FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: What Was The Name Of That Bad Movie?

Before I forget, why did USC think it could handle Kayvon Thibodeaux without double-teaming him, like every other opponent that faced Oregon?

I know the brain trust (Graham Harrell, Clay Helton) has to adhere to Air Raid philosophies at all times, like snapping out of shotgun formation on fourth-and-inches.

But for the most part, poor Jalen McKenzie had to deal with Thibodeaux by himself and that is not fair or smart.

And then people wonder why I get exasperated?

Oregon rolls into USC’s home stadium without its best secondary players, without the nation’s best lineman, with a first-year QB and with two losses. And wins!

Just like I feared.

Because USC makes the same mistakes every week, every year. Penalties were a huge problem two years ago and a huge problem Friday night. Nothing changes.

On the great interception by Jamal Hill, Kedon Slovis threw a poor spiral. Something was wrong with Slovis all season but USC would not admit it.

It’s so frustrating when you can see these problems and Helton doesn’t fix them and then Mike Bohn tries to gloss over them with hype videos and extra support staff.

82 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: What Was The Name Of That Bad Movie?”

  1. Here is the final AP ranking for SC in the last 5 years.
    2019 35th
    2018 Not in the top 50
    2017 12th
    2016 3rd
    2015 37th
    2020 This year they will hopefully finish somewhere 10th and 20th.
    That isn’t good for most USC football fans. But Carol Folt recently came out and said that this team has fought hard all year. So I guess she thinks that it is good enough for her. That’s why I have always said that these administrators don’t want a great team and that’s why we don’t have a great team and probably never will.

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    1. One more telling statistic:

      Clay is 2-7 against ranked teams without Sam Darnold. And the 2 ranked teams were Wazzu and Utah, both of which turned out to be mediocre teams those years.

      5 plus years with HC Clay is enough. We ran the experiment of him being HC. The results are in. No more rinse and repeat with Clay.

      Hire the Fox Sports analyst named Urban.

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      1. It won’t happen, my friend. It can’t happen. Urban is an alpha male — and that doesn’t figure into Folt’s plan for “managed decline” of the football program.
        [By “managed decline” I don’t mean Folt wants to see Helton lose games. I mean—while she’d like Helton to win games— she won’t lift a finger to help the program become first rate —and she’s perfectly content with seeing the program stay second rate]….
        #..WhileSheWalks”ThePathOfTheRighteous”…

        Liked by 4 people

      3. Step 1 – Remove most of the BOT. Start with Caruso. Replace with reasonable people who aren’t totally self-absorbed and who love the university and who have principles.

        Step 2 – Fire Folt. Hire Mortie Shapiro from Northwestern. They could have hired him when Folt was hired. Note that Northwestern is playing in the Big 10 championship this weekend.

        Step 3 – Hire Urban.

        Liked by 4 people

      6. A wonderful Wish List, my good friend. It’s too bad that the people who run the university only smile when they see a list like that. And I can assure you –with 100% confidence— they do.
        #It’sJustTheWayItIs

        Liked by 2 people

      9. Correct, 67! When applications go down (i. e., when tuition money starts to dry up) AND donors stop giving, things MIGHT change….
        #….TheBoard&PrezWillStay..ButTheyMayGetThePicture

        Liked by 2 people

  2. The name of this movie is “Trump supporters are retarded faggots” starring whitetrash22 as Pjm and Michael Guarino as some washed up mediocre attorney in Hawaii.
    #USChasalwaysbeenoverrated 😂😂😂

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    2. FU: Trump lives rent free in your head. Love it that he bugs you so much. You are the kind of person people invite to poker games because they know you are such a chump.

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    3. Go Fornicate Yourself,

      Add me to your hate list. You come here in the last two weeks with your diarrhea and used tampon cusing and cursing and berating. You have no respect for anyone, including yourself. I just wonder if your dad knows that you talk like that, but what do you expect from a ugly education which only allows your dad and you to be a janitor. Your drivel is nauseating. Stay if you want, but I will tell you now, that GoTroy 22, Michael, and I will slam your clown face to the ground and you will scream for your friends from ugly. They won’t help because we chased them off this board as well.

      Liked by 5 people

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      2. Actually, pt, the more I think about it —the more I think it’ll be hilarious if NO ONE responds to him ever again…..
        #TimLeftwichNailedThisOne

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  3. Oregon tackled well for 4 quarters,had a balanced attack on offense and defense, their q/b, average at best, did not make huge mistakes that led to scores. They are a better coached team, game time and practices…even though a young team the coaching showed what a difference it makes.
    I recommend not acknowledging people that should be banned from commenting crude, inane and obtuse type remarks.

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      2. Dude –went back and checked —they were actually saying that Brad Pitt line from the end of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: “We’re here to do some devil shit.”

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Talk about tackling, did you see that tackle Hufunga laid on that Oregon duck player? The technique was textbook and picture perfect. He wrapped his arms around the player and brought him down clean. Unfortunately, it was the punter he was tackling.

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      1. Great play. But you’re forgetting the greatest play of the day: throwing the Oregon QB to the ground 2 seconds after the whistle when we stopped Oregon on 3rd and 8.
        Plays like these are what make the Helton era ‘unique’ in Trojan football history.
        #Luckily[ForHeton]Bohn&FoltAreTooDumbToNotice

        Liked by 4 people

  4. If we could get back to USC football and running the football it would be a step in the right direction. At least we dont have to listen to Larry Scott talk about the Pac 12 being disrespected. We have a 4-2 Champion

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  5. rot starts at the top. the board of trustees/nikias are idiots. they appoint ads (not one but two as if one may not be enough to kill the program) who have never been ads and a head coach who has never been a head coach (and only name in his rolodex is of his brother). if this is such a good idea why don’t they do the same thing with their business.

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    2. forgot to add what does this head coach do (clearly demonstrating the consistency and his incompetence), he likewise appoints an oc who has never been an oc (tee). yet they expect to be contenders for nc.

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  6. Scottie – Your prediction was right, unfortunately.

    Several plays stand out – USC’s #15, a sr, running into the punter?; Oregon’s #5 Oregon from WLV Oaks Christian making plays (thank goodness, we see him only 1 more year); our defense allowing Oregon to convert long 3rd downs and the USC in shotgun formation on 4 and inches. I was never a fan of the air raid and am very disappointed in Harrell. Hopefully, he becomes a HC somewhere.

    It’s all about the tone at the top – Caruso, Folt, Nikias and the other brain dead but super rich BOT’s allowing this nonsense to continue year and year out.

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    1. Yes. Folt, Bohn and Helton are irretrievably fucked up. Message received. But let’s look at a very fixable problem. It’s name is DREVNO. Our o-line is the worst in the Pac 12. Our run game is the worst in the Pac 12. Because the o-line is such a joke, no player worth shit wants to come to USC. Why would they? To be coached by a joke?
      If we can’t get rid of the 3 Stooges, at least get rid of Drevno.

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      1. I think Drevno does what he is told ,as all his staff does…don’t let them get hurt blocking and tackling, don’t hurt their feelings, just let their ‘fresh legs’ and talent shine through while practicing in shells and shorts…the helton way

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  7. That movie was the life of Jimmy Stewart in his movies. It started out with “It’s a Wonderful life.” where USC fans get to see how life would have been if Pete Carroll had never been born. Then it segued into “Harvey” where USC had an imaginary coach named Lane. Next up “Mr. Haden goes to Washington” where the Trojan faithful meet administrative incomprehensible decisions, hiring a coach without a background check. Followed by “The Man who shot Liberty Valance,” where a poor flustered clueless coach is rescued by an unexpected shot from a former hero. The former hero later disappears . And finally a cross between “Vertigo” and ” The Shootist ” where USC fans feel as if they’re going crazy after the doctor diagnosed the hero with colon cancer. The final climatic scene the hero has a pain in the ass, so he decides to end it all in a blaze of glory, and our hapless coach is there to witness the carnage.
    I used to love Jimmy Stewart.

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      1. Jimmy Stweart was one the greatest actors of all time. His roles went from being an innocent and naive man all the way to a cynical and hateful man. You can see this in Harvey, What a Wonderful Life, all the way to Winchester 73, and the B-52 commander. He was a gentle soul. His movies were awesome. One of my favorite actors.

        Liked by 2 people

  8. About 7 minutes into the game–down by an easy 14–my “extended” and loyal Trojan family at our watch party chose to mute the game and go into the dining room and enjoy precious family time. Looks like I was the smart one. No bourbon for me last night.

    Y’all are mostly right along the last few threads, I suspect.
    I’ll watch the game by myself today–as painful as that may be.
    A few things in the stat line jump out before I watch the debacle.

    Either Oregon’s offense is deplorable, or Orlando’s Defense is good and improving. Tyler Shough had a good early start to the season, so he’s either getting worse or he was never any good, or our D upset his rhythm. Our D gave up 108 passing yards. USC gave up 135 yards rushing–which should get a “W” most of the time. For Oregon to put up such a horrid offensive showing after a two week rest is not a good sign for Quacknation.

    Here’s the Dux drive charts on 4 of 5 scores:
    First 20 minutes of game time:
    9 yards-TD
    32 yards-TD
    41 yards-TD

    Second half–a single sustained drive for TD
    58 yards-FG.

    I’m giving my D coaches and Orlando props and I’m really looking forward to improvement next year. We have some good to great talent to build on. Hoping Foreman joins an improving Trojan D.

    If the O and ST continue to give opponents a short field to score with, we will continue to lose a lot of games. This has been a signature fault of Helton’s teams during the entire tenure. We all knew before game time that Thibideaux (sp?) would need a double team. Drevno/HC failed with their scheme. The few times I glanced at the muted screen I saw #5 on our side of the LOS.

    That said, if Vavae were healthy and we had not played a Sunday night game followed by a Saturday “night” game followed by a Friday 5PM game all in 13 days, we beat the Dux in a close one and go to a nice bowl game. Larry Scott was glowing last night during the coronation ceremony. Another successful ambush.

    As always, I feel sadness for the Seniors who likely have played their last game in Cardinal and Gold–and during COVID they did it in an empty stadium with no Senior recognition with family and parents. It was a nice exhibition season for the LSFS* and we learned a lot about the Trojans in this lil exhibition.

    *Larry Scott Football Subdivision, aka Pac 12–not quite D1 but not D2.

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    1. Bourbon, the talent is there. But we don’t see a team that performs as a team. We see a lot of remarkable individual efforts, but that doesn’t win against better teams. And Oregon isn’t all that good.

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      2. While I admit to being “wordy” above, under fair circumstances we beat Oregon 9 times out of 10 in 2020.

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    2. In spite of their record, Oregon has a stellar d-line and a great set of d-backs. Slovis would have to be a shade better than he is to beat that kind of defense while being protected by a Drevno-coached o-line. No QB is gonna look great while Drevno is there.
      I told my wife before Slovis’ LAST attempt on the final drive –“Poor kid needs an extra half second to throw into the end zone —and there is NO way on earth he’s gonna get —he’s gonna get creamed.” Kedon was running for his life on pass plays that only take 3 seconds to develop —there was no way in hell he was ever gonna get three AND A HALF seconds.
      #GladCoachGoofusKeptHisBurnedOutBuddyOnStaff…
      #[OnlyPersonWhoGetsHurtByThatDecisionIsHisQB]
      P. S.
      You are SO right about USC’s defense. No matter what anyone says they did a fucking good job under the worst circumstances. Big step up from Pendergast.
      #WhichProbablyMeansWe’llLoseOrlandoIn2021

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      1. Our D held Oregon to 243 total yards. In today’s world, that is amazing. It was about half of what Oregon usually gets.

        Kedon was running for his life on most plays. Reminded me of Sam Darnold versus Ohio State.

        BTW, Harrell’s offense seems to take way too long to develop. I understand that it is about going through progressions and taking what the D gives you, but sometimes you need to execute within 3 seconds. You can’t expect the O-line to be able hold their blocks for 7 seconds or more.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Harrell thinks that Slovis recognizes where the “green field” is as fast as he could. He thinks Slovis is a younger version of himself. He’s not. He’s got a great arm and plenty of guts….. but he’s not anywhere near as savvy as Harrell was back in the day. Harrell needs to take this into consideration pretty soon cuz it’s getting more obvious every game that Kedon is taking way to much time to get the ball off. With our certifiably lousy o-line and o-line coach, we need to stick with shorter passes —to backs and flankers.
        #Yes,ThisMeansGivingTheDefenseAShorterField…
        #ButTheO-LineSucksSoBadWeHaveNOChoice…..

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Michael, When Harrell played, the spread was more more novel. D coordinators were struggling with how to defend it. He had that big advantage going for him.

        Now in 2020, they know how. Drop 8 into zone coverage. Put your 3 best pass rushers on the line, and occasionally blitz from the weak side.

        Same thing happened to the Chipper. Back in the day, Oregon would gain over 600 yards of offense. People thought he was a genius. Now, Chip’s offense is nothing special, though he bamboozled the gutties into thinking he still had some gas left in the tank.

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      6. 67 — I finally have to (reluctantly) agree with Scott. Harrell is nothing special. Not terrible. But not special. I’ve heard thru the grapevine that Kliff Kingsbury was going to stay IF he was promised he could take over as Head Coach the following year. But Swann was sold on Helton! I think Kliff would have done a much better job than Clay or Graham running the offense (although —to be fair to Graham —he is stuck with Clay and Drevno).
        I disagree with everybody who sez we aren’t markedly improved on defense, though. We’re playing much better —and we don’t run outta gas in the 4th quarter.

        Liked by 2 people

      7. Michael, it is amazing that Swann, who has as deep of a football background as any AD would have, was sold on Helton. But he certainly was, given the extension. WTF was Swann thinking?

        #MaybeHeWasn’tThinking?

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      8. 67 — Think about the extension. Helton is well below average —everybody knows it —sports press, players, fans. And yet Swann extends him –when NO one else wants any part of him —as though he were a hot commodity. Why? Who pushed for this? Obviously, Helton. But WHAT did Helton use as leverage?
        #IWouldLoveToKnowTheAnswerToThatQuestion

        Liked by 1 person

      9. gt –After Slovis’ boneheaded throw (I still don’t know what he was thinking on that), the defense only let Oregon get 1 first down [of course that amounts to 7 plays and quite a runoff of the clock].
        That interception was the end of the game —it prevented us from dinking and dunking down the filed for the tying TD.
        [Has Slovis offered any comments on what he was thinking on that play —or the other 2 interceptions? They were all head scratchers].

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Where is the talent you guys out way off—-other than safety, qb, and WR Oregon has better talent…. SC does not have the talent they use it. Scott Wolf, says poor Jalen Mckenzie, and No. 72 would ride the bench at other Pac 12 programs. You all made Drake Jackson an instant superstar I don’t see it. The mistakes made in recruiting are clearly obvious rather than Wide Receiver and Safety where yes there is superior talent. Slovis, is a good QB, but not a great one he just throws more passes than everyone else. Years ago in the 70’s and in the Carroll SC had superior talent, but not anymore you guys are living in the past.

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    1. talent IS NOT the problem…you STILL NEED coaching for development and that is both practices and game time…helton has ZERO ability/acumen in that area,but he is abv avg at lying and BS 24×7…

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  10. We are SC——it is now We were SC………… Many players I hear are going to transfer………even some starters including running backs.. Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Arizona State are young teams with many returning starters. Helton better hope the pandemic continues with the revised, reduced schedules. To me the program is sinking right in front of our eyes —The “Titanic Trojans”

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  11. My family donated over $100,000 to the Coliseum renovation. It is shocking and heartbreaking to see how far USC football has fallen from the day when we beat Ohio State 35-3 at home in 2008. The Pac 12 suffers too from our weakness. USC Football and probably the Pac 12 could be fixed with one move: hire URBAN MEYER

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  12. It reminded me of the 2006 UCLA 13-9 debacle, where genius boy Kiffin refused to give his left tackle any help against Bruce Davis. Mistakes like this are the hallmark of an Offensive Coordinator who refuses to check his ego at the door. In both cases, it turned out to be a disaster for USC.

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    1. I doubt the statement is accurate…sc had a head coach and offensive line coach, kiffin was mostly in the q/b and receivers dept…he is doing pretty well since the low class tarmac by a low class AD…btw so is Sark…
      SC did not stand up vs ncaa, as many other schools have done…that started the beginning of the end where we are today.

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  13. Oregon is in the Fiesta bowl, USC is in the, “there’s plenty of hurt in our soul in our locker room tonight bowl” sponsored by the platitudes are better than coaching coalition. Helton buys his fertilizer at Costco. He brought a pallet load to the coliseum last night.

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  14. Dear Santa,

    I am an old man. I have always believed in you. I thank you for all the wonderful gifts that you have given me over the years. Santa, if you would not mind, please, I would like the gift of, Helton, Harrell, and Drevino being hired by Auburn. I wish for a head coach that is not wishy washy, but is a discplianrian that believes in a balanced offense, that they run the ball with physicality and brutal style, and that the olinemen know how to run block. I wish for a coach that can get the 5 star recruits back. With this, winning will take care of itself.

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  15. Last night, SC did not look good. The O-line didn’t run block and couldn’t pass block. The play calls were SLOW in developing. The defense had a hard time tackling and were frequently beat by the opponent’s play calls. After FIVE long years, Helton needs to stand up and take credit for this debacle. BUT that won’t happen…sigh… HERESY ALERT START: I wish they lost the UCLA game from last year. HERESY ALERT OVER. Then the Dolt wouldn’t have gotten a game ball and maybe Boner would have been permitted to get a new coach. Helton is my pick for the worst coach in the Pac12 and perhaps the worst coach on the left coast, especially since Mike Singletary isn’t coaching…as if he ever did. This isn’t a “managed decline”, it’s an open loop drop to the bottom. SC may get a deserved place in the BOTTOM 10. This year, recruiting rose from being dreadful (by anyone’s standard) to being poor (by SC’s standard), of course ignoring the O-line recruiting, which appears to be typical of the Kiffin-Sark-Helton era.

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    1. Ha! “Open Loop drop.”
      #IfOnlyHeltonWouldFallThroughWhenTheTrapDoorsOpen
      #KindaLikeTheGuyGoingIntoTheFlamingPit…
      #…InIndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom…

      Liked by 1 person

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