FOOTBALL

USC Sunday Buzz: College Football Playoff Hangover

The College Football Playoff is set: 1. Georgia; 2. Michigan; 3. TCU and 4. Ohio State.

I’m sure the committee did not deliberately keep Michigan and Ohio State from playing in the semifinal. Right!

I consider this a real lost opportunity for USC. I expect the Trojans to be better next season but you need to take your chances when you have them because you cannot predict the future. You never know how injuries might affect a season. Look at Alabama and Bryce Young.

USC was right on the cusp of making the playoff. Think back a week how confident everybody was. Now it’s Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. If USC won, it would have played Michigan. A winnable game, in my opinion. And then it would have been on to SoFi Stadium vs. Georgia.

Another missed opportunity: The chance to play a national-title game in Southern California.

  • I’m hearing former USC All-American/assistant coach Dennis Thurman will follow Deion Sanders to Colorado. Thurman has been defensive coordinator at Jackson State.
Advertisement

116 thoughts on “USC Sunday Buzz: College Football Playoff Hangover”

  2. Riley needs these things for next year

    FIRE DONTE WILLIAMS
    HIRE A SPECIAL TEAMS COACH
    FIRE GRINCH
    FIRE ONE WR COACH, HAVING TWO IS ABSURD
    HIT THE PORTAL FOR DEFENSE AT ALL POSITIONS & OL
    ATTEND HIS STAFF’S DEFENSIVE MEETINGS
    FIND WOLF A BOYFRIND

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      3. If they were wasting time sipping limoncello and talking about outdated Newtonian Laws I hope they WERE “cited” ….
        #Scott’sUsualPickUpLine:”Hi,WannaBall?”

        Liked by 1 person

    4. Re-think the “culture”. Focus alot more on individual responsibility, growth and toughness. Use the next month of preparation for the bowl game as a time to give some younger players an opportunity to step up or position them to transfer out (Ware Hudson, MJ3, Raesjon Davis, Korey Foreman, Zion Branch, Domani Jackson, Mason Murphy, etc) Who steps up?

      Tear the program down to the rafters again and re-build it better. Dont just make tweaks. Build it so that it doesnt depend on any one Superman…even if we do have Superman.

      That would be a team to watch.

      Like

      Reply

      1. It would be next to impossible to find first rate starters at every position in the portal. He will find some guys for sure but a complete rebuild is not gonna happpen. Most of the guys you listed are stepping up, especially Hudson Ware and Jackson. Along with every other team in the nation, USC needs the big heavies on both sides of the ball.

        Liked by 2 people

      1. According to Carol, there’s no such thing [of course she once spent a lot of time around Clay Helton…and now spends a lot of time w/Mike Bohn]…..

        Like

  3. Compared to where we were last year this year has been successful. I think it’s a mighty stretch to think we could beat Michigan with this team.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      2. As to the defense — a Big “YES”….
        On the other hand, The O-Line was doing more than okay until we lost Vorhees [and finally Neilon].

        Liked by 1 person

      2. yes!…..we have been competitive in the losses. Had the lead late in the 4th quarter in a few games and let it slip away or were driving for the win and came up short.

        We are 4-7 with the talent of 7-4 team, very frustrating at times.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. So we need depth at the line for sure. Does Riley take a couple of 3 star guys that have PT or just go after 4-5 stars who obviously are not playing much and are transferring? Take it for granted there won’t be 4-5 star starters transferring much, if at all.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. very few true freshmen have the physical ability to step right in and perform at a high level in the trenches. Often it takes time in the weight room to add the right type of weight/strength or lose the wrong type of weight.

        IMO, a guy that’s been in a college-level strength and condition program for a few years definitely has an advantage.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Gonna be even more of a let down when Caleb, Addison, the lineman and all the other upper class men don’t play. And why should they? This game means nothing and most of them have just transferred in so theirs no school pride. I won’t be mad if that indeed does comes to pass. It’s not a game anymore. It’s a business.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Football is a team sport……This gives the next man up a chance to prove himself. True fans will enjoy the Cotton Bowl and a victory only enhances the enjoyment…..

      Why so much negativity?

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      2. You want to see Williams get ripped in half behind the garbage O-line like Slovis did vs Iowa in the Holiday Bowl? There’s no reason to play him even if he’s healthy. Not for Lincoln Riley and not for the kid himself.

        Like

      4. No —I would hate to see “Addison, the linemen on defense, the linemen on offense and all the upperclassman” ripped in half —
        #ThatWouldBeAwful

        Like

  5. Wait!!!!…..is this the real wolfman we have all come to adorn with kind words of praise, doubt it!…. Wolf seems to have left his contrarian approach in favor of a realistic evaluation…..progress!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Amen Gabs – well said – a great year by any metric of measurement. The defense was suspect all year and only held off real close study due to the victories over both Ucla and The Irish.

      The need is to really recruit – get the talent and away we go. Grich is entitled to a ‘next year’ because of what he was able to do with this year’s.

      Now as the ‘manicure’…..Caleb Williams is NOT Jorge Posada. It reeks of ‘festiveness’ and that is more than troubling. Coaching staff needs to regain control of the team before more of this ‘festiveness’ flitting gets deeper roots if it hasn’t already.

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

  6. A lot of Bowl invitations have already been extended —UCLA has not been invited yet…
    #NoBowlCommitteeWantsToGoFirst

    Like

    Reply

    1. “USC was right on the cusp of making the playoff. Think back a week how confident everybody was. Now it’s Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. If USC won, it would have played Michigan. A winnable game, in my opinion. And then it would have been on to SoFi Stadium vs. Georgia.”
      ~ Scott Wolf

      Tulane!, say what.

      #Choka, choka, choka, choka,…..choke. Nothing new here. Fact is, bozo FB out choked bozo BB in total point humiliation losses: 23 points to 19 points.

      Oh well, Clown U’s Pac-12 FB Championship game debacle ring ceremony to follow.

      #UCLA to the Sun Bowl vs Pittsburgh U and Mr. Slovis.

      Like

      Reply

      2. Hey BruinRob, are you going to get time off from the Cerritos McDonald’s to make the trek to El Paso with your “kids” for the Sun Bowl? Throw in the fact that Tony the Tiger is sponsoring the game.
        That could be a helluva vacation for you.

        Like

  7. Wolfman, I appreciate the sentiment on the loss to Utah as being a missed opportunity to achieve something great. But the bottom line is that USC is nowhere near being able to compete with Georgia, Bama, Michigan, Ohio State, LSU, etc. at this point in time. On the positive side, the Utah game should serve as a wakeup call to CLR and the rest of the staff to recruit from the transfer portal and high schools dominant offensive and defensive lineman if USC wants to compete at a NC level. As I stated yesterday, Caleb Williams masked a lot of issues this offensive line had the entire year.
    If you look at the first quarter and a half of the Utah game, even though USC was up 17-3, it was very rare that Williams had a clean pocket to throw from and was pretty much on the run the entire game. When he came up with a pulled hamstring the offense was pretty much dead in the water.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. When you a QuarterBack that has a Bad Cut on his Throwing Hand and hamstring injury. Playing your quarter back can NOT Not Run or Move….so Utah took Full Advantage of the situation… Blitzing. Sacking Caleb williams 8 Times… putting all the pressure on your Defense to Win..the Defense gave up being outplayed and worn down letting UTAH Score EASY…. making Utah look great .. Plus if Caleb Williams was NOT Injured and USC up 17 to 3 getty aTurnover having the Football Back to up 24 to 3. But Riley played conservative because Caleb williams was injured…Riley called to Running Plays that gained only 2 Yards..Creating 3rd and 8. Caleb could not throw the football probably creating 4th and 8 and still could not Throw the football to get the First Down… NOT being to go up 24 to 3 was the Killer Letting UTAH Run all over you. Letting UTAH Tie the Scy 17 to 17 at Halftime… The football game was all Utah ..with Caleb williams INJURED he would have to make offensive play which could NOT Not putting everything on USC Defense is why USC Lost….

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    2. Typical AH, bonehead, bozo rah-rah making excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses for another humiliating loss in which the mighty (HA!) Clown U was favored. Give it up eight ball, SUCC lost because they SUCCed; end of story.

      Starting from 3 – 17, Utah scored the next 44 points to the bozo’s 7 to bitch slap Clown U out of the CFP contention. L. Riley, what a $10 million dollar a year joke.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Hey little guttie,
        Do you know when the last time the bRuins won 11 games in a season? Never , zero times. And this team, which is flawed, just beat your last and best hope of ever winning the victory bell for a long, long time.

        Ding ding !

        Liked by 2 people

    3. USC was really only a couple plays away from pulling ahead 28-10 in the first half and having the game pretty much sewed up..but I agree with your point that the team without Caleb is mediocre.

      If Riley wants his team to be great, he needs to build a team that can win without Caleb, because if he did that AND had Caleb, this team could be winning 63-17 against most teams.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. “Is everybody happy?” ~ Ted Lewis

    I am. The bozo schadenfreude is so damn delicious.

    SUCC vs Tulane in the Cotton Picking Bowl…LOL. That’s somewhat like paying 2022 MBZ prices for a ’92, beat to sh*t, oil burning, Chevy van.

    Like

    Reply

      2. Is there a reason why no one from Troy has said one word about accepting the Cotton Bowl invitation?
        Riley hasn’t replied. Folt hasn’t replied. [I’d mention Bohn but nobody expects him to be awake on Sunday]….

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Riki Ellison Facebook Post:

    Our lack of Defense, tackling, and lack of intensity to lead on Defense killed us. It hurt us all year but showed and exposed ar the most pivotal time – Championship Play – Defense Wins Championships as Utah showed us how to play championship defense.

    We got beat by a better team

    Loved the way our Offense and Caleb played from the flash of the first half to the toughness and grit of them playing through the game – they showed remarkable heart – they fought with what they have – a memorable team, a memorable year-

    The Heisman and the Best Coach turning this program around in one year.

    We will only get better and our defense will dramatically have to change in scheme and ballers.

    Congratulations to Kyle and Utah on a dominating win, a Rose Bowl Berth and a PAC 12 championship

    USC had great season

    Fight On!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. The University needs to embrace the Cotton Bowl as a privilege and reward for the body of work the football team accomplished.

        Pete always said the practices leading up to the bowl game were valuable. It allowed the backups to get more reps with the first team…..which could be perceived as a head start to the next season

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Someone remind me, why did Riki change his name from Gray to Ellison? The son Rhett played at USC and for the Vikings … was he a Kiwi or was that Riki?

      Like

      Reply

      1. Riki elected to take his father’s surname either late in his Senior year at USC or once he was drafted into the NFL. Otherwise, the story is pretty personal

        Liked by 2 people

  11. Overall a tremendous improvement over last year’s horrible performance. Everyone knew we didn’t quite have the killer D, but that’s OK, we’ll work on improving it.
    It’s obvious that Caleb Williams is THE most exciting player in college football. And he’s a Trojan! Too bad about the foul language on his finger nails. It’s a teachable moment though. Prepare. Play like heck but play clean. Leave everything you have out on the field. Congratulate the victors and immediately start planning to improve and never forget to display your grace and poise, whether In victory or defeat.
    Life is a team sport!

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  12. Anyone notice no one replies or responds to OWNS 1st grade comments no wonder he was kicked off the Bruin board. Let’s hope UCLA does not decline the invitation to the Bowl game again this year against a cupcake team like Duke in the Sun Taquito Bowl.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. To my favorite ruin, rents. ……..Speaking of the Sun Bowl and El Paso….. Sources say Tito’s on 7th and Main St. has delicious street tacos.

      Feel proud of the Sun Bowl invite, you fools earned it!

      Like

      Reply

    2. tommyd — UCLA will definitely accept. No worries on that score. The danger comes in the form of the bruin team enjoying the personal gifts, hotel, team meals and room service —and, then, leaving town 2 hours before the game cuz one of their players gets a light case of the flu……
      #OrNeedingPrezToBailThemOutAfterSunGlassesShopliftingSpree

      Like

      Reply

      1. Michael:
        UCLA including OWNS accepts anything that is free including rent for the Rose Bowl,student loans, government stimulus checks, and joining a free USC website.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Rents has been reduced to three nights a week of dumpster diving….I feel bad, just threw out a two-day-old pizza that was sitting in the fridge…..sorry rents

        Like

    3. UCLA/Chip did decline a bowl invitation, win or lose, PRIOR, I repeat PRIOR, to our last game against Cal.

      Unlike SUCC who decided to decline bowl game invitation AFTER, I repeat AFTER, it lost its last game and its QB (Slovis; “Here you take it.”) got hurt. Apparently, Clown U didn’t have a back-up QB.

      #SUCC on

      Like

      Reply

      1. Given your logic, you wipe the ass before you take the shit….interesting!

        Is that viewed as another moral victory for the ruins? ….

        Like

    4. ….why would one reply if one does not actually ever read the comment?

      Most of us have been on site for years and realized you don’t wanna take that bait.

      Like

      Reply

  13. Scooter,

    Dec 6th is right around the corner. How is SC doing in recruiting? You have been busy with the Pac 12 game, but please get us up to speed on recruiting. Everyone on the board knows that SC needs linemen and lbers. Tell us waht is going on.

    Like

    Reply

    1. When USC gets a commit, either silent or announced, there is a tweet by one of the coaches. They just posted a fight on tweet yesterday but no names yet.

      Like

      Reply

  14. Tulane?!? LOL.

    If I were Williams I would sit out and get ready for the NFL. Why risk injury in a meaningless bowl game? There are millions at stake for him.

    Like

    Reply

    2. Sit out the next 14 games?
      #…Uh,Okay…
      #…Don’tKnowIfIEverSawASophomorePlayItThatWayBefore…
      #[ShouldMakeAGreatImpressionOnScouts]

      Like

      Reply

  15. In reply to a Tombstone/Doc Holliday/Val Kilmer tweet by Petros, I quoted these lines. I love Tombstone which is contrary to how America is going today.

    [To Wyatt] “You’re the only human being in my entire life that ever gave me hope”
    “I’m your huckleberry.”
    “Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave.”
    “Poor soul. You were just too high-strung … I’m afraid the strain was more than he could bear.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      2. Classy, Pasadena!
        [It was great to hear from Cal 75 again —even if it was under “unfortunate” circumstances*]….
        *i.e., Cal Victory….

        Like

      4. Any “Long” road we can stay on is good, right my friend?
        Anyway, all good thoughts go out to you. [Glad you guys won today]!

        Like

      5. SUCC choka, choka, choka, choka chokes again….OUCH! I bet the Boner is pissed. I mean 2 bozo Championship choke jobs in one weekend. Oh well, maybe next year, chumps.

        #Cue: Seger’s “Beautiful Loser”

        Like

  18. “Marlowe drove to USC…” The campus was located a few miles south of Downtown LA. It was a prestigious(sic) school but it had done nothing to uplift the area. More violent crimes were reported in the vicinity than in any other comparable area in LA.”

    Marlow headed “to the School of Cinematic Arts, a vast complex…”

    “The school’s founders included Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch and Darryl Zanuck. Alfred Hitchcock had been a professor there. Buildings were named after Steven Spielberg and Geo. Lucas. They, and others, had contributed hundreds if million of dollars to the school’s endowment.

    Marlowe wondered why they hadn’t contributed a few bucks to the neighborhood.”

    ~Excerpt from the book “The Goodbye Coast,” by Joe Ide.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hitchcock taught a class on Modern Feminism…… guest lecturers were Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton and Marlon Brando.
      [btw, USC gives millions to local charities every year…..but it’s never enough to undo the damage done by the bruins….who squander a few more millions of taxpayer $$ every year]…..

      Like

      Reply

      1. C’mon MG, no Div. 1 Athletic Dept. squander $$$$$$ like Clown U. I mean $10 million on LR to choka, choka, choka, choka choke in Vegas.

        Millions of more $$$$$$ on the likes of Andyain’twinning, the Sark premium & contract, St. Pat, Swanny, who’s laughing all the way to the bank, the Boner, Geo. Tyndall M.D., the high budget, low low return men’s Baseball team etc, etc, etc, etc.

        Like

    1. Nor the offense. The Pac 12 Championship game debacle proved that.

      After the bozo’s went up 17 – 3, the Utes outscored the bozos 44 – 7.

      That’s f**king 44-7; almost 7x SUCC’s offensive output.

      Man, that’s got to sting. No, I’m wrong, that STINKS like Traveler’s fly riddled, horse stall.

      Is it true, SUCC has to paint Traveler with hypoallergic white paint?

      #Where the hell is TIREBUMMER?

      Cue: Tulane’s school song.
      #TIMBERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

      Like

      Reply

      2. All the Pac-12 championship game proves is that SC’s offense is not great when playing with an injured Caleb Williams.

        Like

    1. UCLA did, no doubt about it. No whiny excuses from me.

      However, I knew SUCC would choka, choka, choka choke when the camera spotted Carson “the Bomber” Palmer in Vegas. I mean Palmer single handedly prevented the AZ Cardinals advance to the SB by chucking 3 Int’s and committing 2 unforced fumble/T/O’s in the NFL Championship game.

      Like

      Reply

  21. 2022–all in all a pretty solid year.
    Better than my predicition of 10-2/9-3.
    A lot to build upon.
    I had a great time–including my first (and hopefully not last) visit to Allegiant Field. What a great venue for a CFB game.
    Already pysched for next year.

    Enjoyed chatting with some smart CFB/USC fans.
    (Spent a lot of my time just SMDH at the rest.)
    Happy Holidays. See ya’ Jan 2.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Caleb is optimistically telling people he’ll “definitely play” on January 2nd. [Maybe he really will! — I notice they aren’t calling it a 2nd or 3rd degree hamstring injury —only a ‘significant’ injury —which could be a painful first degree injury which Caleb could be over in 10 days]….
      #FingersCrossed

      Like

      Reply

      1. Gee MG, does Clown U need Celeb to risk his pro prospects by playing hurt against Tulane?!! WTF. One QB doth not make a FB team.

        Maybe the bozos should decline their invitation to the Cotton Picking Bowl….You think?

        #UC Davis: Don’t call us; we’ll call you
        #Cue: Mary had a Little Lamb.

        Like

      2. Rents, I’m sure Caleb appreciates your concern……but he isn’t eligible to be drafted until April 2024…..nice try!

        Like

    2. Bourbon — don’t ya love sitting with fans who keep yelling “throw long!’ every play when we get behind?
      #TheyMustBeARealBlastToWorkWith

      Like

      Reply

  22. Crabs, you’re just stupid, AH rah-rah. Caleb could aggravate his injury in the Cotton Picking Bowl, and possibly lead to a subpar 2023 season and jeopardize his 2024 NFL draft position.

    I mean can’t the mighty bozos win a game vs Tulane w/o Celeb?

    Crabs, quit thinking like a half-wit chimp.

    #D’oh

    Like

    Reply

    1. stupid?…..says the fruitcake who has to troll a rival blog to feel better about his low self-esteem….. the things people do to self-medicate……(tooooo funnnny!)

      Since you have a medical degree, I’ll pass the word on to Caleb regarding your evaluation.

      Even a half-wit chimp doesn’t drool and plays stink finger while he’s down in the basement trolling a rival blog…..such a sad pathetic lonely old man, reduced to marinating in a soiled Depend.

      #Que: I love my cucumber dry……..(ouch!)

      Like

      Reply

    1. To ya ALL… If UTAH Quarter back Cam Rising got INJURED and USC winning 17 to 3. USC would have Taken Control Winning

      Then everything would be Wonderful… ForNext Season just go RECRUIT Recruit RECRUIT remember USC had a New Football Coach and 26 transfers….

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.