FOOTBALL

USC-Texas Report Card

QUARTERBACK

It’s not fair to JT Daniels that the coaches had him throw so much. He made some nice passes but . . . he throws too much off his back foot. He could easily have had 2-3 more interceptions. And here’s another thing: It’s starting to look like part of the problem with getting passes to Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughns might be from an over reliance on Amon-Ra St. Brown. He needs to get more chemistry with all the receivers.

Grade: C+

TAILBACK

Stephen Carr moved up a spot in the rotation but is still No. 2. He needs to be No. 1. And someone needs to block for him.

D+

WIDE RECEIVERS

Amon-Ra St. Brown is the freshman living up to his hype. Did you know neither of the Imatorbhebhe brothers went to Texas because of injuries? If you think USC needs a tight end, Cary Angeline in now eligible at North Carolina State.

C

OFFENSIVE LINE

I had a couple writers who cover USC try to counter me in August when I said the offensive line had not improved. They could not run block against Texas. They could not pass block against Stanford. The Pac-12 South schedule cannot arrive fast enough.

D-

DEFENSIVE LINE

Another story: After USC’s first scrimmage, I asked someone in the football program how the offensive line gave up eight sacks? “The defensive line is fantastic,” was the response.

I’m still waiting. I don’t see much. Especially with the tackles, who take up a lot of space but not much else.

C

LINEBACKERS

Do you still think Cameron Smith is a preseason All-American?

C-

SECONDARY

I’ve seen enough of some of the veteran corners. USC has two five-star freshmen corners on the bench (Olaijah Griffin, Issac Taylor-Stuart). If they are not ready, Clay Helton should say so. Otherwise give them a shot.

Grade: D

SPECIAL TEAMS

USC cannot punt the ball and alternates punters, which is just weird. And now it cannot kick a field goal. And now it does not have its first-team kicker (Chase McGrath), who tore his ACL. But John Baxter is the best special teams coach in America.

F

COACHING

How many times does USC do the same wrong things over and over? It doesn’t defend the middle of the field. It doesn’t run the ball for nine plays after Stephen Carr’s 23-yard TD run. It commits personal fouls every game. It doesn’t fix special teams mistakes.

Grade: F

12 thoughts on “USC-Texas Report Card”

    1. Give him that same “F” that he gives the coaches. He keeps submitting copy without proofing. Unprofessional. But I still love the man!

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  3. The screen plays are an enigma. Scotty declared victory over other writers….I like that lol…….false prophets annoy me, too.

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  5. We haven’t seen coaching this poor since the JRob II and Hacket Era’s and I feel it may be worse now. Every now and then, those 2 coaches would actually prepare and we’d get a complete game out of them.

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  6. Hey Wolfie here’s your boy the ol’ P. Telling it like it is. On a NorCal podcast. http://bayareane.ws/2xlaq4J
    Rocky Long would bring a running game and toughness to usc and we know he can beat Stanford. What do you think he would do with USC top five recruiting classes. Hmmm

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  8. SCooter,

    I have a beef with you. You are too generous on your grading. They all deserve a F. Every facet sucked. People walked away from watching the game in the 3rd quarter from where I was watching. How many people will show up at the Colieum this Friday? Only time will tell.

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  9. Disaster game against Texas. Lane Kiffin was fired after the ASU game only after 4 weeks into the football season. Helton is 0-6 against power 5 schools when he did not have Darnold. This tells you a lot about his coaching staff and himself. People are not going to just walk out on a game, they are going to walk out on an entire season. It should be clear to everyone by now that Helton just doesn’t have the savvy to coach well, or pick a coaching staff that can work well with players. Fortunately for Helton, there is no permanent President at USC right now who can fire him. I’m sure that Pat Haden, who sits on the Board of Trustees, is defending Helton at the administration level and within the Board of Trustees. Helton was Haden’s pick, and then Helton was approved by disgraced former President Nikias. It is really time to think about letting Helton go – the earlier, the better for the program.

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