FOOTBALL

USC Notes: What Have We Learned After Six Games?

I generally try to ignore the USC-produced content but I heard Cody Kessler say a couple weeks ago that we would learn more about the Trojans from the Wisconsin game than the previous three games.

Oh really?

What did we really learn from Wisconsin? That USC could beat a team it was much better than at the Coliseum?

I think we learned more from the Minnesota game: If USC decides to half-effort it on the road in the Big Ten, it will lose.

You could go to places like Stanford, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, etc., and play at 75 percent effort or less and still squeak out victories. But you aren’t going to pull that off at Minnesota and certainly not at Michigan.

  • USC got a commitment yesterday from four-star defensive lineman Braeden Jones of Chicago. This morning, four-defensive tackle Viliami Moala of Salt Lake City flipped his commitment from USC to Oregon.

And this afternoon, Steve Miller, a Class of 2025 three-star safety, flipped his commitment from Mississippi State to USC.

46 thoughts on “USC Notes: What Have We Learned After Six Games?”

  1. I don’t know whether we are honestly that close to a return to glory or if this is iron pyrite land. I can’t believe Riley is willing to be seen as the biggest flop as a top tier hire in the history of USC but then what is this? Where is the real ‘enforcer’ of a sense of urgency….not desperation….someone able to change the mindset because these are too close losses that something isn’t right. I’d say Riley needs a ‘court jester’ someone immune to retaliation for stating the obvious and making a difference at crunch time.

    Riley is right – these three losses plus the LSU win were all per 1 or 2 plays of ineptitude so change it.

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  2. We played a highly ranked team, now ranked #3 in the nation, went into overtime, missed a field goal and lost. Scott wants to change the head coach, starting quarterback, offensive line coach, and others. He even hints that recruits should flip their commitments because of this loss. I think he is overreacting. The team is playing with energy and I think they are not far off from being a top 10 team. If we had two serviceable offensive tackles, Bear had not quit, and Gentry was healthy, .we would be undefeated and likely in the top 10. And Elijah Paige has the ability to be a good tackle. He just needs more time.

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      1. Buddha: Yes I watch the games. Agree that Riley’s game management is awful. Now what is it about my post that is inaccurate? Every game that we lost was close and we were underdogs to LSU, Michigan, and Penn State. You really want to fire a head coach with 70 million left on his contract under these circumstances?

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      4. No kidding- coaching was the margin of victory in all 3 games- his teams don’t execute when they need to, we all know about his abysmal clock management record, and his general aloofness on accountability, and lack of recruiting are all LR aka Woody, trademarks. Those deficiencies are why we are 0-3 in these close games- deeper teams can withstand an injury, don’t make major gaffes on using time outs, and better coached teams make better in game adjustments and don’t lose 14 point halftime leads at home

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    3. Plow,

      This time, I have to disagree. When you are very close to winning, a good coach finds a way to win. Riley has not done that. He has found a way to lose three games. I think Riley is not cut for the head job. He is too soft and he does not adjust to the players that he has. He thinks Moss can play like Williams. Moss needs more time than Williams and Riley needs to call plays for this.

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      1. Not true Buddha. I am disappointed by our losses. Thought Riley mismanaged the games that may have effected the outcome. But, we have made positive steps the last year by bringing in some very good transfers and coaches on the defensive side of the ball. Do you disagree with that statement?

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      1. Accept mediocrity?– Since I have zilch influence on the state of SC football it is more of a case of ‘Whatcha gonna do?’

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      1. Yeah, that was great!! And don’t forget about Walz admitting that “We cannot afford 4 more years of this!”

        Bernie’s admission on Meet The Press that Kamala was doing nothing but lying about who she is and what she believes, in order to win. MSM did a great job of selling the Big Lie in 2020 about Joe not having dementia. But all of Kamala’s lies are right out in the open for anyone with a functioning brain to see.

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      2. GET A NEW PLAY BOOK, YOU SAY THE SAME S H I T OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER……ONCE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH……SOUNDS LIKE YOU’RE THE T R O L L WITH DEMENTIA ISSUES

        QUIT BEING A PEST AND GO SERVICE YOUR S H I T T E R

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    1. Oh really. How impressive is a USC degree vs. an Oregon degree. Would you rather spend 4 to 5 years in Los Angeles or Eugene. Are the Oregon contacts and alumni as valuable as the USC contacts and alumni.

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      1. It’s not 2005 any more. The Portal has changed the face of college football and we aren’t keeping up. The players only care about cash, not degrees and careers outside football.

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    1. No I don’t Trojan for life. They all think they will make it to professional football. Get a big contract that will set them up for life. That is extremely rare even for those rated as 4 and 5 stars. If their parents are responsible, they will encourage their boys to consider things such as academic reputation and alumni contacts. Most NFL players only last a few years and even those who are successful are often broke within 10 years of their retirement. USC has a better brand than Oregon and needs to sell it.

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      1. You made my point for me. How’s Stanford doing these days fielding championship caliber teams? Most of these kids don’t even graduate.

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      2. Agree. Stanford should be a top 10 team every year. Harbaugh said it and it’s true. So should USC, Michigan, and Notre Dame. And UCLA, Washington and Cal should be competitive programs every year. The fact that that is not the case means the programs are under performing relative to their potential. If my son were a great high school football player, I would advise him to go to Stanford, USC, Notre Dame, or Michigan. Academic reputation matters. Would you really want your kid to go to Oregon, Oklahoma, Nebraska, LSU or Alabama if they had a full ride to Stanford or USC?

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      3. Of course, but that is not the real world as it exists in college football today. If these football players were required to meet the same entrance standards of nonathletes most would not be accepted. I’m afraid that the level of play would greatly suffer if these were the standards.

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      4. Austin Jones, one of our best running backs last year, was a Stanford Portal Jumper. None of these players in 2024 even know the school alma mater before they jump again. Let’s face it, they are mercenaries like Kyle Ford. .

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      5. Thanks for admitting my point Trojan for Life – “Of course but that is not the real world. . .” In the real world what you do post football career matters and needs to be emphasized by USC recruiting. And recruiting dumbazz football players that don’t meet the academic standards has its risks as well. Exhibit A is Bear Alexander. Attended 5 high schools and then transferred from Georgia to USC. Played one year and then sit out Spring ball to renegotiate his NIL deal and then quit on the team because he didn’t get enough snaps. All of this was predictable and would not have occurred if USC abided by its academic standards and used character as a criteria in deciding who to recruit and who to obtain through the portal.

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      6. Let me know how living in an alternative universe is like. There are teams like USC who aren’t even in the top 25 and then there are Oregon who is currently #2…the real world. Last time I checked college football teams want to win championships

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      7. Maybe your right Trojan for life. I would rather live in a universe where academic standards and tradition mean something. Tell the kids to go to Oregon. How did you get the moniker “Trojan for Life.” Must have been during the Pete Carrol era.

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      8. No, a true Trojan wants to continue the USC football legacy. Obviously, you do that with national championships…nothing short of that.

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  8. The situation is that all of these 15-18 year-old impressionable youngsters were the Big Man on Campus in high school and are lulled into believing they’re all-world and can make a living at this

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  9. Charming: Sounds as if this election will be a deja vu of the 2020 election when you claimed that you really did not lose

    Prince: If I win I win and if I lose I still win

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      1. If she wins, she’ll win the same way Joe did…on a lie. Well, with Joe it was one big lie. With her it’s many, many lies about who she is and where she stands. And with Kamala there would be MANY “June 27” moments where people asked “What the heck?!” Because as many warnings as there are, many will be dumb enough and gullible enough to fall for those lies.

        Lord help us if that happens.

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  10. It once was ‘SC championship or bust,’ but the new reality is even if a team makes the Final-12 cutoff it is still a steep mountain to a championship. Even the Alabamas and Ohio States might be lucky to win one a decade

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  11. As suspected Wiley had a plan when he refused to use his 3 timeouts at the end. He trusted Moss to get into field goal range which would have left Penn St with only10-seconds to counter

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    2. The alternative hypothesis to “Riley was wiley” in letting the clock run, is that he froze. With 40 seconds and the clock running, USC had the ball on the Penn State 40 yard line. They needed to get to about their own 30 to have a decent chance to make the FG. They would need at least two plays, probably 3 plays to do that. He f’d up.

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  12. Prince: You know how people say ‘You are over the hill at 40,’ well when I go hiking and get over the hill, that means I am past the hard part of the hike

    Charming: -And I might add a Mae West line– “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”

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