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Discuss The USC-Stanford Game

USC’s offense was unstoppable in the first half and then got a little sloppy in the second half. USC got outscored 14-6 in the second half.

But I’m not worried about the offense.

The defense didn’t impress me at all. Way too many yards (441). The secondary looks as shaky as ever, especially when your No. 1 cornerback Mekhi Blackmon has three pass interference penalties.

Here’s how I look at it: Is USC good? Yes. Is USC ready to play the best teams in the nation? Nope.

P.S. — Clay Helton beat Nebraska!

115 thoughts on “Discuss The USC-Stanford Game”

  1. Go to he’ll Scott Wolf. No one said that this team belongs in the playoff in year one. Douchebag! Game two and you expect them to be Pete Carroll level!! They will get better snowflake.

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    4. Doing very good for the second game of the season. Doing very very good for a new coach. Doing a great job orchestrating 80 guys that have never seen each other to be students of the game and learn how to play together.

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    5. Mr. Wolf is passed out in the parking lot of The Sly Fox Irish Pub in Lawndale after tying another one on last night.

      Should be this afternoon before he puts up a new blog topic…please bear with him.

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    1. Caleb is best QB in country, generational talent.

      Clay is the blind squirrel that found the acorn today. Nebraska is going to be looking to find another HC.

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      4. Bryce Young of Bama is the best ! Caleb is very good, but needs to pull out a win in last minute for him to challenge for the Heisman Trophy.

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    3. I loved seeing TAM and ND go down. Neither team was good enough to have been in the top 10 and now they have shown it. It just proves how bogus the polls are.

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  3. The Stanford offense was a little unconventional and not widely used. USC did adjust and did better later. I saw a USC team that could score at will, when ever it wants to. I would think the Fresno DC is seriously concerned. 2nd half was just a “Lets just show up and get it over”. No need to get anyone injured. Big push to get Dye his 100 yards though. Lots of subs got valuable PT tonight.

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    1. Good call on the ‘furd offense. They were using Emmitt’s son almost like Mike Leach would use a running QB, using the long delay before breaking the play.

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      1. trojan1967,

        Give credit to Stanford, Emmit Smith ran very well and the delayed RPO is something that SC has not seen. rknch did make adjustments in the second half to shut it down. Good game plan by Stanford. They will win a lot of game.ss

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    2. I watched the whole Colgate game and I never saw them run that delayed RPO offense that they were using. They were saving that for SC. SC’s bread and butter is their offense. Stanford had no answer to that. Defensively, SXC still needs to improve. Take away all those turnovers by Stanford in the red zone and it could have been a close game.

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  6. McKee is considered a first round draft pick, and his numbers were totally ordinary for a guy at his level, 20-35, 1 TD, 2 INT, 220 yards, and the zebras gifted him 2 TDs in the second half. The ball game was more 41-14 than 41-28.

    The PI calls were awful. No other conference calls it the way the pac-12/10 does.

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    1. All true, 67 —but I suggested earlier we’d get homered on the pass interference calls —- it happens to us so much every year that I’m ALMOST numb to it…
      #[ItDoesBotherMeThatTotalYardageWasSoEqual]

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      2. Gabby –I’ve seen this script so many times: USC gets ahead, the refs step in and even things up….
        Luckily, unlike Helton teams, Riley gets us out front enough that the refs have a hard time stealing it…
        #..ButThatDoesn’tStopThemFromTrying…

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      3. I was there and the homer calls were so obvious. The victory steak at The Sea was sweet however.

        So fun to be dissecting a dominant offensive performance. The D is opportunistic and will need to continue that trend.

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      4. Unfortunately, pass interference is not a science, it’s an art the way it’s called. It is far too subjective. I’ve seen guys look attached to a USC receiver get no call. I see a tug on the jersey almost always called against a USC defender.

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      5. Are the PAC 12 refs betting the over on USC football games just like the refs did in the NBA scandal? With Donegy, Think 🤔 about it.

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    2. McKee was average in all aspects of the game, what’s more his receivers were nothing special either. His hype is much larger than he really is from what I have seen.

      Where the hell was Foreman tonight. He did nothing I could see.

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      1. The Refs said that last PI call occurred in the end zone and placed the ball at the 2 yd line. The so called interference happened at the 5 yd or so. Not sure how they couldn’t get that right.

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    4. The Pac-12 refs are bad. Not only can we say that “No other conference calls it the way the pac-12/10 does” but the refs in the pac-12 seem to be biased against USC. Pete Carroll used to bring that out and he showed statistics to prove his claim. Every year SC led the league in penalties.

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      1. Merton Hanks was supposed to better educate and train the officials when he took the job as Sr. Associate Commissioner of the Pac12. His “we’ll take care of that” is reminiscent of helton’s “look at the film” and fix it. As a former football player, it’s particularly disturbing that he does not manage this serious problem. Does anyone know whether there is any “penalty” for their calling egregious penalties that affect the outcome of a game. If they go unscathed, it explains why there is no improvement.

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      2. We can probably assume the Pac-12 refs will be biased against USC all season long. I do hope that Bohn files a protest or whatever the process might be.

        George K is not really that great a commissioner after all.

        If I am Bohn, I would be telling George K that if they dont fix the refs, no team outside the Pac-12 will want to play against Pac-12 teams. Further isolation of the Pac-12 into a junior division is probably the only thing that gets the message to the leadership that this crap just wont stand.

        At least one or maybe two of Blackmon’s penalties would not have been called in any other league.

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    5. Hey Trojan1967 at least you agreed with me I told y’all MCKEE was not all that didn’t go through progressions well after his first read is gone there goes his accuracy 5th rounder for sure 3rd rounder as a reach pick

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  7. It is clear to me why SC is leaving the PAC12. Just look at the referees in the second half. Those PI calls were bogus. The call in the end zone was a gimme for Stanford.but it didn’t happen. Replay showed contact being made before the end zone. The ball was thrown over everyone’s head. Even illegal touching of the ball on the inside kick was overlooked. I can’t wait to see those refs in the rearview mirror

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    1. Just another Pac 12 officiating mess ….
      #SomeoneSaidWe’llLoseACoupleOfGamesCuzOfTheDefense…
      #…NotReally —ButWe’llProbablyLoseOneCuzOfTheOfficiating…
      # …UtahLooksToBeTheMostLikelyLocationToGetFuckedOver

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    3. I guess it’s a judgement call but I thought that a number of those interference calls were just incidental contact. The defender has as much right to go for the ball as the receiver.

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    4. Ghostman
      I never trust anything that happens at Stanford stadium. I will never forget the game when they played Stanford up in Palo Alto(Kiffin was coach). SC scored the go ahead TD with 1:08 left. They ran the KO back to the Stanford 26. But no time came off of the clock. It must have taken 10-15 seconds and no time came off of the clock. The time keeper was a Stanford alum wearing a Stanford jacket and a Stanford baseball cap. That gave them 10-15 seconds more to drive down within FG range and kick the field goal and win.

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  8. The officiating remains substandard. Herbstreit commented on how the ref called out the wrong number on who committed the foul. Horrible mechanics again by Goodspeed & crew. Refs bailed out Stanford at the end. Ceyair Wright was the best cb tonight.
    Blackmon needs to play better in one on one. Shaw needs to be replaced. Riley needs to have Caleb line up under center and just hand the ball off and punish stupid teams that play six or seven dbs or just one lineman. Just go big and blow the crap out of quitters. Another star knocked out of the game by the USC defense.

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  10. Guess what Ghost, Goodspeed gets all the national TV games for the Pac 12. The other refs are worse than this crew. This conference needs to just go into foreclosure already and go away for good riddance.

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  11. Yes yes Riley gets a pass on the defense and needs to step up his recruiting in that area ( but doesn’t have a reputation for doing so) but can Grinch make even a little adjustment after getting run over, time and again

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  13. Too bad we didn’t score more against that fat arse Shaw and have him join hellton. He said hellton deserves respect and is a good coach, hoping that SC will continue to keep him

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  14. Offense was real good, but Stanford really sh*t the bed starting the game. Three turnovers, including two within the five yard line, doomed them for the game. Obviously, the other opponents won’t self-destruct to start a game like this

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    1. The offense is their bread and butter and it worked flawlessly when they ran it in the first half. Defense, does need work and they need to recruit to get the players they need. But the offense is the key. The defense doesn’t need to stop anyone. They just need to slow them down. As long as the offense is running on all cylinders, SC will be hard to stop.

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    2. Just shows the over hyped play of the Stanford Qb. He was average at best and his receivers were the same although tall. BFD, if you live by playing high passes to tall receivers, you die by the same recipe.

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  15. I wouldn’t worry too much about the 2nd half. When you are up 41-14 in the 4th quarter, you don’t run your regular offense or defense. Offensively, you stay on the ground. Incomplete passes stop the clock, runs don’t, so you run the ball every play. That’s not their offense.
    Defensively, you go into some kind of a prevent rubber band defense where you keep everything in front of you and let them go up and down the field between the 20’s and then make them earn it when they get inside the red zone. The fact is, when they were running their offense, Stanford couldn’t stop them.
    I would say that right now, they are right on schedule, progress-wise. They are not behind schedule. They are not ahead of schedule. They are right where they need to be but they have a long way to go to get where they need to get.

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    1. All smart observations. Upon reviewing the game I see you’re spot on. Riley decided to run the ball in second half, give subs a chance to play (we’ll need their experience later) and not pour it on Coach Shaw (who he’ll probably be seeing again). On second glance the defense played well —they can’t be blamed for crap officiating —and there were no arm tackles. Our guys hit their receivers hard…and they repeatedly gang tackled runners inside the twenty…
      #AlInAllPrettyFuckingHugeImprovement

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      1. The tackling is good. They’re not missing a lot of tackles. They did a real good job on McKee. He only threw for 220 yards which is great considering SC was giving them all the short stuff once they went up 41-14. I still think that they need more muscle on the interior middle D-Line. Oregon State and Utah run right at you and challenge you to stop them. I’m not overly impressed about either of the QB’s at OSU and Utah. It’s too early to tell but I’m beginning to question whether Oregon will beat either UDUB or OSU. If they played tomorrow, I would bet against Oregon.

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  16. I said all last week that Stanfords running game would not beat SC. If SC was going to beat Stanford, they would have to limit McKee which I thought they did.

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    1. SC needs to win 10 games and then win a bowl game and then straighten out their NIL situation and then take advantage of all of that to recruit heavily. The players are still evaluating SC to see whether this new SC is real.
      I still think that they lack the depth to be NC contender but being here in SoCal, they are in the perfect area to correct that lack of depth. I don’t see a better area in the country that has better local talent than right here in SoCal. Texas and Florida may have better talent statewide but So-Cal is as good as any when we are talking about a smaller area.
      A lot of kids grow up in this area following SC in football(they may follow UCLA in basketball but not in football….and besides, Chip Kelly is a terrible recruiter) but you have to build a fence around your house. You can’t let out of state teams come in here and poach your best players.
      Most players will stay home if you give them a reason to. But the great players want national attention. That’s why Young went to Alabama and Stroud went to Ohio State. They knew that they would never get that national attention they needed as long as CH was at SC. Young used to recruit for SC. But he saw the writing on the wall. To go to Alabama really was the right decision to make. You have to give these kids reason to want to stay home.

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      1. Young finally had pressure on him and responded in typical JT fashion. He had a few moments when he had time, but otherwise he is not at all used to having to react quickly.

        Stanford had a lot of recruits come to the game last night and I wonder how many have had 2nd thoughts and are looking toward the south (USC) instead. Time will tell.

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      2. Parcelman007 you are so right. Call me “EricThe Greek” remember Brent Muscburger on CBS Jimmy The Greek on the NFL Today, how could I forget the first lady who made putting women in a all dominated sports programming show PHYLISS GEORGE. Before Erin Andrew’s, Milika Andrew’s it was PG, not the Flippers “PG” . We should be able to recruit better OL/DL in this 2023 class I see a couple recruits flipping due to teams not looking good TAMU ND because see they won’t get to the NC, because of Fisher inability to find the right OC.

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  17. Well we know what are offense is one of the best in the nation. Receivers are 1 unit hands down. Can we stop being so loose letting backs gain so much on our edge. K. Foreman stop doing Claude Rains “The invisible Man”. You are the 5☆ not 3☆, stop reading your HS clips buckle up your chin strap. Stop dancing tip toeing around OLM go through with your hands. Blackmon stop already with the Iman Marshall n Chris Steele impersonator u won’t get drafted, or you will be 7 round pick. Offensive line QB RB WR A+ LB C- DL C – S CB F Bring On Frenso

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    1. Fresno is coming to town pissed cuz their kicker probably blew a win over Oregon State [which, by the way, is gonna be a tough team to beat on the road].
      #LovedTheClaudeRainsReference

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    2. I loved the Iman Marshall reference. I’m still wishing him happy new years for the gift he threw our way a couple of years ago

      I suspect that behaviour is coming to a close at SC .

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    1. Hey Trojan1967 at least you agreed with me I told y’all MCKEE was not all that didn’t go through progressions well after his first read is gone there goes his accuracy 5th rounder for sure 3rd rounder as a reach pick

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    1. We’re very good, Charles…
      —but….
      “Let’s not start jerking each other off just yet.”
      —The Wolf in “Pulp Fiction”
      #OregonStateAtCorvalisWillBeTheFirstBIGTest

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      2. True, 67. I don’t mean to be [literally] moving the goal posts. Stanford was a big test. They had been waiting all fall to spring that new offense on us …AND…. were playing at home in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
        That said, after watching Oregon State [and Fresno State] I think the next two games will tell the tale. They’re both a tiny notch up from Stanford …and they’re both very well coached…
        #AndCorvallisHasn’tBeenKindToUs…

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    1. “… And while the defense yielded 441 yards, we’d note the Trojans forced four turnovers for the second consecutive game.

      The unit doesn’t have to be granite in order for USC to win the conference and possibly compete for a playoff berth. It just has to be opportunistic.

      Which got us wondering …

      This is USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s second time through the conference; he was Mike Leach’s playcaller for three seasons at Washington State (2015-17).

      In each of those years, the Cougars forced at least 23 turnovers and ranked in the top quartile in takeaways in the FBS.

      Grinch’s units have a track record for takeaways. If the Trojans average two per game, that might be enough to properly compliment the pinball offense.”

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      1. What was glaringly significant was in the first half USC went 0 for 0 on their 3rd and 4th down attempts. They had to wake the punter up in the second half.

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      2. Grinch stresses holding on to the ball when it hits your hands —our d-backs are intercepting rather than dropping —and we always swat at the ball on a tackle…. all the way down to the ground…

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      2. I know you Charles u get the facts to backup your points. Our turnover margin is insane. Numbers are misleading yes and no. Look we gave up big chunk plays in the running game but negated that forcing a fumble or tip ball pick 6. Well the numbers are inflated based on your offensive and defensive schemes. Our offense by the numbers total offense I say top 5 with 550? YDS per game. Defense by the numbers autricious all know is about 450?. So we have 100 yards difference with the way, we score 100 yards represents 14 pts over 4 quarters and 1 turnover forced a quarter represents 5 pts over 4 quarters. With these numbers trending like we all see. As long as we Great QB WR RB OL and a penchant for causing a turnover at the right time will make us into playing in CFP.#YouHaveToBelieveInMiracles#YouHaveToBeANonScholarToUnderstandMyFormulaTo WinningAgainstGeorgiaFIGHTONBRO’S

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      2. I don’t know if ‘SC is prepared to play the best in the nation, but I do know that Alabama, Notre Dame, and Texas A&M (all ranked higher than ‘SC) didn’t look so hot yesterday, either.

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    2. It’s where we’re rated after Oregon State that’s gonna matter —we beat them at Corvallis and we’re VERY good…..
      #HopeThePac12RefsDon’tGiveThemTheGame…
      #[TheWayTheRefsDidLastNight—WhenTheyPlacedBallOnThe2]

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  25. Mr. Wolf is passed out in the parking lot of The Sly Fox Irish Pub in Lawndale after tying another one on last night.

    Should be this afternoon before he puts up a new blog topic…please bear with him.

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  26. Come on. SC-folks, it was only Stanford!

    — Don’t turn into another overly-gushing L.A. Times writer Bill Plaschke
    This SC football team is not yet ready to be anointed the ’85 Chicago Bears!
    — But that offense might be close.

    Now, the Trojan defense did make strides from the price they paid with Rice– you recall how Troy’s secondary resembled the Keystone Cops running after invisible receivers.– At Stanford, there was improvement. But barely.
    — I mean, how hard is to teach a pass-defender to keep his hands off the receiver? I want to know, I need an answer

    And I am sure all the nation’s college football fans noted that the “Final-4” Playoff Picture was drastically altered yesterday–

    Alabama is surely weaker than in yesteryears, but still always dangerous
    Notre Dame– was that a poor fluke-game? Either way, it gave SC hope
    Texas A&M loses– Apparently that supposed $50-million paid to their Freshman class is not yet producing dividends.
    And speaking of ‘not producing dividends,’ what got into sucla?– They almost look good

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    1. ucla has yet to be challenged. Of course they look good. Rice would beat every team ucla has played so far. ND has no Qb, plain and simple nobody has risen to the opportunity. Rewatch the USC game and tell me the refs were not trying to help Stanford out as much as possible. USC came out the 2nd half and looked as though they wanted to just run out the clock as much as possible. Had they kept going like the first half it would have been 70 points on the board. A big part of defense is getting the turn over chances and USC is all over it. Not only does it give USC points, it gives all the momentum to USC. Of course there needs to be and will be changes and improvements on the defense. Grinch has had a chance to take a good look at what he has to work with now. I expect we will see a good defense against Fresno, and an even better one against Oregon St.

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    2. Hey sparrow caramel calypso30266, great points, I see that Alabama is a little different this year, they aren’t explosive like they have been in the past years. Not really generating a pass rush and great schemed offenses will eat up their secondary. Georgia plays the best defense by the numbers but they also can be thrown on too. Ohio St, Georgia Alabama are stout in limited rush yards, if we faced any team that can stop the run, we need to go 12 personnel & throw bubble screens quick slants, and alot of bootlegs to get big chunk plays. We will be competitive for sure against anybody.

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  27. Charles I agree, but we really need to be a Top 3 team. Alabama no explosiveness at WR, Will Anderson not real smart player 3 offsides. Georgia playing cupcakes, not really knowing how good their offense is. Ohio St. is great on offense, waiting on them to play Wisc Iowa on the road. We already know TAMU Michigan ND all are a fraud. All these teams except Mich should drop out of the top 25 like they the PACQM?. MY TOP 5. 1. GEORGIA 2. OHIO ST. 3. ALABAMA 4. MICHIGAN 5. USC the bottom 5 doesn’t matter. GA because they have the best d, OHST, due to 2nd best QB n WR units, ALABAMA only because of SEC BIAS N MEDIA DARLINGS 4. MICHIGAN because they are in the BIG, which will be the premier conference overtaking the SEC in 2024. 5. USC, because 1. QB WR Improving OL units. Our magical season continues if we shore up our defensive scheme for run plays RPO and shallow crossing routes, zone coverage.
    We will get to number 1.

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    1. I’m sorry, but you guys are insane if you think we look like a top 3 team right now. Stanford is an OK team. In the second half we didnt score a touchdown. We have not seen our offense against a really good defense yet.

      Our defense is horrible against mediocre teams.

      Oregon State and Fresno State are both well coached teams.

      USC better play better against both of those teams if we want to win.

      #8 in the country seems fair to me.

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      1. Yes and no. If Alabama is a top 3 team we’re a top 3 team…..but, yeah, we have a lot of things to fix before we can beat Oregon State and/or Utah in away games….
        #Still,We’rePrettyFuckingGood…
        #..AndTheTeamPlaysLikeATeam…
        #..AndTheyAreDedicated,AsRileySaid,ToGettingBetterWeekly

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      2. Gametv wtf are you looking at JESSIE. We have a band but don’t break defense right now. Facts we have the 1 offense n opportunist defense. Alabama won NC game with great offense in defense. We will be in the playoffs this year my predictions mostly come true. Check my post JESSIE. Facts Facts Have a take and don’t suck
        I’m from the Jim Rome Welcome to the Jungle. All you USC Haters, stop hating and start backing up views with facts not your retarded logic and analysis. #WarOnUSCHatersWho Don’t KnowWhatIsReal USCTraditionalFootball

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  28. WARNING!! FRESNO STATE, AND OREGON STATE WILL BOTH GIVE USC ALL THEY CAN HANDLE WITH EXPLOSIVE OFFENSES.

    The Fresno State QB is very small, reminds me of forward Texas A & M QB Johnny Manziel- very small, mobile type QB, with a canon for an arm. The Coach at Fresno State is former Cal coach Jeff Tedford who always gives USC defenses trouble.

    The Trojans better get that defense together quickly or they are in for trouble against teams with good offenses. I saw far to many blown assisgnments on defense Saturday, and the defensive line looked terrible. I have given up on Corey Foreman!!

    This offense will have some off days against some teams. You all saw what can happen just in one half Saturday when the offense is off a bit with our defense.

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    1. We haven’t seen this offense play from behind yet —-they certainly have the potential to come back from a deficit —but WILL they?
      #It’sEasierToBePoisedWhenYou’reAhead

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  29. The issue I have is the lack of sweeps and straight drive block runs in the second half. It would have made me more convinced that both lines are settled. But injuries have the coaching staff rotating more players to cover all units. If USC plays front runners the rest of the season then every game will be like the Stanford rout. Oregon St is more of a threat than Utah. Foreman needs to get better, quickly. I don’t think they will be able to redshirt anyone this year, the depth of to thin, still.

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  31. Just to backup my by the numbers post. Results are in actual time. TO 521 yards per game. TD 362 yards per game 5 sacks per game 4 turnovers per game. How many points should we be favored next week with actual numbers 159 yards difference 14 pts +5 +3 so by the numbers we are 3 touchdowns better than any team we play moving forward.

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    1. We know how well this team plays with a lead….[and we know Riley is intent on doing what we need to do to score on the opening drive] —what we don’t know is what happens when we get jobbed by the refs into stalling on the opening drive? How will we play when there is pressure to tie rather than score first?

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  32. Glad Helton is gone but he may do well some place. He may get the Nebraska job and could one day beat us. That is ok , I am glad he is gone and I do wish him luck. But, it does not matter matter he was just not right for us.

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