FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Observations From A Pac-12 Coach

Here’s a couple quick observations from a Pac-12 coach on the USC-Arizona game:

“Their defensve alignments didn’t look right both games this season.”

“They just don’t look like a clean team. They have a ways to go.”

“They got outcoached by Arizona and I’m not sure people expected Arizona to outcoach too many teams this season.”

  • On running the shotgun in short-yardage situations:

“I would love to face that as a defensive coordinator. There’s only so many plays you can run out of the shotgun.”

“When they run on fourth down out of the gun, it’s a slow developing play and it gave the Arizona defense a chance.”

47 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Observations From A Pac-12 Coach”

  1. This “PAC-12 coach” is only telling you what the whole world sees from watching the first 2 games. The defense is the same as the last few years, they are not a “clean team”, and they can’t convert a 4th and 1 from the shotgun. This is a typical Gomer coached team (and I mean that from when his father was coach at U of Houston). Can you imagine Clueless Clay having to coach and compete against SEC teams?!?!?

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. Hope we play Notre Dame. Not that I think we stand a chance, but I still want us to play that game. They would have to have same circumstance and it’s a huge long shot, but let’s hope they would be our first call.

      Liked by 4 people

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      2. I hope they’re our first call, too —-but then I hope New Rule 19029(b) sub-subsection (F) kicks in and the game is disallowed….
        #HavingItBothWays

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Everyone needs to read every word of Wilner’s article. It documents the wonderfulness of Pac 12 decision making….
      #…You’llProbablyBeLaughingBy2ndParagraph….
      #…ButByTheLastParagraph,You’llBeInUtterAmazement

      Liked by 3 people

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  3. “When they run on fourth down out of the gun, it’s a slow developing play and it gave the Arizona defense a chance.”

    As well as telegraphing the play, with Markese in the backfield. Would love to see him in more situations other than short yardage.

    Liked by 3 people

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    2. It’s okay to telegraph when you have a mighty o-line, 67…..
      #JustLetTeamsTryToStopOurPower…
      #What’sThatYouSay?TheyAlreadyHave?NeverMind….

      Liked by 2 people

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  4. Ordinarily I would take up space here arguing that the refs made some bad calls and those call hurt USC’s scoring. For instance it was clear that USC scored (after watching football in 60 on the whatever channel) on the drive that ended with two consecutive 5 yard penalties from the less than one yard line. The ball crossed the goal line before the player was down. But the mark of the ball in that instance and even for the worst team in the country should have been a formality before the score. With the talent USC has, there should have been an automatic play to score from a foot or two away.
    Saying it’s not what we’re about is an awful answer. Anybody who watched the Trojans in the 60s and 70s knows, that very situation was what SC was all about. Tailbacks going over the goal line like spawning salmon in short yardage situations. Often because the refs shorted the mark (refs hate us you know).
    To go backwards on two consecutive plays, due to what amounts to not paying attention to the fundamentals, is inexcusable.
    If a math teacher failed to teach a rule such as a negative number times a negative number equals a positive number, said teacher would be guilty of malpractice. If a football coach overlooks a false start or delay of game penalty, because the player’s feelings might be hurt, it’s malpractice again. It’s the same. NO sugar coating- not the refs fault.
    The effect is the same because the players learn that fundamentals are not important. Sam Darnold never learned to throw the ball in the same color uniform as he was wearing- look at him now. If the math student makes a mistake based on faulty teaching it could be costly in the real world. A mistake such as a decimal place in a financial transaction could be the end of a company. Helton could be making $3, 450 a year…
    A mistake on the football field could cost the player a chance in the NFL or maybe an injury. That’s not USC is all about.
    Helton and Harrell are in fact coaching malpractice and should be removed before anymore harm is done.
    I would like to go back to bitching about the refs and their look the other way rules. When the other team holds or commits pass interference so blatant the homer announcers point it out, I am ready to bitch like I have never bithced before. Until the malpractice is cleared up, there is no point in worrying about bad officiating.
    C’mon Bohn get a clue!

    Liked by 6 people

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      1. Thx, Pudly. One is we seem to be predictable on fourth and one. It seems that we are giving it to Markese, no matter what, on some of those plays, even though they are supposed to be read options. The second, I don’t know if Meyer touched on this, is that from the I, the tailback has some momentum going forward, even if he is getting the ball around the same position as in the gun. But from the gun, Stepp was wrapped up around his ankles before he even got his forward progress moving on the failed 4th and one last week. Wisconsin is definitely effective from the I in the video.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Effectiveness is in large part based on execution more so than predictability. Used to be everyone knew what play we were going to run, they just couldn’t stop it. And that Stepp play has the same missed assignment for the second week in a row. Student body left was effective and the qb never carried the ball.
        Sure would help if we had confidence in Slovis’ hand and he’d pull the ball out and toss it, like the pass to Kromenhoek.

        Liked by 4 people

      3. Execution for sure. But unfortunately, we don’t have quite the same O-lines (or perhaps the same O-line execution) as we did back in the day.

        Liked by 4 people

      4. Look at the teams he is using as an example, Wisconsin is a power run team with REAL OL and PSU doesn’t have a soft OL. SC doesn’t use the TE, have a running QB, it has a soft OL and a OC with no imagination not to mention a head coach who calls a time out and then gets a delay of game right after the TO.

        The solution to the problem is to hire the coach in that video.

        Liked by 5 people

      5. PSU is 0-4 for this year. And as far as penalties after a time out..how about saban who have an opening play go awry after having to call a timeout, had too many guys on the field. Sh!t happens.
        It just happens here more.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Yeah, PSU is 0-4 this year, and the previous 4 years have been

        11-3
        11-2
        9-4
        11-2

        That’s playing in a real conference not a joke

        Liked by 4 people

      10. I guess you’d call that trending in the right direction… and don’t under appreciate the lengths psu went to maintain their 0fer record losing to a winless husker team.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Guess what, Rialto? NASA said that a 2012 rocket explosion was due to scientists forgetting to convert positive numbers to negative numbers when they crossed the equation….
      #TheyUnwittinglyLayedGroundworkForHelton….

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. My question is, if we can go back next year to watch SC play, how many people will renew their tickets? If it is less than 30K renewal, then what will Bohn do? But Bohn and Dolt are blind, they will not understand that people are protesting by not renewing their tickets.

    Liked by 2 people

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      2. Yes, always and only “the right way.” I forgot that virtue signaling line. [Was it said before or after the Haden family was discovered to be skimming off the top of a children’s charity]?

        Liked by 1 person

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