FOOTBALL

Discuss The USC-Utah Game

What. A. Game.

So many emotions. Some real guts from the players. And a huge call by Kyle Whittingham to go for 2.

Hard to remember USC led 21-7.

USC was not ready for prime time tonight. Too many penalties. Poor tackling. No clue how to cover tight end Dalton Kincaid (15 catches for 217 yards).

And let’s not let Lincoln Riley of the hook. Why didn’t he call timeout with 1:39 left and Utah burning the clock near the goal line? Was he that confident in his defense? He shouldn’t be. They couldn’t even stop a 2-point conversion.

USC losing to Utah in Salt Lake City is not an embarrassment. But this game showed those cracks that I continually harp on, especially on defense.

104 thoughts on “Discuss The USC-Utah Game”

  1. USC didn’t play what anybody would call a perfect game. Riley did not coach what anybody would call a perfect game. But USC was playing a solid team in an insane Salt Lake City environment and more than holding their own —until they got jobbed on calls that even the announcers were vigorously criticizing. Our dear leader, Scott, needs to acknowledge that.
    Now that Lincoln has said the officiating sucked will USC back him up? Will Fox fine their announcers? Are we all supposed to pretend the officials didn’t steal the game?

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    1. Michael, I did not see the SC-Utah officials “steal the game;” recall how the Utes “lost” a touchdown earlier in the second half on a fumble at the SC 2 yard-line, so I say Utah won the game fair-and-square, and as Coach Whitt exclaimed, “That was one of the greatest games ever played in this stadium,” and he has coached over 100 home games.

      Parlaying the importance of this game with 85 points being scored underscored Ute hero Kincaid crying at the end and ‘Celeb’ looking as if he was hiding tears behind his helmet as he forlornly sautered off the field.

      Trojans knew all along their defense was the Achilles heel holding this team back from greatness, and the Troy ‘D’ did not disappoint. 42 points used to assure victory, but now ’42’ just keeps you in the game, or ask Alabama how their 49-points stood up against Tennessee.

      And the crowd, screaming throughout, although at the 4-hour marker as the game ended it seemed as if even the teenage student section was running low on energy, but had enough left to storm the field, much as the Volunteers did so earlier when finally shaking off their shoulders that 15-game Alabama gorilla losing streak.

      The hitting was sometimes ferocious and both clubs played as if it were the last game of their college careers, and once again college football exhibited itself as the greatest game the world has ever seen

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      1. Sober analysis, as usual, sparrow. And I agree with 90% of it. I’d just point out one thing: we caused the fumble, the refs caused the roughing penalty.
        There’s a difference. One is old fashioned football….
        #IDon’tWannaSayWhatTheOtherIs…

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    2. Our defense sucked..Zero sacks ,Zero pass rushes, same predictable Defensive schemes, poor tackling, poor pass coverage!
      Letting a TE become a factor!
      The DC is pathetic and should be fired. You’re never going to win if you allow 43 points!
      Bob Jensen
      1969 Team CoCaptain
      LB #51

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      1. Well Bob, the game has changed since 1969 now over a half-century later,
        whereby the running game has been eclipsed by the passing game,
        and more than 30-points offensive points seems to be more the norm than the exception, but I understand your frustration

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    3. Was it just me, or did anyone else see Caleb Williams crying like a little Bitch after the game? And did you see his pink fingernails that the camera zoomed in on? 😂😂.

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    4. In defense of the Defense…
      If I cared to rewatch the game, I’d look at the 3rd and long situations which our defense put UU into, got the stop, only to have the zebras decide that they wanted to keep UU offense on the field. The stadium was electric, and the zebras must have wondered that if they called the game fair, they might not escape alive. Both roughing the passer calls extended drives which had died and lead to 14 or 15 points for UU.
      A 3rd and long incomplete passed was called PI, though the pass was uncatchable.

      The defense was on the field for about 18 minutes in the second half, despite putting UU in 3rd and long repeatedly and winning the down, only to have the zebras step in. No wonder that they could not stop the final drive and 2 pt conversion.

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      1. Totally agree.
        Really bad calls. It cost USC a couple of TD’s.
        Targeting?
        It’s football .. You’re going to get hit, unless you deliver the hit!
        First rule taught to me at LB!

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  2. Utah 2 point conversion for the win. Grinch has 4 DL’s, no goal line D alignment. Gee, where do they go. This guy is crap. Always has been crap. No pressure packages. Just nothing. It’s another version of Clancy with a better offense for bailout. Hope LR isn’t another Chip and hangs onto his D coordinator “buddy” out of loyalty.

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    1. Good offenses are really hard to stop today. It’s not like in the 60’s. They have changed the rules to favor the offense because the fans love offensive football. But when you go into a nuthouse like that stadium was tonight, all the noise can hinder the offense. These fans are football smart. They know when to scream(when the visitors offense has the ball) and when to quiet down. I don’t think that SC was intimidated. I just think that they lost 2 key players at the end when they needed them most. That hurt.

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  3. This game was on Grinch. He stole Christmas from the USC fans and all the personnel that got injured tonight.

    He was horrible at OU and now SC. The defense had more holes than the Titanic.

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    1. The defense was never going to be good this season. How anyone thought otherwise kind of mind blowing. Helton didn’t leave the Riley regime much to work with, and what he did leave wasn’t coached up at all.

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  5. Sorry one more.

    Could officiating be any worse?

    Is tackling and hard hits not allowed in football anymore? That roughing the passer call was outrageous. QBs should wear skirts if those types of calls are to exist.

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    1. Pretty soon we’ll be playing flag football. Football is a smash mouth sport. But nobody is forcing these players to participate. If you don’t like the harding hitting….there’s always badmitton and ping pong.

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    2. What about the spectacle of ineptitude that the refs displayed in the last minute of the first half? Among the festivities was a SC first down they decided to review to see if the ball was caught. But they decided to do that after SC had used a time out. That was after a debacle of reviewing SC for targeting on defense, which was not justified

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    3. As above, both of those paltry roughing the passer calls directly lead to 15 Utah points after Grinch’s D had gotten a stop (or an INT by Bullock).

      I’m sure no one would be griping at Grinch if USC had won 42 to 28, as was likely the score with impartial zebras.

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  6. USC isn’t very good. I’ve said this the whole time. It’s going to take a while to purge the program of the stink and rot Pat Haden and Clay Helton wrought on it. Also when your number 1 target on offense weighs all of 175 pounds you can’t use them 20 times a game like Riley has been w/ Addison. I mean, Marquisee Lee and every other good receiver USC has had. Drake London last year, Smith-Shuster, and on and on.

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    1. I’ve always said that they are a year away but to say that they are “not very good”…..I disagree. I predict that they will end the regular season 10-2 and maybe 11-1. NOT BAD for a “not very good team”.

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      1. Rice Eccles was a good test for this team and they did great.
        USC showed that they are a physical team and they out-muscled the less-physical Utes. Problem is, these zebras did not want to see a physical USC team.

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    2. I agree to an extent you can’t fix what helton did for years. But utah ain’t that good either. Losing to a two loss team is weak after they were manhandled by ucla.

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  7. Is this any different than any other time we play utah at there stadium. One sided officiating. The 4th quarter was ridiculous with the officials taking over the game. The officials were the stars getting more airtime than the players. Something has to change.

    Some observations:
    Caleb Williams makes poor decisions (Holds the ball too long) in the pocket. The more mobile QB gets sacked 4 times while the other QB was not sacked.

    Run the ball! 6.5 yard avg. The last several coaches just can’t get themselves to call more running plays even though they are successful at it.

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      1. Pretty soon the rules will state that the QB has to wear a special yellow jersey like they put on the players in practice who are playing with an injury. It really is getting to the point where you can’t hit the QB anymore. You can hurry him but you can’t hit him. The revised rule book is going to turn this game into flag football.

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  8. …all I know is that ‘seance’ to gin up the ‘Vin dawg’ failed…why didn’t the ‘Vin dawg’ not appear?
    Padres roll and ‘brooklyn’ is out….Dave Roberts the most overrated mgr. in MLB…..
    Sweet! A big thank you to ‘Kersh to lose!’ Andy Friedman is crying…boo hoo

    Final!
    SD 5
    ‘Vin dawg slaves’ 3

    Padres advance!

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    1. Alvarado,
      Dodger fans should look at the bright side: The Dodgers may have trouble with playoff games…but they know how to ace the regular season…..
      #That’sSomethingSpecial!
      #RegularSeasonChamps!
      #Wow

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      1. Miceli I’m looking for a dual departure….the NYY hitting the skids tomorrow …. you and I both know who now is the worst mgr in the ‘5 boroughs’? Bucky Showalter or is it Aaron ‘on Cashman’s leash as Dave Roberts is on Friedman’s’ Boone?

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  9. Southern Cal is Oklahoma lite, VERY soft.

    I cannot wait until November 19.

    You have another mike Leach disciple that has no idea what defense is lol.

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    1. Considering ‘the princess’ losing ‘at home’ to ‘Legoland’ I’d say we have more than enough to finish the regular season at 11 – 1 and then face ‘lantern jaw’ and his ‘faux indian tribesmen’ for a ‘re-match’ in Clark County 3rd December….I must say too many ‘pass interference’ calls …
      I must say, as I always do, all power to the soviets!

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      2. Of course I’ll take the 11-1, ruso.
        Our offense today ranks #2 in America (per FPI).
        Our defense prior to yesterday was #55. We are now down to #70 nationally–right below the #68 ranked Bruin D.

        I have repeatedly espoused my complete and utter lack of regard for the U of Oregon (#350 out of 780 universities academically).
        Their NIKE associated corruption is legendary. However, I have
        instantly become a Dux fan as they entertain both UCLA and Utah at home this year. I’d kinda like to see the Dux whip both and travel down to Vegas for a battle of two teams which have not met this year. Rematches of Utah/UCLA/USC etc seems disinteresting to most of the country.

        I don’t care. I still see an 11-1 season as far beyond my original hopes.

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    3. I don’t know what is going to happen on November 19 but I think SC will be in that game and maybe win. If they weren’t intimidated in that Utah nuthouse then I don’t think that they will be intimidated by the few mild mannered UCLA fans who show up on November 19.

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      1. 50,000 true Trojan fans must show up at the Rose Bowl.
        It would be a 1300 mile trip for me, but I might just do it.

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  11. Summary of the night!
    Lincoln “no defense Riley”
    Dave “Go to the Bullpen Roberts”

    Riley, will never make the playoffs until he recruits defensive players, and a good coordinator.

    Dodgers should fire Dave Roberts- Starting pitching wins baseball games in the playoffs……Analytics do not win baseball games.

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    1. Tommyd:

      Rewatch the tape. Count how many times the Grinch D got a stop but got overturned by the Zebras. I’m away from home and don’t have Hulu to rewatch the game, or I would.

      Yeah, we lost. With impartial zebras we win 42-28 or 42-21.

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  12. The idiots run amok. The Trojans covered. It was a great night. The dodgers lacked power in the bottom of the lineup. Easy fix. This ain’t the 98 Yankees. Most of you are stupid for believing this team would go undefeated. Utah will fade and die a horrible death in the Sun Bowl. Grinch should be worried at the lack of intelligence of his charges. This team needs more bulk, speed and experience to go undefeated. They lost by one point. Season not close to being over.

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    2. …our guys played physical ball vs a NON-PHYSICAL Utah team.
      1. They played tough in a raucous stadium.
      2. They beat the Utes.
      3. They beat the fans–who were artificially jazzed up by a memorial to their fallen FB player(s). I guess when the Utes need to get the fans revved up at a key moment, they will wear black and bring back the horrible deaths of those players.
      4. They couldn’t beat the zebras.

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  13. Great game.

    I’m surprised at the “refs gave the game to Utah” and “onesided” refrains. As an impartial observer (Duck born/bred in Eugene), I felt the officiating was egregious frequently, but that the Utes had just as much to gripe about. The roughing call was awful but that PI/interception/stopped clock/add time back play with 8/13 seconds left was absurd on several levels and included an extremely malevolent unnecessary roughness on the SC offensive player tackling the interceptor out of bounds that went ignored. I thought the circus was a wash overall.

    SC has a good team and played well. You’re not back at an elite level yet and Rice-Eccles is to almost- elite teams what Afghanistan is to empires: a graveyard. The Utes earned a huge win in an all-time classic. I think you all have a winner with LR. Whether the defense develops will tell whether he’s a championship caliber coach.

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    2. Impartial observers don’t label non-calls “extremely malevolent.” [But I would love to hear a ref w/mic make that call…..give even the Utah fans a chance to laugh]…..

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    3. …driving to a half-time field goal, Mario Williams of USC
      1. makes a catch at about midfield,
      2. makes a football move with the ball, takes a step,
      3. and begins to lose control while on his way to the ground. The ground helps him recover his fumble. On review, the play is OVERTURNED and a 3 point drive nearing the half is negated.

      There were so many bang-bang calls and all went against the Trojans.
      Yeah, we lost–to an inferior FB team: Worse coach. Worse QB. Worse WR. Worse RB’s. We put up 42 pretty easy points on the #19 defense in the country in their home. UU defense and Morgan Scalley has gotten torched two weeks running.

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  14. This doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve always said that they are at least a year away. They were certainly not intimidated by the crowd in that nuthouse. It didn’t help that right at the end, when they really needed them, they lost 2 of their best players….one on offense(Addison) and one on defense(Gentry).
    After 10 games, I’m convinced that they will be 9-1 and will end the regular season 10-2 and possibly 11-1.

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  15. This game was lost when were up 21-7 and we had the ball at our own 45 yard line and LR got cute when we could have run the ball. Scored with 3 minutes to go in the half which put us up by 14, then Shane Lee, Beavers or J Smith couldn’t cover TE all night, they got the momentum and eventually tied it on the first drive in 2nd half. Penalties and poor officiating helped Utah on Bs roughing penalty on Bullock int in the endzone turned out 7 points for Utah and numerous PI penalties helping keep drivers alive. I’m am proud the way we played regardless especially in the altitude. We are still going to the championship game for the PAC 12 if Sucla beats Oregon n we win out in all of our conference games which is doable. We need a lot of 2 loss teams to make it to CFP which is only a probability of 3% as of right now. Teams that need two losses Ala Clemson Michigan Tennessee Oklahoma St Ole Miss too many teams, plus pollsters are going to favor all SEC teams regardless. #StillOptimisticEvenWithLoss#AlwaysFightToTheEndChampionshipThatsWhatChampionshipTeamsDo

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    2. That is the smartest observation of the day, Eric. Riley got cute with a highly motivated home team. Big mistake. USC is not a fucking triple option offense. If he just stuck with what was working to perfection he could have put the dagger in Utah’s heart on that drive.

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    3. Eric – you made exactly the point I was going to make. Football teams with perfect records dont win their games in the fourth quarter, because the randomness of outcomes would not allow a team to continually come out on top in close games. USC had completely sucked the life out of Eccles Stadium and it was in the 2nd quarter that USC needed to put their foot on the neck of Utah and snap the neck. They should have been up 35-14 going into halftime. Then USC could have simply matched Utah score for score in the second half and it would have been a 14 point advantage, even if Utah had one more possession in the second half.

      Now back to the refs – I was saying last week that the refs are making calls against USC on key plays that decide the game. This is not bad reffing. It is an attempt by at least a portion of the refs in the game to make USC lose. It wasnt just two plays. They also called the holding penalty on the final return by Raleek Brown, which was very marginal. If USC had the ball at midfield with 50 seconds to go, they were one or two plays away from field goal range. They could have even thrown it over the middle and used time outs to get close enough. The problem is that refs can call holding, PI and roughing calls all over the place, these are very subjective calls. In the SEC they only call the fouls that impact the outcome of a play, or are extremely aggregious. They dont call PI for having hands on a receiver, or contact with a QB who has just released a football. In the SEC, the refs in the Utah game would be fired immediately.

      This is 100% intentional by the refs. The refs will attempt to make this look less obvious by calling other teams for fouls that do not change the course of a game and by only throwing penalties against USC in key games on key plays. I imagine that the UCLA game wont be thrown because UCLA is leaving the Pac-12 as well. But if USC ends up in the title game, they will once again be trying to throw the game to Oregon or Utah, assuming those are the teams that end un in the championship game. I would like to see the championship game as UCLA-USC, just to throw the middle finger at the Pac-12 (although I would actually rather see USC face Oregon). USC should demand a non-conference referee team for the conference title game.

      Do I sound like a conspiracy theorist? Consider that USC is taking most of the best players west of the mississippi. If USC wins the Pac-12 championship this year, that will power USC to lock in all the best 2024 and 2025 players as well. UCLA is not such a threat because they will probably not play the NIL game in a big way and just dont have the cache as USC in the recruiting arena. If USC sucks up all the best talent, the Pac-12 teams will suck and become even more irrelevant.

      This is about survival for the Pac-12 teams. Tell me they dont know the refs are throwing games their way, whenever possible.

      In order to go 10-2 this season, USC will need to get ahead of opponents by 14-21 points by third quarter and thereby keep the refs out of the final outcome.

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      1. 100%. Unfortunately USC games are now being officiated by crews with an OBVIOUS conflict of interest —they are employed by a conference that we have given the finger to! I expect dumb fucks Mike Bohn and Carol Folt to be just fine with this.
        #ThingsAreGonnaGetWorseTheRestOfSeason&Next…
        #..CuzOfTheScaredWeaklingsInCharge…

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    4. Good insightful post..you always learn from your mistakes or you should….that TD as the half ended was a portent of what ensued in the 2nd half.

      If Riley believes he has a championship caliber team then prepare and recruit for it….considering this is the 1st year few saw this coming a near perfect year thru 7 contests.

      One lining of silver was Caleb Williams emotional breakdown as time expired and his bluntly stating how much he hates to lose.

      One amusing sidelight is that drama queen ‘Dorian Thompson-Robinson’ morphing into the demoncrat pantheon of leaders
      ‘FDR, JFK, LBJ, RFK, MLK….’ with ‘DTR’…..anyine with a multiple surname has a mommy whose a real ‘woke’ leftist then again does he not play for ‘Bel-Air Tech’?

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      2. MG
        There is another factor here and I’m not saying that it was a factor in this game. It’s the idea of sports betting. I think that any time an official makes a clearly bad call when he was in position to see what actually happened, there needs to be an investigation into his personal life to see if he has any gambling debts. They have convicted officials in the past for trying to rig a sports event.

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    5. Generally agree with your premise. I was furious when Bullock’s INT was overturned. I got a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw the replay of that “roughing” the PASSER.

      The CFP was not in our cards for this year.
      Still, A win vs UCLA and ND and in Vegas are 100% obtainable by USC and should be the goal.

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    1. May I amend your last sentence, Sir Charles?: “USC already won on a hostile field…and would kill ’em in a neutral field rematch.”
      #HopeItHappens…UtahDeservesIt
      [Note for those who say this is the same as last year’s team: check the score of last year’s game with Utah]……

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    2. I think our D was on the turf 18+ minutes in the second half–only 13 minutes in the first half.

      Take away some gift extensions of Ute drives from the Zebras and our D looks a lot better. But you are right. We beat these guys 10/10 on a neutral field.

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  17. I have never blamed the referees for a loss and I don’t plan on starting now

    A team going into a foreign stadium has to expect some built-in bias towards the home team. Refs are human too and don’t relish being booed by the home-folks when making calls against their team, so some border-line calls can go the home team’s way. A visiting team has to expect and accept this reality and go out and win the game anyway.

    SC had its chances to distance itself from Utah, especially in the first half when Troy had the Utes on the ropes but failed to put Utah away.

    A neutral observer would say that was a game to remember and that Utah was just a wee bit better than SC on this particular night.

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    1. Agree with your sentiments, John — have to overcome the hometown calls [but I still can’t get over the feeling Utah was a wee bit helped by being gifted a TD when our legit interception was taken off the board…and they were given 15 yards to boot]….
      #NotAGoodSignWhenRefs…
      #….AreDeer-Eyed&StutteringLikeBidenWhenAnnouncingCalls

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      2. Yeah…have to agree on that one, John. That sneak for 2 points wouldn’t have worked against most defenses.

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      3. USC lost this game by their 2nd quarter performance, but if you really think the Pac-12 refs are not intentionally calling marginal penalties on very key plays, you are just not thinking straight.

        USC winning the Pac-12 championship has the potential to destroy the Pac-12. USC is already sucking up all the best high school and transfer talent, if they win the Pac-12 and a end up in the CFP or even just win a New Year’s Six bowl game, they will be even more unstoppable on the recruiting trail. So what type of players will be left for Oregon, Washington, Utah, Stanford, Cal, etc?

        When you see how things operate from the inside of organizations, you see that conspiracies are happening everyday. Not the far-flung ones, but the ones where groups guard their own interests. Those conspiracies happen all the time.

        USC will need to continue battling both the refs and their opponents this year. I hope USC coaches take this into account as they teach their players.

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      4. If Bohn had any balls [which…let’s face it….] he’d demand out of conference refs for all our games through next season. You can’t have Pac 12 refs officiating the games of the team that’s called the Pac 12’s bluff …and announced they’re leaving for a BETTER conference….
        #FortunatelyForOurPac12OpponentsBohnWouldPreferToBeatOff

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      5. btw…no such request will be made by Carol or Bohn….
        #..TheyHaveTooMuch”Honor”&”Righteousness”

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    2. We’ve both watched a lot of USC CFB over the 50-60 years, Mr Wolcott.
      I’ve never blamed the Zebras…

      Yeah, we lost to an inferior team in a raucous, emotionally (premeditated) trap game. The two roughing the passer calls were ridiculous and lead DIRECTLY to 14 or 15 points. The Trojan defenders played HARD, PHYSICAL FB and were punished for it.

      Glad we’re gone from what has become a joke of a conference.

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  18. Riley: “This team has a real shot. If we handle this like I think we will, we got a real shot. I’m pissed right now. They fought their guts out. Well s—, I’m ready to go practice right now.”

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    1. Hope he’s has Addison by the time we play an improved, rested Arizona team at their place. We’re gonna see more weird calls and more crazy fans —have to overcome it all…again.

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      1. I want to see more Michael Jackson III.

        The player they need to sit on the sidelines is Brandon Rice. He has dropped the ball multiple times this season and he is incapable of getting much yards after catch or winning contested balls. There are other players who should get those targets. Kyron Ware is good and CJ Williams has potential and MJ III needs to get playing time. Time to start culling the herd on receivers who do not perform on the field.

        USC needs to get more performance from the tight ends. Good to see Falo finally making some strong plays. I think Riley is missing a dimension to his team not having a true H-back and not good enough quality production from the tight ends.

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      3. Hopefully, Bourbon.
        If we get into trouble in any of those games —Dye should be able to save the day…..but, let’s face it, if Dye were [God forbid] to get injured we’re gonna be up to our eyeballs in every remaining game….
        #PleaseCaleb&Dye:StayHealthy

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    1. Check out the comments on Fox [the most compromised news source…after CNN and MSNBC] regarding USC’s loss —- the rest of the country is ecstatic we got “beat.” Anybody who doubts how many “haters” are out there needs to check out the delirium a USC “loss” generates.
      You’re fucking correct, Charles. It really is “us against the world.” And all Carol’s crazy ecumenical talk doesn’t change that one little bit. Will she go on record as to the Pac 12 horseshit officiating that took a legit, drive ending interception off the board? Will we hear a peep outta Mike Bohn about the refs gifting the Utes with a TD….and preventing a last minute drive with 3 [bullshit] penalties?
      #…ToAskThoseQuestionsIsToAnswerThem

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      1. Michael,
        As long time Trojans we all understand that subtle–or not so subtle–disdain or hatred that the commoner has for Trojans. In LA you can rally up with many of your faithful. Anywhere else, you are quietly reviled (and sometimes respected). The CFB cognoscenti respect the USC brand, and we have a mutual understanding. The commoner on the street–such as Bruin Rob, JustOwns–not worth our time.

        The computer gives us 20% chance of running the table.
        UCLA and ND will be tough–as it always should be!

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      2. Yeah, it’s even that way in Hawaii [even with all our transplanted Californians].
        As to what’s next —-if we are at full strength [Addison & Gentry are 100%] we can take UCLA and Notre Dame…..I really want us to get another shot at Utah….
        #…PaybackWillBeABitch…
        #…[NotThatTheBadCallsWereTheirFault ….
        #….ButIWasn’tCrazyAboutTheirPostGameComments]

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  20. Referees are going to slant towards protecting the quarterback on questionable roughing the passer calls. The quarterback position is the most vital component of any team, take Rising or ‘Celeb’ out of that game and it becomes a completely different contest. I don’t follow the NFL but haven’t there been some QBs taken out?

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  21. There was another mechanical error by the refs. Calling roughing the passer when the QB received the ball on the flea flicker. He was no longer a QB and should have been considered a runner with no protection afforded.

    That said, USC has too many front runners in their squad. Dudes were celebrating to soon and played in panic mode when our was required.

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  22. LSD, huh, Michael, I tried it once and perceived my beloved ocean as a mere over-sized bathtub. Never took the stuff again.

    Win-or-lose, what does it matter,
    When was the last time you had your ‘Feelings-Level’ so elevated,
    drama through-and-through for a 4-hour high to the very end
    A 2022 SC-UTAH classic, especially for the Utes
    But it was a gem that could have been cut either way
    with the outcome being so arbitrary

    Many of the posters (All?) wrote critical comments fueled by some internal-anger. For me, I accepted the better team won if by the slimmest of margins
    I simply feel sad, not a ‘death-in-the-family’ sad but a feeling so strong that it is causing a mild sensation in my chest area, strange.
    I don’t reach such empty depths but once every year when SC first loses and is out of the running. It is a disease I contracted from Trojan teams of 1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003 and 2004

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    1. Honestly, John, I can live with the loss…. the knot in my stomach is over the TD that was gifted to the Utes when our interception was taken off the board.
      We are in the strangest situation now —having our games officiated by a conference we blew our nose at. If this were a lawsuit we could have the Pac 12 refs recused for cause.

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    2. You evoke the days of truly superior talent, when California and California schools ruled the world, LJ.

      This team has heart and played TOUGH, PHYSICAL FB. It pisses me off
      that the better team with the better coach was not allowed to win fair and square.

      The days of Utah being a great team are past.
      SCalley and their defense suck.
      On the road, they are a mid-level team.

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    1. It should be noted that helton’s last recruiting class was ranked 63rd in the country, that he got beat by Cal cuz he was “in love” with a center who snapped the ball into the endzone [and laughed about it in the postgame interview] and that he got the shit beat outta him by Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State…..and….Iowa [after which he said he was happy for the Iowa fans]…..
      #Oh,OneMoreThing:HeltonWasAMotherFuckingIdiot

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  24. Um, I made money because the Trojans covered. I won’t be so gauche to say how much but, it’s enough to go to Disneyland! Great job, USC!

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  25. The USC defense has been quietly celebrated through 6 games and suddenly they “ain’t shit?”
    Does anyone remember the story of Sisyphus? You’ve stopped the opposing team with an interception, but wait someone touched the opposing quarterback after the play. Go back fifteen yards and start again. That is what the defense faced beginning in the second quarter. It was apparent that USC was running away from Utah and suddenly the defense became Sisyphus. If you read lips you saw the oft maligned defensive coordinator saying “What the FiretrUCK?” As they zoomed in on his face to see his reaction of a replay of the second roughing call. You might have heard the Fox announcers going crazy over that call.
    Calls such as targeting and defensive holding can be used to give the offense unearned yardage. It’s only unfair when one team seems to receive more than their share of such calls. It should be noted there is no rule that says you must allow receivers a free run down field. If they engage the defense they are subject to being tossed to the ground.
    I might’ve given the refs a pass being in a stadium full of rabid fans, who were likely going to storm the field, but they were paid to be fair. Utah should be embarrassed to have cheated and gotten away with it.

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    1. USC administrators have to face the fact we’re fucked if we have to rely on the “fairness” of the Pac 12 officiating crews to win our conference. Why would the Commissioner of the Pac 12 —who is fighting for his life and has already said that the teams staying in the conference have equal value to USC — want USC to win the Championship? Our situation is analogous to a clerk getting a promotion to his manager’s job but having to be supervised by the person he’s replacing for 2 more years. Guess who’s gonna get fucked over every day for2 years?

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  26. Please, they had three players to guard in pass defense and failed to communicate. The pass rush didn’t get to Rising because the coverage was bad. They’ll be ready if they get another chance on a neutral field.

    At least Marcus Freeman isn’t coaching USC. Notre Dame? Stanford? Home loss? At this rate the entire recruiting class will join Lincoln Riley at USC.

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  27. …it’s an honor just as it was for any dominant power in any field to have the hate from the rabble but what makes the hatred turned towards Troy is the dual loathing by ‘the princess’ and ‘Bel-Air Tech’ every even numbered year when the Irish come to town…..not even Notre Dame can claim a dual joint hatred annually as evidence by the hatchet job done by that crooked cabal after the Bush housing mess emerged and all those impartial NCAA officials began their re-enactment of Caesar on the Ides of March.

    Never cringe from embracing ‘…us against the world….’ revel in it as do all who have had such…..it’s what makes history worth reading i.e. the question ‘….why such anger?….what made them so worthy of animus by so many?..’..’ Mike Garrett foolishly uttered what was/is true ‘…they envy us…’ and they do

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  28. Still, and then finally I will be still, that Trojan-Ute Battle was something to behold, even causing my marginal-fan wife to be riveted by the drama. The spirit put forth by both teams you only see in college football, and why I repeatedly write, ‘Once again college football exhibited itself as the greatest game the world has ever seen’

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  29. Embrace the agony. Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. It’s up to the coaches to look in the mirror and ask themselves: ” How did we let that happen?” Addison getting hurt didn’t stop the offense. Gentry getting hurt was too much for the defense to overcome.

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