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My USC-Georgia Southern Analysis: Glaring Holes Exposed

Well, USC got its blowout Saturday but there were some real warning signs against Georgia Southern.

I’ve continually questioned the defense this offseason and those concerns were on full display. One of my concerns was the secondary and I thought they looked terrible against a below average offense.

Can you imagine if USC played Oregon on Saturday? How many yards passing would the Ducks have? The receivers for Georgia Southern were constantly open. And who are USC’s best cornerbacks? They seem to change at a dizzying rate.

I also questioned the linebackers all offseason. Desman Stephens had two tackles. Ta’Mere Robinson didn’t make a tackle.

Now let’s get to the supposed strength of the defense, the much-hyped defensive line. Georgia Southern rushed for 142 yards. Who was making plays? Braylan Shelby had four tackles. Anthony Lucas and Floyd Boucard had three. But the d-line certainly did not dominate the game.

Massive defensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett did not play and was not listed in the injury report. Five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart made his debut and had one tackle.

It wasn’t what you would expect against a team that lost to Fresno State, 42-14.

I don’t know how good Purdue is. But I know USC eventually will play good teams. This defense has a long way to go.

There is a fan contingent that hammers everyone over the head that the defense is much better and D’Anton Lynn is a genius. It wasn’t on display Saturday.

29 thoughts on “My USC-Georgia Southern Analysis: Glaring Holes Exposed”

  2. Ga Southern amassed

    84 yards rushing

    158 passing for 242 TOTAL yards against Fresno State

    They got

    142 rushing

    235 passing for 377 TOTAL yards against USC

    Fresno State actually has a REAL head coach, USC, not so much.

    And SC has TWO DB coaches, can ONE of them teach their players not to grab the WR on every play ?

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  4. And the DL is a sieve, the OL is average at best, Maiava is average, Lane and Lemon are stars.

    Lynn can’t coach, his DB coaches can’t coach and the head coach is clueless, other than that………………………

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  5. VERY surprised how thin the defense was yesterday.

    What is up with the incredibly soft zone? Against Georgia Southern…really?

    Irrespective of the score, and this is not excusing really inexcusable defensive back play, but the officiating was downright awful. How often does one see three “hands to the face penalties”.

    Georgia Southern was called for one penalty.

    It is as if the officials felt sorry for Clay and let every hold go uncalled. And nearly all the sacks came in the first half, because once Georgia Southern found they could hold without being called, then they held as if their life depended on it.

    And the difference between Maiava first and second half was uncalled PI. Take a look at the tackle on Makai before the ball arrived. No call, and USC had to punt. Official was 10 feet away from the play.

    Again, not excusing a really bad defensive performance.

    On the bright side, Gentry was great with 10 solo tackles, one sack, and two tackles for losses.

    I disagree with Budda a bit regarding Maiava. He looks so much more comfortable this year than last year. But I do agree that some of his balls, which were caught, were floaters or really late. They wouldn’t have been completions against a good team.

    Anyway, a lot will be answered this Saturday.

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    1. Well see how Maiva plays when he’s running for his life and the other team is actually decent to very good, it’s not going to be pretty. He isn’t the best decision maker.

      EVERY game from here on out is a potential loss, we’ve seen how Riley does on the road even against bad teams.

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      1. LR on the road: yes.

        Maiava not a great decision maker: last year, really bad, this year seems much better, but hard to tell when the game is a scrimmage.

        If USC is to succeed, it will be with a ball control offense, not the home run offense. They have 3 really good RBs, and I like that they are playing 2 TE offensive sets at least some of the time.

        Avoid third and long, and good things happen.

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      3. Budda, in the first two games, run/pass play calling has been at least 50% rushing, this is a big change from last year.

        Again, the first two games were glorified scrimmages, so it is hard to say if this balance will continue. But I suspect the running game this year is better. And I like the two TE sets they are running.

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    2. Every single officiating error listed by 67 is legit. The holding on ALL of Georgia Southern’s long runs was too obvious to miss. Same deal with the pass interference. When Holy Man Clay Helton recognized the lay of the land he musta told his players ‘do whatever, it ain’t gonna get called.’ USC better be ready to win big on the road cuz we’re not gonna get any better treatment the rest of the way.

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  6. DON: The outcome didn’t seem to bother Helton much. He kept gushing on and on about SC’s future prospects

    KAM: And did you catch what he said about the Trojans booing him?–They are “passionate fans”

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    1. I HOPE this last game “prepared” the defensive coordinator & his staff to wake up. The play of the d-backs is a mess. Purdue has the worst qb and receivers in the Big Ten. If they run up the yards on USC our season is officially over….

      #….ButIDon’tThinkTheyWill

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      1. SC’s pass defense is going to get lit up by any competent QB they play, toss in teams with very good to great OL’s and good RB’s and it’s going to be ugly, Riley won’t be able to outscore them.

        And if the season blows up with loss after loss, no amount of NIL is going to make recruits want to play for this mess.

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    2. Definitely tougher sledding ahead for KAM, given that LA voters overwhelmingly don’t want their tax dollars used for the LA police to be Kam’s bodyguards, and Bass was forced to rescind her protection of Harris. Kam’s purported $20 million book deal should leave some wiggle room for private security.

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  8. Breaking news

    Riley is trying to get Cohen to replace Fresno St on 2026 & 28 schedule with Missouri State and replace UNLV in 2027 with NE West Texas Southern State.

    ” They’re both gonna be powers in two years, I swear. ” said Riley

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  11. wolfie is analyzed that pretty well. I think SC has quite a lot of improving to do on defense…Purdue will probably play SC a closer game than previously thought.

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