FOOTBALL

The Play That Changed The USC-ASU Game

You know what might have been the play of the game last night?

When Drew Pyne dropped back to pass; was about to throw; got hit and fumbled.

USC had a blown coverage on the play and Elihjah Badger was wide open for about a 50-yard touchdown. Pyne saw him but Solomon Byrd forced the fumble first. It’s a play both sides’ coaching staffs will talk about today.

  • USC linebackers Shane Lee and Raesjon Davis did not play a snap last night. Were either hurt? Not that I heard about. Mason Cobb, Tackett Curtis and Eric Gentry took all the snaps. Cobb played 74 snaps according to Pro Football Focus and had one tackle.

Curtis had seven tackles in 44 snaps and Gentry had nine tackles in 28 snaps.

What most likely happened is the game was closer-than-expected and the coaches went with the linebackers they wanted to play most. That won’t make Lee or Davis feel any better (of course).

49 thoughts on “The Play That Changed The USC-ASU Game”

  1. Sounds like the Trojan defensive coaches went with who they thought were their best linebackers

    Actually, the play of the game was the little ASU running back banging over 2 helpless Trojans on his way to a touchdown and to close the SC lead to 35-28 with 8-minutes to go. The crowd went wild for a bit as the ‘Devils had a chance to win

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    1. The linebacker play is the real big problem here. Is it the position coach or the overall scheme that makes them so bad? Cobb is always out of position. Curtis keeps going after the QB and leaving wide open territory behind him. But he never touches the QB. If you cant get any pressure with 4 down linemen against a 3rd string ASU line…you are in trouble.

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      1. I didn’t care for the big smile on Cobb’s face after a costly penalty. Does it mean he wasn’t taking it seriously? Of course not. Just wasn’t good optics.

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  2. Upon further reflection that SC offense would scare any of the remaining teams on the Trojans’ schedule including the Season-ending Murderers-Row with Wash, Ore and sucla

    Despite a porous Troy defense, which has occurred throughout history,
    I will have to see to believe a team out-score Celeb, Zero & Wide-Outs

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  3. I was talking to a buddy who is an ASU fan, and I sent him the link to “Inside USC”.

    His reactions:

    “Does this Wolf guy hate everyone? He thinks ASU is dog shit and our coach is dog shit, and that USC and their coach are worse than dog shit because they didn’t beat us by 50. We were pretty happy after the game because we see we are already getting better. Does this guy ever get excited about what USC does?”

    “What is up with all the crap posts, with the fake user names? How do you wade through all this? Why does Wolf allows this?”

    “No wonder the guy lost his day job.”

    “

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    1. Shytty blog, shyty attitude, shyty user names for the trifecta! Who knew! Only 1 name on here for me. For all the lames and newbies on here. You’re still stale like a shyt on a lawn for weeks, Scott Wolf!

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      1. Alv, I hear you. This is a bit like the old Soviet Union – no competition.

        OTOH, Scott could expand his readership significantly, including bringing back a lot of old readers who left, with a few modest changes. But he won’t do that. I don’t believe it has much to do with his views about censorship. His antiquated blog software has a moderator function which works poorly IMO, blocking legitimate posts, and letting through a lot of stuff that just takes up space.

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  5. Now, now, ’67, it is Sunday so time to go a tad easier on folks like Wolf
    First off, the extreme SC-negativity is a strategy he uses, a ploy,
    And it works as evidenced by the vigorous back-and-forths it creates

    Second, the guy does not believe in censorship so anything goes including nasty stuff about him

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      2. Scott’s the devil, now. I thought he was the biggest fan boy on here. That’s we he deflects and talks shyt like a typical Democrat. While pointing fingers with his fan boy smack. Fucin pathetic already.

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      3. That may be true Boogs. But most of us on this board lean right and he lets us post almost anything we want. So he definitely doesn’t believe in shutting up anyone who doesn’t agree with him, the way our current administration does.

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      3. You won’t be reading those 2 words at Target… Or Costco….
        #ButIt’sNotTheirFault….
        #We’reNotManufacturing…
        #ThanksToCrazyPolitics

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  7. The first play of the game when Caleb was concerned about his equipment instead of the ASU defense. Shows the arrogance n lack of discipline. If you “Stay Ready You Don’t Have To Get Ready” . I see LR doesn’t script his first drive plays like McVay, Shannahn?

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    1. Lloyd was the player of the game. Last I looked he had 151 yards and the game was still going. How do you get down to 1st and 3 to the goal line and not run the ball with him 3 even 4 times. When Riley talks about “shitty coaching” he needs to include everyone. How did the USC D get so many sacks and TFLs in the 4th qtr?

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      1. Lincoln Rileys coaching has been suspect since the PAC 12 championship game against Utah. Grinch that stole Christmas should of been shown the door already. Got a chance to win the natty with all that talent, and you don’t have your coaching in order! WTF at 12 million a year for LR and 1 million a year for Grinch. Talk about not being prepared for the game. Last nights coaching sucked.

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    2. Agree Eric. It pissed me off when Caleb came out without his equipment squared away. What were you doing for the last hour? And some set plays help with the preparation. As you said, great teams do it. It also bothers me that Caleb seems to be audibling out of the play virtually every other down. I think that is why the offense looked confused. The crowd noise affected the communication.

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  8. Davis carried USC linebackers for two games then gets totally excluded for ASU. I would never have Cobb in on any down after the 1st. Guy runs like he is carrying a piano on his back. Raesjon Davis deserved much better from Grinch, who should be contacting his realtor this week in preparation for selling his house. Riley made a monumental mistake by being so loyal to Grinch. It is going to cost him a NC.

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    2. To me, the schematics and play of the linebackers is horrible. So why was Cobb so effective in the OK state defense, and so bad in the USC defense? There must be a reason in the way he is played. Cobb is the new Shane Lee.

      If I were Raesjon I would tell the coaches, “play me or redshirt me so I can transfer. I’m not putting up with this shit anymore.”

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  9. The two things that will doom any organization, no matter what it is, are arrogance and obstinance. These two items cost USC two National Titles, once in the 2006 Rose Bowl against Texas, where USC left at least six points on the field by not kicking FGs, and in the 2006 UCLA game where Genius Boy Kiffin refused to make any adjustments during the game, because of his arrogance. Unfortunately, we are seeing the same thing with CLR. His refusal to fire Alex Grinch after the Utah/Tulane debacles at the end of last season, and last night passing up a FG in the 3rd quarter against ASU. Throw in the fact that SC was running the ball down ASU’s throat, but every time they got down inside the ten yard line, CLR decided to throw the ball.
    In further regards to Grinch, it is clearly obvious that he is an average Defensive Coordinator at best. His defensive schemes are too hit miss, and there is a severe lack of consistency from one series to another. Think about it, does Fresno State have one player that was recruited by USC? Probably not. But they hung a huge zero on ASU. This tells me that it is the scheme and not the personnel. It seems as if Grinch is trying to prove to everyone what a defensive genius he is by devising these complex game plans that has everyone confused as to what their responsibilities are. Anyone remember the defense under Monte Kiffin? Well, this is panning out to the be the same thing. But despite all of this evidence, CLR firmly believes that he can win a NC with an average defense at best, despite the fact that just about every NC Team has had an above average defense.

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    1. I just listened to Riley’s post game presser. You know what nobody is talking about? The Lincoln Riley of 2023 is not the Lincoln Riley of 2022 — it only took him one year to get infected with whatever weird thing it is that Carol Folt is spreading….
      #ComeBack,Lincoln…
      #..WeNeedYou

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  10. Just face reality we are going to be an offensive juggernaut and a pathetic defensive team = NO CFP until LR fires Grinchy or we recruit athletes with a Stanford or Harvard IQ to understand Grinchy complex scheme. I don’t see nothing complex but 3 people moving like they got ADHD, that makes LR go Bi-Polar on the refs. Hey LR why don’t you spend practice this week doing tackling drills, and DB’s turn your head around drills. I have never a seen a blue blood have so many fixable issues that persist from game to game n season to season.

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    1. Donte’s been given 17 “second chances” [i.e., game assignments] since being dropped as head coach & kept on staff by Lincoln. No way on earth Deion Sanders would keep him. Time to say “bye.”
      Did anybody know that Cameron Scattebo [the guy who ran through our arm tackles] was rated the 444th running back coming out of high school? I just looked it up on Phil Steele’s site…..

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    2. Lol with the tough ass schedule for the Raiders this year, I was thinking the same thing. 3 wins, 4 wins at the most. Especially with Jimmy G at QB . He sucks. They will lose all their games going back East like they always do. Broncos bears and Giants. That’s it.

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  15. Really not sure how everyone’s mind has been erased forgetting the lost to Utah twice last year and got absolutely embarrassed by Tulane in a game where they were ranked 8th and small, light in the ass #14 Tulane ran all over them for 305 yards.

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    1. I hate to say it but Utah has a suffocating defense this year. They held UCLA to one TD. But that was in Utah. The one thing that I would say in favor of SC is Utah is a difference team when they are not playing in Rice-Echols stadium. It’s like Jeckel and Hyde. In Utah they play like super bowl champions. On the road they are a very mediocre team. Check out their road record.

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    2. The football genius MG, blamed it on officiating and the lack of a special teams coach……the dude really is a fucking genius (in his own mind)

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