FOOTBALL

Did USC Really Beat Itself?

This Clay Helton quote really stood out today: “It was important to understand how we got beat, especially those last three games. It was nothing the opponent did. We beat ourselves.”

UCLA tailback Joshua Kelly rushed for 289 yards and two touchdowns in the Bruins’ 34-27 victory. Notre Dame outscored USC, 17-0, in the second half until a garbage-time TD by the Trojans in the final minute.

That is not, “We beat ourselves.”

39 thoughts on “Did USC Really Beat Itself?”

  1. All Pendergast had to do was stop Kelly. ucla had nothing else going.

    It shouldn’t have been that hard to do. But Pendergast made no adjustments. I would say that is “beating yourself.”

    No way Trojans should have lost to Cal or ucla.

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    1. Typical bozo loser excuses, excuses, excuses, whiny excuse. I’ve said this before, but a bozo rah-rah pointed out the Bruin victory would have worse w/o the efforts of the bozo Special Teams.

      Offense D+
      Defense D+ because of the pathetic bozo “3 and out” Offense
      Special teams performance A+

      I bet the game ’67 watched was at the bottom of a double Fireball glass – “Make it double baby.”

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      2. YOU are an idiot. Get off this site and 8 clap your masturbation! ucla
        has been hiding their lousy AD for many years and covering up their medical malpractices in shameful ways. Love to harass a putz like you!
        ucla is an excuse for higher learning !!

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      4. Hey Just Rent,

        I heard Henley will have a roommate in jail. His last name is Lee, graduated from ugly in 2015 and he attempted murder in Juperio. One a ruin always a ruin. Now, get back to work peeling potatoes for McDonalds.

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    2. No way a real USC head coach should make excuses for losing a game to the ruins or the Irish. No wonder they banished John Robinson. He has more class in his left pinky than Hugs.

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      1. After McKay got beat by ND 51 – 0 in 1966 he promised that his teams would never get manhandled by the Irish like that again.

        He went 6 – 1 – 2 against ND until he left for Tampa Bay.

        #PointIs,McKayDidn’ttMakeExcuses;HeJustWentOutAndDidBetter,NoQuestionsAsked

        #HeltonCouldLearnALessonFromMcKay

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Pick the winners of each game.

      08/31 vs Fresno State:
      09/07 vs Stanford:
      09/14 @BYU:
      09/20 vs Utah:
      09/28 @Washington:
      10/12 @Notre Dame:
      10/19 vs Arizona:
      10/25 @Colorado:
      11/02 vs Oregon:
      11/09 @Arizona State:
      11/16 @California:
      11/23 vs UCLA:

      Any jackass that predicts Helton goes 10-2 automatically qualifies for the “Bozo of the Year” award.

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      1. If anything, Harrell will save Helton. He seems more of a head coach. With Sears SC possibly go 9-3 or 10-. With Daniels the season will be 8-4 or 7-5. Daniels throws off his back foot and cant’ hit the 5 yard pass route.

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      2. Fresno St. is no pushover. The Bulldogs beat Arizona St. last season 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

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      3. PT:

        Ding-ding (and not Mule’s idiot savant bell)…that’s exactly the fear/worst case scenario.

        Watched it happen with Larry Smith, saw it at Oklahoma with Gary Gibbs, Ohio State went through it with Earl Bruce, Alabama went through it in the period between Bear and Saban, and Texas spent many years w(a/o)ndering in the wilderness…Miami is sharing this path with us at present, and Nebraska may/may not be returning from it with Frost at the helm…

        The worst thing is 8-4/9-3…guaranteed recipe for prolonged mediocrity and potential long-term decline…

        Better long-term for a Daniels-run Air Raid to be exposed in blowouts against the NDs and UWs, and lose close games to finish 4-8 or 5-7…

        Otherwise, as the cash register continues to ring, they will continue to serve this same old garbage…

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      4. Many folks like Harrell and he is a nice addition but why is no one factoring the defense and the same DC who wasn’t canned last year?

        #DidIMissSomethingOrIsUSCNotFieldingAStarting11onDThisYear?

        #ThisBlogPostIsAboutAUCLARBWhoRanFor289SoWeHaveToTalkAboutTheD

        #DidPendergastSuddenlyBecomeDCNickSabanWhenHarrellWasHired?

        #IWon’tPickHowManyWinsButItForSureAin’tGoingToBe9or10

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      5. Agreed (I’ve brought that up on this forum before and believe a few others have to)…that was the concomitant sign that the plane was still nose down and accelerating (of course 1A was not immediately terminating CH)…

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      6. 08/31 vs Fresno State: Win
        09/07 vs Stanford: Win
        09/14 @BYU: Win
        09/20 vs Utah: Win
        09/28 @Washington:
        10/12 @Notre Dame:
        10/19 vs Arizona: Win
        10/25 @Colorado: Win
        11/02 vs Oregon: Win
        11/09 @Arizona State: Win
        11/16 @California: Win
        11/23 vs UCLA: Win

        This post won’t go anywhere and be forgotten if they lose more than 3, but I can bring it back to life and claim MENSA points if it works out.

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      7. I’ve said it multiple times:

        The bozos go 4 – 8 – or fertilizer for the mushroom cellar.

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  2. As T-B(OH!) has amply demonstrated by posting recruiting class rankings (an argument I might add that has been propounded by Ryan Abraham among others for several years now – ie the recruiting numbers should not lie, over time…the programs with the highest average recruiting rankings…except USC under Clay…have achieved the best results)…

    So yes, USC beat itself..

    With bad hiring/retention practices that lead to the hiring of bad staffs (with some exceptions, like Deland McCullough)…that have translated into poor player develop, game planning, scheme/attack selection, talent evaluation, play call adjustments, and failure to instill toughness and motivation….

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    1. Deland McCullough and Graham Harrell are the only home run hires Helton has made (although I really think the new D-Line Coach is gonna make a positive difference in player attitude). Helton’s a nice man but, generally speaking, he simply doesn’t have the contacts or the reputation to bring in top flight guys — in fact I’m surprised he got Harrell to take over the offense (there must be more to the Harrell contract than we’re aware of……..)
      #….ClauseOne:”ShouldHeltonGo,GrahamBecomesInterimH.C.”

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      1. MG, you’re like the degenerate gambler, whom, w/o the slightest bit of sense, will cash in his bus ticket home, add his $5.00 breakfast fund and top it off with the $3.50 he got for pawning his faux cashmere jacket and stick the grand total on 11 black.

        I know this gambler, and he’s all in on Harrell too!

        #whosaidIhateitwhenyou’reright.

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      2. Thank you, Owns. The guy you’re describing knows what McCartney meant when he sang “Oh, that magic feeling of nowhere to go…”
        #It’sKindaFunToExitVegasBroke….

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      3. I agree that McCullough was a great hire because of the results at USC. I still think the jury is out on Harrell until we see how his version of the Air Raid offense works away for North Texas State. James was correct as to the recruiting ratings. But what if Helton’s buddy style led to those high ranking recruits thinking they could get away with their behavior on the field. Maybe his style works better with the 3 star recruits who don’t think they’re so entitled.

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      4. Suppose that’s not impossible but doesn’t appear likely (as to him doing better with 3 stars as opposed to more highly recruited players)…I’m guessing that the players fall into the atmosphere that has settled in during his tenure (think establish would be to charitable a term) and, with the exception of the individually driven player, act in accordance with…

        Excellent point (and one that MG and I have bandied back and forth over time) with respect to Harrell…I’m not a believer, and I’m adamantly opposed to what I still can see only as a gimmick offense…MG has argued that it will yield improved results, and I don’t disagree with that assessment…but I think those improved results will be avoiding upset losses to the lesser teams, not reversing the trend of being non-competitive (let alone beating) better teams (except if and when having a Sam-type difference maker)…

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      5. Harrell is a home run hire? His offense hasn’t scored a single TD for the Trojans.

        “home run hire”? LOL! Just shut up, idiot.

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      6. James & 70’s —- If Harrell can win without guys like Sam and Adoree (i.e., the ‘one- of- a -kind’ players who handed Helton his brief time in the sun), THEN Harrell is legit. I happen to suspect that’s what’s gonna happen —-but only time will tell.
        #StanfordGameCan’tGetHereFastEnough……

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      7. Absolutely agree on that – as you pointed out in earlier posts, the first (drive/quarter/half) of the opener is Litmus Test 1…the Stanford game will be Litmus Test 2 and a definite indicator as to what degree the team will succeed (or not)…

        And it’s that difference of opinion that makes this site worthwhile (and better than the podcast groups quite frankly)…it’s Pericles v. Cimon…Pollio v. Livy…Gladstone v. Disraeli…Ali-Frazier…

        If only it was McKay v. Parseghian or Robinson v. Donahue…

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      8. James —You’re probably too young to remember him but your last reply looks like a paragraph out of one of the late, great Jim Murray’s columns….
        #Smart,FunAnalysis

        Liked by 1 person

      9. MG-I don’t remember him directly, but have read plenty about him as well as his writing…and it wasn’t intentional, but I know what you mean about the style…

        I was exposed to it first through reading a book called “The Red Sox Reader” (and I do not like the Bo or Paw Sox … or Pale Hose for that matter)…one of the finest sports books I’ve ever encountered…essentially a collection of essays of writers running the gamut from John Updike and Stephen King to Roger Angell and Peter Gammons…some of the writing is beyond…the theme being a chronicle of the Curse (still alive at time of publication)…some of the writers could turn a phrase (one of the stories is entitled “Agincourt and After”…one explained Ted Williams’ exit from the stage as “Gods do not make curtain calls”)…

        Do you recall that SI had writers of that ilk for it’s early history (which featured a lot of stories about USC football…and UCLA basketball…)? “That California Earthquake” comes to mind…

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      10. MG I agree with you totally. But so many are appointing him the savior before he has coached a game at the school. I’m not as confident as you so I”ll believe it when I see it.

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  3. There hasn’t been a game the Trojans have played under Helton, interim or otherwise, where he hasn’t been outcoached.

    Talent is what has brought Trojan wins…not his second rate coaching.

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    1. Agreed…the last time USC won a game because of coaching they were the Geaux-jans…

      It was so sad that Coach O didn’t wan’t to stay leaving Patty Cake no alternative but to hit the Cutty Sark…

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      1. Pat Haden wasn’t looking for a head coach who was about winning, if he were he would have hired Ed O or Chris Petersen.

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      3. Coach O wanted to stay as head coach, but the corrupt preachy lib snob Pat Haden wanted the drunkard Sark to please the LA Country Club elites.

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  5. yO a mEmo tOO troJam 1967?

    “Owns, (s/b owns)- People like ‘ 67 need to create heroes, I can’t help it “67 wants to worship the ground I walk on.

    Your grammar: D-.
    Your punctuation: C-.
    Your content: F.

    But at ucla(SIC) s/b CAPS ’67, this would be a passing grade. ‘See below’ is a classic example of redundancy, D’oh! Only a twat that spent $250K for a $4800 vocational bozo education would need obvious road signs imbedded in their sentences and paragraphs instead of JUST simple Enguish syntax.

    https://www.talkofweb.com/ucla-professor-called-racist-protest-launched-corrected-black-students-grammar/

    whta a buncH, of bullsit:&! …1967 bes a hiP hoP dUd? or sHoud it, IS it bees brO.

    ain’t 1967 da kOOlist tripping eVan went HE succx#

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  6. USC has always been weak along the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball under Clay Helton. That’s why a weak School like UCLA rushed for over 200 yards against the Trojans

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  7. Yes putting it simple, USC beat itself and the part Clay left out is because the coaches were ALL substandard as a group.
    Every false start penalty has two causes. The first is the player who somehow made it to the college level without knowing basic football rules. The second is the coaches. It is their job to teach it, drill it and basically make the players fear making the mistake. I don’t care if the player can block God Almighty, if he commits a false start and sets his team back 5 yards he needs his butt placed on the bench. Every personal foul should be taken personally by the coaches. The players on last year’s team (and in previous years under Clay) knew they could set the team back as much as the wanted, without fear of accountability.
    Stupid penalties and poor tackles are not the mark of a winning program, rather they show a distraction level that is beyond too high.
    So yes we beat ourselves last year and just what are you going to do about it Clay?

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    1. Great point on coaching. Many say the coaching has improved from last year. But how low is the benchmark to improve from? Dennys might be considered a gourmet establishment if you’ve been eating out of a dumpster. (Noticed I’ve used the word maybe). We will know by the bye week.

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