FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Beware The Propaganda

Remember all the breathless coverage in the offseason about how USC players gained 1,400 pounds?

You can see the pictures at the bottom of this post. Was Minnesota’s offensive line pushing around USC on Saturday night?

Maybe USC should have hired Minnesota’s strength and conditioning coach.

For some reason, people just accept whatever the USC Dept. of Propaganda puts out when it comes to claims like the 1,400 pounds. On August 13th, I wrote, “We’ll see if getting bigger is actually better when the season begins.”

Who cares about the weight? Was the program making players more explosive or faster? It looked like Minnesota, which did not have the same athletes, was better in these categories.

  • I thought the Minnesota defense did a good job harassing Miller Moss most of the game. But the vaunted Pro Football Focus says the USC offensive line allowed only five quarterback pressures. So I guess the offensive line is doing fine.

Again, you can go by your eyes or the stats.

  • D’Anton Lynn, or the $2 million baby as one college coach calls him, has a defense ranked 87th nationally in rushing defense and is surrendering 158.6 yards per game.

Even worse, USC allows 4.96 yards per rush. That ranks 111th nationally.

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54 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Beware The Propaganda”

  1. The season…. and Lincoln’s career ….comes down to this Saturday. [USC won’t be in the playoffs….but… this can still be a fun year of football if we beat Penn State and Notre Dame at home. And Washington and UCLA on the road].

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    1. When you think about it Lincoln has nothing to lose at the coli this weekend — he can afford to play aggressively on those final 4th quarter drives he usually pansies out on….

      #Attack

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      1. Sometimes I think the game is too fast for Riley, he just doesn’t have what it takes to make moves 2, 3, 4 steps down the road. If one thing fouls up his plan, he gets flustered and doesn’t know what to do.

        He could have continued to run the ball but it just isn’t in him to do that.

        I also wonder if he loses to PSU and then drops some more games that SC should win if Jen has to consider making a move, probably not but you never know.

        And I’m cutting the D staff some slack, they inherited a mess, it wasn’t going to be fixed overnight.

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      2. I’m in 100% agreement on that last point. Virtually every Big Ten beat writer rated USC’s talent on defense as the worst in the Big Ten [but, then again, what do they know? they rated our o-line and special teams in the first tier]…..

        #LynnIsDoingAllThatCanBeDoneWithTheTalentHeHas…

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      3. karma — regarding Lincoln’s inability to make decisions on the fly — every trial attorney knows every case leads to unexpected twists and turns [cuz of dumb judges and nervous witnesses] —-so it’s necessary to develop a tactic you can fall back on when things go south [like ‘play the innocent victim card’]. Pete Carroll said his mantra when USC fell behind was “keep running right at ’em until they don’t want it anymore.”

        Riley doesn’t have “a theory of the case.” He just reacts. And good coaches keep beating him.

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    2. man mg this season has been a drag brother that ucla Eric bienemy experiment at offensive coordinator has been a total disaster he’s trying to run an offense with college kids thinking he still has Patrick mahomes and company at the controls

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      1. ….The bruins can still screw Lincoln over at the Rose Bowl if he’s not careful…..

        #TheUltimate2024Insult

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      3. One win —over Penn State —-gets us into the teens….

        #ButThereIsNoWayWeGetIntoTheTop12In2024

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  3. Scooter,

    SC is playing on its heels and has taken on the persona of Riley, scared and does not know what to do. We see that he is not head coach material. My questions is, does Jen, Taco LIta, Cohen and the midget Folt the Dolt see this, or are they blind as a bat since they do not have an inkling on what a head coach looks like nor would they recognize one if Saban walked into the office.

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    1. Every single person on that list [except Hackett] had moments of success. Hopefully Lincoln has one of his own on Saturday……

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    2. You left out Tollner

      Hackett got USC Orgeron, but Hackett was a disaster of a coach

      Helton was and still is over his head

      Smith did fine with Tollner’s recruits, not so good with his own

      Tollner could recruit, couldn’t coach

      Riley refuses to address the OL & DL, why is anyone’s guess.

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      1. Possible answer to karma’s last question: Riley lacks killer instinct. He couldn’t say the words “you’re out!” to Grinch and Henson until it was too late to save the season.

        #MichaelCorleoneToHisBrotherTom:”You’reOut,Tom”

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    1. “Take Lincoln home after the dance”? I presume you’re trying to spoil breakfast. John……

      #[WhatWouldThatEvenLookLike]?

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  6. Larry Smith had some good years. Paul and Clay were terrible. Lincoln Riley was the most hyped of the four and may end up with the greatest fall from grace, so I would say he will be viewed as the biggest mistake.

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    1. We were told sports is about “the thrill of victory AND the agony of defeat.” You can’t have one without the other.

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  9. Vanderbilt at home had not beaten Alabama in over a half century, so seemingly anything is possible in college football

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  10. USC Has scored 27 points or less 3 games away from the Coli. 27 was good enough to win one, 24 and 17 were not. Riley’s offense is very average and can’t sustain drives when it absolutely needs to in the 4th quarter. The defense is vastly improved but it’s not a show stopping defense yet.

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    1. All true. At least both units are still fighting for 60 minutes [unlike 2023]…..and that gives us a chance against anybody on the schedule, including Penn State….

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      1. chance, true..slim at best…I think it will be ugly w/out major changes in ‘O’ line…Monheim back to tackle for instance.

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      2. Yep. We also need Lake back at tight end and Gentry back in the middle on defense…. we’re too thin for “next man up” against Penn State….

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      1. I’d say we improved — all the losses looked better than the ’23 losses… USC fought to the last second in all of them…. [they sure didn’t do that in last year’s UCLA game]…..

        #[Also…..TheBigTenIsGood….NothingWillComeEasy]

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  11. The new Michigan coach substitutes his SC-Killer quarterback in the Washington game because the ‘Wolves’ are behind 14-0 The new guy rallies his team to 17-14 in front but can’t sustain it. And for this the Michigan coach is called an “idiot” for the replacement.

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    1. Michigan has a very good head coach —but — you can’t get to the playoffs without a first tier quarterback….

      #AndHarbaughKnewIt

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    1. …then how come no one here is dancing?

      #MaybeWeNeedToReviseThatTo”SHOULDLearnToDanceAround”

      #[IWillIfEveryoneElseWill]

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  14. As I pointed out yesterday, SC is 11-9 in its last 20 games. Winning 55% of your games isn’t going to make it at a school with the football pedigree SC has. Riley’s contract buyout is a problem, and any coach that’s any good will cost that, or more. Unless Riley is “encouraged” to begin exploring other opportunities, we may be stuck with him for quite a while.

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      3. …That job doesn’t go to Riley anymore….. As far as the NFL is concerned, Riley did himself in by the middle of last year…

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      4. “Hi Jen! Won’t be coaching any more this year. I have incurable leprosy …oh, did I say leprosy? I meant pneumonia.”

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  15. Probably a safe bet that Penn St’s defensive line is salivating over facing SC’s facsimile of an offensive line to the tune of “Watch out below, Miller Moss”

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  16. Josh Henson:

    “Murphy and Paige are gonna kick butt. They’re getting fueled by all the unjust criticism. They’re mad now. Really mad!”

    #Grrrr!

    ##Grrrr!

    ###Grrrrrrr!

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  17. the defense is better,but they miss’bear’ …the offense is not due to ‘O’ line…to much moving players around like last year…better move Monheim back to tackle and find a different center;move right tackle to rt guard and current left tackle to right tackle perhaps or another situation. Do it now or Penn State will be a really bad game, not just bad.SC is not ready for Penn St as they were not for Minnesota , a very average team.

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