FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Wants More Linemen

Here’s some Monday night wisdom on rebuilding the offensive and defensive lines from USC coach Lincoln Riley:

“I think we can be great there again (at the line of scrimmage) and for us to become the program we want to be, being great there again is not an option. It’s an absolute necessity.

“We will look to add some key members to that here in the next several weeks.”

  • The floor at the Superdome last night needed work.
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  • Is this what Kansas coach Bill Self told his team at halftime?

73 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Wants More Linemen”

    1. The first thing they need on the O-Line is someone to set the tone….someone with a more aggressive mindset than Andrew Vorhees Jr.
      #Way,WayMoreAggressive
      #TheVideoOfVorheesTebowPostedShouldScareTheShitOuttaRiley…
      #[HeSoundedLikeAHeltonClone]

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    2. The offensive line is the first thing ‘Ol Mule Shoe should have put an emphasis on recruiting when he got to USC.

      He has already shown his true colors, he’s Clay Helton 2.0

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      1. OK TEBOW. ONCE IN A WHILE YOU HAVE A DECENT POST— NOT THIS ONE —-BUT USUALLY YOU POST SHIT AND EVERYONE EXCEPT MICHAEL ALWAYS GIVES YOU SHIT IN RETURN. YET YOU KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE SO. YOURE A GOOD AND WILLING BRAWLER AND IF I EVER INSULT YOU ITS JUST ALL IN FUN AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED. JUST DONT LET THAT GO TO YOUR HEAD MAN AND. NO NEED TO THANK ME. YOUR USUAL INSULT WILL DO FINE.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I KNEW YOU WOULD TRY. BUT THATS PRETTY LAME EVEN FOR YOU. ANYWAY THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS. ONE LESS THAN YOUR SISTER YOU PINEAPPLE DICKLESS TEBOW FART.

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      4. AND YESTERDAY YOU EVEN SAID YOU HAD A HARD ON FOR GIDGET YOU DIRTY OLD MAN. HEY. SANDRA DEE LOVED ME NOT YOU BRO !!!

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    3. Now all of a sudden ‘Ol Mule Shoe is concerned with the trenches.

      Took him long enough to get a clue.

      Maybe he should read Mr. Wolf’s blog and pay attention to what I’m saying, if he listens to me I’ll have the Trojan football program whipped back into shape in no time.

      No thanks required.

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    1. Still trying to figure out who the linesman is….who john is….who misses Ed is(I know who Mr. Ed is but that horse has been dead for a long time)…..and who Ed is. Is he a braindead blivering idiot or is he a guy with a couple of PhD’s just trying to be comical. In any event….he really is pretty funny. Keep us laughing Eddie Boy.

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  4. HEY MG. 67 AND PASADENA. I ANSWERED ALL YOUR QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE PREVIOUS THREAD . ALWAYS GLAD TO ANSWER. SINCERE THANX FOR EVEN BEING INTERESTED

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      1. HI PASADENA. I LIVED NEAR LACC AND TOOK THE STREETCAR STRAIGHT DOWN VERMONT AVE TO 1901 VENICEBLVD. I HAD TO WALK THE LAST THREE BLOCKS. I went to IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY GRAMMAR SCHOOL ON SANTA MONICA BLVD.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. P. T. –Didn’t realize you went to St. Elizabeth. I scored 6 points against your basketball team in 1962.
        #MissedAllMyFreeThrows

        Liked by 1 person

  5. PARCEL CHARLES MICHAEL AND ED GET UP REALLY REALLY EARLY. ON THE OTHER HAND WE ALL KNOW MICHAEL NEVER SLEEPS. DUNNO ABOUT THE OTHERS BUT ALL FOUR ARE GREAT POSTERS. I JUST WISH I WERE HALF AS GOOD.

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    1. Sandy –If you are in your nineties, I’d say you were way better than “good.” You’re a national treasure.

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      1. HAHA. REMINDS ME OF THAT MOVIE. UNBROKEN. ERNIE ZAMPORINI IM NOT. POOR GUY DIED JUST BEFORE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE GRAND MARSHAL AT THE ROSE PARADE. BUT WHAT A LIKE HE HAD. WOW.

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      3. If you get a chance, read “Devil At My Heels”. It’s Louie’s autobiography. Much better than Hillenbrand’s. Hers was requested, as they felt it would be adapted into a screenplay more easily.

        I met Louie on his way to the bookstore, the (game) day he was there to sign copies of DAMH. Saw him again at Zamperini Airfield in Torrance a few years later and then again at an “Unbroken” book signing at El Cholo on Western. An amazing fellow!

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  6. Lincoln Riley sounds like he’s getting it, because the only teams advancing in the college football playoffs are the ones who have the ability to control the line of scrimmage. Clay Helton never understood the game of football, he recruited as if he was playing in a 7 on 7 passing league .

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    1. I remember when Clay was new he said …. Big men win games. Then he must have completely forgotten what he said. Remember what Keith Jackson always said about the BIG UGLIES. SHOOT ITS SO OBVIOUS to anyone that knows anything about the game.

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      1. He actually did say he LOVED Toa after Toa singlehandedly lost the Cal game by snapping 10 feet over J. T.’s head —into the endzone for a Cal TD.
        What was THAT about?

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      2. clay’s $ 4 million contract wasn’t enough for him, so he took $50K from a Cal booster (not Cal75…) to throw the game. All Clay had to do was to make sure Toa was the long snapper. And the rest is history.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. “The Natural” starring Clay Helton as “The Judge ” discussing Toa.
        Judge Clay: “Sam –you’re just insurance. We already fixed the result.”
        Sam: “You Have? Who?”
        Judge Clay: “A Key Man”

        Liked by 1 person

      5. During the Cotton Bowl, Clay paid Urban $100K to call off the dogs in the second half and keep the score from being another 2016 Alabama outcome. The village idiot had a few tricks up his sleeve. All of them nefarious. He knew that if Meyer and Ohio State pulled a 49-13 or whatever it could have been, that he would have been that close to being exposed and fired.

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      6. You could tell from all the pregame photos that Urban took great pity on Clay. All of them show Clay standing around like a turd and Urban flashing a “I can’t believe USC allows THIS” look. Clay didn’t need to pay Urban a penny: Urban showed the world what he could do in the first half….then played field position football the rest of the way……outta pity.
        #FirstTimeIWatchedUSCBeingTreatedAsThe”PitiableOpponent”
        #[ARoleUsuallyReservedForTheU.C.Schools]….

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  7. I guess Riley thought it would be better to get something to protect before building the protection. But we all know the first thing they build at the bank is the vault.
    Now we have a quarterback worth protecting and only have a cardboard vault.

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    1. Great analogy GofM. Although I agree with the concept, I just wonder whether the possibilities of getting great linemen would have been available without a Caleb Williams and the hope the Trojans were going to play real football again. The linemen want to be in big games just like the skill players and the smell of the helton era is still hovering over the program……..after all, folt and bohn have been weak and allowed the destruction of USC to continue under their watch. Add to that, since PC, how many incompetent coaches has USC hired??? I think Lincoln Riley has a huge public perception job after the mishandling by administration. I’m sure our competition calls these problems to the atheletes they want to recruit away from USC.

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  8. Any football coach knows you have to have the Big Uglies in order to go very far. Even Ton-o-Hel was aware of that, he just couldn’t get them to come to the toxic dump he had created.

    Now, Wiley is in the 2-step process– Step 1 is knowing he is deficient in the Uglies department, and Step 2 is convincing the Uglies how good they would look in an SC uniform.

    The jury is still out.

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      2. PT, you could feed Michael and me raw meat all day long
        and you still are not going to get me to tackle ‘Celeb’ Williams.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Call me an optimist, but I think this season is going to be much better than expected. Check out the interview with OT Courtland Ford, who when asked how different this year is compared to last year, and he says with a laugh:

    “Very different! Henson has pointed out all our deficiencies. Mine is in how to use my hands, how to lever my strength and size. He is very detailed and we need that. And he focuses on slowing down the defense, that is what our mission is. We hadn’t done that before.”

    When asked, “Are you pulling more this year?” He responds with a big laugh “YES! And I love that.”

    Of course, talk is cheap, but in any case, this is how anything good starts.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Can’t wait to see how much scrambling Caleb has to do in Spring Game.
      [If Caleb is keeping plays alive with his feet it’ll make tommyd happy —but it’s not a good sign as far as winning the conference goes]….
      #TommyD’sBeenSayingWeNeedADualThreatAtQBCuzOurLineIsWeak
      #Well….BothSituationsMightBeInPlayIn2022

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  10. Got to put in a few words for college basketball–

    The college game averages about 70 points v NBA’s 110, so every point in
    college means more.

    These teenagers and just beyond-teens play their hearts out, even on defense (NBA, are you listening)

    In a do-or-die tournament such as March Madness is, the highs of yesterday won’t help you today. North Carolina’s Love was ecstatic as a sucla killer and putting the final dagger into Duke, and then after missing the final difficult shot in the championship game, he was seen crying in a coach’s arms.

    Both coaches are full of class– Carolina’s Davis said he was so proud of his boys, and Kansas’ Self, when asked if he was thinking about getting a second championship in his career, responded, “With the players I have had at Kansas we probably should have had more championships”

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    1. Can you even imagine Helton saying “we would have won this game if I were a better coach” after the Holiday Bowl?
      #InsteadWeGot”We’reGoodNow&GoingToBeGreatNextYear”

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      2. Perfect, John.
        #ItTurnedOutNotToBeThatWay,Though
        #GuessClayDidn’tFigureOnDonteReplacingHim
        #[HeEnvisioned”CoachCarol”]….

        Liked by 2 people

      1. Winning or losing in a sports contest is often an illusion.

        Bacott said he thought he had an opportunity for an easy shot just as he twists his ankle. And then with Bacott now out of the game, the Kansas Big-Man scores on an undersized Carolina Tar Heel.

        But for Bacott’s injury in the final minute Carolina probably wins that game.

        There is such a thin margin sometimes between “winning” and “losing,” at least in sports.

        Liked by 3 people

  11. We may never know who could have been good if Helton wasn’t so busy hiring assistants to make himself look good. I wonder if Toa would have snapped the ball into left field without the great coaching he received at USC. I loved the years where the line was told, ” block the man in front of you unless he’s wearing stripes and if there isn’t a man in front of you, stand up put your hands on your hips, turn around and watch the quarterback get sacked.”

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    1. “If nobody’s in front of you, stand up, put hands on hips, turn around and watch quarterback get sacked.” I guess Aundrey Waker took that advice to heart when he let a UCLA blitzer break Matt Barkley’s shoulder…..
      #ButHeDidn’tEvenBotherToTurnAround..
      #…JustTrottedOffTheField

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    2. The last 10 years seem like a bad dream…Toa missing snaps, too many men on the field, too few men on the field, wild defensive over-pursuit, as many as 5 false starts a game, failing to score on first and goal from the 2 yard line, and then kicking a field goal from 10 yard line LOS, seeing guys get into fights on the sidelines, just WTF, WTF, WTF.

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      1. You saw it. I saw it. We all saw it. We were all appalled by it. And Haden, Swann and Bohn were okay with it.
        #RileyHasHisWorkCutOutForHim…
        #ButIfANYBODYCanDoIt,It’sLincolnRiley

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That is Helton-football. It was a once in a lifetime phenomena.

        Never had anyone seen this before, and probably no one will ever see it again.

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Lawyer John and Michael,

    When I played at Loyola, we ate cook meat like Tommy burgers, El Tepyeacs, All American burger, Substation, Two Guys from Italy, Lucy’s, and other great lunch places. Then we would go block and tackle. During spring practice we had only foam helmets and yet the comptetion was so great that we went full bore in blocking and tackling. We hit as hard as we could and tackle the guy trying to break him in half. Coaches loved it. We knew we had a good team and we did. My freshman year the varsity went 0-9, then 1-9, my junior year 4-5, and my senior year 10- 0 in play. We lost in the quarter finals. Next year Loyola beat St. Paul 14-13 to win CIF and the National Championship. Our junior year we missed going 6-3 by 9 points. Marty Shaugnessy was the head coach.

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    1. P.T.
      I remember those strong Loyola teams! I was at Saint Monica’s and I followed you guys in the papers! Great years. Congrats.
      [I was at Saint Joan of Arc’s when I played against Saint Elizabeth’s in CYO basketball —only played about 10 minutes]….

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      3. Saint Joan of Arc was at Pico & Gateway in WLA…right next to Kelbo’s barbeque –where Terry Schofield [who’d go on to be a star at UCLA under Wooden] and I would ditch to in the afternoons. Gem of a grammar school…don’t think it survived the downsizing of the 2000’s, though.

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    1. YEAH. GOODCOUNCIL WAS STRAIGHT NORTH OF ME. I LIVED ONE BLICK EAST OF LACC. SO. MAYBE A COUPLE OF MILES DUENORTH

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    1. Saint Joan of Arc. I’m not sure –but I think we might have played you guys in a tournament or something.

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    1. Yeah –I vaguely remember it being a really long schoolbus ride home to Saint Joan of Arc. [We had a bunch of those long rides —our coach had us playing Catholic schools located past the Grapevine—we’d get back to WLA late at night]. btw, The court we played you guys on was great. Did you have your own gym? …or did you play your games on some nearby highschool court?

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