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Morning Buzz: Were People Surprised USC Beat Michigan?

Did I have more faith in USC football than many fans?

I wasn’t surprised the Trojans defeated Michigan on Saturday but many fans are acting like this was a momentous occasion. Did they expect USC to lose? At home?

More likely, the reflects how starved people are for any success during the Riley Era.

They still expect USC to win every game, but when the Trojans actually do beat someone, even an overrated team like Michigan, the celebrating is like a New Year’s Eve scene out of the 1920’s.

When’s the ticker-tape, open bus parade?

  • Is Big Ten officiating starting to become as bad as Pac-12 officiating? This would probably be a bigger question if SEC officiating weren’t grabbing all the attention.

The USC-Illinois game had dodgy calls (on both sides, which you wouldn’t know from USC media) and a lot of Michigan fans are furious with the crew on Saturday that seemed to have trouble with pass-interference penalties and even drew the ire of NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay.

Frankly, the Big Ten has some real deficiencies, starting with commissioner Tony Petiti, and his ill-fated plan to demand four guaranteed spots in the College Football Playoff for the conference.

  • It’s becoming gross how Jerry Neuheisel is the poster boy of UCLA football even though Tim Skipper is the interim head coach.
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23 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Were People Surprised USC Beat Michigan?”

  1. is there any surprise that former USC Trojan juju Smith Schuster got his a$$ kicked after the Lions game for not shaking the opponent’s hand. True punk a$$Trojan move

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    2. KAM: Cowardly Gabby is as accurate with this as she is with her political pronouncements. Detroit Lions Safety Brian Branch, NOT Juju, refused to shake Kansas City Chief Quarterback Patrick Mahomes hand after Mahomes reached out and obviously tried to shake Branch’s hand. Sore Loserman Branch refused and attacked Juju. Branch instigated it by going up to him on purpose instead of leaving the field if he was going to act like a baby.

      DON: And now Branch proves Cowardly Gabby lied again!https://x.com/frank144/status/1977826709170000127lol

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  2. It might be hard for some football players to shake hands with a guy who just finished pounding on him for 60-minutes, although most players are good-sports after the game

    The moniker “OJdidIt” says where the guy’s head is at regarding SC

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    1. John —It’s the same “head” that wishes Charlie Kirk was shot in the face instead of the throat….and daydreams about President Trump being assassinated at his rally instead of grazed in the ear…

      #TheSchusterCommentIsTheLeastOfOurWorries

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  3. People were surprised it was such an overwhelming victory, with Trojans rushing for 224 yards against a defense that gave up only 77 yards per game.

    I’m not a Riley fan, but the game plan was excellent, mixing up runs inside and on the perimeter, with 5 -12 yards passes in the Michigan zone.

    Besides the red zone pick, Maiava managed the game beautifully.

    Fight on versus the domers!

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    1. 67 —Guess what? The nearly same game plan will work against Notre Dame [for a variety of reasons]. King Miller doesn’t have great pass catching skills according to scouts & he isn’t exactly aces at blocking either. He’s there as a runner only. I don’t think he’ll be picking up blitzes — so Jayden needs to again get rid of the ball fast.

      Bottom line: No reason to deviate from what worked against Michigan. It’s not as sexy as the long ball …but it’ll work again. That’s all that matters.

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  4. Back to the main point. The central question would be did anyone feel comfortable with the USC victory happening, over even a flawed Michigan team, until well into the 4th quarter? Given the state of the USC secondary, Michigan could easily have scored on a single long play, or two, in poor or blown coverages. But until it became a 3 score game with 4:21 left, with USC’s offense demonstrating effective ball-control, it was not a done deal. The PTSD from exposure to LR coaching and last season’s experience takes a long time to recover from.

    ND will not be as bad as Michigan, but they are just as beatable. The question there is the away game problem. USC always underperforms on the road under LR…

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    1. There were a lotta woulda -couldas in that game —USC could have scored anywhere bewteen 6 -14 more points if not for a fumble and an interception in the red zone….

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  6. Terry McCauley was wrong. A WR and a DB were hand fighting off the line of scrimmage. Nothing to call. Now, if the pass was thrown to Lemon, then it would have been pass interference.
    I’ve coached for 19 years. Biggest mistake that refs make is that they think they know your playbook and jump the gun. Those guys in the booth get it wrong too. The Auburn non-touchdown call is proof.

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    1. well the opi no call would have been on Lane not a Lemon on his touch on the first drive. He has 2 handfuls of jersey with the corner not engaged as the ball comes out of the qb’s hands and then he chucks him aside. Regardless sc probably scores at least 3 anyway. I’m an sc grad but I can see what I can see. In the 3rd in a 1 score game, marsh (not the intended reciever) is running shoulder to shoulder with his nickel not the cover guy closest to the play mutual and irrelevant bumping, gets called for opi. Negating a 20 yard gain and killing a drive in a 1 score game at the time. Horrible call. Sc won the opi game so I wouldn’t whine too much. Both calls or one lack of and one call were truly crap and Mi was on the short end of the stick.

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  7. Scott usually makes a prediction. I don’t recall if he made one for USC before the Michigan game. If so, let’s hear it. Several bloggers were predicting a USC loss. I don’t recall a lot of chatter before the game about Michigan being an easy win at home.

    Fan Boys Win! Scott, we should always celebrate a victory over Michigan, one of the premier football programs in history.

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  8. I have been back at Notre Dame 3 times, all SC losses. I’m not going this year so SC has a chance although King Miller will not be a king again as he was with Michigan. But Maiava won’t be throwing 2 long touchdown interceptions, so the Trojans could prevail

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    1. Great point, John. I temporarily forgot how much this game must mean to Jayden. This is his chance to prove how far he’s come. [This is his shot to get into the Heisman conversation as well —and we all know how much that would mean to Lincoln Riley—-just hope Lincoln doesn’t ask him to do more than play mistake free football—–Jayden can win this game with short throws to Lemon and Lane…and handoffs to 240 pound Jackson in the Red Zone].

      #JacksonIsn’tTheAnswerOutsideTheRedZone…

      #…ItWouldBeAHugeMistakeToGiveHimTheBall25Times

      #GoWithMillerUntilWeGetClose

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    2. KAM: I will never forget my first Notre Dame away game. in 1979. We stayed at the Drake Hotel off Lake Shore Drive, within walking distance of Giordanos Pizza and Rush Street. We enjoyed the rally at the Marriott Hotel on Michigan Avenue with the SC Song Girls and USC band and many alums and students in attendance. The next morning we left for South Bend in our rental car thinking we had plenty of time before the game but when we arrived, everyone was rushing into the stadium…

      DON: You forgot about the time change into Eastern Standard time on the Indiana border! Rookie mistake… but you saw a wonderful 42-23 rout of the Irish.

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  9. Wolf on Saturday: “That makes today’s game a toss up.”

    Wolf on Monday: “I wasn’t surprised the Trojans defeated Michigan…”

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