FOOTBALL

USC Offensive Line Gets New Starter

It looks like Micah Banuelos will be starting at left guard now that DJ Wingfield lost his lawsuit for a fifth year of eligibility.

Banuelos has appeared in three games the past 2 seasons. One question is whether USC did enough due diligence regarding Wingfield. His case appeared shaky after he played two years at El Camino College, one year at New Mexico and one year at Purdue. And he actually played, appearing in nine games at New Mexico and 11 at Purdue.

He originally intended to enter the 2025 NFL Draft before trying to get a waiver for a fifth year of eligibility.

Remember, USC’s had Emmanuel Pregnon at this spot the previous two seasons. He is now at Oregon.

41 thoughts on “USC Offensive Line Gets New Starter”

  1. KAM: Awful news. Too late to buy another player. The OL is now the weakest link on the team. Jayden will be running for his life every play.

    DON: We are cornholed!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. KAM: How could Riley Coyote neglect the OL? We have no depth after 4 years? McKay, Robinson and Pete knew you built a team around the OL.

        DON: This is maddening.

        Like

  2. We will not know how good or bad the line is until we play Illinois and Michigan. It may be very good. Lineman develop after a few years of practice. I am optimistic if we remain healthy. We should be able to find a serviceable guard if Banuelos doesn’t work out. I hope he does because he has worked through injuries and stayed with the program. The key is the tackles and I like Elijah Paige and Tobias Raymond.

    Never knew anyone named Tobias. Looked it up and it is derived from an ancient Hebrew name meaning God is good. More popular than I thought coming in at about 250. I bet the parents who gave him that name are special. Tobias seems like a great kid during his interviews, always happy and positive and complimentary of his coaches and teammates.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Plow — check out the credentials and judicial history of the Stanford educated [undergrad and law school] Judge who screwed Wingfield…

      #NeverOnTheRightSideOfAnyIssue…..

      #…DatingBacktoHisDaysAsAHighPricedLitigator….

      #[USCNeverHadAChance]

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. I have high hopes for Mr. Raymond, particularly if he actually is 315 pounds, which is what the media guide reports. He was 250 lbs as a senior in HS, he played hoops and baseball so he may be very athletic. He is 6’7″, so he definitely needed to put some muscle on his frame.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. hey mg that judge denied that ucla WR too why don’t you use your considerable judicial influence and look in to this guy ?

        Liked by 2 people

      4. He seems to have good credentials MG. But I agree with you that trial judges have a self life – most should retire in their early sixties.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. btw….Judges in their 80’s [like Judge James Selna] shouldn’t be handling cases like these….. they don’t understand the lay of the land….

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. The last expert witness gig I did, the judge was in his 70s, pretty much checked out. Very good guy, but one could see he was counting the days to relocating to Palm Beach FLA and no income taxes.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. It is so aggravating MG. And not limited to older judges. You also have unqualified judges and burnouts. It has gotten so bad that you can’t advise a client what to do because if you have a valid legal claim and present it to the judge he will likely either not read your brief or not understand fundamental legal principles. In my last major trial, the judge repeatedly denied my civil jury instructions which left me with no remedy even though I overwhelmingly won the case and even the opposition knew it. On three separate occasions, the jury came back and asked the judge what jury instruction allows them to award damages for the unlawful taking of my client’s commission earnings. Finally, he gave the instruction and the jury awarded 950,000. It would have been much more had he allowed other instructions. What do you tell your client when they ask what are our chances of winning when you know the judge doesn’t know the law, won’t follow the law and its just a crap shoot. You just can’t do your job under these circumstances and it happens every day.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Guess what? In California the majority of judges [1] don’t know the law and [2] don’t want to know the law. Even after you’ve presented them the controlling cases [from which they could easily draft helpful jury instructions] …and told them there’s no rush to judgement ….to take a day to read what you’ve given them…. they almost always rush anyways…. & do the wrong thing.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. ’67, in the last segment you were asking about tha 1978 game that SC lost to ASU, which caused a split for the National Championship with Alabama who the Trojans had destroyed earlier in the year.

    I recall listening to the game on the radio, and it was just one of those clunker games where the ‘Devils ran and ran, and SC could just not keep up

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you, John. That team was a bit of an underachiever, given the personnel they had, losing to ASU, and I believe they squeaked by a couple of others. But still, how could the sportswriters vote them number 2 after they destroyed ‘Bama early in the season?

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. That Alabama game was a thing of beauty. Student body left and right and Alabama was getting their b u t t kicked. I remember the announcer ” watch Brad Budde leads Charles White and he hits the Bama linebacker and sends him flying backwards . . .”

        Liked by 2 people

      1. 100%, P. T.! I remember when one of the backup centers came in and immediately screwed the snap….. that’s when I realized ‘this is gonna be one of those games’……

        Liked by 1 person

      3. 67 –I’ll never forget him laughing about the frickingly bad snap that cost us the Cal game …and Helton saying “I love this guy” when he was asked about it…..

        Liked by 1 person

      4. P. S.

        I get being supportive of your players. But try to imagine Saban saying “I love this guy …I’d like to give him a neck hug!” after a player repeated the same mistake he made in past games, this time causing a loss….

        #CoachesShouldn’tTryToBeThePlayers’Mom

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Plow —Selna’s ‘credentials’ only look good on paper. Ask litigators what they think of him when he’s taken into the deep weeds…..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Not surprising MG. Most of the big firm litigators are weak. They don’t get the experience. After 5 years, they will let a young attorney take the deposition of an insignificant witness. I had a trial the week after I was sworn in because my firm was not getting paid and the partners wanted to junk the case. I sat in the wrong place. The judge said “what are you doing over there sit over here.” I was so nervous and lost but I doubt that anyone could have won that one. My client was an off shore insurance company that took premiums and disappeared and I was representing them in a subrogation action without their help. The judge was not sympathetic. Case was over in 4 hours.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. As Lou Holtz used to say, “Been there.”

        [I learned pretty fast….& the hard way ….the best way to handle an “a-whole” judge was to let them know you could win w/o them —every time they said “I’m inclined to disallow this evidence” just say “then disallow it.” And, when argument time came, tell the jury: “the judge and the lawyers are just functionaries in this system — the power is in your hands…. “]

        Like

      2. MG: I actually told that one judge who denied my proposed jury instructions that his rulings are contrary to the established law and are eviscerating my client’s legal rights and that before he made ruling on these matters I would appreciate if he would actually read my briefs and the cases cited in them. I thought he was going to cite me for contempt but he actually retracted and got defensive. “Here’s the footnote, where is it in the footnote.” Footnotes aren’t legal authority judge, look at page 17, lines 6 to 23. That was too much for him.

        MG, your comment reminds me of the closing argument in The Verdict movie. “The statues, the attorneys, the judge, the robes, the trappings of the court, are just symbols of our desire to do justice. They are a fervent prayer asking God to help us do what is right and just. But today you are the law. “

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Plow —Sorry for the late reply — I was actually involved in the very thing we’re talking about today [as a plaintiff, not as a lawyer]……hope the judge takes the time to do the right thing on this one….

        Like

  5. KAM: Democrat California Senator Adam S c h i f f has just formed a legal defense fund, as he prepares to be indicted for MORTGAGE FRAUD by Special Prosecutor Ed Martin…. S c h i f f knows he’s in DEEP ___!

    DON: Poor P e n c i l N e c k!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. DON: And worse for the kid is he stood to be paid 1/4 of a million dollars, an unimaginable salary for a teenager back in the day

    KAM: “Another brick in the wall” as the colleges reconstruct their ways to the ways of the NFL

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. KAM: Getting out of the world of ‘sports’ and returning to reality, I saw a Spanish proverb that sums up America– “People today don’t need more advice, they need money”

    DON: I am working on that– it’s call a ‘Redistribution Plan’

    Like

    Reply

  10. DON: Because of Michigan, SC and its 2010 Sanctions are back in focus, but I recall how the Athletic Director Mike Garrett didn’t help matters when declaring, “Everybody wants to be a Trojan”–‘Really?” retorted the NCAA. Try this on for size

    KAM: What is the cliche today?– “It is what it is”

    Like

    Reply

    1. Mike Garrett told the truth: Back when he was A. D. everybody DID want to be a Trojan ….that’s why it was the corrupt NCAA’s job to destroy us on behalf of the SEC…..

      Like

      Reply

      1. And why do you suppose that would be, Michael?– It seems society enjoys more the tearing down of its heroes than building them up

        Like

Leave a reply to Plow Horse Cancel reply