FOOTBALL

USC Saturday Buzz

There was a meeting of two high-profile USC players on Friday night in Calabasas: Former USC All-American linebacker Chris Claiborne coached his first game at Calabasas High School. The opponent was JSerra, coached by former USC offensive lineman Pat Harlow.

JSerra won, 49-21.

  • USC will hold a 40-play mock game today. It’s not like a scrimmage so there won’t be any earth-shattering events to shake up the depth chart, which will be released Sunday.
  • USC’s most-recent commit, tailback Jordan Wilmore, rushed for 272 yards in 24 carries and three touchdowns as Lawndale defeated Sierra Canyon, 25-22.

Wilmore had 99-yard and 80-yard TD runs.

  • Mater Dei QB Bryce Young, another USC commit, bounced back from his opening game by completing 10 of 13 passes for 254 yards and rushed for 47 as the Monarchs defeated Bishop Gorman, 42-0.

45 thoughts on “USC Saturday Buzz”

  1. I watched Orange Lutheran, Scott. I wouldn’t offer anyone on that team. John Jackson went on and on about Helinski but to my eye the entire Orange Lutheran team folded in the second half. I’ve grown up in SoCal, know the schools, and Orange Lutheran is not a dependable USC talent pool. The receiver everyone’s ranting about is not as good as advertised and a bit slow after the catch…I think he will have trouble separating at a place like USC…5 ⭐️NO WAY! On the Corona Centennial side, Drake Jackson, defensive lineman, looked pretty good. I’d take him.

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    1. I’ll be curious to see Jayden Daniels of Cajon. I think they are on tv next week. Chip Kelly seems to think highly of him and he looks like a superior runner. Long, lanky, fast and bright. I believe he’s 6’ 3” oh my! The highlights I saw briefly of him reminded me immediately of an Oregon dual threat explosive qb. When I looked up his size and saw his height, I became very impressed. I’ll have to watch him play but he looks the part!

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      1. You put Drake Jackson, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Jayden Daniels and Bru McCoy together…now you’re cookin!

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      2. Kayvon Thibodeaux is now a FSU lean, was 100% USC, who goofed, I’ve go to know ! Oh wai, I do know, Gomer and his band of rejects

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      3. Sean Rhyan of San Juan Hills,Capistrano, is huge and tough and smart. He’s the offensive tackle USC must secure to go along with the big offensive tackle already committed, Jason Rodriguez of Oak Hills in Hesperia.,..these two are must gets as well!!!!!!!

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    2. Funny, because at the opening in Dallas this summer, he had no problems separating from the best defensive backs in the country. Not just separating but then scoring, while catching balls from different QBs. He was so dominant that he was named MVP.
      Did you consider he might not be 100% healthy? Making up your mind about a kids talent from one game seems less than accurate. Just sayin.

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      1. Take your chances, Pud….I would pass on any Orange Lutheran football player….it’s a nice school and Orange is a wealthy city, but it’s not the toughest neighborhood historically…Unless I see an exception to that rule, and I mean a clear exception, pass. We can find receivers all over!!!!!! Right now, Sean Rhyan is that type, especially at offensive tackle. To me, he’s a 5 ⭐️ potential talent, clearing the road with the other monstrous offensive tackle, Jason Rodriguez out of Hesperia.

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      2. Kids that play at these schools don’t necessarily live in the area. They come from all over SoCal. So the neighborhood is irrelevant. Mission Viejo is hardly a rough neighborhood.

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      3. In short, Pud, Corona Centennial put some hits on him in the second half last night and he was noticeably less than you say he is…same with Helinski and the others.

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      4. We’ll see. It was one game. However you frame it. And it’s not what I said he is, but rather those who are paid to compare these guys and the competitors themselves. I don’t have a dog in this fight, the season will tell.

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      5. Pud, You seem to ignore the caveat I offered, “clear exception” to the environmental conditions. I’ve seen Sean Rhyan work out. His father seems to be well adjusted and balanced. They’re committed beyond their daily comfort and intellectually sound. Environment always matters. A good mix of both types of hoods produces some good players, no matter where they originate waking up. Mater Dei plays in the shadow of the Orange County Big House…. St John Bosco schools in Bellflower, or thereabouts, on the tough side of Downey. On the other hand, Mission Viejo very nice, so you must be very driven and disciplined to manufacture and overcome the same challenges you would be exposed to day to day in a survival city. I see Rhyan much as I do Sam Darnold, overcomers of an exceptional kind.

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      6. I wasn’t talking about anyone other than Ford. You made the assertion he was less than advertised and I simply said it was one game.
        As far as Mater Dei goes, I know it well since my uncle was their first dean of boys and I graduated in the early seventies. To the best of my knowledge, they’re still on the corner of Bristol and Edinger..not in the shadows of the jail.

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      7. Orange Lutheran lost in Orange County to Corona Centennial at Orange Coast College. It’s not like they had to come out to the I. E.

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      8. What’s your point it was an extra ten minutes for centennial? So what? What has that to do with Kyle Ford?

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      9. The points have been made, Pud. If you don’t buy it, don’t ask……you are a man with an axe to grind against your pride, not complete analysis….I don’t come here to ask you for anything lol…cuz I know your spirit is misguided and your knowledge limited. So make your points as do I, but don’t terry if you don’t understand.

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      12. Well if you had time, I’d stop by your office and you could do a complete psychoanalysis for me. Surely I’m demented for not declaring a player overrated based on one game. But then I understand that not only do you offer psychological opinions your an expert at rating kids based on one night, where there school is located, and the socioeconomic base of the student body…Goodness Gracious!

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      13. I do have one question: Are Pudly76 and Michael Guarino one in the same? Where do you live? Are you twins? What’s your connection? Lol.

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      16. You have what I call “Catholic Fallout”. Perform acts of contrition and pray about it. No charge 😇✌️

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      19. Pudly — I’m back (just in time), my brother! Wow! I leave for 24 hours (to hide from a storm that never hit) and Stephen comes aboard the good ship InsideUSC to take my place! I tried to follow the exchange between the two of you but it just didn’t have the magic of the exchanges I’m used to (i.e., the ones with me in them). [I did really like your promise “not to terry”, though —mean but funny—the best kind of Trojan humor].

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      20. Nice to see you back..glad for the way Lane blew his wad before he got to you!
        BTW, I gave up terrying last lent, it was the least I could do.

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      22. Pudly — Three things: (1) When it became clear the hurricane was gonna miss our part of Maui, I —in a sniveling, cowardly way —-walked out on the driveway and shouted “I am immortal!” and was promptly hit by myna droppings (don’t tell Karma), (2) I’m gonna need you to calm me down if Helton doesn’t pick Daniels as qb (I have a whole lot of nasty aspersions I’m going to cast if that happens) and (3) I know you pretty well by now and I don’t think you’re ever going to give up terrying.

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      23. If he doesn’t choose the kid only Scott will be happy. I should remind you, I try to watch the games as solely a form of entertainment that is here for a moment then gone an eternity before repeating. So I don’t/won’t bash coaches or players to the best of my abilities. Any part of the team. I’ll leave it to the professionals, of which there are too many already.

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      25. Watched the game this morning.. Drake is gonna be very nice for us, but their receiver/returner is the real deal. He’s a 2020 guy.

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      27. My dear Pudly
        …I, in contrast, watch the games as though they were morality contests between Pure Good (USC) and Pure Evil (rest of the Pac 12 plus Notre Dame) —-neighbors on the other side of the golf course can hear me cursing the refs for every holding penalty called on us [or not called on teams representing Pure Evil]. I don’t even like to think about the conspiracy theories I’ll be pushing if Helton picks Fink and we lose to Stanford and Texas.

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    3. The WR for OLu is a Junior, but i agree with you on how OLu has been a big letdown in talent to SC.
      Man that game looked over in the 1st half. Then I remembered I’m from the IE and I’ve seen Centennial comeback too many times and i would be foolish to say it’s done.

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  2. Saw the midget QB from MD last night, he’ll make a good WR or DB, not a QB, Gomer still has time to convince 6’4″ DJ he’s the man, what would Gomer and Tee do with a dual threat QB anyway, they’ve never coached one. And it might tax the brain capacity for both having a QB that can run AND pass.. And Gomer, and BKU, nice job in F’ing up the recruitment of Kayvon Thibodeaux, you’ve taken a sure bet 5 star DL commit and made him into a FSU lean, good job !

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  3. It’s kinda sad to have to surf the blogs because the Southern California News Group doesn’t cover the Trojans. I guess the $520 a year subscription price isn’t enough to pay a writer to cover the team. But if you want news about a janitor playing linebacker for Ucla…
    In high school news Cajon rolled an opponent and Fontana Kaiser lost to Aquinas. I guess that’s a moral victory because it was only 9 points. I hope the coaches don’t try to sell it that way.
    On to the next blog.

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    1. Happy reading Dorian Gray, but you forgot that Bishop Gorman got blanked. I guess the bus ride from the State line buffet was too long for them.

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