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If It’s Friday, It Must Be Time For A USC Notes Column

Who will win Saturday’s USC-Arizona State game?

I think Herm Edwards is a better coach than Clay Helton. I think USC has better talent than ASU. I think USC’s defense could have problems with QB Jayden Daniels, who is dying to face the Trojans after missing last season’s game.

If you are going to beat USC, this might be the time to do it. The defense is learning a new system and might be better later in the season. That said, I do think USC should go 7-0 with its joke schedule. Also, ASU tends to disappoint when there are expectations.

So I’m taking USC, 38-31. Talent over coaching.

  • USC is going to do something Saturday that I predict will enrage some alumni and please others. Remember this.
  • I will be posting live updates Saturday on this blog for you to follow the game Saturday morning.
  • A story going around Heritage Hall (virtually during COVID-19) is that USC no longer required Jacob Brown, the hype-video maker from LSU, after it created BLVD Studios with branding agency J1S.

So USC had Brown move across the country from LSU only to jettison him a few months later? Cold move, if true.

  • I spoke to a Coliseum suite holder again this week and the answer was the same: No admittance to the game Saturday.
  • Jack Sears will lead Boise State vs. No. 9-ranked BYU tonight. Sears has been mobile and rushed for 36 yards last week against Air Force. Remember, USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell doesn’t want his QBs to run so Sears wouldn’t be able to show his athleticism if he were running the Air Raid at USC.
  • Arizona State is going to wear all-white uniforms Saturday morning.
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And now for some history, specifically in 1974:

  • During the Energy Crisis, USC needed to conserve electricity so it switched two night games against Iowa and Oregon State to 1:30 p.m. kickoffs.

Can you imagine how happy fans would have been if that happened in 2019?

  • Can you believe USC students waited in line to get tickets to a basketball game? This was the day before tickets were distributed for the USC-UCLA game in 1974.

The game was huge, a Sports Arena sellout on a Saturday night and televised on Channel 5. Both teams were 22-3 and the winner would win the Pac-8 and get the conference’s only bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Gus Williams scored the first basketball of the game to give USC a 2-0 lead. But the Trojans made only three field goals the rest of the first half and lost, 82-52. Williams scored 12 points and guard Danny Anderson added 11 but no one else scored in double figures.

USC had to settle for going to the Collegiate Commisioners Association Championship instead.

  • Later in 1974, on Nov. 30, USC played Notre Dame in perhaps its most memorable game in school history and certainly its greatest comeback. After USC trailed 24-0, the Trojans scored 55 straight points and won 55-24.
  • Everyone knows about the game so here are some forgotten facts:
  • Notre Dame defensive back Reggie Barrett said after the game that Michigan State was better than the Trojans. Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 19-14.
  • Irish coach Ara Parseghian said it was too cold in South Bend to prepare for the game and then too warm in Los Angeles.

“We had a week of preparation and it was very difficult for us.” said Parseghian. “We had to work indoors under limited conditions. It snowed. There was ice outside. We wound up working out in 20- and 30-degree temperatures. The blood thickens.

“We have never played a good second half out here. Look what happened to Minnesota here last week against the Rams. It looked like Minnesota was dominating the football game and in the fourth period the same damn thing happened.”

Parseghian then added: “I may discuss with the administration the possibility of changing this game so we play on comparable dates in October rather than play it late in the season.”

One footnote: USC did move up in the Associated Press or United Press International polls despite the dramatic nationally televised victory.

  • As I write this, I’m reminded John McKay wanted to avoid speaking to USC boosters after losing to Notre Dame, 51-0, in 1966.
  • McKay had little desire to go to the old Sheraton-Town House hotel on Wilshire Blvd., where he would go after home games to talk to boosters. McKay stayed in the locker room for so long after the game that stadium staff informed him they were turning out the lights. When McKay and assistant coach Dave Levy walked up the tunnel, there were no fans around. Or even wives, who had the cars.
  • Instead of trying to get a taxi or going back to USC, McKay and Levy walked to the Town House via Vermont Ave. That’s about 4.5 miles. By the time the pair got to the hotel, there were about 15 boosters left to hear McKay speak.

43 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It Must Be Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. OOOOOh 22, Sleepy Joe has stolen the ball and is about to slam dunk it over Adolph J.’s tiny hand defense – doo da, doo da.

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    1. Only from Westwood …eyeroll… Honestly if Joe’s earpiece frequency is ever hacked, expect him to say, “May I mumbo dogface to the banana patch?”

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. On a lighter note, SO glad to see “If It’s Friday” back here! It was a profanation to see it on Sports Illustrated…
        #[…And,IfIMaySaySo,ThisWasAParticularlyGreat”IfIt’sFriday”]!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. As opposed to Adolph J.’s constant stream of me, me, me, I’m colossal monologues and his acute, explosive dysentery of deliberate lies and white-bread racism.

        RT, how does it feel to be a loser and a sucker? I bet the shoe fits perfectly.

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    2. Owns – so sorry to hear from you again. Ole Joe and the Hoe will do themselves in by their incompetency. Repub Senate (Repubs will get both GA seats) and a weakened House. Nothing Pelosi brings forward will pass. Gridlock…

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. I always thought my friend Owns was a “fair’s fair” kinda guy — not a “all’s fair in love and war” kinda guy…..
        #TheDemsHaveSetThe2024StageForSomethingUnpleasant…

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      2. Accusing the POTUS election winner of incompetency is really stupid.

        I imagine the 225k, CV-19 victims would feel the same way IF they weren’t dead due to Trump monumental incompetency.

        Currently, Trump’s go to guy on the CV-19 pandemic is a hack Radiologist w/o a soupcon of Infectious Disease education or training. Sort of like you Mr. Link, a fat mouth detached from your teensy, vacant brain.

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      3. Hey Missing Link, why are you so brain dead? Any money
        to wager on the 2 Ga. Senate seats.? Go kiss Trump’s ass as
        he is rudely escorted out of The White House. Maybe you
        will disappear for the next 4 years.

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  2. I had to remove my bookmark for SI ( stands for stupid idiots) because their “All Trojans” page is a ghost town. Who can blame the readers though? The articles are banal fluff without errors or typos (typos are errors but…) to keep the reader on their toes. I mean I had a teacher who insisted the typos were to see if you were paying attention.
    As for the game tomorrow I hope the PAC 12 doesn’t cancel due to wet weather. “Tennis isn’t played in the rain, is football okay?” (From the anonymous fly on the wall in Larry Scott ‘s office)
    Finally I am outraged at the PAC 12 unfairly punishing Washington for CAL’s lax procedures. “No contest” is a plea you make in court when you are accused of eating the last piece of chocolate cake. It is not an outcome of a team sport. When a team is unable to compete, regardless of the reason, they forfeit the game. The opponent, who is prepared to contest their for is awarded the vicory. They are not unfairly cheated by the conference of tennis buffs.
    Does anyone remember my password for this page? I guess I have to move back in.

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    1. Foe not for– not only did I prove my point on typos I also remember why this was such a tedious place. No edit features for my self correcting tablet.

      Liked by 1 person

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    3. their for? or therefore?

      vicory? or victory?

      …and I’m just teasin’ ya’ RT.
      My teacher also told me that typos were to see if I was paying attention.

      no lo contendre on eating the last slice of chocolate cake, your Honor.

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      1. Cal75:
        Glad to know you are here keeping the grammar and punctuation standards on this “august” forum to its lofty perch! I must wonder if we will evolve to quoting poems, the Bard, et al.
        #Tennysonanyone?

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Okay my tablet changed the word foe to to for. The sentence says their foe as in opponents. My tablet changes in to on and on to in. Sometimes the changes happen when I post.
        It was just handy when I posted today otherwise I use my phone or a real computer. Anyway thanks fight grandma lesson.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Ok, Bourbon: “Camelot has never been built at all, therefore it is built forever…”
        —Tennyson, “Idylls of the King”

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  3. Scottie, great column, we missed seeing the old school stories. Nice call on the 38-31 score. Daniels is a streaky player, so I hope Harrell uses the run game to keep the Devils off the field. If he does, then ASU shouldn’t get 31.

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    1. It seems that CFB defenses are waaaaaay behind the offenses during the COVID CFB season. While I am psyched to see what Orlando and the defensive staff dial up for our team, I am ready for a high scoring (frustrating) affair, trojan67.

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      1. I’d feel better if we had a spring to install the new defense, but doesn’t asu only return one other starter on offense? And their RB is a jc transfer and a couple freshmen.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Agree with your points, gentlemen. And ASU has (I believe) new D and O coordinators, so they will be dealing with that as well.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Yes, guys —the offense is ALL on Daniels. A bunch of 2 and 3 stars (who are nevertheless well coached and motivated) at running back, receiver and o-line. In essence, Orlando has had months to get ready for ONE player. If Daniels scores multiple TD’s on Saturday I’m all for giving up on Orlando as the “answer to the Pendergast problem.”

        Liked by 2 people

  4. One thing that kept ASU in the game last year was special teams play. I recall ASU having more than one long kick off return after USC scored. ASU started possession past the 50 yard line because of those returns.

    Obviously John Baxter deserved alot of the blame for that but he’s gone now and USC has a new special teams coach. If there is going to be a factor in this game, I think it might be special teams.

    And don’t forget, ASU had a 92 yard punt return for a TD in the 2018 game that USC lost 38 – 35.

    #WhereDidJohnBaxterEndUpLandingAfterGettingFired?

    #IDon’tThinkUSCGoes7-0

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. It is a huge plus that we no longer have to see the montage of Baxter “gut photos” that Scottie would post after a particularly bad special teams performance.

      #InsultUponInjury

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      2. Nice! Insult upon Insult! But let’s hope those 3 words aren’t gracing these pages on Saturday. Trojans really should win this by 14 if they execute well.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Agreed, 67. If we don’t win by at least 14 (i. e., show the kind of dominance and killer instinct you see in really good teams), we will not go undefeated. This has to be a Statement Game for USC.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Liked by 2 people

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  5. for some reason, I do not have a good feeling about this game. By every reason imaginable, USC should win. But there is always Clay….hoping for the best.

    Liked by 3 people

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      1. Ya know what, 67? It doesn’t really matter if none of our opponents are ready to play us…..
        #WasThisThePac12PlanALLAlong?

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Damn, it’s great to be back on Wolf’s real blog. Some things shouldn’t change.

    Did 22 suddenly take a type Pissly vacation?

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