FOOTBALL

USC-Purdue Report Card

I didn’t do report cards on the first two games because those were exhibition games.

QUARTERBACK

Jayden Maiava did a nice job in his first road game of the season and avoided throwing an interception. Does it matter the offense produced only two touchdowns?

Grade: B+

RUNNING BACKS

Was Eli Sanders hurt or did Lincoln Riley not like the way he was running? He only got 10 carries while Waymond Jordan had 18. If this is what happens against Illinois in two weeks, that’s a problem.

Grade: C+

WIDE RECEIVER

You pretty much know what you will get from Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane but the athleticism of Tanook Hines finally made an appearance. I actually think Lemon and Lane didn’t get enough touches, which is a Riley trademark.

GRADE: B

OFFENSIVE LINE

The run-blocking was average at best. They allowed only one sack but Purdue also liked rushing just three men. The jury remains out and apparently Lincoln Riley agrees because he went back to Alani Noa at guard over Micah Banuelos.

Grade: C

DEFENSIVE LINE

Definitely more energy and depth than a year ago but again, we need a better opponent to make any definitive judgements.

Grade: B-

LINEBACKERS

Eric Gentry has been a stalwart for three seasons, when healthy and that never changes. But the other spot is a bit invisible at times, which is not what was promised in the offseason by the coaches. That becomes more noticeable when the schedule gets tougher.

Grade: C+

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Who can they cover? This wasn’t a star-studded offense Purdue threw at the secondary. It was a basic, Big Ten offense. And the defensive backs were shockingly bad.

Grade: D+

SPECIAL TEAMS

Ryon Sayeri’s been an unsung hero considering he was supposed to be the backup kicker. What happens when UNLV transfer Caden Chittenden gets healthy?

Grade: B

COACHING

For all the talk/hype the first two games, USC’s offense produced two touchdowns and the pass defense was AWOL. What happens if Purdue scores instead of throwing a freak pick six to a 360-pound defensive tackle? Lincoln Riley still has brain freezes that burn timeouts and there was some questionable play calling that would matter in a closer game.

How is USC committing 17 penalties the past two games against such inferior competition? That’s coaching.

GRADE: C-

66 thoughts on “USC-Purdue Report Card”

  2. The inability to score touchdowns when in the red zone, and to convincingly win the turnover battle but still not be turning them into offensive points is mind-boggling. Purdue is simply not that good. So you know what that means…

    Bracing for a repeat of the 2024 season now. Assume crash positions and prepare for impact now…

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  4. RBs: Give Sanders at least an A-, he had 75 yards on 10 carries. Not his fault Riley didn’t give him the ball more, that falls on Riley.

    Qb: Maiava’s first half was an A, second half a C+, as he was something like 5 for 16 in the second half. Some of that falls on Riley also, he needed to make second half adjustments for the offense.

    LB: Gentry has been an A all year, he is tied for second in the nation in solo tackles and has 3 sacks.

    DB: There is one DB who has been very good this year, Bishop Fitzgerald with 3 picks, the rest has potential trainwreck written all over.

    Need to fix the defensive backfield pronto, we will learn more on Saturday. Hope it is not too late, but OMG, they look confused, even when giving the opposing WR a 10 yard cushion.

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  5. Thanks Scott. Good analysis. They do have a lot room for improvement. If they prepare well, pay attention to details, and improve each week, I like this team’s potential.

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  6. KAM: They’re making the upcoming SC vs Michigan St match a game between 2 fine dueling quarterbacks

    DON: The Spartans have ‘Chill Chiles and SC has ‘Molten Maiava

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    1. KAM: Senator Chuck Grassley Reveals Senile Joe Biden’s FBI Put Together Project Arctic Frost to Go After Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA and 91 Other Republican Targets: “On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk’s groups, Turning Point USA. In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” he continued. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

      DON: So much for “coming together”. You Deep State Mainstream Moderate Democrats are The Enemy.

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  7. Marcelles Williams and DJ Harvey looked lost. Both are new to the system. It may be more of a “I don’t know what to do with that formation” problem then an actual problem covering. If so, perhaps it can be corrected. If not, the defense will get burned against Illinois and maybe Michigan State.

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  8. Scooter,

    I was harping on you not producing a report card. I see why. Thank you for the explanation. The qb has improved. My question is, in the 4th quarter, the oline started to push purdue around with just running the ball. That was great. Was it because purudue was getting tired or was SC doing a better job?

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  12. Purdue lined up 3 down lineman. That doesn’t mean they only rushed 3.

    They had different blitz packages, using 2 linebackers or a combination

    of linebacker/safety.

    Wolfie usually gets it wrong.

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  13. DON: You got anything to say that won’t irritate my flock?

    KAM: You mean the ‘heckler veto’ guys. I only wish them well, life for some can be too rough. But America has always needed 2 strong parties, each with about 50% of the vote. And, oh yeah, Go Trojans!

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    1. KAM: Mainstream Moderate Democrat ABC Talk Show Host Jimmy Kimmel LIED to his audience by claiming Charlie Kirk’s a s s a s s i n is MAGA

      DON: Democrats are not limited by facts or reality. They love to exaggerate and lie.

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      2. You certainly like to throw the word “Liar’ around. If you were in Court a judge would throw you out if you used that word, whether true or not

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      3. What? Every prosecutor in every case going on in every courtroom of every city of every state uses the word ‘liar’ in closing argument…. and the judges in all those courts are just fine with it…

        Liked by 2 people

      4. P. S.

        This is proof that Lawyer John is not writing these posts. The poster has no familiarity with the criminal court system….. or the rules of argument….

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Absolutely correct MG. How many times was Cohen called a liar in the New York vs. Trump case. 20 or more. And I hate it when somebody tries to get an upper hand on a debate by dictating the words his opponent may use. For years the Abortionists insisted that a child growing in the womb could not be referred to as a baby. It had to be a fetus. And now you see them trying to force these phony pronouns on us when addressing a transvestite.

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      6. The majority of the time: The “Sparrow” poster is no longer “Sparrow.”

        No lawyer would write using the word ‘liar’ [“true or not”] gets you thrown out of court….. the person writing that has no familiarity with jury trials or the permissible boundaries of argument.

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  14. DON: –And stop saying stuff in a haughty way, you’re coming off as some kind of psuedo-intellect

    KAM: Short of Einstein and a few others, we’re all pseduo intellects

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    1. KAM: Over the past half-century, Global Warmists have predicted countless calamities. Their extreme predictions were wrong, their draconian countermeasures turned out to be mostly misguided, and we should be grateful we didn’t follow their harmful advice. We need to keep this history in mind as we are inundated with stories of climate Armageddon from charlatans like Al Bore and Hockey Stick Mann.

      This summer, headlines about the Great Barrier Reef painted a dire picture of climate-driven devastation, with environmental journalists claiming the reef was on the brink of collapse.

      In reality, data shows the reef has its fourth-highest coral cover since records began in 1986, revealing these alarmist narratives to be vastly misleading.Truth and scares

      Sensible, life-improving environmental policies over recent decades were rarely sold with fearmongering. Rich countries have dramatically reduced air and water pollution through technological advances and then through regulation. Poorer countries are starting to do the same thing, as they emerge from poverty and can afford to be more environmentally concerned. Forests have expanded globally, with this growth clear in rich countries and increasingly across the world.

      DON: This isn’t the scary future we were promised by Global Warmists.

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      1. KAM: Can’t we at least agree that the world’s people are slowly causing harm to the planet, and that countries’ ability to stem the tide are not enough

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  15. DON: Watch your step there. My people have feelings

    KAM: To me ‘feelings’ are what you feel for others; if it’s self-directed than it’s just ‘ego

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    1. KAM: My old lover Montel Williams the racist black Democrat blamed Charlie Kirk for his own a s s a s s i n a t i o n , saying that Tyler Robinson was trying to defend his trans lover’s honor from Charlie’s “disparaging” comments!https://x.com/C_3C_3/status/1968267315885248686…

      DON: It’s amazing how low the tolerant compassionate empathetic Mainstream Moderate Democrats have gone, blaming the victim.

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      1. Charlie said disparaging things like quoting from the Bible – God made them male and female. He said there were only two sexes. That one’s self proclaimed gender identity does not change their sex. A trans women is a man because he was born with male genitalia, XY chromosomes, a male musculoskeletal system, and other features that are uniquely male. Everything he said was true. It is backed by basic science. But speaking truth to the delusional trans crowd is now considered hate speech. They don’t want anyone to pop their delusional bubble. You need to participate in the delusion. That is why they continue to force false pronouns on people and are even going into elementary schools and forcing young children to use them.

        Liked by 1 person

  16. KAM: But back to the important stuff, football, that Georgia team looked tough there at the end, and Ohio St is still Ohio St, not sure what to make of Texas and its ‘Arch,’ Oregon at their Autzen Stadium is a tough nut to crack, and SC?

    DON: They’re not up there yet with the Top-10 and probably won’t be this year.

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      1. KAM: Are you saying you support racism against whites and Asians?

        DON: Of course 100% of Mainstream Moderate Democrats love racism against high achieving Asians. They say they “act white” so they don’t count as an oppressed victicrat group.

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      2. “Are you saying that there is not even 1% of the DEI programs that you like?”

        Yes. I am opposed to racial discrimination. The Constitution grants equal protection to all, not just 99%.

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  18. KAM: Without picking on any one area of the football team, there is just an overall feeling of this is not the year

    DON: When the season turns I turn to memories of how I felt watching O.J., A.D. and Bush

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    1. KAM: Democrat Dreamer Illegal Alien Drunk Driver Mows Down, Kills 16-Year-Old Girl Who Rejected His Lewd Advanceshttps://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/1968080434920628236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1968080434920628236%7Ctwgr%5Ed047a7a60a9ae6224f03b88bcd3962538777a8af%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F09%2Fhorror-illegal-alien-drunk-driver-mows-down-kills%2F….

      DON: Mainstream Moderate Democrats say is such a victim, she deserved it for hurting his feelings!

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      1. why all your constant political spamming of a USC sports blog?You obviously have some type of mental issue

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      2. KAM: Cowardly Gabby aka is back! We were hoping you had expired at Tranny celebration of Charlie Kirk’s m u r d e r. You must be sad you Bruins have imploded due to their DEI hire.

        DON: Cowardly Gabby loves her political posts :

        Gabby

        June 12, 2025 at 8:18 pm

        Hopefully, the next guy doesn’t miss

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    1. KAM: Cowardly Sparrow Gabby loves it that her ally Cowardly Gabby is back and she won’t get mercilessly punked so much!

      DON: It’s disgusting how slef-proclaimed Mainstream Moderate Democrat Cowardly Sparrow Gabby supported the vile violent perverted posts of Cowardly Gabby that led to Charlie Kirk’s a s s a s s i n a t i o n like this:

      Gabby

      June 9, 2025 at 4:54 am

      I can’t wait to see Newsom give trump a good a s s—-whipping

      LONG OVERDUE! F * % K trump! too bad the guy was a bad shot.

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    1. Cowardly Gabby is such a low IQ Football poster she thinks Curtis Conway never ever returned a kickoff for USC in his illustrious three year career.

      Gabby

      AUGUST 30, 2023 AT 3:07 AM
      Fake gabby: USC Fan would know that teams intentionally kicked away from Trojan star kick returner and WR Curtis Conway.

      you stupid senile troll…..a kick returner returns kickoffs, and a punt returner returns punts…..Conway never returned a kickoff in his entire USC career.

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      1. REAL GABBY THREW OUT THE BAIT AND FAKE GABBY, AKA SCOTT, WAS ON IT LIKE STINK ON S H I T ……WHAT AN IDIOT….TOOO EASY!

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  21. Why does the owner of this blog allow all the political nonsense on a sports blog. Perhaps he’s the main culprit Just a thought

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    1. KAM: Why does the owner of this blog allow all the violent t r a n n y political nonsense on a sports blog from Cowardly Gabby?

      Gabby

      November 8, 2024 at 2:37 am

      I am sure many would love to b l o w his head off…..he was a few inches away from being 6 feet under……too bad the guy was a bad s h o t

      DON: Perhaps Cowardly Gabby and her thousands of aliases is the main culprit Just a thought

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    2. KAM: Cowardly Gabby is a Mainstream Moderate Democrat just like Cowardly Sparrow Gabby:

      Gabby

      November 8, 2024 at 12: 34 am

      WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DONALD CROAKS BEFORE INAUGURATION??

      ASKING FOR A FRIEND

      DON: No wonder Democrats are so violent! These are the old Democrats telling the young ones to be m u r d e r e r s.

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