FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Shhh, Genius At Work

Graham Harrell said Tuesday he isn’t playing eight wide receivers — as promised before the season — because USC has only 10-11 possessions per game and North Texas had 17 last year.

Welcome to the big leagues, I guess, even if it is the Pac-12.

He’s not getting the possessions he used to against Incarnate Word and Liberty (North Texas opponents last season) or in Conference USA.

“Out here, no one’s in a hurry to run many plays on the other side of the ball too,” Harrell said.

I’m starting to wonder if teams ever dropped eight defenders back vs. North Texas because he seems unprepared. I don’t know why because he was at Washington State in 2014-15 and Washington ran the same defense in the those Apple Cups.

  • Harrell is still talking about tired running backs. Here’s what he said about Markese Stepp and Stephen Carr playing this week.

“When they’re fresh, we’ve got two pretty special backs playing there,” Harrell said. “If they get a little gassed, we’ll figure it out.”

Maybe they can run extra wind sprints this week in practice.

33 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Shhh, Genius At Work”

  1. Opie is clearly out of his league and over his head just like his boss Gomer.

    Gee, no one’s in a hurry to run plays ? Maybe because they know that if that have the ball you don’t ? Opie is a fucking moron, go watch some fake wrestling you redneck putz

    And why would you expect the RB’s to be in shape when they don’t practice hard and they all get 7 carries per game ?

    HIRE MEYER ALREADY AND PUT THIS SHIT STAFF OUT OF IT’S MISERY !!!!!!!!!

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    1. karma —I don’t think Harrell is a moron …but, you’re right, he appears green and over his head half the time. I keep wondering why Stepp and Kenan Christon can’t be on the field at the same time (other than the fact neither one of them has been taught to block). I’ve seen plenty of tape on Kenan and he’s WAY quicker than Velus. I don’t think there’s a d-coordinator in the Pac 12 who’d know what to do if he were faced with defending against Slovis/Pittman and Stepp (who, let’s face it, is our answer to not having a fullback) and a lightning fast tailback like Kenan.

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      2. I’d like to see Harrell show a LOT more imagination, too…
        ….But….to be fair… this particular “moron” has a QB who throws into 8 men at close to a 70% completion rate….

        Liked by 1 person

      3. It’s funny how many rah rahs bash Petersen every time UW loses a game, yet he was smart enough to figure out how to solve the Air Attack Offense. And to think Pat Haden rejected him for the Drunk Sark….

        Liked by 5 people

      5. gt — Petersen is twice the coach Helton will ever be —mainly because he doesn’t lie to his team or to himself. Put another way, he’s not a bullshit politician, he’s a coach and his players respect him. [But he’s lucked out in 2 Air Raid contests in a row —last year with that snowstorm in the Washington State game and this year in facing Fink instead of Slovis].

        Liked by 1 person

    2. karma –Against BYU Slovis passed for almost 300 yards (& would have had 300 if a 20 yard completion hadn’t been erased by a bullshit call) and had over 70% completion….
      #….FroshQBInHis1stRoadGame

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Stop saying that. The game is not won by QB stats, it’s won by sustained drives, scoring, defense, field position. If that weren’t the case Warren Moon would have ten Super Bowl rings.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, he’s had incremental success. So far our backs can absorb half the carries of other teams’ backs ……and by end of the season they’ll probably be up to 12 or 13 carry capacity…
        #Helton:”ICan’tWaitToSeeOurBacksInNovember!”

        Liked by 2 people

  2. Not defending Hugs (he’s GOT to go), but Harrell’s O looked pretty good in the 2nd half against the domers. We scored on every possession in the 2nd half.

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    1. Second half offense looked good, particularly Slovis and Stepp.

      This loss boils down to Pendergast and Baxter.

      The domer offense is nothing special, but Pendergast’s D gave up close to 500 yards of offense, with tons of missed tackles and comical overpursuit by the D line, and no pressure coming from the middle.

      SC defense is 94th in the country out of 130 teams, and this includes games against Fresno State and BYU.

      Not saying Harrell is a great coach, but he seems to be the least of the problem. Defense, O-line, strength and conditioning, special teams – and the head coach – are all worse.

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      1. Um, Slovis was looking at the sidelines for most of three quarters, when that happens Gomer is usually involved in the play calling because in this supposed Air Raid offense the QB should not be standing around looking at the sidelines and remember that both loses came against teams dropping 8 men on defense and Opie didn’t run the damn ball

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Budda – yes, Slovis was able to succeed DESPITE having to look at the village idiot every time.

        This was such a winnable game. And hopefully the brain trust figured out from the second half of the domer game that giving the ball to Stepp is the road to success.

        Liked by 4 people

      3. LOL, the village idiot and his minion Opie think their backs can’t run more than 10 times a game, they have 2 healthy backs and kid who is redhsirting, you think Stepp gets 20 carries this week ? I don’t see UA dropping 8, look for Slovis to throw until his arm falls off, I would be stunned if SC ran the ball more than 25 times

        Liked by 3 people

      1. gt —Bad teams mostly lose close games —but bad coaches always lose close games. Helton’s non-poker face says it all: he returns to the days of daddy getting mad at him for being a screw up every time USC falls behind. Result? He overthinks every 3rd down, changing and re-changing the play from the sidelines, to the point he kills any momentum the team could be developing.
        Maybe we aren’t a great team —but we’re a good team —and we’d be so much better off if Helton could resolve his daddy issues off the field.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Graham Harrell is basically calling out Aaron Ausmus by constantly referring to the running backs being out of shape. That’s a perfect example of an unprofessional, inexperienced coaching staff. Clay Helton made a big deal about hiring Ausmus as his strength and conditioning coach, but he allows his coordinator to use him as a scapegoat to deflect his in deficiencies. Those are the actions of a gutless head coach, who has zero leadership skills.

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    1. Before the season started I mentioned the problems Harrell would have with the mediocre Helton staff. His running back and o-line coach sure aren’t doing him any favors. And the Special Teams coach’s nonchalant attitude toward repeated failures in every phase of the game isn’t either. Throw in the Conditioning Coach and the Defensive Coordinator and it’s just to steep a hill for the young Harrell to climb.

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      1. Sorry MG, I’m not going to cut Opie any slack, anyone who makes the following comment is not all there
        “Out here, no one’s in a hurry to run many plays on the other side of the ball too,” Harrell said.
        Opie has no clue, none. If he thought everyone played sandlot offense he’s a moron, some coaches actually have IQ’s higher than their shoe size, they see that running the ball, running clock is a way to slow down the ” Air Raid ” ( which we don’t run ) and keep their own defense fresh, they don’t get into a track meet.
        Opie is all or nothing with the pass, he wouldn’t run the ball to save his life which is why this mickey mouse offense is not a winner of NC’s and if you can’t, won’t or aren’t smart enough to adapt to what the defense gives you then head back to Beef Jerky State

        Liked by 2 people

    2. But before the season began we were told how this year the team’s strength and conditioning were the best ever! Were the usual rah rah mediacrats and their followers lying to us? If so, where are their apologies now?

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      1. gt —-One thing I’ve noticed about California’s two bit politicians (and that’s what Helton is —no more no less) is that they always promise big, they always deliver little and they never apologize. Helton never tells the truth if he can help it and tries very hard to never says what’s on his mind. When Helton was asked about player compensation he said “Oh, I fully trust our wonderful Governor ans Legislature.” When he was asked about the officiating at Notre Dame he said “Oh, it tough to be an official.” He’s a totally gutless hypocrite that everybody —including his players —can see through…..
        #NoOneExpectsHimToApologizeBecauseTheyKnowHe’sFullOfShit…

        Liked by 3 people

  4. SC is so motivated by money now that you would think they can’t wait to fire Helton because he is costing the university so much money.

    Even with the buyout and the extra salary for a new coach, a winning program would generate more than enough revenue to make up for this.

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      2. Cal75,
        Even in California they don’t place people on probation (misdemeanor) or parole (felony) for failure to report double hearsay….
        #Well,NotYet….[GavinMightChangeThat]…

        Liked by 1 person

    3. You would think that. But today’s educrats believe that football is a violent white sexist patriarchal sport that must eventually be phased out. If they can transition SC into The Stanford of the West model where they have a football team but they don’t really mind if they don’t compete for the national title as long as the university wins in national academic rankings, it will be easier one day to drop the sport altogether.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. Yes, gt —let’s just refer to that as….
        #…”Folt’sDreamScenario”
        #[NowProveUsWrongFoltByHiringUrbanMeyer]…..
        #…[WhichWeKnowYouWon’t—TherebyProvingUsRight]…..

        Liked by 1 person

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