FOOTBALL

USC Sunday Buzz: What Happened To Wide Receiver U.?

When I looked at the USC depth chart on Thursday, one thing that struck me was how ordinary the wide receiver unit looked.

I also didn’t think it would be a major issue vs. San Jose State but might show in later games..

Well guess what, once you get past Drake London and Tahj Washington, what was there to talk about Saturday? Not much.

oMaybe part of it is Graham Harrell’s offense is pretty well known to teams and must rely on the talent of individuals instead of any system.

Two things are true: Time will tell with the offense. And USC receivers were overhyped in training camp.

81 thoughts on “USC Sunday Buzz: What Happened To Wide Receiver U.?”

  2. I can’t stand watching the offensive line get no push combined with the running back getting the ball at a standstill with absolutely no momentum.

    Just fucking brutal.

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    1. Helton was totally surprised by the ineptitude of the 0-line when he was caught by Pac 12 Network at the end of half. His lips were quivering and he was close to weeping. Why? Because he thought “this is the strongest group ever—thanks to our new conditioning coach!”, he watched the o-line ALL fall camp and couldn’t see it was woefully weak, he couldn’t figure out his offense is completely built around the talents of London and Slovis (and without them there is no there there).
      Helton can continue to talk all happy talk —but there aren’t enough words in the world to prepare people for what is coming in South Bend for a team that is this soft and can’t run the football.

      Liked by 7 people

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      1. Harrell likes the fun associated with the Air Raid philosophy —“Throw to the green grass.” But without an O-Line that protects the quarterback while he waits for someone to reach the “green grass”, this iteration of the Air Raid is doomed to failure. Helton didn’t see that in 2019. Or 2020. And he still doesn’t see that. Fortunately for Helton and fans we pulled some miracle finishes last year — but even when we won the “Pac 12 South Championship” last year we had the worst running attack USC ever had. With no running game and an O-line that can’t block for the QB as he waits for something to open up, the Trojans have BIG Problems.
        And it may be too late to correct them……

        Liked by 5 people

      2. P.S.
        Luckily, the side of the ball that has nothing to do with Helton is holding up their end of the bargain….
        #FireHeltonNow,BringOnOrlandoAsActingHeadCoach
        #[&….LetFoltFireOrlandoWhenHeTellsHerShe’sNot”Coach”]

        Liked by 2 people

    2. I absolutely loved Yogi Roth’s coverage of the game, because he’s such a Trojan homer like myself. I wonder if he’d let me put his nuts in my mouth? 🤔

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    3. ya’but that sjs q/b was inaccurate most of the day,and the fumbles along with interceptions due to bad throws were the end of any chance for sc to get really tested

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      1. We played a lot of new guys on defense, especially at db. The offensive line used many combinations this games, starting early on and I think that had a lot to do with consistency. I’ll be interested to see if they continue this pattern or if they were looking at different options for next week?

        Liked by 4 people

  5. How would we even know whether the other WRs are limited? Slovis targeted London almost exclusively after the first quarter. Harrell and Helton are timid. Put in Christon. Put in Michael Trigg. H and H play not to lose, they are predictable, as in “throw it up to Drake and he will come down with it”, worst, they play down to the level of the competition.

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      1. True. [Slovis can hardly be blamed, though, for staying in his comfort zone when he repeatedly has so little time to throw….and no running game to help him out].

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Yesterday MG said that girl Ingram was fantastic…LOL!

        Now he says USC has no running game.

        Dude, make up what’s left of your rabid ass mind.

        Like

      4. Okay. That’s partly true, Pudly. He still doesn’t have a feel for when he’s about to lose protection. But I saw multiple plays end with Slovis passing with guys on top of him (who, thank God, didn’t throw him on his shoulder….but just pushed him backwards as the whistle blew)….
        #ThisIsUnfortunatelyGonnaWindUpBitingUsInTheAss

        Liked by 2 people

      5. I hate replying to tebow …but maybe this is what Clay calls a “teachable moment” : Ingram IS a very good running back…. but he doesn’t have an O-Line. To have a rush attack you need both. Catch?

        Liked by 2 people

      6. MG’s wife doesn’t like that he pays more attention to me than he does to her either.

        Message to Mrs. MG, Umm sweets…your old man couldn’t ignore me if he tried.

        LOL!

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    3. Relying on ONE Receiver is what brought down (a much better) Coach Kiffin. It all became “the scheme.” He forgot about the concept of playing team football. Helton NEVER understood team football. His teams are joyless and soft. UCLA is hungry Do we have time to turn this around? Only if something unpleasant happens to Helton (I’m not talking capital punishment —I mean pink slip). His presence is cancerous. The team knows he’s weak and a phony. And they won’t play for him. No matter how much it hurts, yank the bandage off all at once— terminate him. And put Orlando in charge of Harrell for the rest of the season. A fire has to be lit.

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  6. You are blaming the receivers, but the real problem is this offensive system. And I really dont think Kedon has any confidence. Kedon was not selected as a team captain by his teammates, maybe that should tell people that the whole team feels he is not respected within the program.

    Any deficiencies of Kedon are on Graham Harrell. The boy-wonder OC turns out to not have a magic touch with QBs.

    Time for a major change. Helton down to two lives left

    – Life One: Beat the next four opponents convincingly, with strong offense
    – Life Two: Beat Utah
    – Life Three: Beat Notre Dame
    – Life Four: Beat ASU
    – Life Five: Beat UCLA
    – Life Six: Win the Pac-12
    – Life Seven: Consideration for the CFP
    – Life Eight: Top Ten recruiting class

    So in my estimation if he fails at three of these things, he is fired. So he can lose to Notre Dame and not get into the CFP, but he better win the Pac-12. Or if he wins the next four games unconvincingly and doesnt make the CFP, but does everything else, he might have a chance to stay.

    So, this makes it impossible for him to save his job, because the team we saw is not going to do everything on this list except for two. Just impossible.

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    1. To be fair, utes and asu both played teams who hadn’t played football last year, and asu played a team who had 4 days to get ready after getting pummeled by SJSU.

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      1. The baby bears last night looked a lot like Chipper’s Dux teams from the prior years, albeit without the speed/talent from UO and not at his favored hyper-drive speed.

        Time will tell, but the Powder Blue will win a lot of games this year.
        Thankfully, their pass D is deplorable still.
        We may expect them to lose a winnable game–inexplicably–along the way.
        We’ll need to put up 40 pts to beat ’em in Nov.

        Liked by 3 people

  9. I called into the after game show where people can make comments about the game. I was the last caller and got through. I said that that the adm. didn’t care, that the offense is incompetent, that the offense is passive aggressive without any type of strategy, that u can’t run the run option with only one back in the red zone. I said look at the Texas games. I said u need a physical front such as a jumbo package with two fullbacks and two tight ends and this has been going on for five years. I then said Helton needs to be fired. Told them I had tickets for over 30 years and gave them up. I then said Helton needs to be fired. Sua Cravens tried massaging my comments. Pissed off about this.

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    2. Good they need to hear the truth from a true fan who has seen it all and has had enough and not going to take it anymore. No sugar coating nothing keeping it 💯. That’s what true fans do.

      Liked by 1 person

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  10. I was excited, the game was so terrific, I fell asleep on the couch…
    Ed ‘O’ back up q/b has a long way to go,having lost his starter…and UCLA and its dual threat q/b beat him same as back when he coached SC…remember UCLA won 2-3 years in a row with that q/b & under a good coach they fired , maybe chippy will save his job this year, they look a lot better than sc and played a much better team last night…look out ,here come the bruins…time for a nap.

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    1. When an often beat cross town rival comes outta the gate strong, THEIR cross town rival (that would be us) starts dreading the showdown. That happened to USC when Mora showed up. (Barkley threw an interception which was returned for a TD on his first throw — the whole team, especially the o-line, and double especially Aundey Walker, quit).
      If lard -ass Helton doesn’t do another thing before he gets axed, he needs to start getting this team ready for WAR with UCLA.
      #Don’tDreadIt….GetPsychedForIt…KickTheirAsses

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      1. Still don’t get the respect for sow. They beat two nobody teams. Coach O isn’t having his shining moment this season, and he’ll be lucky to survive in red stick.

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      2. I agree.
        I don’t think UCLA is a world beater either, Pudly. I think there are a couple of Pac 12 South teams who will take ’em. But I have to confess I think they beat Hawaii and LSU worse than we would….. and, at the moment, they are a better, more disciplined team than we are.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Can’t argue those points Michael, but don’t necessarily agree. Hawaii played here a 12:00 pt (what’s that in island time? 9:00 am?) and SJSU whipped them in Hawaii last year. And coach O is cooked. If his team could tackle it would have been a closer game.

        #Overrated

        Liked by 3 people

      4. Orgeron has taken LSU backwards on defense. Luckily they have a fairly easy schedule….until they face a rested Alabama …at Tuscaloosa. [I don’t even like to think of what that score will look like —and I’m sure Coach “O” feels the same]….

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Perhaps. LSU had a horrible defense last year..giving up on average 500 yards and 35 points. But, yes, Chip’s 4 year plan seems to be working. Of course after this year when he loses all of graduate players (some of them now have grey in their beards), he will be back to a new four year plan.

      As for USC, as long they keep Clay Helton around they will be mediocre. In fact, probably gets worse since cannot get many 4 or 5 star linemen anymore. What a massive blunder to keep this guy around for so many years!

      Oregon is another underachiever—great recruiting but Mario C. cannot translate this into on-field success against good teams (next up Ohio St!).

      Arizona St. is in big trouble with the recruiting issues.

      Utah is good at taking 3 stars and putting out 8 to 9 win seasons but that is their ceiling. In a stronger conference, would be middle of the pack, but have a chance in Pac12.

      Pac12 is in serious trouble going forward. And, no, the Big Sky conference is not looking to expand.

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      1. Nice analysis, “sky.”

        Take away Utah’s 5th yr QB trf from Baylor and Wittingham is in big trouble.
        With the exception of a grind-it-out run game and trickery passing game, he’s
        never put together a good offensive program. Never will.

        ASU always comes out of the gate fast and furious, with a September win over a FCS foe
        (think, U Northern Arizona or similar). They always fade by mid-October.

        Pac 12 looked sporty in week one, with some nice victories.
        UW and Stanford losses don’t help the brand.

        Liked by 3 people

  11. Looks like the Mountain West conference is getting too competitive for the Pac-12. Time for the Pac-12 to move down to the Big Sky conference…oh, wait! Never mind.

    Pac12 is a sorry excuse for a major conference.

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    1. Pac 12 North is the Big Disappointment thus far. Maybe the Pac 12 South Championship will actually mean something this year. It’s too early to tell but Arizona State, Utah, UCLA….and USC … are gonna battle it out.

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  13. I can’t stand how Gomer stands on the sideline, mouth agape, while he’s getting his ass pounded. He reminds me of the dude in the stir-ups from the bar scene in Al Paino’s hit film, Cruising.

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  15. The key to the WR’s is when Gary Bryant is slated to return. And it didn’t help that the Texas transfer (Jake Smith?) is out and Bru McCoy got pinched this summer for the WR’s looking somewhat ordinary after London.

    #USCIsStillSoft

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  17. USC should go with two running backs at times- Malapai should be the fullback blocking for Ingram and Christon. Slovis should also take some snaps behind center it will give the running backs better angles as they hit the holes behind the fullback. As it stands know with a poor offensive line the running backs have no time to adjust or find a seam once Slovis hands off in the backfield.

    The problem is Graham Harrell, and Helton lets him do his thing on offense. Harrell, is stubborn also, and does not make adjustments year in and year out, and game to game with his air raid invention. In the red zone you need two backs in the backfield with Malapai leading as a blocker, and probably use this more if it works. No great running team runs out of the shotgun on every down it just not work to produce a consistent running game.

    A normal coach would give this a try at least add a new wrinkle to the offense, but we must remember Harrell came here from North Texas State, and Texas Tech where the only way to win was to pass on every down. Bottom line Harrell does not know the running game only the 1 dimension of offense which is the passing game.

    We must get Harrell out of here! With all the stupid decisions being made at USC these days Mike Bohn is capable of hiring Harrell as our next head coach if and when Helton is fired.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Bohn is a very average A. D —but that said, even he wouldn’t think of putting Harrell in charge after yesterday. Harrell’s lazy offensive philosophy is getting us nowhere —and he refuses to re-think it. Jay Leno was asked the other day if he’s disappointed that he can’t do his old jokes anymore —his answer: “Adapt or die!”
      #FigureItOut,Harrell

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  18. This is 100% on Graham Harrell’s incompetent offense. He talks about an “execution-based” offense. That means if it doesnt work, he puts all the blame on the execution by the players.

    I will let you in on a clue Harrell. Against a well-coached defense, you simply cant count on your players to win if the other team knows you only run a few plays and can easily decipher which one is coming.

    Kedon is also locking onto his favorite receivers and missing the read to the highest percentage throw.

    The defense will need to continue to keep this team in games if they are going to win anything.

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  19. Gomer Claydo HE’ll ton Needs to be FIRED the Fans and Students and Alumni And People Donating Money to USC MUST Stand up and Get RIDD of this CLOWN. . How many years has the Clown been Head Coach… He is Hurting USC Offense the Offensive Line IS Weak. Not able to Push the other teams Defense backwards to have a Good Running Game. Ingram is a Good Running Back needs an Offensive line that can open the Running lanes. The Problem is the Offensive Line RECRUITING. .And Gomer Claydo HE’ll ton is Destroy ing IT.. Putting to much Pressure on KEDON slovis to Throw the Football. Other teams Defense are ready for it… You Must have a Running Game look when USC has Reggie Bush and llendall white. .. if USC had a Running Game yesterday against san jose state the Football Score would have been 60 some thing to 7. Gomer Claydo HE’ll ton Must be FIRED. . For Now USC Must get the Running Game Better KEDON Slovis must Throw the Football to the Tight Ends all the time. .. Use your TALL football Players LOok how Good Drake London is. … LOok at the Final USC Offensive Drive Down field yesterday KEDON slovis Throwing to a Wide Open Tide End for a Touchdown…. Get the Football in the Hands of your Tight ENds. START RECRUITING OFFENSIVE LINEMEN that can Push the other teams Defense backwards. Gomer Claydo HE’ll ton is Big problem. .. He is Hurting this USC Offense Not Getting First Downs. LOOK AT THE OPENING DRIVE OF THE 3rd Quarter. It was 3 and Out. Punting the Football back to san jose State. .Time to FIRE Gomer Claydo HE’ll ton. . FIGHT ON

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    1. You think Clay will survive Arizona State, Utah and Notre Dame without serious embarrassment?
      #NotreDameAtSouthBend?!
      #[IfHeDoes,WeMightBeStuckW/HimRegardlessOfUCLAOutcome]

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  22. Sorry this is lengthy,*
    (but I read everyone else’s whiney posts above)

    Defense is improving: more ball-hawking, good sideline-to-sideline action. Gamer YOUNG CBs and Safeties.

    The MLB’s will be a problem all year, I fear. As we have already discussed, depth at D-line will be a problem all year, though getting Foreman and Jackson to augment Tuli, Lich, Fig etc could produce some sacks. The pass rush was non-existent yesterday. Run defense yesterday was pretty good. Too many pass plays greater than 20 yards allowed!

    I think SJS–a VERY VETERAN 10-1 team (9-1 last year with a W last week) with a 10 yr Senior QB–only gained about 200 yards total offense on our #1 D. The last 7 minutes of the game they racked up junk yards vs mostly 2nd teamers.

    After losing 3 veteran WR’s–Pittman (2019), Vaughns and ARSB (2020)–you knew Slovis was gonna have troubles this year. Losing Bru (and Gary B, Jr) is likewise super tough. I think the O did a good job–against a VERY VETERAN SJS defense with a solid front line with a creditable history for rushing the QB. Nice to see Slovis choose to run and slide for 7-11 yards twice. Nice to see the TE’s involved. Nice to see a balanced 34 run/36 pass offense. When it mattered, Maleapai and Ingram got the yards needed.
    Yes, it would be nice to see Christon get 15 touches per game from the RB position.

    We’ll have a lot to talk about come Midnight next Saturday night.

    *For a shorter version, read eddie’s post.

    Liked by 3 people

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  24. I wonder if Gomer stands in front of the mirror like Buffalo Bill from the movie Silence of the Lambs? I can just imagine Gomer doing it while saying “I’d play for me.”

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    1. ..and find just 4 more 300 pound O-Linemen….and just 1 more 250 pound middle linebacker….
      #A265PoundFullbackWouldBeNiceForFirst&GoalFromThe4YdLine

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      1. I don’t think a 250 pound fullback is going to help you much if you are running behind a mediocre O-Line and you’re taking the ball from the shotgun instead of under center. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the O-Line will turn out to be pretty good this year. If it does then all my predictions will be wrong. I still predict that they’ll finish 3rd(possibly 4th….depending on the ASU situation) in the Pac-12 South. I’d be shocked if they were to beat UCLA, Utah or ND and I really deep down don’t think they will beat ASU either. Whoever wins the Pac-12 South will win the Pac-12 this year. The best teams are in the Pac-12 South. I think UCLA will beat Oregon and Washington.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. The mark of a GOOD coach is that his team gets better each game…that team cohesiveness grows and develops as the season progresses….
        #So…WhatDoYouThinkAreChancesAre?

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Speaking of decisions- Bru McCoy deserves a decision by USC NOW. Law enforcement has made the decision they will not prosecute based on the facts collected.

    Make your decision USC- it is not fair to Bru or his family to wait 6 months for a decision. Be fair this time, and make your decision so the kid can decide his next steps. If your don’t have all the facts get them there is no excuse for delaying this decision whether it is positive or negative for Bru.

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    2. I don’t think the FemiNazi’s at USC will ever let him play for USC again. It doesn’t matter whether he is guilty or not at “woke” USC.

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  27. Having a fullback or 2nd running back to block can’t hurt and definitely better than staying status quo in this stupid air raid offense.

    Speaking of blocking I sure hope Slovis has a good life insurance policy because his health will be jeopardy after watching the ND pass rush tonight.

    8-4 or 7-5 season will that be enough to get rid of Helton and Harrell. I see losses to Arizona State, Notre Dame, UCLA, Cal on the road in Berkeley, and probably Utah but we do have them at home. I see things falling apart after they get blown up in South Bend.

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  28. ND is not as good this year as they have been. If you want to win football games you must run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. ND did neither against Florida State. The ran the ball for 65 yards in 34 carries(1.9 average) and Florida State gained 264 yards on the ground. I still think that they will beat SC.

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