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USC Notes: How About A 63-62 Final Score In Battle Of L.A.?

I’m ready to fast forward the season past Cal and Colorado and go straight to the UCLA game.

It might be 63-62.

I think that’s USC’s philisophy. Outscore them. Because it won’t stop people. At least not consistently.

One thing the Pac-12 does is create a lack of perspective. Arizona’s defense is so bad that it makes USC’s defense look passable. But USC’s defense cannot stop a good offense. Imagine USC playing a good Big 12 team? Not even a top 5 team. Just someone like Kansas State. Maybe that’s why K-State coach Chris Kleiman has 2 victories over Lincoln Riley.

UCLA will be able to run the ball. And score.

Riley’s got to get the offensive line healthy and rely on Caleb Williams to put up huge numbers if he wants to get to the Pac-12 title game.

  • I wrote in training camp that Bryson Shaw looked good early then he disappeared. He had an undisclosed injury (pulled quad). Shaw is back now and looked good in his first quality playing time with seven tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.
  • Is Raesjon Davis hoping to redshirt? USC is down two linebackers (Eric Gentry, Ralen Goforth) and he didn’t even play yesterday in any capacity. He had been playing previously on special teams. If he is redshirting, what was that nonsense earlier in the week about him stepping up for Arizona?
  • USC is ranked No. 9 in both Top 25 polls.
  • Did you see UCLA defensive coordinator Bill McGovern was sick and replaced in the booth by Clancy Pendergast last night?

73 thoughts on “USC Notes: How About A 63-62 Final Score In Battle Of L.A.?”

  1. No way the UCLA game has a 63-62 type of score. The UCLA offense will move the chains, and run the ball all day against SC which will control the clock. Chip, will try to keep the ball away from the USC offense, and control the time of possession. If SC cannot control the run the offense will not see the field as often. USC needs a big running back next year.

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    1. If Utah’s defense couldn’t keep USC’s offense off the field, UCLA’s sure as hell won’t. As for our running game, Dye is the best we’ve had in a long time –he doesn’t have bad games and he [almost] always finds a way to move the sticks [last night’s 3rd and one disaster not withstanding].
      UCLA and USC will score pretty much at will. The only advantage UCLA has going for them? The Pac 12 officials hate USC way more than UCLA. That’ll be good for at least 7 bruin points.

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      1. Yeah MG, like Trump won the 2020 election.

        No D1 FB program has received more help from the ref’s to win ball games then Clown U. I remember SUCC once scored a TD in 6 plays, 4 of which were due to opposition penalties – routine bozo bias.

        Remind me MG, how many TD’s did C. White score w/o the ball? And God and 12 thousand angels can’t convince me Erik Affholter caught the ball in bounds.

        After the game Affholter thanked the Lord, but he should have thanked the myopic ref who signaled the bogus TD.

        #Quit ref whining and act like a gentleman.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. My dear friend Owns,
        I just want to make sure I read that correctly —-did you write the word “gentleman”?
        [P.S. I loved it when USC scored TD’s against Notre Dame w/o the ball —it made the “W” that much sweeter]…..

        Liked by 1 person

      4. T Bruins–
        Who sez I’m gonna die?
        #IMayHaveToChangeMyEmailAddress,Though….
        #…SoICanWelchOnOurBet….

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  2. Charbonnet rushed 21 times yesterday for 198 yards (9.4 ypc). USC needs to come up with a solution. More takeaways … something. Shaw looked great. I thought when he transferred, he would be a team leader.

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      1. And he’s vocal…and he’s a leader. Having Gentry and Shaw back there is gonna really help down the stretch —they make everybody play better.

        Liked by 3 people

  3. LR is playing with his player’s mind. Davis. N didn’t even play wow. We do need a big thumper like the kid just committed to Georgia who decommitted from SUCLA. Brown will need to gain 10-15 lbs to be able to block lineman, if he wants to go to the next level or play significant snaps next year. Hit the weights hard this winter n spring, do alot of leg work, need to break ankle n arm tackles. I know LR didn’t want him to be unhappy but he should have redshirted in my opinion.

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    1. Slight chance Raleek is gonna turn out to be another Kenan Christon —a talented speedster who doesn’t really make the kind of difference a rugged back like Dye does. We need to make use of the portal to get somebody to replace Dye’s steady output next year….a fact I’m sure Riley is very aware of.

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      1. It’s early for Raleek.

        All of the talented skills position players are vying for targets.
        Raleek deserves 5 to 8 per game at this stage.
        With Dye as the “bell-cow” in the running game, Raleek is gonna struggle for reps. Dye is just so reliable.
        Versus Utah, Raleek was terrible in pass protection.
        Next year, he should get 150 touches.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Makes sense: they’re mostly the same group —Grinch is doing what he can but we used the portal to beef up the offense, not the defense.
      This is pretty much the team Scott predicted: a fast break team designed to win shootouts.
      #RileyWillBeLookingForMoreBalanceOverTheOffSeason

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      1. starting defense is a buncha’ new guys with maybe a couple SC from last year…and new coaches too…the basic 3down 2 line backers and 6 various others is the overall arrangement…I don’t see the rush end/line backer being able to cover any receivers,that is a recipe for failure…need something better that suits personnel.

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    2. …holding the Chipsters to 42 is gonna take effort and some luck.

      For the good guys, it will be about getting some red-zone stops, and maybe 1-2 picks of DTR.

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      1. It’s always possible one of the Arizona teams will upset UCLA before we get ’em. I don’t know what kind of effect that will have on the bruins in the first half of our game —but generally teams that have blown a game tend to get demoralized more easily in the 2nd half if you can get in front of them.
        And remember —we have ONE more day to get ready for the game than UCLA does [we play Colorado on a Friday, not a Saturday]…..

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  7. I know this I’m not betting on USC anymore they had no defense against a team without much offense.
    If it hasn’t been pointed out the PAC 12 decided they might have goofed on the last play of the first half. Ya think?

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    1. Dude, Arizona is 19th in the nation in total offense from LOS, 475 yards per game. USC is 12th at 493 yards per game.

      You don’t get to #19 being “a team without much offense”…….just saying!

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  9. You guys sound like Wolf. Bring it down a notch. They beat Oregon St on the road with that defense. The other coaches in this league know their job-well, most of the coaches in this league. Ask yourself: Trojans cornerbacks or Bruin cornerbacks? Bruin linebackers or USC linebackers? Then the big question: which defense has the better game from their defensive line?

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    1. I agree.
      Rivalry game.
      On both sides, the defenses will be pumped up and will likely play above their abilities.

      As above, I think it will come down to injuries, poorly-timed/emotional penalties, turnovers, and a key red zone stop by someone.

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      1. If you’re right about the factors that’ll determine the outcome of the USC/UCLA game, it looks like we win. I see fewer dumb penalties from our team than the bruins this year, we seem to come up with more defensive magic in the Red Zone [unless the refs take our interceptions off the board] and it looks like we’re gonna rest key guys in advance of the UCLA game [one way to avoid injuries].

        Liked by 3 people

  10. Before we move on, just a little more on the refs. So I watched the highlight reel for the Arizona game and the holding call on the touchdown pass at 17-14. So 76 was called for holding. There is such a tiny amount of holding on that play by 76, I cant see how that gets called by ANY ref. But the interesting thing is that the fat fuck ref who called it did not throw the flag until AFTER he watched the pass be completed and probably not until after he saw that it was going for a touchdown. It definitely did not happen at the time he saw the “holding”.

    And that same fat fuck is the ref who slowly placed the ball down while the clock is ticking off and he says something to the main ref pointing to something, maybe the clock. The main ref then says end of quarter. And then that fat fuck goes and talks to the other refs, obviously making some BS excuses and lies.

    USC should file a grievance and make sure that ref never gets to call another one of their games.

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    1. There is also another hugely obvious holding call on Arizona that was not called on the last drive. Max Williams is being held as obviously as possible, right where he could be making a play on the receiver on a key fourth and 12. If that hold doesnt occur, the ball is turned over to USC on downs.

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      1. 100%! Any ref who saw that Arizona player holding our guy outta the play and not call it HAS GOT TO BE ON THE TAKE.
        It only takes a couple of those non-calls in a game to reverse the score. As I’ve said, it’s fortunate for the corrupt Pac 12 Bohn has no dick and won’t demand an investigation [btw, I KNOW there would NEVER actually BE an investigation ….but demanding one would help sober the Pac 12 up]….

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Mike Mothershead was the Head of the officiating crew last night.
      He–along with Jay Stricherz–would famously shaft Pete Carroll and Layne Kiffen back in the day.

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    5. gametv — I like how many times you called that ref a fat fuck. I’d settle for him having to get a Fat Fuck tattoo on his forehead.
      #GrievanceIsForToday…
      #FatFuckFacialTattooIsForever

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      2. i had to let it out and now i’m better!

        i looked at ucla’s schedule and the only team that they have beaten that is good is utah. that wasnt at rice eccles and we had the refs swing our game by anywhere from 14 to 28 points. washington has turned out to not be good. oregon state and washington state are both better opponents that USC has slugged through.

        so i think we are overrating ucla and underestimating USC. i think riley and grinch are using the next two weeks to experiment and try to figure out how to prepare for ucla. the whole season will come down to beating ucla. even if we dont, and it is 10-2, that is OK with me. we need to get players healthy over the next two weeks.

        i think it is a close, high scoring game, but not in the 60’s.

        would love to see USC fans wear black and white stripes, like prisoners and bring signs bashing the pac-12 refs to the games. let a national audience see that the Pac-12 is a joke and we are excited to escape.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. gametv –that is such a great idea —it’s so great that if it catches on and people start talking about it on the USC sites, Folt will squelch it [or ask her lackey —you know who –to squelch it for her]…..

        Liked by 2 people

  11. Back to the question of the day….

    A shoot-out at the Rose Bowl seems inevitable.
    We have almost 3 weeks to prep our answers for this site.

    Zona has a really good offense–about #23 nationally (better than Oklahoma, BYU….I thought we could have dialed up a few more stops.
    D had held Zona to 180 yards in the first half (not bad). Jedd and team did some good scheming and shredded the D in the 2nd half. I see the problem as our LACK OF PASS RUSH.

    Trojans get game reps against two pretty mediocre offenses–Cal #86 (out of about 128) and CU (#127/128). Chip will have so many wrinkles for the Cross town rivalry game…

    I’m headed to Costco to get some extra anti-acids.

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    1. The trick for you is to have a little pasta before you say hello to your bottle of Bourbon on November 19th…
      #CoatYourStomach…..
      #IKnowIWill…

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    2. Arizona is pretty good on the offensive side of the ball, and young. They have a very talented young freshman WR, and the QB is a Sophomore who can make all the throws and is excellent at eluding the rush. Like us, they suffer from the shortcomings of the defense.

      Across the board, the QB play in the PAC12 is at a very high. It’s especially true for the 5 ranked teams. I can’t recall ever seeing three teams in the top 10 entering the 10th week of the season.

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      1. Fully 6 of the top 23 offenses in CFB are in the Pac 12 this year.
        (data might be skewed by the fact that some of the worst defenses are also in the Pac)

        Liked by 1 person

  12. sucla seems as if a faraway galaxy to me, no SC game is safe even Cal (well, maybe Colorado). Funny how the Trojans got beat down last year by the Bears and this year SC is favored by 18 1/2; still, after Arizona giving Troy a game I think Cal is not a gimme and I will be happy with any victory

    But for all the SC heroics this season it still looks like Oregon v Utah for the Pac-12 championship if the Utes can beat the Ducks in Eugene, then Troy will be locked out even with a sucla win

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    1. no, SC WIN OVER UCLA is SC vs oregon /utah winner…hope SC watches what Oregon did to beat ucla…maybe ucla will play like they did vs s.alabama…

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      1. If they do, they’d lose to us by about 21 points.
        #ButTheyHaveMoreMotivationGoingWhenItComesToUs

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      2. How you figure that Tim, the odds are that Oregon and Utah will not lose another game untl they meet, and assuming Utah beats Oregon and SC over sucla, then Oregon, Utah and SC all have 1 conference loss, with Utah trumping SC, and a tie-breaker used for Oregon and SC with Oregon’s only loss to No. 1 Georgia, I am not sure how that plays out.

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  13. At least neither USC or UCLA will not have to worry about the officials favoring the other team as punishment for them leaving the Pac-12 since both are leaving. As far as the defense is concerned, you have to give Grench a chance to bring in some quality players on defense. I give him 2 years and if he doesn’t show any improvement then it is time to go out and get a great DC. LR has the clout to bring in a great DC.

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    1. The Pac 12 hates USC WAY more than it hates UCLA —USC initiated the move to the Big Ten …and USC has been more vocal about it’s reasons….
      #USCWillGetTheShortEndOfTheStickInTheRoseBowl….
      #[ButWe’llBeReadyForIt]

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      1. From here in Colorado, the answer to Nov 19 is for 55,000 USC fans to buy up tix, tailgate in the parking lot (golf course), and rock the Rose Bowl. Even playing against the Zebra, the Trojans should win on Nov 19.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. There should be some revenge factor for the trojans in that game. The Bruins destroyed us last year. If that can’t get the trojans fired up for this game then maybe this team doesn’t have the championship attitude that I think that it has.
        But to end up with 11 wins in the regular season, this team must over-achieve. They don’t have the depth on defense that they need. Hopefully, due to outstanding recruiting, we will have the players we need to win 11 or 12 games without having to overachieve.

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    2. The B1G (16) will mandate a great USC defense.
      I think Grinch can bring it.
      Gotta get all the great defensive talent from Cali HS to sign with USC.
      Otherwise, the B1G experiment will be horrific.

      Never thought much of Nb Football. Always a cake schedule. With the exception of a few years in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Nb has been a pretender. The move to the B1G revealed the deception. If Big Red is smart, they go back to the Big12.

      That said, the #19 academic university in America must leverage its advantage and recruit the best talent…or Riley will be placed on the same list as Scott Frost, Bo Pellini, etc.

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      1. Recruiting will be a big part of bringing SC football back to its glory days. If we don’t recruit well, it won’t happen. But recruiting well in SoCal shouldn’t be a major hurdle to overcome.
        A big part of SC’s return to glory will be if LR can create a Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Utah type home crowd….a stadium full of loud nutbags. Some people say that you can’t do that here on the left coast…..the people are too laid back. I don’t believe that. Put a great product on the field and the people will respond. The home crowd is a very big factor in the success of the football program.

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  14. Selective amnesia Owns? How ’bout that Scott Miller rollover in the end zone that counted as a score in the 1990 Shootout? He never had control – and as it turns out, neither do you “USC (Just Owns) me.”

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  15. Final thoughts for October SC football, got to love the results of 7-1 with the probability of going 9-1 into the sucla game. As a Poster said it’s’7 Ugly Wins with
    1 Pretty-Loss,’ so what’s to complain about–

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  16. I was hoping SC vs Arizona would be SC working on asserting its run game and chewing up the other team and its time to run offensive plays…still time ’cause that will help vs ucla and open up more passing lanes…btw running game should include williams.

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    1. I get the feeling we’ll see Williams taking off a lot in the UCLA game —-which is why we won’t see him running much against California or Colorado — Riley will be saving him up. Did you notice Riley only used Williams on that 4th down play to seal the deal at the end of the Arizona game?

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      1. Or, is Lincoln–like many of us–working towards the 2023 season when he, Caleb, a better defense, and a more experienced team can really contend?

        Looking at 2023–

        UCLA loses most of its offensive talent, and Chipper is back to rebuilding. I’ve watched DTR’s development. Took a lot of reps to get him to protect the football. Remember all those INT’s?

        Utah is Utah. Rising will be even better. What about his surrounding cast?

        Oregon loses Nix. Heck, maybe Oregon loses Lanning (unlikely)?

        Maybe Riles is clever enough to appreciate that 2023 is the better year
        (even though we lose Addison) and he protects Caleb in the Rivalry game.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. This team —with all its deficiencies—is good enough to beat anybody & everybody in the Pac 12. We had EVERYTHING [the special memorial helmets, insane capacity screaming crowd, unfair officiating and thin air] against us in Salt Lake & we performed spectacularly on offense…and would have won the game in spectacular fashion without 3 b. s. penalties on our last drive.
        If USC had any administrative leadership [which let’s face it —they don’t under Bohn & Folt] the university would see to it that striped “ref” t-shirts with “USC Trojans Will Prevail” on them were being given out for free before the UCLA game.
        #WeNeed45,000OfThoseInTheStandsAtTheRoseBowl

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      3. P.S.
        We need a major donor to foot the bill for the 45,000 USC “ref t-shirts”!
        Let the whole country see how we feel about the Pac 12 —[all the sports stations will be obliged to show the time on the clock when the refs called halftime and the bullshit roughing that erased our interception]….

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    2. Our defense lacks the players that fits the DC’s scheme. I don’t understand why we don’t play press coverage with our CB. Our DLM lack physicality needed to collapse the pocket or stuff those slow PRO plays. We need some 315 lbs DT in order to win the CFP. LB who can can cover the TE n RB. We keep talking about strength and conditioning being the key factor to a team. I agree but just because someone adds 10-15 Wr Db Rb Lineman 25-30 lbs doesn’t always translate to making a player better. What makes it work is great coaching and a player wanting to maximize their true potential . Physicality is a mind set We need to see prioritize our 2024 recruiting getting but DL, OL, we have enough skill positions. Please LR this is what we need to win the NATTY. Everyone can take a chill pill we can win PAC 12 n still not get into the CFP Have to see were the Committee ranks us. Will probably be ranked 8 or 9.

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