The Grades
Here's the USC-Notre Dame report card:
RESULT: NO. 3 USC 44, NO. 6 NOTRE DAME 24.
RECORD: 10-1, 7-1.
WEEK 11 GPA: 2.62.
QUARTERBACK
Other than a horrendous stretch where he threw two interceptions in three plays, John David Booty actually played one of his better games. Especially when Dwayne Jarrett catches everything in sight.
B-
RUNNING BACKS
C.J. Gable is not always spectacular but he is proving to be reliable and the Trojans don’t drop off with him starting.
C+
WIDE RECEIVERS
Dwayne Jarrett looked like an All-American, although he might not be one this season. It would be interesting if he and Steve Smith ever had big games together.
A-
OFFENSIVE LINE
Notre Dame brought a lot of pressure but registered only one sack. Kyle Williams played a courageous game following a long week with the flu.
B-
DEFENSIVE LINE
Who picked Fili Moala to be the best lineman of the night? Moala had five solo tackles, a sack, broke up a pass and recovered a fumble.
B
LINEBACKERS
In a nice gesture, Pete Carroll started Oscar Lua in his final home game. A better gesture would have been to give Lua more playing time in the previous 10 games. Dallas Sartz ended his Coliseum career with a bang, leading the team with eight tackles.
C+
DEFENSIVE BACKS
One of those games where the secondary made some great deflections and also allowed some big completions, as Rhema McKnight had 109 yards in receptions.
C
SPECIAL TEAMS
A blocked punt, a missed extra point, short kickoffs . . . but Desmond Reed’s 43-yard punt return made a lot of people happy.
C-
COACHING
Imagine in a close game if USC had 12 men on the field after a timeout, or burned all its timeouts with more than 12 minutes remaining, there would be plenty of second guessing. But lately USC has not had any close games.
B
"Dwayne Jarrett looked like an All-American, although he might not be one this season. It would be interesting if he and Steve Smith ever had big games together."
But if that happened JD Booty would have 500 yards passing and you would have to give him an "A" and we all know you're not going to do that
So USC beats the No. 5 BCS team in the country by 20 points and they get a 2.62 GPA? This team could beat UCLA and beat Ohio State to win the National Championship and could still only score a C+/B- average for the year. Imagine how good this team could be next year if they work hard and get there grades up.
I don't know how you give the D-backs a C and the linebackers a C+. They did give up a couple TDs and big catches, but they played great against a powerful passing attack. What does it take to get a lousy B+ or A- in your system?
QUARTERBACK
B-
I agree with your comments and assessment. Still don't know why he threw the ball on the first INT; he should have recognized that it was double covered.
RUNNING BACKS
C+
A tad harsh with this grade. Gable looked good and I would give the RBs a B
WIDE RECEIVERS
A-
I would have given an A had Steve not dropped that TD. A- is about right.
OFFENSIVE LINE
B-
I give a B to a B+
DEFENSIVE LINE
B
About right.
LINEBACKERS
C+
I give a B+. They did well overall.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
C
Um, that is their defensive philosophy....bend but don't break. The DB's consistently made big plays all night long. I give a B+
SPECIAL TEAMS
C-
No argument
COACHING
Imagine in a close game if USC had 12 men on the field after a timeout, or burned all its timeouts with more than 12 minutes remaining, there would be plenty of second guessing. But lately USC has not had any close games.
I have to agree with Scott on this one. Though, the overall game plan both offensively and defensively was very effective. Perhaps a gameplanning grade of A- and a in game coaching grade of B
What supernatural acts do the receivers have to perform to earn the almighty "A"?
What do the coaches have to do to earn a decent grade if they have taken a completely rebuilt team and placed it squarely in national title contention? Is there a coach this side of the supernatural who could have done better?
Does it make you feel better to make it sound like they did worse than they really did?
As a USC fan, I can see where these seem a it critical. Especially the DB grade...
However, I think that Wolf expects that they can do better and is trying to show no bias.
Now you're getting comical. YOu must have had a 1.2 GPA in college with these grades. There was NOTHING average about our secondary coverage or the LB crew.
This has got to be a B+/A- game. They would have challenged anybody in this game. How about you grade other teams so we can see your bell curve?
I LOVE to HATE you, Scott. But that's what you want, eh? You are a punk bizatchi ;)
Scott apparently is not a big fan of grade inflation
Imagine this defense with a standout defensive lineman (or more than one). Moala has probably been the most solid D-lineman this year so the solid game is no big suprise.
Still, little to no pressure again, w the sacks caused primarily by coverage. Cushing is a lost cause on the pass rush, and LoJack is nothing more than an average D-end this year. If they could ever get some pressure w/out blitzing this D would be awesome. Sometimes I get a little frustrated w/ the soft coverage, but if you put it in perspective with the weak pass rush, it makes sense.
Timeouts were taken to ensure the players knew what was going on and so ND couldn't get close.. If the game was closer you don't know if the TO's would have been called.. Some people are writers but have no knowledge of the game..
Wolf, what was your grade while you where in school?
You sound like you were getting D and F for all your classes from first grade to your higher education giving others for almost perfect preformance C and B- shame on you by not honost reporter.
The #2 team in the nation averaged B's in their best performance of the year???? LOL
Wolf-man... your grading is BRUTAL! What does it take to get a $^@#()& "A" Grade?
What a tough grader. How can you grade the linebackers, defensive backs and the defensive line so low in styming the Irish on Saturday? Its results that count.
What a tough grader. How can you grade the linebackers, defensive backs and the defensive line so low in styming the Irish on Saturday? Its results that count.
A 'B' for coaching? Are you for real? Are you really that negative or are your expectations just really high? I'd hate to see your grades for the UCLA games (or the previous USC coach).
Wow. High expectations. Team just embarassed their bitter rival that was ranked #5 and they get a B- overall. Hate to see what happens to the other guys if they play an A- game.
Also a bit surprised at the grades for a defense that held one of the best offensive units to almost half their average score, stopped them on more than 75% of their conversions and were repeatedly put into poor field position situations by a 10 minute offensive/special teams downslide in the second quarter.
Can you say hypercritical? 2.62 GPA after dismantling the #6 team in the nation?
How about at a minimum bumping JDB up to a B+, the RBs up to a B, the linebackers up to a B & the DBs up to a B-.
So you are giving the #2 team in the country, possibly the eventual national champion of college football for 2006 at 2.62 GPA???
So what does Stanford, North Carolina and Duke get?
I GIVE THE TEAM AN(A) AS THEY PLAYED WITH GREAT SPIRIT AND MADE THE BIG PLAYS....BOOTY WAS CALM AND JUST WAS A SUPER LEADER.DJ WAS AAA AND THE COACHES CALLED A GRT, AGRESSIVE GAME... PETE IS THE BEST....
enclosed are the grades on the SC-Notre Dame game.
Just imagine if we play Scott's 'A' game... We would probably score 100 and shut out the opponent.
I think Akahsay is correct. Scott was graded on the low end of the bell curve at USC so a B- average was his goal and ambition while in School.
Special teams a C-?
I know an F when I see it. Gradeflation lives on!
Beat the Bruins!
Scott Grading Notre Dame:
Quarterback
A+
Because Scott thinks Brady Quinn is a dream boat.
Running Backs
A+
Because Brady Quinn ran for half of Notre Dames total rushing yards.
Wide Receivers
F
Because they made Brady Quinn look bad.
Coaching
A+
Because Charlie the#8 Weiss shares the same type of emations for Brady Quinn as Scott.
GPA: Who the Hell cares....
Agreed on the Oscar Lua point. Oscar should have been on the field way more this season. I kinda wish Pete carroll put Rey in Cushing or Dallas sartz position and Oscar at middle linebacker and see how that would have worked out. It seemed that Oscar knows where to be. Whereas Rey, Dallas, and Cushing will get burned about 1 out of 3 times.
Hello..Hello.. Scott! We clobbered the #5 team in the country!!! Hello! 4.0. It only takes 90% to get an A in school. Why do you expect 115%? Even Lane's miserable calls in the 2nd quarter accounted for less than 10% of the total calls. 4.0 running away.