FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: It’s The Little Things That Irritate Most

Does John Baxter, the “best special teams coach” in the country according to Clay Helton, teach the gunners to down a punt during “closed” practices?

It didn’t look like it during USC’s first three punts at Notre Dame, which all went into the end zone.

I doubt they really do practice it because for the first four games Baxter had punter Ben Griffiths kick the ball extra high and short to prevent returns. The past two games Griffiths has been allowed more freedom on his kicks.

This is not something that won or lost the Notre Dame game, but it is one of those many little things that frustrate fans on a weekly basis. Like tackling at practices.

  • It was fair game the past few years to question the strength-and-conditioning program about injuries. So it’s probably fair to note linebacker Palaie Gaoteoe and cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart suffered sprained ankles vs. Notre Dame; cornerback Olaijah Griffin left with a previously suffered back injury; cornerback Greg Johnson injured his shoulder and tailback Vavae Malepeai hurt his knee.

This seems to be par for the course whenever USC plays a physical team. The secondary has been riddled with injuries the past three games with two defensive backs hurt each contest.

And, according to Graham Harrell, tailback Markese Stepp isn’t in good enough shape to handle 10 carries a game.

Is strength-and-conditioning carrying its weight?

23 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: It’s The Little Things That Irritate Most”

  1. those injuries are more due to non physical practices…all the weight lifting does is really increase strength…physical practices increases ability for the body to handle the blows one receives and it is a cumulative activity of conditioning muscles,ligaments and tendons…but it is wasted words on this team…they spar with fly weights while playing vs heavy weights

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    1. Tim,
      Your metaphor i.e. flyweights-heavy weights is the exact cause of the myriad injuries plaguing this team. In boxing, training consists of many elements.

      Of course strength is important and is developed but it is not the main focus.
      The mechanics of boxing is the most important and consists of strength, agility, flexibility, sustainability (being able to take repeated blows) and endurance, it being one of the foundations of a good boxer, the ability to continue in the tenth round as good as you did in the first round, Ali in
      his youth was a master of this as was Sugar Ray Leonard.

      Simply put, our boys are not TOUGH ! No more two a days, no more full pad balls to the walls practices, no more mean angry players…at least not in the Patty Cake Conference…parity is our strength ! Preach it Brother Larry.

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      1. you can bet Wisconsin, Ohio St, , BAMA, Clemson, OK…practice real football and clobber helton style football teams at the line for 4 qrtrs.

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      2. Here is an seasoned analysis of our Vaunted Defense…perfect example of soft practices and mismanagement of personnel. I paste this here for those who may not hit other sites.

        Kevin Bruce
        Defensively Speaking: Notre Dame
        Let me start by pointing out the most obvious question there is; why did Markese Stepp not start and carry the ball 20 times or more? Notre Dame’s Tony Jones Jr. had no problem running 25 times for 176 yards. I think Stepp would relish the opportunity to shine as USC’s go-to running back.

        Also, please help our defense (which still won’t practice tackling) by putting Stepp on the field, which causes our offense to open up, generate points and positive momentum. This is by far the best tonic for this defense, which refuses to tackle properly or stop 50% of ND’s combined 3rd and 4th down conversions (9 of 18). With Stepp on the field, Slovis isn’t sore and beaten up. Stepp probably is, but we likely win that game last night. I think it’s that obvious and profound. Is the coaching staff stupid or just apathetic? Clearly, they don’t know and don’t seem to care. Apparently, they are going to take what the defense gives them. Well, what did ND take from our defense? Answer; whatever they wanted despite our best efforts as evidenced by their three drives over 75 yards and three touchdowns. Ouch…

        Let’s talk about our defense last night…

        There is no immediately available statistic that tracks missed tackles. That happens during film review and some graduate assistant has to review each play and count. He’s very busy today. So, what stood out to me yesterday?

        On Jones’s long run both Hufanga and EA missed obvious tackles.
        We had no real QB sacks in the pocket.
        Pili missed his gap assignment on Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book’s 4th quarter 3rd down conversion. Book ran past him and John Houston out of position.
        Shout out to freshman Drake Jackson with 2.5 TFLs. I hope his knee is ok. This young man is special and loves USC and football…it shows
        Jay Tufele and Marlon Tuipulotu got manhandled upfront, which was NDs primary running game plan. They run between the tackles well and they tend to win when they successfully do that. ND is big up front but not fast. No worries as ND doesn’t spend a great deal of time worried about what the defense gives them…they just take it.
        As for the DL #2s, Caleb Tremblay was reasonably effective. The remaining performances ranged from mediocre to awful. Christian Rector, Connor Murphy, Nick Figueroa (who wears a jersey number I rather respect) were pretty much on roller skates going backwards most of the night.
        Safety play was really a mixed bag but mostly ordinary. Hufanga had a nice PBU in the pocket but was pretty quiet other than missed tackles. Isaiah Pala-Mao had one good play and was generally in the proper position but he just doesn’t make an impact on the field yet.
        Corner and nickel back play was, excellent, ordinary and awful depending upon who you isolated on. It was rare when all the secondary would be in sync on the same play especially 3rd downs. This is not a new issue but continues. This group is young and is developing challenged by the physical nature of how teams attack us.
        Linebacker play…I cringe watching EA and Houston try to play against physical teams. Houston is a lateral player and I’ve accepted that but EA is a mystery. Frankly, I would get faster and shed a few pounds. If his knee is ok, he needs to work on driving through ball carriers or QBs.
        Without bringing six defenders, we can’t get pressure on the QB and our pass defense suffers. We used a few Cover 8 looks with a 50% success rate. Dropping Rector into coverage doesn’t make sense to me.
        Our defensive scheme was principally the same as last week against UW. We did use Cover 8 more than two weeks ago. Not my favorite coverage against a disciplined QB capable of running but it does serve useful purposes used sparingly and with speedy personnel.

        I also have to mention that our special teams had some real issues…again. Velus Jones is not the effective kickoff returner we saw in week 1 against Fresno State. And I really don’t get the kickoff rotation.

        So, what is the upshot here? Moral victories don’t count, so get ready for Arizona and make something positive out of this season that resembles Trojan football.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Factor13,
        Try to imagine going into a “boxing match” (which, let’s face it, is nothing more than a fight) without sparring for 4 or 5 weeks. You’d get killed in the first round. Your power punches would be short & you wouldn’t be able to take a shot yourself. Helton’s team looks like a fighter that hasn’t sparred —especially on defense. It takes the whole first half for the d-line to get into the flow of the game. [And here’s the clincher: by trying to keep the players “safe” during practice, Helton is getting them hurt in games]…..
        #IMean,HowDumbCanAGuyGet…?

        Liked by 2 people

      4. MG,
        Your post in reply to my first posting, is an example of exactly what takes without ‘Proper’ conditioning, AA should fully understand the needed ability to sustain physical punishment and the needed endurance to compete for 60 minutes of the game, I would think he does, however I feel he is being held back by none other than “Second String Clay”
        There is definitely something wrong with this program and I believe it rests at the feet of Heltons “ these are my kids” Philosophy.

        Football is not for everyone, neither is Prize Fighting, but when you join that group of athletes, there can be only one focus, you do and prepare to Win…nothing less !

        Football is by definition a game, in reality, it is a gang fight limited by certain rules, Each side wanting to kick the others A$$es.
        If you’ve ever seen or heard interviews with the Pro players of the 50’s and 60’s they were tough and mean, they’d get drunk on Saturday night and carouse with women and Sunday they were there to give you a real fight.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. factor13 —Max Kellerman made the following comment after watching a fighter named Ortiz quit because “they don’t pay me enough to take this kind of punishment”: “Sometimes this sport asks you to give more than the fans or anybody else can reasonably expect —it’s what being a champion is all about.” Fortunately or unfortunately that’s the effort it takes to be #1 in ANYTHING, not just boxing.

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    2. Physical practices also trains the players about when to follow through or when to hold up on tackles.

      That “roughing the passer” penalty that resulted in a FG for ND was B.S. But Gaotete just didn’t know whether or not to follow through because he doesn’t really do that in practice.

      #TheGameWasAPerfectExampleOfWhatYouGetWhenYouHaveASoftFootballCoachLikeHelton

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      1. Yep. Game speed and conditions (to include the physical penalty for failing to act on time). Nothing can simulate it. Helton doesn’t and has never gotten this. Unfortunately, it increasingly appears that upstairs, yet again, still doesn’t get it either (or truly doesn’t, as has been theorized, care). Hopefully, on this latter (the former was a lost cause from inception), the new president and those whose counsel she listens to (be it BoT, donors, consultants, et al), actually have a plan to remedy this finally. That is our only hope…help me Obi Wan!

        #MaybeGeorgeLucasCanCGIThisIntoStarWars

        Liked by 3 people

      1. gt —I hope he’s just waiting for a Trojan win before he comes back….
        #HardToMakeATriumphantReturnAfterAnotherLoss….

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Saturday night the punting was one of my first gripes two of the first three punts were stoppable inside the five yard line. One punt landed in a spot where at least two players had a shot at grabbing it, but when batted at went in due to the limp wrist of the player. It was like the kid had made it into college without ever playing volleyball.
    Thing is Baxter should also teach that the ball is downed where it is first touched. Those PAC 12 refs would have used that to awarded a touchback because the Trojans were swatting the ball from the end zone.
    It is just bad football to not practice this play. Oh did I mention Helton? No this is Baxter all of the way but Helton did go get him.

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  4. My concerns are that the remainder of the Trojans schedule could leave Clay Helton an 8-4 record, is that enough for an incoming athletic director to blow him out ? If you look at the lack of progress over the last 4 years, I would say yes, but some may argue.

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    1. If SC hires an AD who isn’t a drunk ex football player or a empty headed ex football player the answer is yes, if they do what SC typically does then the answer is no

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  5. After half time we came out so pumped up that if a ND returner did not drop a ball while running he would have scored a TD. No focus.
    Our punter puts the ball in the end zone twice in a row from 50 yards but when we’re backed up at our own 20 punts for 35 yards consistently.
    Our running backs take it from a kickoff out of the end zone and end up on the 20.
    Our special teams are not……special. In fact they are an anchor.
    Again……coaching……

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  6. We have gone from a program that competed for National Championships to striving to win the very bad Pac 12 South . Possibly finish 8-4 or 8-6 if we reach Pac12 title game and a bowl and the season would be special in Heltons mind. At what point die we get so use to mediocrity? We arent even ranked which used to be totally unacceptable and if someone points to Daniels loss I will throw up. This is the state of USC football. Can we live with that?

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  8. The long pass to St. Brown (occurring with Stepp on the field and Notre Dame having adjusted personnel and playcalling because he had just hammered them with two straight runs) and the final touchdown (where he scored almost bereft of blocking based on sheer will and strength) belie all of the weasel garbage spewed by Helton & Co.

    Saban is somewhere threatening the Tuscaloosa village priest to render a favorable outcome from God or else as to Helton being replaced by Urban…

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  9. Harrell is full of more shit than a Christmas Turkey.. Stepp not in shape to carry more then 10 times. Stepp carried 1/2 of ND’s defense on that TD run. Harrell can go back to North Texas, where they don’t run the ball.. Just Air Raid (that gets shot down). Maybe Harrell is out of shape, said he could have called the plays faster. You don’t practice hard you, don’t get in shape. Funny McKays teams & Carroll’s ( earlier teams) used to own the 4th quarter. Teams wanted no part of SC in the 4th quarter. Harrell must be Heltons adopted son.. speaks just like him…Throws players under the bus— and always same ole shitty excuses. Harrell is a fan of Mike Leach @ WSU. How many Championships has he won , with the air raid. Gives up 67 to Ucla.
    Thinking Helton could be gay, always wanting to hug players.
    Been a fan since the Jon Arnett days, it is sick what USC has become. Get rid of Helton & complete staff.

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