Morning Buzz

Hey moron wolf! McCoy got hurt against OSU not ND. You would think the guy with one job in the world would know little stuff like this.

What the hell are you talking about? "Depth perception?" When you lose your #1 WR, #1 FB, AND #1 TE, you're going to struggle. As far as depth, did you not see Brandon Carswell against Oregon? He did pretty damn well; why the hell hadn't he played more before then? Brice Butler deserves the ball more too. And is Ronald Johnson not a great complement to Damian Williams? The TE and FB positions are young, so you can't rely on them to be a significant part of the offense yet like upperclassmen Anthony McCoy and Stanley Havili. I'm sure next year they will be.
It "could" be as simple as injuries? It IS as simple as injuries.

Scott, I have always found you to be an excellent source for information about USC recruiting, and I think you are on the mark with this article.

On paper, USC has done a fine job of recruiting the past four years. The QB, RB, and TE recruits were among the tops in the nation, but each unit lacks the depth to excel in the face of a minimal injury burden. In the case of QB, Sanchez's early departure for the NFL is probably the main reason we are even talking about this now, and that's a shortfall of retention, not recruiting. The failure of Corp and Mustain to develop to their level of expectations is also a big factor. You can blame all of this to coaching, but I wouldn't blame it wholely on the recruiting aspect of coaching.

No doubt, the defense has been hurt by the inavailability of Wright, and the loss of 4 LBs to the first day of the draft. At LB, Luther Brown never really lived up to his recruited potential, and the loss of Frankie Telford and Jarvis Jones to health issues has hurt. Looking back, Te'o and Burfict turned out to be key losses. Either might be a difference maker this season, and their combined loss is the best evidence to support a hypothesis that USC is suffering in recruiting. However, you could just as easily argue that nature of CFB mandates that even the strongest recruiting programs will occasionally be thin at one or two positions. In the case of Burfict and Te'o, when you are recruiting guys that struggle to qualify and wait until the AM of NSD to decide, you're not going to close the deal every time...no matter who you are. Still, they are missed.

i think it's from both plus coaching. PC is still the man there but they miss some of the past coaches who got the most from the players; many of who (like orgeron) could recruit really well. as far as recruiting, every player is a gamble to some degree and you never know who will pan out and when (e.g, DJ looked like a bust from a couple seasons but finished great). problem for a lot of recruits is that USC is too loaded (or at least that's what they hear from competing recruiting coaches). sill, as long a usc alumni continue to shine in the nfl, great athletes will keep coming to usc (it would be my top choice for that reason alone). personally, i think it's more injuries and too much coaching turnover than recruiting.

neither: it's Karma. with southern cal fans who celebrate the injury of their own (Ayles) just on account of he dropped a few passes, the Karma Chameleon was bound to come back and stick it to SC.

the loss Sunday will prove me right. either way i am going to win a bundle on the (then) 11pt spread, believe me.

Scott,

Why is it so hard to believe that USC is worried about Gerhart? Did you watch the game last year? Can it possibly be so hard to believe that the PAC 10 has depth? Probably more depth than the beloved SEC? Look at the coaches in the PAC 10...Riley, Erickson, Carroll all have been NFL coaches, Stoops Harbaugh, Kelly, Sarkisian are considered offensive gurus...Erickson, Carroll, Neuheisel all have national championships.
The weakest link is Paul Wulff, who is well-loved in Eastern Washington--and considering the talent that Wazoo is dealing with, it does not surprise me at all that they are performing that poorly. With Idaho and Boise St doing so well in comparison, why would a kid want to play out on the paloose? But fairly recently (within the last 10 years, WSU was a PAC 10 Champ)

When was the last time any of these teams won the SEC:
lower SEC
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
Mississippi
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Arkansas

hey charlie bucket why don't you go screw yourself? nobody was celebrating the injury of Blake Ayles, you moron.
I understand that fucla really has nothing going right now in the world of football and keeping up with USC is much more interesting, but seriously get a life. It's basketball season now, shouldn't you be jerking off michael roll or nikola dragovic?
seriously, you're a loser.

Sunday? Sorry Charlie.

Charlie,

I know bRuins are a bit slow, but college football is played on Saturdays. Saturday is the day before Sunday big guy.

LMFAO, TrOJies crying about injuries? F'n please. You guys have 5 star backups at every position and this is the best you can come up with?

I'll be diplomatic here though. I don't think it's so much the injuries as the following factors:

1.) Freshman QB (I don't care how good he is or is going to be, it's tough to overcome youth)

2.) Too many new Coaches

3.) Too much Defensive talent leaving to the NFL and the new talent not being as good as advertised

I had previously stated these factors as reasons for SUC having a tough year.

i am traveling Sat so i will tape the game and watch it Sunday, so to me, it will be Sunday's loss.

but enough semantics, i will still win a bundle on Chetey's failure to cover spreads and the Karma-Karma-Karma Chameleon is going to be dancing all over Southern Cal on Sat/Sun....bet on it.

The injury and recruiting excuse are bogus. I count that this senior class was 33% starting, all-conference level studs. The problem is that PC got too cocky after 2005, and was too quick to jettison great players to the doghouse....e.g., Vidal Hazelton. Our offense would be significantly better if Vidal were still here.