OK, it’s time to make a prediction. I think Stanford needs to bounce back from last week’s pathetic loss at Kansas State. USC is being challenged by its coach to play a 60-minute game. I’m taking USC, 42-31. It might be closer than expeced but not enough to actually lose. What’s your prediction? Continue reading USC-Stanford: Pick The Score

Some thoughts with the night game vs. Stanford. Clay Helton and Graham Harrell were watching Downey Warren QB Nicholaus Iamaleava last night, who is a local top-flite quarterback that actually appears to want to go to USC. UCLA QB coach Ryan Gunderson was also watching Iamaleava. Later today, we will pick the score. I’m starting to wonder if a four-quarter Tanner McKee will make an … Continue reading USC v. Stanford Game Day!

I’m sure there will be some type of video tribute to Sam Cunningham during Saturday’s football game. But whatever it does will be catch-up. Has USC even posted a photo gallery of Cunningham? Has it treated his passing as a loss of football royalty? One bit of news. I’ve heard Cunningham was scheduled for back surgery this month. Remember how a dining hall ran out … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

I like the way Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff analyzed the Pac-12 North when he was interviewed by the Salt Lake City Deseret News. “I was there for the UCLA-LSU game. I probably chose the right game this weekend. It was unfortunate how the North (Division) performed,” Kliavkoff said. “I think we’ll do better. We were coming off a COVID year. There are teams in our … Continue reading George Kliavkoff Let’s North Have It

A USC player from the early 1970’s sent me this: “If you want to know what a great guy Sam Cunningham was, he was the only teammate of Lynn Swann that was still friends with him.” The athletic department still wields plenty of influence to shut down major campus hubs and thoroughfares in the middle of a school week for a ribbon-cutting reception. The new … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Thursday Notes

USC said it will reduce campus tailgating density for Saturday to about 25 percent of a typical game day by limiting activities to those who have been permitted through its tailgating reservation system. You will still need to go through COVID-19 check procedures to be allowed on campus. I wonder if even 25 percent of the normal on-campus tailgaters even want to show up? Meanwhile, … Continue reading A New Wrinkle For Tailgating

I said I had a problem with how Sam Cunningham’s passing was treated and I wrote about it here. Continue reading More On Sam Cunningham

I’ll have a newsletter post later on how disappointing the death of USC legend Sam “Bam” Cunningham was handled yesterday. This segment of “Trojans Live” had an interesting start because it begins with the premise, “what is real, is of course, cranky USC fans out there.” It almost seems a way of diminishing any fan criticism before it gets started. And there wasn’t much criticism … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Cranky Fans Edition

Sam Cunningham, MVP of the 1973 Rose Bowl and a USC legend, died on Tuesday. He was 71. Cunningham scored 4 TD’s in the Rose Bowl victory over Ohio State and then became the career rushing leader of the New England Patriots with 5,453 yards. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 and College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. … Continue reading USC Legend Sam Cunningham Dies

WINNERS Callen Bullock The new Boy Wonder led USC with eight tackles in his debut. What will the coaches do when Isaiah Pola-Mao returns? Drake Jackson What a difference an interception makes. Other than the pick, he had two tackles in the game. Drake London The star lived up to his billing. Coach Bohn USC scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter so he can … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of The Week

Here’s Su’a Cravens’ Labor Day endorsement. The future of @USC_Athletics is in good hands with AD @USC_mikebohn !#FightOn ✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/2f55dIED7v — Su’a Cravens (@iammsuzy) September 6, 2021 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Continue reading Mike Bohn Gets A Labor Day Endorsement

One interesting aspect of the San Jose State game was who did not play. There was a lot of build up in August about some young receivers and you didn’t see freshman Michael Jackson playing. You didn’t see the oft-injured Kyle Ford, who is supposed to be healthy. And you didn’t see John Jackson. Normally, you want to give reserves some playing time now. But … Continue reading USC Monday Buzz: There Were Some Missing Parts Vs. San Jose St.

Not a lot of news from Clay Helton, naturally. Here is the injury report: Chris Steele (shin laceration) Drake Jackson (thigh bruise) Nick Figueroa (AC sprain) They are all day-to-day. Wide receiver Gary Bryant is expected to return from health and safety protocols. So is Isaiah Pola-Mao. The rest of Helton’s time was spent on fluff like how safety Calen Bullock has gained 20 pounds … Continue reading Sunday Night With Clay Helton

When I looked at the USC depth chart on Thursday, one thing that struck me was how ordinary the wide receiver unit looked. I also didn’t think it would be a major issue vs. San Jose State but might show in later games.. Well guess what, once you get past Drake London and Tahj Washington, what was there to talk about Saturday? Not much. oMaybe … Continue reading USC Sunday Buzz: What Happened To Wide Receiver U.?

Just a couple quick thoughts for this post: After listening to all the propoganda during training camp, USC goes into the fourth quarter against San Jose State with a 13-7 lead? Are you kidding me? That was the best Graham Harrell can do? The new-and-improved Kedon Slovis didn’t exactly dominate either, throwing two touchdown passes. Is USC just going to underachieve with Clay Helton no … Continue reading Discuss The USC-San Jose State Game

OK, here’s a place for you to place your comments. USC up 10-0 on TD pass from Slovis to Tahj Washington. It’s looking like a typical USC-MWC game. I’m taking USC, 45-28. Freshman safety Calen Bullock is taking snaps with the first-team in warm-ups and looks like he will start. Should USC play “Enter Sandman” with this crowd? USC vs San Jose St. pic.twitter.com/kj7s189Vld — … Continue reading USC-San Jose State Live Blog

Some injury developments today: Safety Isaiah Pola-Mao is in health and safety protocols and out (USCfootball.com). Transfers Chris Thompson and Xavion Alford are expected to fill in. Meanwhile, super recruit Domani Jackson of Mater Dei, who is committed to USC, has a knee injury that may require surgery (OCRegister.com). His status the rest of the season is in question. Mater Dei did not say where … Continue reading USC-San Jose Game Day Underway

Will USC get its traditional victory over a Mountain West opponent? Do you look at the depth chart and find it to be less-than-impressive at some positions? Do you think the Trojans will cover the 14-point spread? Can a Clay Helton-coached team possibly play down to its competition (again)? Now is your chance to answer these questions and more by picking the score for this … Continue reading Pick The USC-San Jose State Score

Are you excited for the football season? This is usually the time when I am most bullish on USC, especially because the Trojans have not yet played an actual game. That’s when the warning signs kick in. USC has won 25 straight games when it is favored by 10-or-more points. I’ve mentioned before that Clay Helton is a flat-track bully which is actually a problem … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Here we are on Thursday afternoon and Clay Helton decides to release a depth chart. What changed from last Sunday when USC used to always release it? Maybe our criticism earlier this week played a part. Besides the offensive line, my concern is the back seven defensively. I think USC is vulnerable at linebacker and in the secondary. Specifically, the Rover spot, strong safety and … Continue reading USC Finally Releases Depth Chart

USC sent an email to all students titled “Come See Drake at the Coliseum.” Drake (the musician) coming to the Coliseum? Not quite. Here is what was inside the email. Continue reading Drake Performing At Coliseum?

If you think this blog (and its readers) don’t make an impact, think again. Here’s some new ticket information announced by USC athletic director Mike Bohn: “We’ve sold 4,177 new season tickets for 2021. Of those sales, 2,527 were purchased by former season ticket holders who dropped their tickets and decided to return this season, while 1,650 reflect first-time season ticket sales.” Now all ticket … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Finally Some Ticket Information

I’ll be on the Petros and Money show (570-AM) around 3:30 p.m. to discuss USC football, of course! Continue reading Radio, Radio

It was just 61 years ago that Mark Davis was running the hallways of the USC Student Union building, playing while his dad, Al, was an assistant coach. Al Davis left USC after the 1959 season and eventually became owner of the Oakland Raiders. Here is a rendering of the house Mark Davis is building in the mountains outside Henderson, Nev. The $14 million house … Continue reading Everything Has A USC Connection

So on Tuesday, I met a member of the 1967 USC team for the first time. A guy who sometimes gets mentioned in stories on that team. And the first thing the former player tells me is, “I got rid of my season tickets.” He didn’t say, “I’m excited about the season.” Or “How many games will USC win?” Or “I want to see Korey … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: An Example Of Fans’ Mindset

Wide receiver Gary Bryant is in COVID-19 health and safety protocols and likely to miss the San Jose State game, according to Clay Helton. He had a hamstring injury previously in training camp that sidelined him. Meanwhile, the Colts released former USC wide receiver Tyler Vaughns. Continue reading Gary Bryant Appears Out For San Jose State

If you suddenly decide to go to the USC-San Jose State, it’s not hard to get a decent ticket. StubHub has tickets is sections 112 for $34. Or Section 115 for $345. Or Section 200 for $35. Or Section 119 for $45. And ticket prices usually go down the day before and day of the game. So these prices are a bad sign for sellers. … Continue reading USC-San Jose State Is Easy Ticket

Once again, Clay Helton did not release a depth chart before the first game of the season. Pretty much every school in the country releases a depth chart before Game 1. Helton hasn’t the past few seasons. No doubt he worries about offending the players. In today’s version of why Nick Saban is not Clay Helton, here is a quote Saban gave the New York … Continue reading No Depth Chart And Why Clay Helton Is No Nick Saban

Reggie Bush, unlike Matt Leinart, doesn’t try to pull his punches when discussing USC. Here he discusses USC in an interview with Fansided. He’s trying to positive but also clear USC needs to improve. Bush: Clay Helton has to be better this year. The offensive coordinator, Graham Harrell, has to be better this year. I believe if they can build off of last year from … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Reggie Bush Thinks Clay Helton Has To Be Better

Since USC already has Su’a Cravens as part of its four-hour pre-game radio show on Saturday, it is going to have Cravens lead the team out of the Coliseum tunnel. A reminder: This game is on the Pac-12 Network. How are you going to watch it if you don’t get the channel? Where is George Kliavkoff to solve that problem? Continue reading Su’a Cravens To Lead USC Out Of Coliseum Tunnel

In its history, USC has had only 40 football letterman from Texas. This year, USC has 17 players from Texas: S Xavion Alford, TB Darwin Barlow, OL Ty Buchanan, TB Brandon Campbell, OL Casey Collier, TE Malcolm Epps, OL Courtland Ford, S Xamarion Gordon, CB Dorian Hewett, TB Keaontay Ingram, WR Chase Locke, WR Joseph Manjack IV, TE Lake McRee, WR K.D. Nixon, PK Alex … Continue reading Call Them The Lone Star State Trojans

WINNERS USC-LSU in 2024 This will be the carrot on the stick dangled for fans for the next three years anytime they complain. Don’t like the price or location of your tickets? Well, we play LSU in 2024! USC future schedules At some point, the alliance will force USC to play Big Ten and ACC teams instead of Fresno State three times between now and … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of The Week

USC is a consensus 14-point favorite over San Jose State. San Jose State QB Nick Starkel threw to 11 different targets last night in the Spartans’ 45-14 victory over Southern Utah and had 394 yards passing with four TD’s. Of course, playing USC is a different matter for San Jose State. “USC is that team that everybody grew up watching,” San Jose State coach Brent … Continue reading San Jose State Thinks USC Is “Well-Coached”

The crowd is atrocious, as expected, for UCLA-Hawaii. 16 minutes until kick. Taking guesses for today's attendance… pic.twitter.com/lcVHIFmw6D — Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) August 28, 2021 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Perhaps with that in mind, we have this tweet from Brandon Sosna, which I address below. 2019 – 1 week from kickoff: 4,725 student season tickets sold 2021 – 1 week from kickoff: 7,379 student season tickets sold … Continue reading Attendance Matters In The News

The UCLA-Hawaii game is today at the Rose Bowl. What will the final score be? In Friday’s column supplement, I answered the question of who the player in the photo below is. USC sent out free tickets to its football season-ticket holders for Friday night’s women’s volleyball game at the Galen Center. It ended up drawing an announced crowd of 1,963. The Trojans lost to … Continue reading USC Saturday Notes: Pick The Score

The long-time betting publication, The Gold Sheet, has come out with its season prediction on USC and does not think the Trojans will win double-digit games. 🏈 USC should have an exciting offense behind QB Kedon Slovis, but the Trojans are No. 101 in returning defensive production according to SP+ rankings. We're skeptical that USC can reach double-digit wins with a sneaky-tough schedule this year. … Continue reading The Gooold Sheet

USC is playing LSU in 2024. The first reaction is to ask whether Clay Helton will coach the Trojans in that game? But I’m wondering if there is a better chance Helton will coach the game than Ed Orgeron, thanks to USC’s utter malaise when it comes to making a decision on Helton. Actually, maybe there is a scenario where Orgeron coaches the game . … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

The Pac-12 announced today it will not seek to expand the conference. The time to expand was during the Larry Scott era when Texas and Oklahoma were interested in joining the Pac-12. I suppose this is news to some but Clay Helton has named Jaxson Dart as the No. 2 QB over Miller Moss. As I’ve said before, USC coaches view Dart as QB 1-A, … Continue reading Pac-12 Says No To Expansion

The Bru McCoy case now seems to be right where some at USC prefer it not be: In the hands of Carol Folt and her team. With the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declining to file charges, it’s now up to the university to decide McCoy’s fate. The D.A. did not do USC any favors with this quick decision. Some at the university would … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: What’s Next For Bru McCoy Case?

Good news for Bru McCoy as the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges against him after he was arrested in July and temporarily removed from USC team activities. The other news, however, is his status is unchanged according to a statement from USC tonight. “USC’s Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX is handling this matter, and the student’s status with the … Continue reading No Charges Against Bru McCoy

USC will play LSU to open the 2024 season on Labor Day weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, according to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated. I credit Ed Orgeron for this game because he has been pretty gracious to USC in recent years by giving good job appraisals to his employees when USC called him and I’m sure he would love to play the … Continue reading USC To Play LSU In 2024

Mike Bohn sent out a statement this afternoon: “At the recommendation of our medical experts, we have made the difficult decision not to host on-campus tailgating and other gameday activities for the USC vs. San Jose State game on September 4.” “Please note this change has only been made for the first game as we manage the substantial increases in campus density and in-person activities resulting from … Continue reading USC Will Not Allow On-Campus Tailgating At San Jose State Game

Arizona coach Jedd “the” Fisch tweeted out how many season tickets the Wildcats have sold. Imagine if USC had such transparency? Fisch is uber-enthusiastic and spends a lot of time trying to increase fan interest. As he should at a school like Arizona. The truth is USC needs that too! But it doesn’t want anyone to know how bad its season-ticket sales or ticket sales … Continue reading Not All Pac-12 School Are Keeping Ticket Sales A Secret

I said last week’s press conference with Mike Bohn was mainly a rehash of old information about staff hires within the football program. Well, here’s another stab to pin Bohn down on football, this time from the Daily Trojan. DAILY TROJAN: Football head coach Clay Helton has been adamant that he loves USC because it’s a place where you’re expected to compete for championships. First, … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Another Attempt To Get Straight Answer On Football

USC is keeping tabs on UCLA ticket promotions for the LSU game. But today, a donor sent me an email from the USC ticket office with this message. Initially, the ticket buyer thought it was a mistake and his football tickets were incorrectly labeled “USC vs. Denver.” It turns out they got free tickets to the USC-Denver women’s volleyball game as a bonus for buying … Continue reading USC Offers Bonus For Season-Ticket Holders