FOOTBALL

Discuss The USC-San Jose State Game/My Reaction

How much a letdown did you feel? Be honest.

I harped on the offensive line and secondary the whole offseason and neither one played well today and would have been a disaster against a competent team.

I think the defensive line was more lively than last year but their ability to stop the run was worrisome as San Jose State averaged 7.3 yards per carry.

Alex Grinch really made some poor calls today (like the TD pass to end the first half) and I didn’t like the look of the defense, especially if you read all the media hype from the spring and summer.

Even the offense didn’t look scary. Who had a big game? Zach Branch. The freshmen.

I wonder what Brenden Rice and Raleek Brown are thinking about Game 1?

There has to be a sense of urgency this season. Caleb Williams is the quarterback. Take advantage of it. Today, USC did not look like a College Football Playoff contender. We might feel differently next week or later in the season.

71 thoughts on “Discuss The USC-San Jose State Game/My Reaction”

    2. Like Coastal Carolina you smuck! Their mind wasn’t in the game
      tonight. Finally have a real threat on returns. The secondary out
      side of Bullock stinks and Grinch alignment is too detectable.

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    4. JR,

      That is why the U Clowns Lose Again scheduled three cupcakes so they can have a 6-6 record this year and get in a bowl game.

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      1. Alex Grinch, Shaun Nua and the other idiot Donte Williams should be ashamed, referring to themselves as football coaches. Goddamn know nothing fucking clowns, none of them worth a shit!

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    1. Back in May on this blog, I wrote that a Zacariah Branch was gonna be the most exciting player on USC‘s team this year other than Williams. The kid is super quick and changes directions on a dime. I think he runs a 10.19 hundred meters.

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  4. Branch is a Freshman All American, Alexander, Lucas are worth the hype. Grinchy will be fired at the end of season. He is not it. Can we settle on an Ol too many times Caleb had to scramble never seemed comfortable in the pocket n this is SJST, Wow Jessie!!!! LR can you ask Grinchy to stop having players think too much, this needs to be simple we have too much talent, speed and now depth. LR take him into your office n Say you have two weeks to improve or your out by game 4.

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    1. Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal's Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young's avatar Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal's Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young says:

      And you are mine, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young

      Plow Horse
      JULY 24, 2023 AT 9:33 PM
      Unfortunately Chickenshit Gabby, there is nothing righteous about you.

      Your a gutless, lying punk, that hurls insults on the handicapped, the homeless, or bloggers’ wives, mothers and daughters and then scurries away like a scared little mouse. You belong on the Biden/Harris re-election committee. You will find kindred spirits there. Go and leave the Inside USC blog alone.

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      2. It is BEYOND obvious that keeping Grinch was a mistake. He couldn’t keep San Jose under 4 TD’s and 400 yards…
        #I’mSickOfHearing”NOWWeHaveAChipOnOurShoulder!”
        #LetYourTacklingDoTheTalking

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  9. Why were so many players off balanced during play? Why did so many players play so slow or lost? Branch brought swag, Caleb made some dumb ass plays. The most annoying thing besides not using straight run draws? Inverted cover 2 at the end of the first half Grinch? Stop blaming Williams, idiots. Grinch is a mistake prone coordinator. It’s playcalling all around in all three phases. This team keeps teams in games. It’s only a matter of time before they lose because they don’t take teams out faster.

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  10. Nevada is going to murder us. If Stanford beats us by one point, Riley needs to pull a Bohn (after the last Stanford loss) ask Grinch to pull a Bohn, (after the L.A.Times questioned him)
    Either way Grinch has not fooled anyone I know more about coaching defense than he does and I wasn’t even on a frat flag football team!

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  11. My evaluations from week 1. Still giving up big plays on the run. Simplify the defense to the point that, DC needs to understand the situations, that he is putting on some players, who cannot recognize pre snap formations. On offense OL let too many pressures up the middle, which is not going to cut it in the 2nd half of our schedule. LR please run the ball more so the OL don’t have to face a DL putting their foot in Caleb face. Secondary was ok, Jackson performed well even thou he got burned on the invert Cover 2. Fight On

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      1. Yes we do need to let that sink in. On defense can play the way championship teams play. Our big bodies didn’t stop the run n still gave up chunk yardage. We have to clean this up we should have given up only 14 pts., not 28. Just saying going forward we need to start Wallace opposite Jackson. Ceyair go 2 back acting. Did u see Zion or Piece? We have to improve our tackling still not doing it.

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  12. Random thoughts: 1. Paid for Seat Cushions. No Seat Cushions.
    2. Has the Coliseum stopped selling candy like M&M’s and Skittles? Only the Beer Market had any.
    3. Only player since Bush that had that eye-popping off the charts ability was Marquise Lee his freshman year.
    4. Damn towel wavers still there.
    5. Damn slippery tarp by both sidelines still there.
    6. They blocked the usual exit out of the Downey Parking Structure. Took awhile to navigate home.

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  13. Agree O line and D line not much better. I blame the coaching. Cordiero is a difficult QB to contain. No adjustments at half time. A Lucas will be a 1st round pick if he is coached right, what a beast. I haven’t watched the replay as I was at the game but Bear didn’t seem to do much but it could have been because he was taking on double teams. DB’s seemed to be as confused as they were last year.

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      1. Hate to say this …but one of those sacks was on Caleb….. not the o-line. I am wondering whether he’s being overcoached…. with Riley and Kliff both pouring slightly different approaches to becoming a pocket passer into him all week….
        #..LetCalebBeCaleb..
        #Don’tFuckUpAGoodThing

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      3. CR,

        I think your stat for sacks is incorrect. I saw that SC sacked the sjs qb at least a few times. A couple of times for big losses. Please correct me if I am wrong. Per the Star News paper, it says SC had two sacks for a loss of 22 yards. I think that is incorrect. They say that sjs had one sack and I think that is incorrect as well.

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    2. Some things were too close in that game…..25 first downs to 24……68 plays run to 65…..SJS wins time of possession 30 to 29. But, all in all for a first game, I thought that they played well.

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    1. Caleb nailed it big time —(1) We have a special team …and…(2) they have a lot to get better at.
      Someone, please start coaching the cornerbacks.

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      1. Let’s not even say the word “injury” this season.
        #WeCanStartSayingItAgainInLateJanuary

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  16. the D line is improved…LB’s let q/b scramble to 1st downs when flushed ,but he is/was known for that,in fact he was better than Williams at it .Secondary still leaky,but does tackle.
    ‘O’ line a work in progress in pass protection,run blocking was efficient not dominate; r/b’s were very good, q/b’s were excellent as were receivers. I give them a B ,hope next week is an A.
    SJS will win their conference and go to a bowl game.
    SC did not look like the #6 team.

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  17. I am not a big fan of average yards per carry. SJS had a few long runs when the game was over late which made their average high. Also, the SJS QB is a legitimate threat running the ball. Their offense is a lot better that everyone thought and they will put up some big numbers this year. This game was used to get a lot of players on the field to evaluate. I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t major improvement next week.

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    1. All I heard all week was how explosive SC was and how they will score 60-70 points against this weak sister. I think that these players walked onto the field thinking that were playing a junior varsity team. This game was good for them. It revealed to them that they have a lot of talent and could be great but they have a long way to go. There’s a lot of work to be done.

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      1. Agree [but we shoulda known that a dual threat QB with 9 players —including himself— back on offense was gonna be a problem for a Grinch defense]….

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  18. They looked OK to me for the first game. They were experimenting on the O-Line trying to find the right combination. The D-Line was getting more penetration than they did last year. They just weren’t staying in their lanes and protecting their gaps. That will kill you against a mobile QB. But less mobile QB’s are going to have less time against this D-Line. I thought that they controlled the LOS on offense and defense.
    They have some good RB’s. I think Lynch is the best but the others are good. I was a little troubled with the receivers. At times Caleb had time back there and at other times he scrambled and made time, yet he couldn’t seem to find an open receiver.
    These early cupcakes are what you need to tell where you are in this years program. Now we know…..we need a lot more work. But, all things considered, I thought that they played fairly well. I still think that keeping Grinch was a mistake. He’s got talent now on defense. No more excuses.

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    1. I saw open receivers ,like out of the back field or a tight end…he just keeps looking for home runs,when 1st downs and yardage after are important…

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      1. Caleb —being a perfectionist — gets down on himself after a couple of misfires….add to that the Heisman pressure and you have the makings of trouble….but my personal opinion is we’re gonna see him go back to just playing balls out — slinging it and running it like he did against UCLA & Notre Dame last year….

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      2. He’s young(only about 20). He definitely hasn’t reached his ceiling yet. That 70+ yard TD pass where he dropped the ball, picked it up and with a defender right in his face and off his back foot threw the ball 50-60 yards downfield to Washington…..That sets him apart from the others. Very few people could make that throw. And I’ve seen him do it before last year

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      3. I guess my TV screen isn’t big enough. I couldn’t see what the receivers were doing. But you’re right. Caleb has a tendency to go for the home runs rather than settle for 10 yards.

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  21. “Other than your husband how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln”

    Over-analyzing a college football game is fun?– You can have it
    My wife and I thought it was highly entertaining, especially some of the runs by the San Jose quarterback and of course Branch

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  22. You can tell how good a coaching staff is by how a team comes out and plays in early games. There are some things wrong with this coaching staff that need to be fixed.

    – the defense is just a mess. ≈
    – i assume that as the season progresses they will get the right guys on the field. covington is better than wright. domani needs better coaching but can be great. CRW needs to be on the field. not sure yet, but zion branch might also need to be on the field.
    – core issue with the defense is still linebackers in my opinion. they couldnt stop the QB from running even when they were acting as spy. cobb doesnt seem that good in open space. tackett is not even close to being ready to play yet.
    – the d-line is better, but still needs work. both jamil muhammed and anthony lucas could be great.

    – the offense is a mess in a different way. offensive line is worse than last year, when it should be better. i really question both tarquin and jarrett. run blocking is poor. pass blocking breaks down too rapidly.
    – running backs made the most of what they are given by the o-line, which is not much
    – caleb seems worse at getting through progressions and just releasing the ball. his incredible scrambling is really what he has that sets him apart, and a great arm, but his ability to read and throw is not there. there was one play where he took a sack and had a receiver wide open with room to run
    – receivers – incredible talent and branch and singer will be special all year long. need more rice. sorry but kyron ware needs to step it up in games

    the only defensive staff coach that seems to be delivering is the coach of the edge rushers. donte probably needs to be fired after this year. how about stealing the oregon state offensive line coach?

    the next talent infusion we need are a coaching staff of winners. riley needs to stop putting up with excuses.

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    2. remember they played everybody,but it is still apparent the ‘D’ line is going to improve ,and if the linebackers get into positions to not let the q/b run all over the place, things change a lot…

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  23. The quarterback was running because his receivers were covered. They suck at zone defense. They struggle to hold the outside edge because they’re using small defenders against larger blockers. All the coaches and analysts should run suicides first before making everyone including the support staff run suicides to send the message that they need to work more, they need to work better and smarter. This is USC.

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  24. A very disappointing start. The defensive calls were below high school level. Alex Grinch has now shown USC that thirteen games are not enough for him to establish a reasonable defense. It’s a shame this could be a really big year. Here’s hoping he will improve in his job.

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