FOOTBALL

USC Practiced `Lazy’ Week Of Big Game

Here is what USC tailback Aca’Cedric Ware said after the Texas loss.

“We gotta practice better. Period. Practice this week was kind of lazy, kind of slow. I feel like if we practice harder, we’re going to play harder. We gotta work on stuff like that.”

How is practice slow and lazy the week of a huge, nationally televised game? Especially coming off a loss to Stanford?

The way some things happen at USC are mystifying. Just like the defense can’t cover over the middle and the offensive line cannot run block.

34 thoughts on “USC Practiced `Lazy’ Week Of Big Game”

    1. Thank you Patrick C Haden ! Passed over a tough hard nosed coach for a drunk and then a moron. Coach O maybe isn’t the smartest guy or best spoken ( which is what Haden didn’t like ) but he’s winning in the toughest conference going.

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      1. The sooner the better.

        These coaches should be called out for their incompetence by anyone, parents included.

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  3. When the players start to PUBLICLY come out and question the coach, it’s a sign that things are not well on the Goodship Gomer, which hit another iceberg last night, everyone saw it coming but Cpt Gomer.

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  4. This all comes down to toughness. The players during PC era said the toughest and most difficult games during the year were the practices. Competition Tuesday! You play how you practice!

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      1. That’s why they call it a “hostage video” – there’s an element of coercion there. Can’t embarrass the coaching staff and the rest of the team. that’s not my stance, but it’s group/team culture. You won’t see a player say, “Yeah, I love Clay, but he’s not so hot at coaching practice. Not physical enough. I would suggest iron sharpens iron, and we go ones against ones on Tuesdays and Wednesday. Full pads!” Nope. Doesn’t happen.

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    4. Great man, indeed. Agreed that the team is a little snake bit. But he’s won some big games in the last 3 years (Rose, Stanford X2 last year, Washington in Seattle, Texas at home), but the consistency needs to be there. I agree with Dan Webber they need to be more physical in practice.

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  7. The players are just as much to blame as the coaches lol…people who never balled don’t get it, or maybe they’re afraid to front players lol……Ced Ware missed blocks and dropped an opening pass and dug his own hole……..his playing time was cut into, so he acts up lol….any player or parent who now feels they have a platform are not courageous, but Benedicts……# 27 Ajene Harris continues poor play, this week in pass defense….he is physically challenged and makes the defense vulnerable, and he’s a senior….I noticed late in the game he finally made a good pass break up when the game had long been decided, got up and gave his incomplete sign to the camera and I laughed….where was that when it mattered?

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    1. I agree. Why dont we have a hard hitting beast as the nickel. Also, the Texas O line kept pushing a the blitzing Trojans into the middle of the line and nobody could get through

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    3. Harris is a liability out there, but the coaches are so invested in him that they can do anything but say good things about him. He’s the perfect example of a player who knows where he needs to be, but doesn’t make a play when he’s there. He follows his man around staring at him with very little ball/game awareness. My guess is that he’s probably a very good practice player and the coaches always hear him saying the right things and helping younger players. There’s a comfort level that you have with this kind of player and it makes you overlook things. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ajene Harris become a coach, but I’d be shocked to see him get drafted. They are knowingly and actively trying to help him get on an NFL roster. If I have a guy I have been coaching as long as I have been coaching Harris, I coach at a school like USC and he’s not going to the league… that’s potentially indictable.

      There were also other players who were making unwarranted displays after they made a play last night. When I see a player make a good play along the sidelines, I don’t see any players smacking him on the helmet or butt on the USC sideline. Do we have a rule against that? If so, why do we have a rule against that, but not one against doing stupid routines after you make a play while you’re getting your hat handed to you? There’s obviously no rule against that.

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  8. Too many personnel problems and coaching problems. They won’t get fixed. Helton said he was going to fix them after the Stanford game. Oh well, the season is over and the players will go through the motions. No fire in the belly and no care. On Tuesday they all can sing kumbai together. We already know the results for the Washington St. game. Just look at the last two games and u will see the same disaster

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  9. Anyone want to bet Ware doesnt play much for those revealing words?

    He just put himself into the dog house even if it’s true.

    What a mess.

    Oh time now. Helton is a goner. After we lose to Wazzu Friday it will be a spiral he can’t unspin.

    Here comes #InterimU

    So, WHO do we go after?

    Any long time Saban assistants out there?
    Why NOT the O Line coach for Bama or Clemson?

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  10. Trojan fan since 1968…through thick and thin. Looking back, there’s been a hella’ lot of the “thin”… losing streaks to ucla and ND, clown coaches like Hackett, Kiffin, Sarkisian and now Helton. I’m done. Won’t watch another game until the program is fixed. SC football is now, officially, agonizing.

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    1. Rey Rey good to see you buddy!! So glad you haven’t jumped out of the plane yet!! It’s going to okay… maybe not… But don’t JUMP!

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  13. I haven’t seen a practice since Pete Carroll was coach so I can’t really speak about how they practice. It doesn’t seem like we practice screen passes because every time we run one it looks like we’re doing it for the first time. It would be great to be able to execute those given the fact that we let people into the backfield anyway. Also, is there actually a draw play in the playbook at all? Any sort of delayed release might be beneficial if we’re going to keep insisting that the O-line is fine. BTW, is there a QB sneak in the playbook? I’m just curious.

    Offensive line used to be a legacy unit at USC. WTF happened? Who was the last real one, Tyron Smith? How long ago was that? Tee Martin came out mixing up his sets and calling a nice game last night, but if you can’t run the ball, everything else (including defense) will eventually breakdown. Losing to Texas made more sense than losing to Stanford to me, but the formula for beating USC seems clear. What’s USC’s formula for winning? It’s not JT Daniels throwing 40 plus times for over 300 yards.

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    1. I was on it back then too & hated the Sark hire. I remember the way the team responded to him & how he actually played the best position players like Buck Allen (something Kiff inexplicably never did). To me it was apparent that Coach O learned from his time a Ole Miss.

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  15. Our defenders gained more yards riding on #32’s back than our running backs gained collectively.

    How is it that we have 2 punters on scholarship and neither of them can punt? Not being able to possess the ball on offense and not being able to punt is a recipe for disaster. Also, are we going to stop attempting 50 plus yd field goals now that we don’t have a starting field goal kicker?

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    2. Hey those punters earn their scholarships! They double as towel boys at the Water Polo program! They also service the Hot Burrito Boxes on campus!

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  16. When a top player like Ware calls out the coaching staff, you know there is trouble. We all should have saw this coming! There is no more Darnold to rescue this sinking ship!

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