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USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of The Week

WINNERS

The defense

You would think Todd “Blitz Boy” Orlando won the Super Bowl in some quarters from the reaction to beating Utah. It might be nice to see USC dominate a team not playing its first game with two unimpressive quarterbacks.

Kana’i Mauga

The linebacker had 11 tackles, a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. If he keeps playing like this, it would be hard for Palaie Gaoteote to regain his starting job when he returns from concussion protocol.

Tuli Tuipulotu

It might not have taken much to land Marlon’s younger brother but the true freshman defensive lineman is exceeding expectations and that’s not something you see often in this program.

JT Daniels

The former USC QB made his first start and threw for 400 yards as Georgia squeaked past Mike Leach and Mississippi State. That means Kedon Slovis, Jack Sears and Daniels have all started and won games this season.

Perception

There was a perception — backed by Helton — that USC ran the ball effectively. The final stats showed the Trojans averaged 3 yards a carry.

LOSERS

ESPN

The TV network lost the cameras during the second half of the game and then couldn’t even give adequate updates because the announcers weren’t even at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Many games post-COVID-19 are being announced from the studio but this time it backfired.

Kedon Slovis

We are still no closer to an explanation for his problems with accuracy thanks to stonewalling answers from Clay Helton.

Drake London

Since his “breakout” game against Arizona State, he’s caught a grand total of eight passes in two games. The most talented player on offense needs more opportunities.

Hype videos

Friday’s video was panned by fans of “The Mandalorian.” This was after the disastrous debut video that got yanked off the Internet. Obviously, none of you understand “what appeals to recruits.”

Matt Leinart

He was trending on twitter Sunday night and arguing with people about his since-deleted tweet claiming he wanted to move out of “this awful place.” Manhattan Beach?

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34 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Winners And Losers Of The Week”

  1. Daniels and Sears don’t play for USC anymore, so who cares.

    Gomer is well on his way to ruining another QB, Darnold got worse and Slovis is on his way, unless he’s hurt, and if he’s hurt, why is he paying ?

    Using a more explosive RB might have made for a better running game, but we know how Gomer uses his RB’s, not very well.

    USC won, yippee, that might be the worst Utah team I’ve seen.

    What did Leinart say that was so wrong ?

    You can hide, lockdown, curfew, wear a chin diaper and ” social distance ” all you want, the virus is there, it’s always going to be there, it’s going to be there after the vaccine comes out, stop wetting the bed and live your life, even if you get it you have a 99% chance of getting over it, if you have pre existing conditions, take precautions.

    Liked by 6 people

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    1. SPOT ON…although it is interesting to see and compare q/b accomplishment , as it exposes deficiencies in coaching/player development through the type ofpractice regimens at different schools; you only play as hard/well as you practice. Think Georgia practices are like sc practices? I don’t.

      Liked by 4 people

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  2. Scottie, if we are grading outside of the current roster, coaching staff and USC administration, then I’ll add Michael Pittman Jr., Nelson Agholor, and RoJo, all of whom are breaking out.

    Drake London as a “Loser”? I don’t think “losers” are doubled.

    Liked by 5 people

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    2. 67 — Drake is a loser. He has so much talent and athleticism (& went around acting like such a superstar in game #1) that he’s getting double covered for the rest of the year…
      #HeHasNoOneToBlameButHimself….

      Liked by 2 people

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    3. The QBR shows Slovis is still performing at a high level.
      Our concern that he is not getting the ball downfield to some serious weapons is well-grounded. He looks confident when he gets out of the pocket and can let his talented receiving corps “get open” against the 7-8 deep zone.

      If he is “nursing” a chronic injury (from the Iowa game) for which they chose not to have surgery, it is incumbent on the Coaches to protect the young fellow’s private medical information.

      If he is healthy, he’ll improve as the remaining season goes on.
      London will get more targets.
      Kromenhoek (sp) will get some precious (keep ya’ honest) targets.
      The Air (pantie) Raid will again flourish.

      During the clock burn in the last 7 minutes of the fourth qtr or so, Vavae was
      given the ball repeatedly against “11 in the box” and he was repeatedly stuffed for -1, 0, +1. Take those garbage att out of the equation, take out Slovis’ lost yards, and the O-line and RB did a serviceable job against a well-coached front 7.

      ESPN loser? Nope. Pac 12 football loser. Who watches a game starting at 830 PM Mtn time

      Liked by 6 people

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      1. Bourbon,
        Yes, Slovis plays smart. [He’s so smart that you can see he’s frustrated by his own level of play]. Shoulder injuries never really get “fixed” with the passage of time. Not Kedon’s fault…but it’s a fact. Kedon’s inability to do what he did last year (get the ball into a small window 30 yards downfield) isn’t being lost on pac 12 defensive coordinators —they realize they don’t have to seriously defend as much field as last year. Again, not Kedon’s fault.
        Hope we get Stepp back for the rest of the season. The fact that Helton would rather play an unhealthy Carr over an unhealthy Stepp is one more indicator of Helton’s antipathy toward Stepp (as if we needed any after last year’s faiasco). We need a better running attack than Carr can provide.

        Liked by 3 people

      5. I saw one story in the media that quoted Kedon as saying that he has had to adjust his motion due to the Iowa injury. That is worrisome, particularly since that is almost a year ago. I have worries about strength and conditioning, given how they rushed back Porter Gustin after foot surgery, and given how Markese’s ankle procedure turned into a year recovery, from what was to have been 3-5 weeks.

        Liked by 5 people

      1. Ha! It should be! Let’s face it —that word bears a positive relationship to the Third Reich.
        #HowCanSportsAnnouncersBeSoRootedInEvil?

        Liked by 2 people

    1. LA County, Riverside County, California, it’s all awful under the Dictator Gov and the one party rule Legislature and why ANYONE with any brain cells still lives there is beyond me.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. You’re right. It’s a pain to move –we packed up and headed for Hawaii at great moving expense. But —guess what? — more and more people will be leaving cities that insist on furthering globalist agendas over serving the very basic needs of their own citizens. People pay their property taxes to get clean streets, clean government and police protection for their homes and businesses. Most people don’t like the idea of being told “you pay your taxes and we’ll give you NOTHING in return —that’s the deal —how do you like it?”

        Liked by 3 people

      4. Not to upstage, but…
        left Cali 32 years ago, never regretted it.*

        *have a tiny beach cottage near Monterey (which is taxed to Hades, but keeps me from shoveling snow)

        Like

  6. All this talk about leaving California has me thinking. Oops I’m over it. What’s not to love here in California? We are the third largest communist country in the world. That is what you call one party rule isn’t it? The Democrats are so cock sure they didn’t even blink when we recalled the governor to install a rino named Arnold.
    This is the state with snow and beaches about an hour apart, just like Japan. Two of the nation’s oldest theme parks are closed by the government here in Southern California, who else can say that? This is the only state I know of that intentionally diverts water from agriculture to save a fish about the size of Helton’s intellect. The only place in the union where voters accept an illegal tax hike on gasoline because the TV tells them the money is to fix the roads, without asking where the original money collected to fix the roads went. What is there not to like in the land of fruits and nuts?

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Very funny piece, Rialto. [What isn’t funny is the fact very good and decent people have reached the point where they think it’s okay for their government to tell them “Oh, you want a bridge? Pass a bond. Oh, you want your schools repaired? Pass a bond.
      You wanna know why we can’t do it with your tax money? We wasted all that. What’s your problem?”]……

      Liked by 1 person

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    2. You left out underfunded pension plans, the Legislature looking to tax rich people who LEAVE the state to reside elsewhere, raising the top rate to 16%, regulating the dairy business out of the state, eliminating all gas cars by 2035, eliminating the use of natural gas, and on and on and on

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. All smart moves —if your object is killing the state once and for all.
        #YaReallyGottaWonderWhat’sGoingOn….

        Like

    3. RT:

      I would add, based upon GDP (gross domestic product, not Greedy Democratic pussies), Cali is the #2 largest Communist country on the globe.
      Great point, tho. One party rule for sure.

      I would also remind my uber greenie friends in SF* (I’m a fiscally conservative greenie, so…) that they swiftly (1913) dammed the Hetch Hetchy Valley–by some accounts (previously) the most beautiful valley in the USA–to provide drinking water to a rapidly growing SF after the quake.

      Finally, as a wee grammar schooler I was told that we had to build the California Aqueduct to distribute abundant water to ag and to a growing LA basin. The effect on the salmon industry in the Sacramento Delta and the salmon fry was beyond devastating. So yeah, to save a little trout in the Carmel River and tear down a dam and create a water poor Monterey County today? WTF?

      I’ve always found the hypocrisy of most Californians to be breathtaking.

      *I actually don’t have any such friends, but if they got snooty I would remind them of Hetch Hetchy

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  7. Loser of the week.
    Cal vs Penitentiary U.

    Just coming back to my birthplace. Family in this state since 1880’s. In Prescott for a week. This state is bizarre. On many different levels. Like a drunk, it’ll have to hit curbside before it can start to recover. The faster it implodes, the sooner it will recover. But not in my lifetime of my daughter’s lifetime.

    #AdiousLosGatos,Saratoga,Berkeley,OC,RiversideCo.

    Liked by 2 people

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