was obvious in the last couple offensive series. This will not improve! The whole offense looked confused and disoriented.
Question: Do Booty and Jarrett use the same play book? What a mess! Players running in and out, coaches going on the field, waving players here and there, jumping up and down. I was half expecting Booty to start drawing plays in the grass. And the defense.....better! They've gotten back to average.
There was a somber mood in the coliseum after the game; the fans know. Enjoy October, November is going to be ugly. Oh wait, we do play Stanford in October!

My answers to:

Felipe: "They are a young team and haven't played their best football" -- I sure hope so because they look like crap right now and need a Mother Theresa miracle. So that statement doesn't mean much. Seriously, their offense is am embarrassment. See the post by JA

Pete M: "USC fans are too spoiled" "We are in the top 5"--Are we supposed to be hoping for a 7-4 season? Of course we are expecting a victory every time. And this team has the talent to do it. Just look at the recruiting classes. I have no interest in making any comparisons with the Paul Hackett era I have banished that from my memory. So we are better than in 2000 when we were the worst team in USC history. SO WHAT? We won't be in the top 5 much longer. :)

Matt: "PC's teams are always shaky in October" The reson you are describing them as "shaky" is because they played good teams (ND,Cal) then. We have not played a good team yet. If we played ND or Cal yesterday, we would of lost. End of BCS title. Yes Nebraska is good, but they basically gave us the win with their gameplan. Arkansas was a mess then.

G.E I rememeber Orton..remember Kyle Wachholz? He was even worse...I have been wondering the same thing Dixietrojan.....

you telling me SC can't find a way to make plays without Powdrell? If thats the case SC coaching stinks or our 5 star recruits are really overrated!!!

can someone please tell me why when you have a nice lead all you call are dinks @ dunks what ever happend to lineing it up @ running the freaking football, hey lane k run the freaking ball some

Let's see. USC has a rookie offensive skill player who somehow is keeping his team in contention and everyone wants to make changes? Don't forget, before he was winning the Orange Bowl and Heisman, Carson Palmer was the sack king. He couldn't get a pass off to avoid trouble his first 2 years. And before he set national rushing records with first ever 2000 yard season leading to a Heisman, the guy who later was a SuperBowl MVP with the Raiders used to be called "Fumble Allen". Booty needs more growth, but considering he hasn't had the same offensive line-up two weeks in a row, I'll take squeaker wins any day. The kid's got his best game still coming up in front of him. He's got a "Doug Flutie-esque" style about him. Give him opportunity to improve.

Scott, not that you care, but please disregard the moron posting above that stole my handle on the blog. You know who he is, given his email address he uses when he posts a comment.

Simply fascinating.

Hey 3 USC loSES.

Learn how to spell "losses" next time you try to make a witty joke. You retard. I hope you did not graduate from USC. You must be a bRuin.

all this bitching is funny. Doesn't anybody remember ASU jumping to a 21 to 3 lead against the 2005 Trojans.

The team is 6 and 0. They are playing very steadily and surely. All this when they are starting true freshman.

Good thing Reggie pushed Matt over at ND last year or Patrick would have been looking for sharp objects...

You have to be concerned that this team is not progressing and lacks a killer instinct.

This team just doesn't seem have the difference makers. This is one of the problems with recruiting - it is easy to find big time talent - but it is very difficult to find guys who take it to a higher level come crunch time.

I love the fact that the haters (3 losses in november emailer) would pay more attention to The Greatest University in America (diversity, fund-raising, athletics in all sports as well as having greater entrance qualifications than both ucla and cal (berzerkeley))than pay attention to their own crappy(probably public) schools...God has a special place for you, hater...and that place is hell...bruce in anaheim hills

THANK YOU WHOSONG! WE WERE DOWN 21-3 TO ASU LAST YEAR WITH THE HIGH CALIBER TEAM OF 2005. THESE LELOS OUT THERE SEEM TO HAVE A SHORT MEMORY. OH AND WHO WON THAT GAME LAST YEAR? BESIDES WE WERE ALSO DOWN AGAINST OREGON, ND, FRESNO STATE AND WHO WON THOSE GAMES? IN 2004, DID YOU FORGET WE WERE DOWN AGAINST V-TECH, STANFORD AND OSU (OF ALL TEAMS) AND WHO WON THOSE GAMES?
HEY PATRICK, IT WAS BRAD OTTON NOT ORTON. FUNNY THING IS HE WAS THE QB THAT FINALLY AFTER 13 YEARS TOOK ND DOWN. ROB JOHNSON, TODD MARINOVICH, AND EVEN RODNEY PEETE FAILED TO DO THAT.

>>We sux, no "ifs, ands, or buts" about it.

THE 2006 USC TROJANS SUCK!!!<<

What's this "WE" stuff, Kimo-Sabe