FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Scrimmage Highlights Familiar Problem

Last week, Lincoln Riley said the offensive line was “progressing.”

Well, USC scrimmaged Tuesday and here is what offensive line coach Josh Henson said: “I thought up front, at least the O-line, just too much inconsistency. Some really good plays and then some plays that we kind of shanked the ball out of bounds. So just gotta be more consistent.”

Translation: Virginia-transfer Bobby Haskins cannot get healthy soon enough. Five-star Josh Conerly cannot commit soon enough. Any other transfers will be welcome.

  • Here’s quarterback Miller Moss pointing out a deficiency in the Graham Harrell-Air Raid offense compared to Riley’s offense this spring: “We actually work on red zone (now) so that’s helpful. We install the red zone. We have different packages and we work on that. As we’ve seen over the course of the past year, that stuff wins and loses games.”

I give Moss credit for honesty. I pointed out Harrell’s weaknesses for three years. What bugs me is that now you will suddenly get some people who praised Harrell a couple years ago using this quote to criticize him. These are the sycophants who always support whoever is in power at USC, no matter what, until those people leave and are then acceptable targets.

  • Caleb Williams on whether he has reached an agreement yet with wide receiver Michael Jackson for Jackson to relinquish No. 13: “We haven’t sorted it out yet but we’ll figure it out.”
  • As for the scrimmage, one highlight was Williams’ 40-yard run. This type of play will be vital if the offensive line doesn’t improve.

76 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Scrimmage Highlights Familiar Problem”

  1. I am in the camp that we need help on the o line—- a lot of help—- our o line is maybe average pac 12 right now —-but that’s just not nearly good enough—— we need several more o line transfers—- CONERLY if he comes probably can’t help much right away.

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    1. CONERLY is 89% USC strong lean per the recruiting services. Announcing on April 8 unless he puts it off again. Supposed to announce on cbs sports tv I think. Hope he’s not a Prima Donna.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. Conerly is coming–he told me so when we walked over to the UCLA Student Union to spit on their hideous bruin statue. The sight of the UCLA students repulsed him so greatly he wanted to announce today but I told him to wait until the 8th to build suspense.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you MG. I hope everyone here has already donated big $$$$$$$$ for NIL rights so that we can make Texas A and M look like cheap Pikers.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Anyone who watched USC football over the last decade ccould tell you that the offensive line has consistently been crap and yet when ‘Ol Mule Shoe arrives in Los Angeles he immediately picks up where Clay Helton left off…recruiting nothing but WR’s, RB’s and DB’s.

      I’m telling you all, this clown ‘Ol Mule Shoe is Clay Helton 2.0. Mark my words.

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      3. In HS, the other boys used tebotina to play darts–had to place an apple on his head. The ultimate indignity however was when the girls swim team kept throwing him in the pool. So Ladies and Gents, please take this into consideration and excuse these occasional outbursts by tina…he has had a very hard life. His only consolation is his old teddy bear, Skippy.

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      4. Ok Tebowobama. Check out the song Pineapple Princess by Annette Funicello my old girlfriend. You made me think of her with all your Polynesian crap

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Point of Information:
        Annette’s old boyfriend, Bobby Rydell, died yesterday…
        #MaybeTimeToWatchThemTogetherOneLastTimeOnYouTube

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      6. Loved those old Beach Blanket movies. Was that Bobby Darin in some. ?? I forget. Buster Keaton was in one. The kids didn’t know who he was but they all loved him. He died shortly after making the movie with them.

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      1. I really really hope that we have a strong o line this season. One really good at both pass blocking and run blocking. I’m hoping our new coaches and blocking schemes are gonna help Pasadena. We can both pray for that. Right fellow cub ??

        Liked by 1 person

      2. “With all due respect, and remember I’m sayin’ with all due respect, that idea ain’t worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin gettin’ it on.”

        – Ricky Bobby

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    4. Last week, Lincoln Riley said the offensive line was “progressing.”

      “progressing”?

      Well yeah, it’s not like those girls could have gotten any worse.

      LOL!

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    1. Classic Kartje. “Usc is now the only team to not schedule an FBS team” ND scheduled TSU in ’23. Well he is either a shill for the program or he is that dumb. USC scheduled Davis. So they had scheduled an fcs team. You can say they haven’t played one which would be true, but neither has ND. That game is scheduled for ’23 of which they may pull out of too when they get the backlash from their fanbase. Journalism is dead or so dumbed down that it is worthless. My guess is that Sosna or someone in SPIN has fed Ryan that tidbit of pre packaged info to make usc look good and get the stink off them. I appreciate the fact they haven’t played an fbs but didn’t seem to care as they were scheduling Davis. Ryan, either do your research or stop with the word salads.

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      1. Tennessee State is a HBCU and coached by Eddie George who like Marcus Freeman went to Ohio State. Big Pay Day and exposure for TSU. Davis canceled because they would’ve been a legitimate threat to beat former Sacred Cow Hugs Helton.

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    1. I wish the Times had been so brutally honest about Clay Helton:

      “Any talk of Kelly’s improving trajectory fell flat when USC athletic director Mike Bohn flexed the long-forgotten Trojans might by convincing Riley to leave one of college football’s blue bloods for another. For four years, Kelly had been surviving like a bottom-feeding fish off the carcass of the sunken Clay Helton era.”

      Liked by 3 people

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    2. “Chip Kelly is gambling he doesn’t have to match Lincoln Riley’s ability to go more than 20 minutes without passing donut gas…”

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. MG
        That’s not very nice.
        It would be fitting if Chip could learn to pass smoke rings with his gas, however.

        Is this going to be a tbonemeobummer free day?

        #NoLuck

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  5. Until yesterday I thought MG and LJ were lovers not fighters. It’s getting so I don’t know what to believe on this blog anymore. Maybe some people are even posting under fake names or using multiple names. My faith in humanity is being really shaken in my ripe old age !!!!!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. MG was discussing yester-year when he was a fighter. Probably the only one he or I could beat up today would be T-Bone, the wimp.

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    2. Sandy Gorak, Michael, Lawyer John, Scooter, and Teebuma,

      The line coach will earn his money if he can improve what I call the oline, the Punch and Judy show. To get them back where they belong will be a miracle. Rosaries, and prayers are needed.

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  7. ugh,this iz so bad,evry thing bad,its like thay is pracktissing to get beter but all the uther teems onley gonna pracktiss cuz thay all reddy so good,smdh

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. I hate the fact we all know [deep down] that Feldman is right when he says UCLA is gonna be a tough game —the reason I know we’ll win it is Chip overplayed his hand when he put up 63 points on a decimated, Drakeless, Coachless USC team.
      #ArroganceBeforeTheFall

      Liked by 3 people

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      2. Feldman predicts 9 wins. Playing UCLA and Notre Dame late in the season gives USC time to gel. I could see them losing a couple of games early on. Even then, they can still win the conference. If just 1 loss, USC’s in the running for CFP.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. What a neat image –Chip as a misshapen, oversized guppy sweeping up fish food on the floor of the tank…
        #He’dMakeSuchAGreatCharacterInAWoodyWoodpeckerCartoon…

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Charles — Feldman is right about us probably not being physical enough (yet) to beat Utah.
        UCLA is different —we’ve got a huge revenge factor going for us.
        #…AndChipKnowsHeOverplayedHisHandLastYear..
        #[TimeForYourSpanking,Chippie–YouWereABadBoy]

        Liked by 2 people

      6. ucla a tough game? Can you fellas fill me in on what I am missing? They didn’t beat one team with a winning record last year. Chip is 2-22 versus winning teams. They didn’t get the South Carolina QB in the portal, he is now at OK. that was a huge loss, after he initially committed to them. They have lost a lot of guys in the defense. They have DTR back, but he is deficient against a good pass rush. I’ll give them Charbonnet, who is a quality RB. It is not like they have a bunch of young stars last year who will be even better this year. Charbonnet is 4th year, DTR is something like 5th year. The fact that they can’t beat any quality teams teams tells me they are not a quality team.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Ha!
        The bet remains:
        Air Ticket to Maui.
        Dinner At Monkey Pod….
        Mr. Bruin finds his own way home…
        [Your side: Market value of above….]

        Liked by 1 person

      8. 67 –Chip will do everything in his power to have the bruins ready for Riley.
        2 Problems with that — Chip is Chip…and the bruins are the bruins…

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Chip and DTR played OK in 2019. 34-0 in the second quarter, then Riley cleared the bench. Since when do you clear the bench before halftime? When the other team is crap. Chip loves to run the ball, and OK held Josh Kelly (the guy who ran for 300 against USC and Clancy) to something like 60 yards, less than 3 yards per carry. 48-14 final score. Chip can’t beat a team with a winning record.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Very revealing interview with Courtland Ford – sorry I forgot to post the URL before

    He makes no bones about how much more focused and detailed the training is this year, how they are learning so much more, and that they are really working much more on run blocking:

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    1. From what I’m hearing out of ‘Ol Mule Shoe and his knowledge of the importance of the trenches, sounds like Courtney Ford will continue to be tossed around the line of scrimmage like a rag doll, same as last year.

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      2. Speaking of rag dolls, do you still have your Raggety Ann doll or did she leave you too? No worries, you still have Skippy.

        Like

    2. Ford impressed last year [when a lot of his teammates had given up]. He seems like a real good young man—very eager to get better and be everything he can be. Bet he has a huge 2022.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. A recession?–How can that be when the country has been able to hold down inflation to less than 10% the past year?

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Joe is lost, completely lost, at the WH, and nobody is paying any attention to him. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your president:

        Liked by 1 person

      2. All the crazies with ‘daddy’ problems couldn’t take Trump’s personality…
        didn’t care about what we were getting as an alternative… just needed to “win” their never-ending war with their ‘daddy’…
        #NowWeAllHaveToLiveWithTheirPrize

        Liked by 1 person

      3. That video shows a guy who belongs in an assisted care facility. A guy who couldn’t get the nomination 30 years ago when his 4 cylinder brain was firing about as good as it could. But now he is down to 2 cylinders, sputtering along.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. That was hilarious! Everyone is trying to distance themselves from the complete failure and Biden voters are acting as if they aren’t responsible for all of the pain, suffering and death they have caused and continue to cause. Complete denial about being responsible for all of it is the only way they can possibly sleep at night.

        People with any sense knew in 2019 that Joe was neither mentally nor physically fit for the Presidency. We also knew that he was very seriously compromised by the inappropriate & illegal influence peddling his son was doing all over the world. But dumbshits all bought the story MSM was selling about it being “Russian misinformation”.

        I don’t know who’s more brain dead, Joe or the people who actually voted for him.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Scariest video yet —later he says his wife, Jill, was Obama’s Vice President…
        #WhiteHouse:”ItWasJustAGaffeByOurLoveablePresident”
        #Yeah…ByOurLoveable,BrainDeadPresident…
        #[DemsFinallySucceeded—BroughtCountryDown]

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Glad to see Grinch is a no BS guy, demanding that they get better. “Some of the guys weren’t ready for the physicality. There is a reason they call it football.” “We have a LONG ways to go, but I really like the effort I am seeing.”

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. I like his comments —but what exactly does he mean by “that’s why they call it “Football”? I understood Teddy Brennan telling fighters, “It’s boxing…but remember it’s a Fight…that’s why they call you fighters.” I’m not sure what Grinch means when he tells the players “that’s why they call it FOOT BALL…”

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. Things under the clay “sunken wreck” helton were much worse than we thought. He was literally a make-believe HC. Interesting to note that Grinch is very positive about the guys who transferred in (they are from better cultures, demanding coaches).

        Liked by 2 people

      2. 67 — I’ve been reading & enjoying your comments for years…
        #ThingsUnderHeltonWeren’tWorseThanYouThought..
        #…YouHadHimPegged..
        #SoDidScott
        #[ItWasTheWhoresFromTheL.A.TimesWhoPretendedNotToSeeIt]….

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Michael, we lost a lot of time with Kiffin, Sark and the sunken wreck. Some of those years seemed to go on forever. But it looks like we are finally back on track with a coach who is a PROFESSIONAL, who hired a PROFESSIONAL coaching staff. Let’s not forget that the QB coach for Sam in the cotton bowl was one of the quality control analysts, I can’t remember his name. Since when would USC EVER promote a quality control analyst to coach a guy like Darnold? Maybe it will all be worth it, now that we have Riley and his staff. Fingers crossed.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. I’m with Feldman. 9 wins…”and won’t be surprised if it’s more.”
        #btw,9Or10WinsProbablyPutsUsInTheRoseBowl…
        #…AndPutsUCLAInSunBowl….
        #[FiredChipGetsChanceToFinallyUndergoBreastReductionSurgery]

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Yeah, I caught that too but I think he misspoke and probably meant to say something like, “Some of the guys did not like the physicality of it, but that is football.”

        Now if the game were called ‘Brawlball’ his comment would have made more sense.

        Liked by 2 people

      6. Michael, I’ll go 10-2. Soft schedule. Let’s put it another way, with USC’s talent, an entirely new coaching staff, and the schedule they have, they should go 10-2. A bunch of those teams shouldn’t even stay on the field with them. We’ll see.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. John,
        ….”Brawlball” –I love it….
        #YouMayHaveRenamedAWholeSport..
        #AtLeast,IHopeYouRenamedTheWayUSCPlaysIt…
        #[OrAsWeCalledOur”NoRules”GamesAtThePark:”Infamyball”]

        Liked by 2 people

      8. I’m inclined to agree with ’67.

        We have 7 home games and 5 “road” games. That includes one at the Rose Bowl, so really only 4. Utah should be the only difficult one on the road.

        Liked by 2 people

      9. 9-3,,,,10-2?

        I wish the cobbled together SC team well. I can envision 1-3 for the last four games if there are injuries to the Backers or o-line. And with just a passing game, the o-line and SC defense will be oatmeal during the back third of the season. Your great hope connerly(if he commits) won’t cut it with just a fall practice against junior and senior defensive guys.

        SC in ’22 is made up of half of other team rejects. This team needs at least one yr to gel.

        #I’mSeriousGuarino
        #StopDreaming

        Liked by 1 person

  12. trojan1967, I believe it was Brian Ellis. I was incensed when tee martin the unqualified OC and the even more unqualified clay helton gave a talent like Darnold a tyro QB coach. Darnold’s career has suffered greatly from the lack of development he should have received at USC. On the positive side re Ellis, I believe Brian found Sam and recruited him although the liar in chief made it sound like his discovery.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Carra, 100 percent accurate. I think Ellis also found Kedon. It was something along the lines of Ellis having a few hours to kill at the Phx airport, and so he decided to check Slovis out in Scottsdale.

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    2. He’s been in the NFL long enough to get that development. Turns out, he is what he is. He is flashy but not great. He does not take care of the football. Never had and never will. He was so much fun to watch but he’s not a great QB.

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  13. The sunken wreck Helton lives at the bottom of the ocean while bottom feeders Chip Kelly and Cristobal pick apart the carcass of the past failure of an administration

    The good news is it’s a new day. Our program has righted the ship and rightfully jettisoned the lazy liberal scum that overran our campus

    The new OL should be built around pure bred white strength. Guys like Dedich and Vorhees and Haskins. Gone are the thugs and Polynesian lazy trash like Lobandahn, Mama, Aundray Walker, Vera Tucker, Jalen Mackenzie etc. That trash was routinely manhandled in the trenches while Clay “Gomer” Helton stood there with a confused dumb ass expression while properly coached DLineman EXPLOITED his thugs

    It’s time to reclaim the trenches. Fire up the horsepower and KNOCK opposing thugs on their fat asses with our pure bred white strength. I believe Riley and Henson are the men to get this done. Just stay the hell out of their way Folt you can go back to massaging CL Max Nokias prostrate at the Newport Beach Liberal Convention LOL let the real men do the coaching around here

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  14. Scooter, Sandy, Michael, Lawyer John, teebuma, and the rest,

    You guys were talking about the Beach Blanket Bingo movies with Annette Funicello. I have a story to tell you. First off I was five years old when I saw her and I fell in love with her from watching the micky mouse club show. Well many years past and I am at the L.A. County Fair in Pomona and I am walking around. I stop and I turn around to see the crowd. When I had turned, I saw a lady in an electric wheel chair with a gentleman pushing her along. I was about 50 feet away from this lady and no one was bothering her. Too bad, because this lady deserved the attention. This lady was none other than Annette Funicello, my hear throb from way back when. I mean no one knew who she was. The problem was, I did not say hi to her either and I am sure she would have been wonderful to meeting her. I kick myself in the pants.

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