Clancy Pendergast played a lot of man-to-man coverage in the secondary against Fresno State and a little bit of zone coverage. This is known as progress with USC because Pendergast mostly plays man coverage. Of course, if USC plays as much man coverage as it did Saturday against teams that can pass, it could be a really long game. Pendergast said last week USC can … Continue reading USC Notes: Defense Makes “Slight” Change

This Clay Helton quote got scant attention Saturday night when talking about going for it on fourth down: “Our defense was tiring a bit.” Wait a minute. I heard all spring and summer from people that the strength program was amazing and turning everyone into Superman. But the defense was tiring . . . against Fresno State. Meanwhile, the New York Times takes a look … Continue reading Clay Helton Says Defense Tired; Lynn Swann Shirks Duty

I found out Clay Helton called the fourth-down play that USC failed to converted late in the game Saturday night. Why is this important? The CEO said he had turned the offense over to Graham Harrell. But he couldn’t resist getting involved on the fourth-down call. Not to mention going for it when USC should have punted. Genius Graham Harrell might be the program savior … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Fresno State Fallout

Clay Helton confirmed JT Daniels tore his ACL and meniscus. And he reiterated Kedon Slovis will start against Stanford. “We have a lot of confidence in Kedon,” Helton said. “We’ll roll with whoever’s healthy and expect them to go make plays.” Whoever’s healthy is Slovis and Matt Fink at the moment, thanks to Helton’s mismanaging of the QB situation. Helton said Daniels will redshirt and … Continue reading Sunday Night With Clay Helton

USC quarterback JT Daniels has suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the season, according to Sports Illustrated. So it looks like the Kedon Slovis Show now because Clay Helton cannot backtrack on his odd decision to make the true freshman the backup. I have to admit I am equally fascinated by what happens in a year: What if Slovis captures everyone’s attention … Continue reading JT Daniels Suffers Torn ACL

Remember all those hype videos about the strength program during the summer? Everything was different . . . and better. Did you notice a difference? USC could gain a yard on third-and-1 at the Fresno State 44-yard line with 3:20 left. But there was an avalanche of fluff pieces on the new, improved strength program. Ridiculous. Continue reading The Hype Doesn’t Deliver