`Under The Bus'
A veteran West Coast defensive coordinator who watched the USC-UCLA game said quarterback John David Booty was being unfairly maligned.
``People are trying to put Booty under the bus,’’ the coach said. ``What about the running game? Where was that?
``I think the rush and all that pressure made him uncomfortable. The big plays they are usually able to get, UCLA did not give to him. They took away the big plays.’’
I saw at least 10 new ucla flags flying...so new you could see the fold marks from the packaging...
and they call us bandwaggoners...
Hey Scott. Some bruins beat up a trojan fan and almost cost him his eye. Let people know. That's beyond college football rivalry. That's criminal.
http://cbs2.com/sports/local_story_339220843.html
Glad to see a little credit to Booty when it's due. Still, I anticipate an all caps post from at least one person calling for the "6'5" stallion on the bench."
WE HAVE A STALLION?????
BRING HIM ON!!!!
Yes, "the rush and all that pressure made him (Booty) uncomfortable." But bad line blocking doesn't excuse either Kiffin's playcalling or Booty's clumsiness. The o-line, Kiffin, and Booty must show improvement against Michigan or USC will get their third straight Rose Bowl loss.
I've been saying all season that JDB is getting too much blame from people too eager to get Mark Sanchez in the game. Booty's not Leinart, but he's not some bum, either. Given half-way decent protection from the line, USC would have won that game, probaby by not much more than a TD, though.
"Veteran DC" is correct, though the running game stunk for the same reason JDB didn't have time to pass - the O-Line's poor performance.
Oh yeah, and the bad playcalling - http://firelanekiffin.blogspot.com!!
Who is maligning Booty? Near as I can tell, it's Kiffen and the O-line taking most of the heat.
Mahatma -
That is always the case for both the ruins and cal fans. Just wait, after their next loss they will disappear as fast as they appeared.
I have been saying this all along. Blaming Booty is just stupid; take a look at the Oline, the lack of run game as a result, and poor play calling to adjust to the quick pass rush of fUCLA. The one quick slant called last Saturday was a success; SC could have completed this route every play but it, and other quick throw plays, were just plain not called. Whine all you want about Booty, but I promise you our problems are not his fault. The kid can play!
Who's maligning Booty. Probably Kiffen himself.
Matt - a fair number of the rabid commenters on this blog seem to have some sort of personal vendetta against John David Booty. It's so ridiculous it's almost funny.
I wish Pete Carroll would put Mark Sanchez in for 1 full quarter against the same team that JD Booty was playing just so we could see who was better. Oh, wait, he already did that against Stanford. Booty - 3 TDs in 1 Quarter, throws 65% complete
Sanchez - 0 TDs, 50% throwing accuracy.
Anyone have anything to say about the logical choice at hand?
Booty is being maligned because both losses concluded on his tipped balls (passes). Yeah, a lot of other deficiencies caused the Trojans to trail in those games, and Booty had good numbers statistically. But he just couldn’t get the job done like Leinart has in the past. And both he and the staff knew he had a problem with an inordinate number of passes tipped during fall camp. But nothing was done to correct it. Can you say telegraph? They just chalked it up to the defense knowing the plays and Booty’s tendencies. Like any decent DC couldn’t get that from watching tape. Denial/delusion? As a result we now fully expect the tipped balls to continue. That’s where some of the anger comes from.
I don't think a "few" posters feel that Booty is bad. From what I read, they feel that we have a better option.
As USC alumni and fan, I would like to see if that's true.
We will find out in the spring.
Question is Am I the only one who realizes that now the rest of the pac 10 knows how to stop USCs offense thanks to the UCLA game?
The other 8 teams were watching. Booty gets rattled. Pressure Booty early and continue pressing and you will stop the offense.
To counter this, Pete Carroll needs to do 2 things, realize when his QB doesn't have his A game, bench him and put in the backup and secondly hire a proven offensive coordinator similar to the caliber of Norm Chow.
"When the QB doesn't have his 'A' game for one game, bench him." That's the exact attitude of us spoled USC fans, isn't it! What's going to happen if Sanchez throws for 275 yards and no TDs? Are you going to bench him, too? You know, we should've benched Leinart that game he threw for 136 yards and 2 picks against Cal. That would've been a good decision. Spoiled brats.
thanks for that kenneth. USC fans have been spoiled by Matt & Reggie. Booty is better than most Cfb QBs but we are too spoiled to appreciate it. If Mark was better now he would be playing...
Umm, were you watching?