Caleb Williams practiced today at AT&T Stadium. The media was able to watch the first 15 minutes so it was difficult to tell how close to 100 percent Williams looked. He wore a sleeve on his left leg.
We’ll see if Lincoln Riley is forthcoming regarding Williams’ status.
- USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was asked today about the standards at USC.
“The expectation here (at USC) is that the best players go on to play in the National Football League.”
I might argue that expectation seems to apply more offense these days.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
3-0 on my point spread bets and have Oklahoma +10. No worries that USC wins and covers if Caleb W plays.
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OU covers. Despite all your BS, thank you. #USC
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Ewers in the #TransferPortal tomorrow. #ArchManning #Sark #TexasLonghorns #USC
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Didn’t bet on it, but hope Washington beats Texas. Darrell Royal coached at both schools as does Sark.
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I remember Royal at Texas. He was their coach the year CR Roberts rushed for 250+ yards and SC beat Texas…no tv then but I listened on the radio…I think it was 1955-56. Jess Hill was the SC coach,also the year of those PCC penalties.
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Charles —If I were you I wouldn’t bet the Cotton Bowl —there are way too many unknowns. [At the very least, watch today’s practice —it doesn’t look like Caleb can run] —–
#AndWeKnowMossCan’tRun….
#[IsOurDefenseCapableOfAComplete30DayTransformation]?
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MM can move better than some…but he is no Williams or Fran Tarkenton
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True. At least he’s no J. T. Daniels —he can move laterally without tripping over his own feet….
The people on Reign of Troy don’t know what they’re seeing on that short clip of Caleb throwing. Any defense coordinator can tell Caleb isn’t close to being fully healed. And they know we don’t have the o-line to protect him. I’m worried about what that all adds up to.
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Grinch is bum riding the coattails of Riley. He needs to drop him for a real coordinator.
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I’d have to do some research but I would bet that SC’s defense has more 4 and 5 stars then anybody in the Pac-12……certainly more than Tulane. They should be able to win this game handily without the players they are missing. There is just too much of a talent gap.
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Exactly as USC’s defense was rated #103 out of 130 D1 football programs this year! Was Grinch talent deficient by 102 schools!
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There’s probably only about 10 or 11 teams that had as much 4 and 5 stars on their defense as SC did this year. The biggest mistake that LR made was hiring Grench in the first place. LR had the clout to go out and get somebody really great on defense. Clay Helton didn’t have that benefit. Great coaches just didn’t want to coach under CH…….too much of chance of only a one year stint. If we would just have had a defense that finished somewhere in the 30’s instead of 103rd, we would have had a really good chance this year at a NC. Grench will probably be gone after 2023, so we will have wasted 2 years on defense.
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A lot can be said about Pete Carroll but his dominate teams were strong both offensively and defensively. Hopefully in time Lincoln Riley subscribes to that philosophy.
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Not his first year they weren’t only the last 5 games then they lost to UT in the LV Bowl
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“Dominate teams”…
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Pete is a defensive coach and he made damn sure to recruit the best defensive players he could—in addition to the best offensive players. But you only have so many scholarships and you have to have balance. Riley needs to understand that, unlike someone like Kiffin who took a bunch of five star WRs and neglected the men upfront. You can’t just recruit toys on the edge.
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That’s because Pete was and is a defense oriented coach as Riley is an offense oriented. Its where Norm Chow came from and I’d say allow Monsieur Grich a 2nd year before the avalanche of animus descends upon him.
Both PC and LR inherited a mess but of the two Riley’s was a much bigger mess due to the ‘in situ’ idiocy that only a skilled clown like Claytonska Chevrolet could and did produce.
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Like I have said before, if you don’t like Grinch, throw THE name out there that will make you happy.
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Exactly right – hey Brent Venables’ OK Sooners lost to FL St. this evening in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando-FL
FL St. 35
OK 32
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Head coach at Oklahoma might be available soon.
#DidYouSeeHimGoingCrazyOnHisLastTimeOutCall?….
#…EyesWereBouncingLikeHeWasOnCrack
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Reminded me of Rod Steiger in ‘The Heat Of The Night’
“I got the motive which is money and the body which is dead!”
Man, whose Venable going to blame this time….Santa Claus?
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JESSE MINTER
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Another name is Ryan Walters who just got hired by Purdue. He had great defensive numbers this year.
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Joshua Chamberlain.
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A replacement for Alex Grinch? Trent Bray from Oregon St. Wolf already called it. But I’d hire Jim Leonard as a consultant just like Sarkisian hired Gary Patterson. Or see if Raheem Morris wants to stay in L A and coach the defense. Grinch philosophy of small, fast linemen doesn’t seem to work. Size matters.
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Patterson would be a great DC hire if the Grinch cannot get it going…
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regardless, only the best become pro…about 3 defensive will be drafted onto nfl teams,a few more from the offense…I figure 7-8 will be there in one form or another.
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I’m not sure if any Defensive Coordinator will make a difference with the personnel we currently have. Overall, they are too small and too slow. The best Defensive Back we have is from the transfer portal, which says a lot about how poorly Donte Williams analyzed talent, recruited players and developed them. That said, we don’t have the depth either. Most Offensive Coordinators can easily figure out that we can’t go man to man in coverage. Our small size is also exposed in the alarming numbers that show we can’t cover the Tight Ends worth beans.
Thus we have been forced to play far too much zone coverage. We do have some stats that indicate that when we backed up against our own end zone we are tougher – which is probably the result of the zone coverage being compressed by the short field.
John Robinson and John Madden used to argue whether a great defense started at the back with the safeties or at the front with the line. In our case that scenario is still true because it really takes both ends of the defense to win.
The best thing about our situation is that it should be the perfect match for top players who want to win a championship. Our offense is absolutely elite, and if we can get a couple dozen guys who can play defense (as my coach said) “…like their hair is on fire..” then we’re unbeatable!!
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I WOULD NOT LET CALEB PLAY IN THIS MEANINGLESS GAME AGAINST TULANE. TOO MUCH OF A RISK. AND NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR A HAMSTRING TO HEAL.. THAT’S IF IT WAS A HAMSTRING INJURY. LET THE OTHER QB’S PLAY AND GET ACTUAL GAME EXPERIENCE.
BOB JENSEN #51 LB
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