FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Beware Spring Accolades

Lincoln Riley said Tuesday defensive backs Kamari Ramsey and Jacobe Covington improved their stock the most this spring.

Ramsey is a bit of an odd answer. He was an established starter when he transferred from UCLA. He’s expected to make an impact. He will start. So is it a surprise if he’s performing in 13 spring practices?

Covington is more of a Riley-type answer. But he is in his fourth college season. I’m skeptical about Riley’s endorsement. It will raise expectations significantly. We’ll see how much impact he has.

Remember last spring? Ceyair Wright was the breakout star. And Tackett Curtis as the Riley/fanboy media darling. Neither is on the team today. If I played, I’d probably be happier if Riley didn’t label me a standout of spring.

  • USC needs to relax when it comes to taking Alabama transfers. Cornerback Tre’Quan Fegans entered the portal this week after getting limited playing time last season. Remember defensive tackle Ishmael Sopsher, who got a lot of publicity when he came from Tuscaloosa, and then was on the field about three plays? The best of the lot was journeyman linebacker Shane Lee, who was a good influence on the team but didn’t play much last season.

I’m sure if he were still coaching, Nick Saban would offer a slight grin if someone asked him about losing players to USC.

27 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Beware Spring Accolades”

  1. Scotty boy, you are skeptical of Riley’s endorsements? Really? Well, I am skeptical of your skepticism. You are like the boy who cried wolf (no pun intended). Always criticizing the coaches’ methods and their statements. How can anyone trust what you say?

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  3. Riley seems reluctant to evaluate players. Can’t blame him given the easy availability of the transfer portal. If Riley said something like “we are weak at right tackle, Murphy is still inconsistent and Raymond is too inexperienced to hold down the position” you are risking a transfer. Better to say something like “we are looking to add some depth along the offensive line.”

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    1. Over the years we’ve all seen lots of examples of players playing hard for honest, plain speaking coaches. 

      #NowWe’reGettingToSeeHowTheyPlayForACageyCoach…..

      #[MyGuessIsRileyIsGonnaReturnToForm&PullOffAGoodSeason]

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      1. Agree Michael. I think the new coaching staff is going to really help the team’s performance. But I always tend to be optimistic when it comes to USC football. Other areas of life, not so much.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. You don’t think France, England, Italy and the U.S.A. are riding the crest of the wave….. in one magnificent upward spiral?

        Liked by 1 person

    1. LSU will be an uphill battle [still victory is not out of reach for USC–Kelly has his problems too]……..ah…but Michigan!

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      1. If SC can play some defense and get the QB, Moss or the UNLV kid, to play efficient football, SC can win more than people think.

        But the defense will be the key and I think they’ll be miles better since they’ll be bigger, have less to assimilate on every play ( Grinch’s Cheesecake Factory menu of plays on their wrists ) and are now coached by adults not some idiot who thinks he can play defense with 205 pound linebackers and 250 pound DL.

        Wolf tends to think the BIG 10 is great from top to bottom, they aren’t aside from Michigan, OSU and occasionally PSU, they don’t have very good teams. Oregon will be a big issue for USC, don’t see UDUB or ucla doing much in that conference.

        He also thinks the travel and weather will be an issue. We’ll see about the travel, but in the past SC has had to play some pretty cold and rainy games in the northwest, don’t see them having to deal with snow very often.

        Liked by 5 people

    2. Not that anyone does their homework, but the NCAA was trying to extract information by force from the Michigan football coach. They were after emails and texts that might help nail the coach for criticizing the NCAA through his lawyer’s social media posts. They were using strong arm tactics to hush the criticism. Nothing to see here that hasn’t been seen before. The NCAA =football mafia

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      2. So, Jimmy took a self-imposed three game suspension because he did nothing wrong, right?

        They had Jimmy dead-to-right on a level 1 infraction, which is the most severe. I am sure Jimmy had nothing to do with stealing the opposing team’s play signals, it was all the work of some rogue assistant, right?

        you’re basically saying the NCAA shouldn’t be enforcing its rules and regulations because it gives off the impression of a mafia hit job, right?

        Liked by 1 person

      3. The NCAA/football mafia has nothing on our very own FBI/DOJ. Hell, they submit false declarations to get FISA warrants, spy on Trump’s campaign, record telephone conversations, leak false information to the press including a phony dossier, continue investigations they know to be unwarranted, file obstruction charges relating to unwarranted investigations, interview the incoming DNI without notifying WH counsel when that is against their own internal policies, threaten to file charges against Flynn’s family members if he does not enter into a plea deal for a crime they know he didn’t commit, violate attorney client privilege and execute privileges in order to get Trump, throw Trump’s advisors in jail for violating a subpoena, file charges against Trump’s attorneys and chief of staff, ignore ex post facto laws, introduce new statutes that avoid statute of limitation defenses to get Trump, bring charges against the opposition president that have never been brought before, engage in forum shopping, deny due process to the former president and fine him 454 million for a non crime with no victim ect. 

        Liked by 2 people

      4. Plow Horse— you’re acting as though denial of due process is always bad —-according to MSNBC …”the judge listened to Trump’s constitutional challenges, summarily waved them off and wisely proceeded to trial…”

        Liked by 1 person

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