FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Cornerbacks Under Pressure

I hear after reviewing film, USC coaches were less-than-enamored with the cornerbacks, outside of No. 1 corner Mekhi Blackmon.

It’ll be more rotating in the secondary on Saturday vs. Stanford QB Tanner McKee, who is a big upgrade from last weekend. Stanford coach David Shaw said McKee and Caleb Williams were the two best QBs in the Pac-12.

Whether this is true or not, the USC corners will be under more pressure.

“Coverage has got to be sharp,” Riley said. “Guys have got to do a good job getting pressure on him. It’s going to take a little bit of everybody.”

What USC needs is a couple corners to step up and seize their roles like Blackmon.

  • When USC was at the top of his game under Pete Carroll and played a bad team, Carroll’s goal was to play dominating football for four quarters.

You could argue that was a positive from Lincoln Riley’s USC debut. Of course, USC was ahead 21-7 with Rice poised to score when a tipped pass went for a pick six and allowed the rout to materialize.

Still, it’s a better sign than a typical USC team from the Clay Helton Era.

  • Speaking of Helton, he is 1-0 at Georgia Southern with a trip to Nebraska this week.

Now he’s preaching toughness and tackling at Tuesday and Wednesday practices.

“Most teams don’t tackle during the week. We do,” Helton said.

80 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Cornerbacks Under Pressure”

    2. this clay helltin gye seams like the reel deel,hoap we got his phoan numbur in cais r couch doant wirk owt to good,nevr can hav to menny computint hed couches on ur teem. i would’ve parked clay helltin’s NUTTS in my posterior cavity if he let me cuz eye like that stuff. missus like 2 watch in n out action

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  3. this clay helltin gye seams like the reel deel,hoap we got his phoan numbur in cais r couch doant wirk owt to good,nevr can hav to menny computint hed couches on ur teem,

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. You two geezers really need to close the keyboard and get a good night’s sleep. SC dback issues aren’t worth being up in the middle of the night. GT -7brs, MG -9hrs.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. GT
        Nothing good happens after 11pm. Get your rest.

        And I’m not grumpy SoCal.
        MG posting at zeroDarkThirty. No wonder he’s not funny anymore. He even scared Owns away.

        Like

      2. MG day
        ,😔😔🥣🧻🏄🏄🩹🩹🤕🤕🥱🥱🍷🎾🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

        Like

      4. On behalf of Trojans and Truth Lovers everywhere, I accept.
        #IFeelBothProud&Humbled….
        #..AndNowI’dLikeToThankTheWholeGangOnInsideUSC…
        #…WithoutWhomNoneOfThisWouldHaveBeenPossib….
        #..ExcuseMe…ISeemToHaveGottenSomethingInMyEye..
        #[BooHoo]….

        Liked by 2 people

      5. 18 yrs old first college game
        Humble
        Likeable
        No ebonics
        Destined for stardom
        Freshman of the week PAC -12/10/??
        WHY I LUV COLLEGE FOOTBALL

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Cornors will have to play a little tighter this week, so who is up for it. Stanford TE’s will be involved in the passing game, safeties will definitely have to be standing pretty tall back there.

    Liked by 3 people

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      1. That’s good that LR is calling out the corners rather than telling them how proud he is of them like CH used to do. These corners need to step up their game against Stanford. If Stanford is going to beat SC, that’s how they are going to do it…..in the air. Stanfords QB is really good. He was great in H.S. at Corona Centennial.
        I’m having a hard time believing all the stuff I’m hearing from the pundants about that powerful Stanford run game(although I am concerned about our D-Line). Last week, Stanford ran 87 yards for a TD on the very first play of the game. From that point on(which is really the rest of the game) they gained 82 yard rushing on 27 carries…….AGAINST COLGATE…..AGAINST COLGATE. Stanford hasn’t had a great running game in the last 4-5 years and I’m not convinced that they have one this year. If they do run the ball well against SC, all that shows is that the D-Line needs a lot of work.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Be careful. If you hit those cupcake receivers too hard, the officials might think that you are trying bruise their body up too much and call a penalty for child abuse. How about we get back to football? It’s a tough game. It is what it is. If we keep letting a lot of these people on the rules committee have their way, we’ll soon be playing flag football. If you don’t like the roughness involved in football, nobody is forcing you to play. There is always checkers.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. We have so many years with Shaw that you can predict how the Offensive game will develop. Run. Establish the TE over the middle, then work on the periphery.

      For the D on Saturday:
      1. Neutralize the LOS and force 3rd and 5+
      2. Put that tall MLB in the passing lanes so McKee can’t find his equally tall TE’s. Shaw uses them to soften up the middle and create the peripheral passing game.
      3. Make Stanford’s less-talented peripheral WR’s win the game for Stanford. I don’t think their WR talent can win games for them vs USC.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. …getting to their QB when he leaves the pocket….and sending him into a couple of backwards summersaults won’t hurt either…
        #WeNeedToTakeThe”Fun”OuttaThisGameForStanford

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Practicing tackling!?– Perhaps Ton-o-Hel learned a thing-or-2
    during his SC apprenticeship.

    Say, has anybody noticed the 100-degree heat in L.A. this past week (no question marked needed)–

    With 8-Billion earthlings needing food and heating-or-cooling every day, it is obviously fatiguing the planet, and apparently mankind has not yet learned not to mess with Mother-Nature

    Can’t you see it, 30-years from now– OK, most of us will be dead by then, –so imagine the following official announcement:
    “It is 12:00 in ol’ L.A. today, in the year of our Lord, 2052, and it is hot outside. Currently it is 121-degrees, with no end in sight. So far, 5000-Angelenos have died due to the heat, with more deaths expected today.”

    Liked by 2 people

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      2. George says we should write the Great American Novel– too lofty an expectation for me, George.

        I get fatigued just trying to perfect a couple of pages of writings.

        Like

    4. LJ,

      What would you say if you were to hear:
      It is Wednesday Sept 7, 2052, at 9:00 A.M. in the morning and it is a a pleasant 65 degrees and dropping down to -35 degrees with snow flurries by 1 PM today.

      Like

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      2. No, the real test for survival will come to be in about 2100, not 2030. parcelman.

        And by then many earthlings may be fighting for their very lives.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I was surprised how far off the corners were playing the Rice WRs in the first half. Seems like they played more man coverage in the second half, and were playing a lot closer.

    Great interviews with Lincoln Riley and Dye here, including update on Raleek Brown, he is looking like he will be able to play soon:

    https://www.pe.com/2022/09/06/usc-notebook-raleek-brown-practices-left-tackle-battle-is-ongoing/amp/

    #ThePressEnterpriseHasTheInsideUSC Story
    #NotThatHard,Scottie

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Against Rice the entire D backfield was real soft, even the linebackers.
      2nd half they got a little tighter on the receivers and the defensive pressure got kicked up a notch.

      Liked by 2 people

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    2. Lawyer John
      The whole global warming thing is a hoax. Climate Change is real. But climate change was true 6,000 years ago, long before there were autos and factories and oil driven engines. Co2 is a tiny part of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Picture a 10,000 seat basketball arena. Now picture a certain amount of seats representing each of the various greenhouse gases such as CO2, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, water vapor……….CO2 would be represented by 4 seats out of the 10,000. We’re wiping out the economies of the nations over a threat that isn’t real.
      In the meantime, while we are wasting money fighting CO2, we are ignoring some real environmental problems like dumping millions of tons of garbage in our oceans everyday. Plastics are a million times more dangerous than CO2. All that trillions of dollars that we are wasting on climate change could be spent on developing the technology whereby we can re-cycle all garbage and use it again rather than dump it in our oceans. The answer to plastics and garbage is technology. The oceans are the lifeblood of our planet. We’re destroying them.
      If a bunch of millionaires start predicting that Catalina Island is going to sink into the ocean in the next 15 years and yet those same millionaires are buying land on Catalina and building mansions, I’m going to start thinking that something is rotten in Denmark. That’s exactly what is happening. The environmentalists are saying that all the coastal cities will soon be under water and yet those same environmental Big Kahunas all own beachfront property…….everyone of them from Obama to Joe Biden to John Kerry to Al Gore and all the rest of them.
      You said ” the real test for survival will come to be in about 2100, not 2030. And by then many earthlings may be fighting for their very lives”. Why 2100? They keep moving the target date(mainly because nothing ever happens by the time they said it would happen). I agree that by 2100 things will be bad….but it won’t be because of climate change. Go on You Tube sometimes. They have a lot of programs about future weapons. They have weapons on the drawing board that are going make a lot of our nukes look like pop guns. And there are a lot of bad actors out there. That’s what we must worry about. Not Climate Change. Climate Change has always been there and it always will be. The tiny amount of CO2 that we have in our atmosphere is not going to effect it. We need CO2.

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  7. Quote from Travis Dye on blocking:

    Dye said Tuesday that pass protection was an area of focus for him during the off-season working with running backs coach Kiel McDonald.

    “No blocky, no rocky, that’s just how it is,” Dye said. “I knew I had a route. I saw the d-end coming up. He’s shown all these ribs, so I had to get me some baby back ribs real quick.”

    Liked by 2 people

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  8. Scooter,

    Reminder, Carrol’s start in his first year was not that great until the db, I forget his name intercepted a pass against UofA and ran it back. That is when the Trojans started their dominance. This is Riley’s first game. yes, Riley has more talent now than Carrol, but both have the same trait, to improve. On the other hand, helton could only dream of having a game like Rice. Give it time, but the db’s will improve or Donte will be gone.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. They’re doing the best they can with what they got…but eventually [within 2 years] the entire defensive staff will be gone…
      #ReplacedWithTheBestCoaches&RecruitersInCollegeFootball

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  10. “Most teams don’t tackle during the week. We do,” Helton said.

    OH! I have to actually work to keep my job?? I guess I’ll start coaching for real then…

    Helton is an f-ing joke.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Kyrgios needs to learn what all great champions learn: you NEED to be your best until the fight is over…. and, therefore, you ARE your best until the fight is over.
        #Absolute,PerfectFocusTillTheEnd

        Liked by 1 person

      3. It seemed like a “made for television” moment…..
        #HalfWayThroughHeWasAskingHimself,”More?”

        Like

      4. Agree about Nick and tennis.

        Kyrgios has perhaps more natural ability than anybody on the tour. He has no coach, and he apparently plays hoops more than he practices tennis. Maybe another hour of on the court each day, and the ability to get his head right, and he would be number one.

        Hate to say this, but I am now automatically rooting against any Russian at the US Open.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. The first few months of the invasion, any Russian UFC fighter got a LOT of boos when he was introduced!

        But it’s completely died down now.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. We have spent $50 billion on Ukraine. Did we move the needle?

        We could have done much more early on. That opportunity was completely lost.

        Like

      7. Per Gordon Chang, we’re not being prepared for what’s coming in Taiwan either. The effects on the U.S. will be much more substantial than what’s going on in Ukraine.

        Would it be too much to ask China to wait until after the CFP? 😛

        Liked by 1 person

  12. HEY “THE GRINCH THAT STOLE MY ENTHUSIASM FOR A MAGICAL SEASON”. WTF DO YOU MEAN YOUR LESS ENAMOURED WITH CB OTHER THAN BLACKMON. SO YOUR SAYING WE DON’T HAVE ANYBODY WHO CAN PLAY THE POSITION THAT IS AN INDICTMENT OF DONTE. HEY DONTE CAN U REALLY COACH? SOUNDS LIKE LR WILL BE KICKING YOU TO AN ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION ONLY. I LIKE YOU BRO, BUT WE NEED RESULTS NOT HYPING UP ALL THE CB’S TO FIND OUT D. JACKSON IS THE OTHER STARTING CORNER GET OFF REHAB ISLAND BE READY FOR WEEK 4 GET READY WE NEED YOU.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. I hope these 2023 CB recruits can lock down receivers or we will be in trouble if we can’t create pressure n leave these corners on a island. I’m getting depressed I’m going to call Caleb to see about my mental health. I’m about to smoke a blunt yall, I will posting my progress.

      Liked by 2 people

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    3. Trojan 1967
      $50 billion to protect the Ukraine border. A fraction of that could be used to protect our border and finish building the wall and save all the deaths from gang bangers , Fentenal, sex trafficking and many other things. But Mayorkas says that our border is under control. That sounds like a ball-faced lie but maybe not. Maybe what he means is that our border is under control…..only not by us but by the mexican cartels.

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  13. Taiwan? Seriously? Using commercial boats because they lack landing craft? Or they gonna parachute troops to invade? Aren’t they in lockdown still? You want to start World War 3 with a desperate despot like Putin? Stick to football.

    They got better in the second half. THEY got better in the second HALF! THEY PLAYED BETTER IN THE FIRST GAME DURING THE SECOND HALF!! RELAX!!!

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  14. That’s good that LR is calling out the corners rather than telling them how proud he is of them like CH used to do. These corners need to step up their game against Stanford. If Stanford is going to beat SC, that’s how they are going to do it…..in the air. Stanfords QB is really good. He was great in H.S. at Corona Centennial.
    I’m having a hard time believing all the stuff I’m hearing from the pundants about that powerful Stanford run game(although I am concerned about our D-Line). Last week, Stanford ran 87 yards for a TD on the very first play of the game. From that point on(which is really the rest of the game) they gained 82 yard rushing on 27 carries…….AGAINST COLGATE…..AGAINST COLGATE. Stanford hasn’t had a great running game in the last 4-5 years and I’m not convinced that they have one this year. If they do run the ball well against SC, all that shows is that the D-Line needs a lot of work.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Hope our guys are ready to put some hurt on Stanford — it’s time to get physical…
      #LotsOf”HitOfTheDay”TVMoments
      #GiveThePac12SomethingToThinkAbout

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    2. Parcelman007,
      Great catch. Nobody said much about that in the media. When we have good defense USC will shut them down also. D line needs to plug the gaps, let the linebackers make the tackles. And we do have the linebackers to do it. Just have to cover those very tall tight ends.

      Liked by 1 person

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    3. ….I am sure that Stanford will gain yards vs the USC defense.
      Shaw loves developing his pass game early with the TE’s.
      Keep the TE’s out of the game and make the WR’s win the game for the Furd. I don’t think their WR’s can win the game for them.
      (same with ND)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’m sure that’s exactly what Riley is hoping to do —- question is: are the d-backs capable of stepping up?
        #IThinkTheyAre&IThinkTheyWill….
        #…[TheyMustBeSoSickOfBeingTheBruntOfFanJokesByNow]…

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    4. parcelman007,

      Just a reminder, most teams improve from the first to the second week. This includes Stanford. Stanford will run the ball with 7 linemen blocking like the old days. Shaw wants to prove that he is back and that last year was no fluke. I like Stanford’s offense. Reminds me of McKay.

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      1. There really should be warning signs posted all over campus— “Stay out Clay!” or “Helton will be shot on sight!” … or “Die Helton!”….
        #….StuffLikeThat

        Like

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