FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: USC Claims Many Changes In 2019

Get a load of the first sentence in USC’s weekly press release:

“USC–with a renewed spirit, a promising roster, a revamped staff, an exciting offensive system, a renovated Coliseum and a chip on its shoulder after last season’s disappointment . . .”

My head is spinning.

  • Renewed spirit? Sure, OK.
  • Promising roster? Maybe.
  • Revamped staff? Not enough, unfortunately.
  • Exciting offensive system? We’ll see.
  • Renovated Coliseum? Yes.
  • Chip on shoulder? To be determined.

26 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: USC Claims Many Changes In 2019”

      1. We’ve discussed that before here – his retention is a co-equal affront to the retention of Helton…

        A good point for analysis (in my thinking at least) is Nebraska circa 1993 – after a decade and a half of getting embarrassed by Miami and Nebraska in post-season games while running that triple option offense (which put up lots of points against lesser teams but a lot of three and outs against better teams), they finally stood up to Florida State and Charlie Ward in the Orange Bowl (lost on a missed FG)…then the next year stomped Warren Sapp and Miami in the fourth quarter of the Orange Bowl to start the greatest reign of terror in college football history (three perfect seasons out of four)…

        It didn’t hinge on the offense…it was the defense finally being able to trade three-and-outs with the Canes and Noles that enabled Osborne’s teams to finally turn the corner…

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  2. snark·y /ˈsnärkē/
    adjectiveINFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
    (of a person, words, or a mood) sharply critical; cutting; snide.
    “the kid who makes snarky remarks in class”
    cranky; irritable.
    “Scott’s always a bit snarky before his nap”

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  3. We already know that Lynn Swann, and the administration are all delusional about their football program, and their weak spins are only going to last a week, then what? Nobody affiliated with the PAC 12, knows more about building a championship team then Urban Myer. And he said Utah is the only school in the conference, who have lineman comparable to the SEC , that can compete at that level. Arizona’s loss to an average Hawaii team, it a perfect example of what’s to come for USC 😂😂😂

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  5. I’m willing to give it a chance. Let’s wait and see how the first 4 games go. If they are 2-2 or worse, then yes, snark and bitch away. There is an upside here. I am not saying its likely, but better than 25 percent likelihood of a good season. I honestly don’t know how this season is going to go. I wouldn’t be shocked with either 5-7 or 11-2

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    1. Great post, I agree the team will go one way or the other.

      Reminds me of 2015. Sam Darnold turned what would have been a 4-8 2015 season into 10-3.

      The talent on this team is just as good as ’15. The average ranking for the last 4 years is about 5th in the country. So if there is a player who can rally the team to perform the way Sam did, then 11-2 is there. It will have to come from a player with extraordinary leadership ability. It won’t come from the coaching staff.

      What worries me is that Harrell clearly does not want Daniels as the starter. He has no enthusiasm at all when discussing JT during interviews.

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      1. Why is it so hard for people to understand? Historically, the air raid system was for undersized,
        and less talented teams to be able to compete. USC gas no business moving to the Western Kentucky offense. USC is so soft in the trenches that I’m convinced they’ll be blown out by BYU, Utah, Washington, Oregon and Arizona State.

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      2. PJM, there are many versions of the spread offense. The common denominator is to make the defense cover the entire field, thus the fact that lineman gaps are larger. Some version of the spread was used by Sid Gillman, Don Coryell, Bill Walsh, Urban Meyer. Bellicheck even used it a bit. As with any offense it boils down to effectiveness of O-line. The spread doesn’t require O-linemen to hold their blocks for as long, so it can be a useful offense IF a team has a crappy O-line.

        But there is no reason why our O-line should be lousy. This is not to say that they will perform well, but the talent is there for a good O-line.

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      3. The two of you are dead on the money – this and the terrible defense are the central issues…and they stem from the tone/atmosphere/approach of the head coach and his staff…
        USC should never need to resort to gimmickry to make up for poor line play…
        USC should do it this year like Bob Stoopes did with Josh Heupel in 2000 (while he was still rebuilding OU’s talent base)…Stoope’s mistake was in not making his program more physical despite having recruited so many great RBs like Peterson, Griffin, and Murray…

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    2. So there’s a 75% chance of a bad season then ? I’d say more like 100% chance of a mid season firing with Gomer Bozo at the helm

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    3. CFTrojan — What you’ll see all this week are signs of fear from the Trojan haters. They know that after several months of saying we’ll be 1-5 or 0-6 that it’s possible we’ll be 5-1 or 6-0 —and they’re taking their last cheap shots before that possibility materializes…….

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  6. SC, the fans, and alumni do not know what they have. They are playing Fresno St. if Tedford beats SC, fire Helton as soon as the game is over and hire Tedford.

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  8. So some Sunshine Pumper on another site was talking smack about Jack Sears and why in his opinion he (Sears) doesn’t fit USC’s system.

    In defense of Sears a poster wrote the following about Sears and the lone start he had last season vs ASU.

    The poster also defends Sears Fall practice performance this year and does a good job in doing so.

    BeatND2019

    Messages:

    Saturday at 10:56 AM

    Let’s see, the kid gets no team reps in practice the previous 7 game weeks and gets 1 week to prepare and get in sync for his singular start. Completes 70% of passes and erases a 17 point deficit to take the lead. 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Sounds like a great outing even if the playbook waa reduced. 

    One week later JT starts his 8th game against Oregon State. The worst team in the PAC12 and completes 53% of his passes and 1 TD. Very impressive.

    ASU goes to Utah and crushes them and that was 2 weeks after Utah crushes USC. They knock Utah’s starting QB out for the season. ASU defensive front 6 is no joke.

    Now in fall camp Sears throws 1 interception while all other QB’s have a minimum 6. He is 85% completion percentage in the 2 scrimmages and has 4 TD passes and 0 interceptions. Slovis throws 0 TD passes and 2 interceptions in those scrimmages. In the spring scrimmage Sears was definitively the best performer as every media member noted. Look back if you doubt my recollection.

    So, this means that Sears is not consistent, productive, accurate, and effective? Apparently REAL data in game-like situations mean nothing to some people trying to justify questionable coaches decisions relating to depth chart placement.

    While I agree that this current offense doesn’t suit Jack or Matt perfectly as it does not value a mobile QB there is no doubt they can operate it at a high level. Fink was 85% completion in the 2 scrimmages as well. Coaches need to explain depth chart in more specific ways or just say it’s a gut feel or investing in the youth. 

    The depth chart would have been fine in any order as long as Slovis was listed 4th.

    Helton knows Sears is gone in December if he isn’t starting so he buried him to avoid another QB controversy. Sears will ultimately end up at a program that will highlight his athleticism and he will be fine….USC degree and all.

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  9. Yeah, how does burying Sears fold into the Faith, Family, Foorball narrative? I’m more convinced than ever that not only is Clueless Clay incompetent but a hypocrite as well. I like to consider myself an optimist but I have a bad vibe about this season being much like last season.

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  10. J.T. Daniels consistently completed 59% of his passes last season…seeing how that is what his overall completion rate was for the season, 59%.

    And Helton and Harrell are trying to B.S. everyone about the importance of consistency?

    So in actual games last season where most of the pass plays that Helton called for J.T. Daniels were designed to travel 5 to 10 yards in the air and J.T. Daniels was only able to complete 59% of his passes?

    And Daniels didn’t get better as the season went along because he really stunk it up against the bRuins…I mean Daniels wasn’t just bad, he was garbage!

    Jack Sears with one week of practice completed 70% of his passes against ASU, the same ASU that demolished Utah, the Utes who held J T. Daniels to 89 yards passing for the game.

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  11. I wish that in my heart I felt that Helton knew that if he picked the wrong QB he would be dooming himself to being fired.
    Unfortunately I believe he has been told that he is hanging around for a minimum of two more years no matter what he does. No inside info….just a feeling.
    With a two year buyout and multiple years out of the headlines the bureaucrats in charge of USC will feel safe enough to take a risk with a new coach. The suits are in charge.

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    2. No way he gets more years of any kind if he goes 5-7, no way. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t fired mid season and I can see them being 2-4 at that point or worse.

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    3. USC will lose more money with the drop in attendance at the Coliseum in two games than what the buyout is that they owe Helton.

      USC can stick with Helton and 40,000 in attendance (and that’s being generous) or they can hire a coach who knows what he’s doing and draw 75,000.

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  12. Well what do you want? We don’t sell tickets with the truth. So our statement should be we look like crap? Our defense is a rudderless boat in the rapids of football. Our offense is chuck and run (and that’s just for the quarterback) Our O line has more holes in it than a golf course (ask Swann he knows) Our special teams are like last weeks chef’s special (garbage) Oh yeah and the Coliseum is new in places you can’t go.

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  13. Been away awhile. Nice to see the posters haven’t evolved at all. And SC football was dormant from 1980 to 2001, but came back in 2002-2005, so I will simply wait for another great cycle to emerge.

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