FOOTBALL

USC Saturday Notes: Linebacker Unit Under Scrutiny

I’ve talked about USC’s linebacker unit being indifferent. It looks like Athlon’s agrees with its Pac-12 rankings of the linebacker corps:

1. Oregon

2. Washington

3. Arizona Sr

4. Utah

5. OSU

6. Cal

7. Colorado

8. USC

9. UCLA

10. WSU

11. Stanford

12. Arizona

  • Kedon Slovis took part in the Steve Clarkson QB retreat in Santa Monica today:
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  • And here is a USC-related tweet of the day:
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41 thoughts on “USC Saturday Notes: Linebacker Unit Under Scrutiny”

  1. What? Slovis is at a quarterback camp? Can the transfer portal be heating up again? Stay tuned.
    Find out who has a better O line in division 1 football. Answer: everybody. If this happens I blame Bohn because the writing has been on the wall all spring.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Folt: “Blame Bohn? Blame Bohn???”
      #”ThatIsSOUnfair!”
      #”WhatDoesHeHaveToDoWithThis?”
      [btw, Athlon position rankings suck dick —let’s see where Phil Steele has USC in the QB, Running Back, Receiver, Safety and Cornerback categories]…
      #USCCanWinAllButOneOfIt’sGamesIfWe’reLoadedAtThosePositions

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  2. I remember when SC’s liber’s were the teeth to the defense. It did not matter where the ball was, if SC had to stop them, then bet your mortgage and you will come out a winner. Seau, Young, Woods, Rickki Gray, and others were the best. I alway thought SC was Lber U. Now, the lber core is called Swiss cheese U.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. That hit was illegal…. it violated the rule against “surprise contact”—-
      #Listen:AnnouncersAreSayingUCLAPlayerShouldBeThrownOut….
      #….OfOrganizedFootball….
      #smdh
      [You can tell how Satanic the bruins are just by looking at the # of hits this video got—-666K!!!! —Sign of the devil! —that’s ALWAYS the # of views EVERY bruin video gets]!!
      #ConnectTheDots!

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. 666….Sam Gilbert…the beat goes on at Westwood Tech. And note that the ball carrier managed only to get about 3 yards. If you dance with the devil, you better get a better deal than that.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Michael, if the bruin ball carrier had been willing to drive into the pile, he might have had 4 yards. But he hesitated, went backwards, and wound up with 2 yards.

        #8Clap!

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Following the ball I believe he blocked the wrong man. They went for short yardage. If he had turned up where he was supposed to bam the play could have been big.

      Liked by 1 person

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      3. Owns, the objective in football is to score more points than the other team. First downs…they don’t show up on the scoreboard.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. I love Owns —but, yeah, 67 —- the idea is not to go down until the ball has crossed into the endzone…..
        #This2YardsAtATimeConcept….
        #…IsMaybeWherebruinRunnersGoWrong….

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Maybe if I posted the Drake TD again… of course there wasn’t the great blindside block, but chippie himself gave London cudos.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. Just Rent,

      He holds the tradition that ugly is famous for, cheap shots. The no good sun of a bi$ch kicks the player on the ground. Not only that, ugly lost the game. U clowns lose again

      Liked by 3 people

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  4. While mud whoops it up over a single block on a play that goes nowhere, in a game they lost…

    Trojans are doing work.

    Liked by 3 people

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  5. Tee Tee Terry has some wheels, and can fly If we had her at running back we would not need the air raid. Right now our track program is in the top 3 in the country which is the same place the football program use to be.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Nah, the air raid would still be the go-to. Kenan Christon was the fastest kid in CA two years ago, and look how many carries he had last year.

      Check out this 55 yard TD run against Arizona in his frosh year. Reggie-like straight line speed, maybe faster.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. Well, I just watched that 10 times in a row. [It would be so beautiful to repeat that run in South Bend at the end of a 24-24 game…..]…
        #HeartbreakForTheIrish….Ah!

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Your point is well constructed on Kenon Christian. However, how many carries has he had in the last two years. Another Clay Helton wasted talent example he should be getting the ball twenty times a game. Our current backs are too slow we don’t have the line to grind it out on the ground so we need a guy that can break some long runs. Our other backs don’t have moves, size, and absolutely not enough speed except for Christian.

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. That youngster has amazing acceleration through the line, then check out the top end speed. His legs are rotating about 50 percent faster than the Arizona safety. Almost a cartoon-level difference between the two guys.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Kenan had 10 carries for 70 yards last year in 6 games. Less than 2 carries per game. SMDH….

      I love VM, but it is a real stretch to see him as the featured RB at USC.

      Liked by 3 people

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  7. “Owns, the objective in football is to score more points than the other team. First downs…they don’t show up on the scoreboard.” ~’67

    Wow, ’67 “loses” his FB genius on the blog.

    Like

    Reply

      1. Only when you lose late by one score and want to count it as a victory that somehow says you’re better than an opponent you haven’t been able to beat in YEARS‼️

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Ha! [We need to formulize that —-something like ‘in all losses of fewer than 7 points, losing team can add first downs to their score IF their total # of first downs are greater than total # of first downs of opponent’]…..
        #ThereGoesBruins’13-9″Victory”

        Liked by 2 people

      4. Grand, Pudly. I’m smiling. [But it might not be long before there’s a movement toward ‘fairer scoring’]……

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Owns, we all perform public service in one way or another. Mine is to correct football gaffes wherever they occur, the large and the small, the informed and the uninformed. I feel like I delivered on my goal yesterday.

      Liked by 2 people

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  8. 10 carries for 70 yards in a season are the number of carries you give a walk on!!!!!

    Kenon Christian, should be starting at USC no question. VM, and the new guy from Texas should be backing him up. Come on Coaching Staff you finished close to 9th in Pac 12 rushing last year you need to add an explosive element to this offense. This air raid offense must go.

    This is another prime example of why Helton must go. No question Kenon has NFL talent and would be starting at all other Pac 12 schools.
    I am sure he will transfer if he does not get his share of carries this year.
    Mckay, and Robinson would have made Kenon a 1st round pick. Even with the air raid he can catch the ball out of the backfield, and take it to the house with that kind of speed. In a normal balanced offense Kenon at tailback, and Stepp at fullback would have made a great 1-2 – Bush, Lendale White like running attack which would have been hard to stop.

    The main problem with our running game is offensive line talent and execution, but with Kenan his speed can add explosive speed on the outside which is something we are truely lacking.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Tommy, right on. I have thought about the possibilities of “Thunder and Lightning 2.0” many times. Hopefully we can have the lighting part this fall.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. I don’t want to sound like a broken record (oh, fuck it’s too late for that) but I still think the BEST way to use Christon (given our line) is to hit him with a quick pass as he crosses scrimmage….and let him take it (to the house) from there…..

        Liked by 2 people

  9. The SC linebacker corps is probably the biggest question mark in the Pac-12. We have had a bucket full of injuries and the transfer of a guy who was supposed to be the core of that unit.

    This unit could outperform the ranking my a mile, or fall short. It will come down to alot of factors that noone can know right now.

    The upside is that maybe some of the injured players will return, can anyone say Solo? and maybe the excellent new recruits, Simon and Davis, can get some playing time and improve the unit.

    I think that anyone who thinks the defense is not going to be improved is just being negative.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. May I add one qualification to your reply? The coaching will continue to represent an improvement over the Pendergast years — but the effectiveness of our defense is gonna depend on health —we are not gonna be that deep.

      Liked by 2 people

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  10. My only contribution:
    Is Drake Jackson a D-lineman or a SLB?
    I’m not totally savvy with Orlando’s D, but it seems to have just 2 interior LB and a 5 man front with the strongside edge a LB or Edge pass-rusher depending on the read. Throw in the “hybrid safety/LB (Polamalu, Cravens, Hufanga) and things get muddy.

    Given the speed of the game, the LB position is changing “conceptually.”
    Also, I don’t give a flaming flip what these list-makers do. Just trying to find readers.

    I like our defense for 2021. The 2020 version was an improvement over the 2019 and 2018 corps.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

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