FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Bemoans Tackling

It’s hard to think about with the Utah game such an emotional affair but this is a bye week.

Right now, USC is practicing today and Wednesday for sure. The rest of the week is not announced but some coaches probably want to leave Thursday to recruit.

USC coach Lincoln Riley said this Monday night after watching the film.

“No. 1 thing is we didn’t tackle well,” Riley said. “That’s been a strength of our defense the first six games. The most disappointing thing was the tackling.”

A couple other Riley comments:

“We weren’t good enough (on the pass rush).

“You get the roughing the passer calls and it changes the whole feel of the game.

  • The officiating remained Topic No. 1 for many USC and Utah fans Monday night.

For all the positive publicity Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff gets why hasn’t he done anything about the officiating? He’s been on the job for 17 months.

Isn’t that one reason Merton Hanks was hired too?

  • I should mention I infuriated Washington State fans on twitter a couple weeks ago when I mentioned USC graduate Frank Villar was the referee for the Trojans-Cougars game. Villar is a first-class official but the Pac-12 should realize something like that will anger fans.

One USC fan tried to tell me I was wrong about Villar being a USC grad. But I went to college with him. Then a reader said he was teammates with Villar on the USC JV baseball team.

But the USC fan who questioned Villar attending USC then said, “Any chance there are two Frank Villar’s?” You can’t satisfy fans. Ever.

65 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Lincoln Riley Bemoans Tackling”

  1. There are a lot of USC haters out there who have been saying all along that this SC team are a bunch of pretenders and not a really top notch team and this Utah game proves it. My view, after watching the whole Utah game, is different. If anything, the Utah game proved to me that they(when they are healthy) are the real deal. They walked into a mad house and they were not intimidated. What beat SC was some seriously bad calls, losing 2 key players at the end when they really needed them and maybe even the altitude(they looked tired at the end).The crowd didn’t have much effect on them. Many other teams would have folded under those conditions. Remember last year when Oregon went up there and lost 38-7?

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    1. I think you’re over the target, parcelman. And I think that’s why USC fans are so disappointed with the officiating. When a team is prepared to make a “statement”…and gets off to the kind of start USC had in Salt Lake it’s doubly hard to see a drive killing interception taken off the board. Our guys deserved the blowout they were on the verge of delivering….. not getting jobbed by refs who wanted to infuse life into the dying home team…..
      #INeedToSayItAgain:RileyDeservesAMoreAggressiveA.D……
      #….IfWe’reStuckInThisConferenceForADozen&AHalfMoreGames

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      1. On a neutral site, I think SC would have won. That place was a mad house. I have sympathy for the offensive line. The center has to make calls on the O-Line at the LOS. In a mad house like that, it’s almost impossible to make those calls with all the noise. They have to keep things simple.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. ‘Ol Mule Shoe doesn’t give two shits about defense. If he did he certainly wouldn’t have hired Grinch, Nua and the other idiot Donte Williams.

      ‘Ol Mule Shoe will never hire quality coaches for the defense, it’s not going to happen because for as long as he has been a head coach, it’s never happened.

      Same way ‘Ol Mule Shoe doesn’t give two shits about recruiting players other than for the skill positions.

      I told you clowns that ‘Ol Mule Shoe is Clay Helton 2.0

      It’s the same old shit just like with Clay when it comes to recruiting, 10 WR’s, 5 RB’s, 2 TE’s, 4 DB’s and throw in 1 or 2 three star linemen and there’s your annual ‘Ol Mule Shoe/Clay Helton recruiting haul.

      And those few 3 star linemen, neither of them will weigh over 275 lbs.

      LOL!

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      1. im not defending anyone. He was forced to hire Williams by Folt and Bohn. That was the deal Williams made to take over the team last year. That and he checks the right boxes which makes admin happy and was still a link with existing recruits. That was the agreement he made with them, that was part of the deal that Riley made with admin. So just keep that in mind.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Inner Tebowobama: “What I did not really want to tell people, as I did not want to undermine my credibility, is he actually gives three shits about the defense. But is that good or bad? If positive numbers it is good, but if it is negative three or two shits, it is lower.

        I should also probably not reveal my sources but I am told Grinch likes to wear alligator shoes, a sure fire sign of ineptness as a defensive coach (although a positive sign if an offensive coach). They might not think I know what I am taking about, but I use the most up-to-date, cutting edge metrics when measuring coaching ability.

        Moreover, no way I am revealing that in my culture clowns are highly esteemed, and that it is a term of approbation in my native land. Anyway, time to go put on my LOLA outfit and rock this town to its foundations.”

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      1. Inner Tebowobama: I wonder if anyone picked up on my wit. That is trouble with this blog, no one recognizes my sheer genius. I mean, who else would think of comparing our D-couches to the Three Stooges. Gawd, that is so funny!

        Truth is that I should have Scott’s position. But a prophet is without honor in his own home. The is the sad tale of my wretched life. Time to go, just got my food stamps in the mail. I will live high on the hog tonight!

        Liked by 2 people

    5. The USC Sooners resemble the No defense playing team in Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley 😂😂. Teams like that get their Ass Kicked in the playoffs

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      1. Not me, LJ imposter, and why should I be the one to “monitor” imposters’ illegal misrepresentations on Wolf’s blog, that is Mr. Wolf’s duty and he is in breach of it. (Note– I have a “following” of a few family&friends who read my stuff, and one is 7-year-old niece Pattie who was “shocked” when reading an LJ imposter’s filthy language)

        It’s simple, each night have a monitor comb through all the comments for that day and sort out the ones that obviously go beyond the pale with nasty language and ideas, and Delete it! It would take an hour tops.

        A warning to all you imposters, mere identity-thieves is who you are, and for now you may be shielded from arrest but “Internet Web Law” is fast evolving as the arrest-net is widening for even today’s ‘protected speech,’ and your filthy stuff doesn’t qualify. When we write on say a blog those writings can remain in the public domain for years and years and used against you. Anything I have ever publicly written was carefully edited, how about you-guys

        One more thing “invisible” ones, laws are often retroactive meaning you might get away with your fraudulent behavior today, however the law could change a year from now but take effect today and have you meditating, “Rotten luck, but what was I thinking!”

        Liked by 1 person

      2. John — If it’s any consolation, no one would ever confuse your lucid style with Falsie’s. But I can readily see how seeing your name above some of the comments attributed to you would bother your family. [Fortunately, in my case, nothing I do or say at this point would bother or surprise anybody]….

        Liked by 2 people

    6. 007:

      On the prior thread talking about officiating, someone tabulated that the lousy officiating extended Utah drives which lead to 150 more yards for the Utes. This was my impression also.

      I think the lack of pass rush relates to 3 items:
      1. Few blitzes by the Trojans.
      2. Tired Big Guys in the late 3rd/4th qtr. Altitude really hurts the big guys.
      3. Roughing the passer calls…

      We’ve beat this dead horse.
      Looking forward to BYE–Zona–CU-Cal.

      I’ll get my wonk on next week, but looking at those three defenses is gonna be fun for all of us. Heck, we rolled 550 yards vs the #19 defense in America on their home at 5000 feet of altitude. BTW, Scalley’s defense is now rated #31 (and USC O is #2 in America)

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      1. Thanks for all the smart analysis during this melancholy week, Bourbon. Much appreciated!
        #”5000FeetOfAltitude!5000FeetOfAltitude!”
        #Why,I’veRolledUpPlentyOfStatsAtFiveTimesThatAltitude

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    7. The team is good, but still has a long ways to improve. USC really lost this game in the second quarter, as they allowed Utah to get back into the game. In the first quarter, USC had taken the crowd out of the game. Yes, the roughing call completely turned the game, BUT you have to deal with those things. The core problem was that USC failed to score on drives in the second quarter. If USC were up by 14-21 or even 28 at halftime, they would have broken the crowd and Utah.

      There was too much celebrating on the USC sidelines after going up 21-7 and not enough realizing that Utah could climb back into the game if USC did not execute.

      Honestly, this offense needs to consider that there will be games where they MUST score more than 45 points to win the game. So they should just plan for this. That means if they score less than 28 in the first half, they are in danger of losing.

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      1. On the one hand, 28 in the first half is easier said than done. On the other, you’re right.
        I should boringly [at this point] point out we were on our way to doing that —but the refs intervened. But thanks for the reminder: a shitty call only means we have to redouble our focus, not get cute [what was that dumb triple option bullshit]?

        Liked by 1 person

  2. It appeared that Riley thinks 2 weeks might be enough time to get Gentry and Addison back. He didn’t explicitly say it ….but he did say “yeah, we need the bye for our banged up guys.”
    #”BangedUp”IsBetterThan”BrokenThisOrThat”

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    1. If 2 weeks is not enough I would play without them until they are healthy. We should be able to win the next 3 games without them and get a chance to develope some other players.

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      1. I agree —but we won’t get any cakewalks in our remaining games —we’re every Pac 12 team’s common enemy. Having said that…
        #…IHopeWeDon’tGoBackToHelton’s”WarTime!”ChantInTunnel…

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      2. Think about it, if they are not ready they have to play without them, and I agree, we should win decisively the next 4 games and to get the #3 and beyond guys in builds the team up with experience.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. If you fanboys thought the Ute TE did a number on USC (and he did actually) just wait, that UCLA TE , Bobo I think his name is, he may end up with 300 yds. rec. and 4 or 5 TD’s when the bruins play the Ladies of Troy. It will probably take the entire Trojan secondary plus Lee and or Goforth just to tackle him.

        LOL!

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      5. He is so dangerous Tebow that USC is going to have safeties with sidearms just to take him down he is so scary. Again, what a crock.

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    1. Knowing how hard it is to get anything out of USC mediawise we don’t know for sure if Bohn has or has not complained. We assume he hasn’t because it is so quiet from the administration stand point, but that is generally the norm is it not? Then again, you are probably right, he is such a wimp at times.

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      1. Steveg : can you maybe delete the “at times” from your last sentence?
        False Michael Guarino : can you delete…. yourself?

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I love the way Mike Bohn has handled the officiating issue, they should fire him, because I didn’t get my way 😭😭😭😭. I’m telling my mommy 😭😭😭😭😭
      #”Zzzzzzzzz”

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    3. Bohn is probably afraid that if he confronts the PAC 12 and it’s officiating crew they will tell him, “Well, if your Ladies of Troy would learn how to tackle instead of grabbing and holding on every play, they wouldn’t be getting flagged all the time for doing so, maybe your girls should be more concerned with hitting the weight room, getting some advice on how to tackle from some real coaches who know something about defense…instead of painting their finger nails”

      LMFAO!

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      2. Inner Tebow: “Oh, please Mr. Bohn, I did not mean what I said. That was just for guys. I want the guys to respect me by standing up to authority figures. That’s right, I will stand up to The Man–then they will know what I am made of! But deep down, I really adore you Mr. Bohn. Do need me to wash car this weekend? Or walk your dogs? Anything, Mr. Bohn, but please don’t reject me. “

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      3. Bro your too turned up. Slow you roll JESSIE!!! The ladies of troy would make you look sick if you was carrying the rock. You are talking so much caca yeah we lost because of our defense and lack of playing smart football at the most important time of the game. We will bounce back n you can go back to being the hater you are.

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  4. Where does Wolf come up with some of his stuff?– “You can’t satisfy fans. Ever”
    Not so, Scott, when SC wins we Trojans are quite satisfied, and when SC loses we are “satisfied” in a different way.

    Speaking of which, I am satisfied SC is leaving this conference because the Pac-12 is just too tough on our boys– Oregon and Utah have owned Troy and even slick Stanford has given SC troubles, so hello Big-10, just give SC a bye most years versus Ohio St and Michigan and I’m good

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  5. Post SC-Utah, I wish I were Utah’s Rising this week as he princely roams around the Utes’ campus beckoning obliging co-eds, “Hey good-lookin,’ SC hurt me real bad with all those illegal take-downs, would you mind giving a poor boy a nice back-rub?”

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      1. Heck ya John, I’d be all over those Nutts, all day long. I’d stuff them in my mouth until my man explodes Yum 😋 Yum 😋

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  6. Wolf’s role is that of a provocateur.Just like the role of Wile E. Coyote is super genius.Scott straps on the Acme pen and begins to poke the cage with a stick.What do you expect?When he runs out of ways to yank our chain, he reverts back to historical photos and the like.Trojan football is making rapid strides.We just can’t forget where the team was a year ago.And even then- that was STILL prior to the Cal game that they mailed in at season’s end.

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  7. This World,

    I asked if you had played for USC and you said remember Jared Parker.

    I did not have a chance to respond on the other blog. I don’t know who he is. Can you elaborate? Thank you.

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  8. On to the next. Not that big a deal. Getting healthy helps on a psychological level. I’m glad so many people are paying attention to the program. It was not that long ago that no one took USC seriously and the coach was on the witnesses protection program. It will be fun seeing the Pac 12 screw UCLA over because they pissed off the elitists in NoCal for wanting to leave. Dr. Goodspeed and his inept cabal of minions will perform cavity search in Eugene this Saturday.

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  9. If there’s an intelligent troll on this blog, I have yet to read his post.(Although we once suffered Bruin Rob/ Owns and his intelligent posts) We have one troll who thinks by changing his name for each post nobody will recognize him. Although it’s been pointed out they (nonbinary pronoun used because gender and sexual preferences are unclear) can change their email to disguise their stupidly, they still haven’t done so.
    Hey faux Ed, try “I’matroll@gmail.com or “Dicklicker@msn.com”

    Then there’s T.O. Who writes at the level of an incoming Bruin freshman “I know you are, but what am I-lather rinse repeat.”
    At least T.O. knows he’s a troll.

    Football officiating is subject to review by the league each week. Unfortunately the reviewers are probably not qualified. They are smart enough to know that a fully loaded truck at 60 miles an hour will not be able to stop when a Volkswagen cuts them off. This is an analogy that suits the roughing the passer penalties. In both instances the defender was at full speed ready to tackle. In the first, most egregious flag, the defender pulled up and extended his arms to lessen the blow. The fact that quarterback did a curtsey and then a “throw the flag” move was proof that no actual harm had been done. Roughing the passer is a penalty intended to protect the quarterback from unnecessary or deliberate hits long after he isn’t a ball carrier. In both fouls the momentum of the defender should have factored into the call. Neither call was reviewed on field, but again reviewers are not qualified, so the actual review is done by the one who made the call. Both calls were made by the same ref and both were intended to advance the ball after the defense had stopped the play.
    If the referees were protecting both teams, how come no roughing calls against Utah? How about unnecessary roughness after Addison was tackled out of bounds? These calls were part of the game, and one tackle with 48 seconds probably would have secured a win for USC, but without those calls USC would not have been in a position to need that tackle.

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      1. Well, not the “they” part. In English when the sex is unknown, a pronoun takes the male form. Of course, the woke crowd hates this, but it’s grammatically correct.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. SoCal I was a music teacher at the middle school level and was ordered to use they and them when the student identified as non-binary. I was not asked, but told to do this. I have retired and this factored into my choice. I didn’t care what these gender confused new to puberty kids couldn’t identify themselves, but being ordered to call a person born with specific genitalia by anything other than biologically correct pronouns was enough for me to throw in the towel. You are right and often I forgot the politically correct term, but when corrected by these students I would just answer “whatever.”

        Liked by 1 person

  10. There a ton of USC haters. It really is lonely on top. It is a sign of admiration. Ironically these same people are OK with PSU and their pedophile back turning.

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  11. As for these trolls who employ constant references to genitalia, sex acts, etc. EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY AIN’T GETTIN’ ANY. Well, everybody except them, I guess.

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    1. Yeah, the sicko in Las Vegas loves those kind of juvenile, sick jokes that only a 10 year old would find amusing. Those and her lame Depends, outhouse & crotch kick remarks show what a loser she is. Repeated references to her boyfriend’s dildo also say a lot about how depraved she is.

      The two of them should get a room.

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      1. You senile troll!!!!!….. Seems to me, you have yet to realize you’re the only one I treat in that manner. You earned it……tooooo funnnny!!!!!

        I take great pleasure in slapping you around like a pinata, know that. Stop the fucking whining(24/7) over some choice words I use to describe you and the environment you live in. GROW A FUCKING PAIR!!!!

        Here’s the fucking pathetic part about you, 99% of the crap you post has nothing to do with USC and 100% has nothing to do with what takes place between the goalposts……blog dunce!

        You know I’m a man, who would twist you into a pretzel, but you find it amusing to refer to me as a “she” and make sexual references aimed at my minor daughter(sick pedo)….. any half-wit, besides yourself, would consider that as juvenile comments……

        Plus, I’m still waiting for you to “hand me my ass”……all talk from a keyboard tough guy.

        Outside of MG, I’m the only one who responds to your comments. Be thankful!

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    2. Dr. Ruth: “A sexually satisfied individual does not use the words anus, cavity, caca, dildo, nuts in every sentence…”
      #Freud:”FalseEdHasProblemsThatGoBeyondFootball”

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    3. As for these trolls who employ constant references to genitalia, sex acts, etc. Let me say this… EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY AIN’T GETTIN’ ANY, so I’d be more then willing to give my ass up to some good peenus, and my mouth is always available for their Balls… Yum 😋 Yum 😋

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  13. When some lawyers say “This is my final word” you know they’re about halfway through their lecture, but here goes anyway,
    “Regarding 2022 SC-Utah this is my final word, I think”–

    How many great SC games can you recall through the years, not a lot probably but That Trojans-Utes warlike battle deserves a spot in
    the ol’ memory vault:

    The Utes looked finished in the first half but on the sidelines Trojans were so busy back-slapping with their 21-7 early lead that they forgot they would need more points to win.

    Utah kept coming back and coming back always behind until the only minute that counts in a game, the last minute. And by finally catching SC with a mere 40-seconds or less remaining, Coach Whitt shocked Coach Wiley by deciding the game right then and there by going for
    2-points. Come again, 18-year Utah seasoned Whitt can’t outcoach relative new-comer Wiley?–

    Even if the ‘quarterback infractions’ were both reversed in SC’s favor there was still plenty of time in the game and I believe the Utes would have been in that game all the way to the end, their offense was really reeling, SC’s immature defense over-matched

    — Never have been one to blame referees for mistakes (or even conspiratorial acts), you play the hand you’re dealt and figure you can still win it and if not don’t complain, it is a fool’s errand who howls at matters he cannot control such as ref’s split-second calls,
    but Wiley had Control of the running-down clock and chose to allow precious time to evaporate all the way down to less than 40-seconds when he could have gifted Celeb with a minute-30 or more, and given the kid time enough to have a legitimate chance at winning with a field goal.

    Wiley got off lightly with most banter mis-directed at the officials but it is Wiley’s-Folly that I will always recall. SC had a great chance to march into sucla next month 10-0, so we have been robbed of ‘what could have been’

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    1. Basically agree —I will point out that Riley is facing most of these Pac 12 squads [and their coaches for the first time]. Had Riley come up through the Pac 12 route he woulda realized that Whittingham was ready, willing and able to throw the dice on that 2 pointer. I’m sure Riley thought it was a possibility….but he didn’t know enough about Whittingham to know it was a probability.
      95 times out of a hundred a coach with a team that is one point from evening the game with a minute to go sends in the kicker. Not Whittingham. He’s got balls plus.

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      1. All true Michael, but what did Wiley have to lose by
        using his 2 time-outs to stop the clock and preserve time enough for Celeb to counter should Utah tie or go ahead?

        Liked by 1 person

    2. How about some good coverage on the TE. Or some better tackling by the defense. Could there be other things besides the calls and the clock? I think so.

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      1. Key word: “Besides.” Yes, the call was one of the factors. And it wasn’t a player factor. And it wasn’t a coach factor. It was a ref factor.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Again all true, but the 58-minutes of action that had already occurred were irrelevant to what might happen in the final 2-minutes when the outcome was on the line, and what happened in those final 2-minutes?

        Liked by 1 person

      3. How about some good coverage on my posterior. Or some better tackling in between my balls. Could there be other things besides that that gives me a BONER… Hmmm 🤔

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  14. Ryno: Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid had 109 yards AFTER THE CATCH in the win over USC on Saturday. Kincaid finished with 234 total and caught all 16 of his targets.

    Hard to imagine that matchup going worse for USC’s defense

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  15. LR you have never had a real pass rush other than Tuli 1st quarter 3 sacks and some key sacks Byrd from having teams constantly block our DL from creating a pass rush. Tackling issues will only get better if coaches teach them to wrap up the ball carrier, instead of trying a truck hit and getting a possible targeting penalty. What are going to do about it, give more time to younger players to see if you can find a player on depth chart spring to 1st team from practice? Hopefully you do because you just lost one recruit. Remember they are watching our defense, do you really think we can get some Big DL from the South, because they see that they are not being taught right. That is making a lot of defensive targets maybe decommitt. Just saying. We need to use these next 3 games to improve our defense . Offense will be ok now they know the must on every possession or we won’t win. That has been the big issue with the offense all year too inconsistent. LR can we get balanced between run and pass. Scoring drives of 1:32 or less is killing our defense later in the game. Bye week

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