FOOTBALL

What Just Happened In South Bend? Lincoln Riley Blows Another One

Why are there still people who believe the nonsense surrounding USC?

They believed USC was some sort of juggernaut after beating bang average Michigan (which I pointed out last week) and completely forgot about the Illinois game.

“We’re as tough as anybody. We can play against anybody,” said Chad “Charmin” Bowden said earlier in the week. “Doesn’t matter what logo, where you’re from, Midwest, blue blood, we don’t care what it is.”

Is anything in the above statement correct?

USC was embarrassed for the second time in three games as it gave up 306 yards rushing to Notre Dame. The Trojans got physically manhandled despite all the hype about an improved defense, physical defensive linemen and new strength coach.

Don’t forget the same defense allowed Illinois more than 500 yards of offense.

How gullible are the nation’s pundits or segment of USC fans who tolerate it? I never did but I’m considered Mr. Negative.

The Notre Dame offensive line had its way with USC’s overrated defense despite the fact USC had an unexpected bit of luck Saturday night. Notre Dame quarterback C.J. Carr, who is considered a Heisman Trophy candidate, was awful. Even the Notre Dame coaches didn’t trust him as they largely prevented Carr from throwing over the middle or anything but short passes.

Despite this, USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn kept his safeties deep much of the game, so paranoid about giving up a deep ball.

Not even the constant steamrolling of USC’s defense running the ball could get Lynn to adjust. He makes a compelling partner with Riley as both are overrated.

  • As if this wasn’t enough, Riley had to choose this game to try and make everyone think he is the smartest coach in the country.

On fourth-and-3, he calls a pass to Lake McRee two yards behind the line of scrimmage. No first down.

Then he runs the disastrous trick play with Makai Lemon attempting to pass that turned into a lost fumble. Note that Notre Dame did not fall at all for the play. Coaching matters.

And finally, on fourth-and-1, he has Jayden Maiava roll out with Notre Dame completely unfooled by the call. Coaching matters again.

Then there was that 100-yard kick return that destroyed USC’s momentum, Remember, Riley won’t hire a veteran special teams coach.

  • When you watched the game, did you ever feel like Riley was better than Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman? Who do you think inspires their players more? Who demands physical football? Who values the rivalry? What a one-sided comparison.

Riley had to fly to South Bend to get his butt kicked. He doesn’t ever want to come back. I can only imagine the soulless coach getting on the chartered flight back to Southern California and talking to the soulless administrators about how USC should never return.

“We can just play Missouri State, Fresno State and Nevada,” Riley could say.

By the way, Riley is 0-6 on the road against Top 25 teams since he took over at USC. Another reason to cancel the series.

Look at the scene below from Saturday night. Why wouldn’t you want to stage one of college football’s greatest rivalries in this setting? Riley doesn’t. And now USC has two losses and trips to Nebraska and Oregon still ahead.

93 thoughts on “What Just Happened In South Bend? Lincoln Riley Blows Another One”

  1. Apparently, the team waited until after the game to show “their fight” choosing to fight the ND players and staff. This is the most undisciplined team who even though ND showed that they wanted us to win the game we still couldn’t get it done. Due to the many mistakes, missed opportunities, poor play calling and lack of physicality we couldn’t win the game. A Lincoln Riley team and this DC couldn’t lead a team to a championship. Lincoln Riley is definitely not an elite play caller and this DC can’t be relied on to prepare a team and make adjustments during the game.  They are  both are a joke. You can’t win a championship without a strong defense and a team that is physical. A Pete Carroll team was the last one.  The offense was one dimensional because the offensive line couldn’t block and we couldn’t run the ball forcing Maiva to be responsible for winning the game. Where was this improved defensive line? They were getting their butts whooped the whole game. This is not USC football we have all come to love. This is season is looking like another Lincoln Riley debacle.

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    1. This is a broken record – typical LR special. Guy has his head so far into his own a$$, and his playbook – he isn’t “coaching the game” . He’s so out of touch with what’s happening it’s embarrassing. I love this program, and he’s f’ing ruining it. 3 years from now- we will be saying the same thing!

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    2. As Jamie Uyeyama pointed out:

      Freeman is in a different category than Riley. He has built a program. His program isn’t built on flash and trickery. It’s built on toughness, resilience, and talent.

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      3. Freeman is a competent coach, not a great coach. He would be an upgrade, not nearly as much as Indiana’s Cignetti who doesn’t have nearly the talent level as ND. In fact, the gutty’s coach Skipper is probably an upgrade. He took a team that was outside the top 100 and has them playing like a top 25 team.

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  2. I’ve pretty much given up. Enough “goulda, woulda, shoulda”.

    Empty promises. Eleven and a half million last year squandered.

    USC will never return to previous greatness until this idiot is canned.

    ’62 grad

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  3. As I stated on the previous post. Players win games and coaches lose games, and tonight was a perfect example. Without going into detail again, the fact of the matter is that the entire USC football management group needs to shown the door and that includes Jen Cohen, who doesn’t impress me one bit. The fact that we are even discussing discontinuing this amazing rivalry is beyond ridiculous because this is why you come to USC in the first place, to play in these games. It is abundantly clear that CLR has neither coaching acumen or the intestinal fortitude to continue as the head coach of a school like USC, when he is the ringleader of this asinine move. Remember Pete Carroll’s motto, “We’ll play anyone, anywhere, at anytime.” Well that has gone out the window with, let’s play three cupcakes, hope the Big Ten schedule isn’t too difficult with having to play Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, and sometimes Penn State. Find a head coach who is committed to playing National Championship caliber football and that means playing physical football, who is not going to tolerate stupid mistakes from the players or the coaches. Buckle up people, we are looking up at an 8-4 season or worse, which is totally unacceptable.

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    1. Ston cold.

      Heather Dinich: Trending down, future USC-Notre Dame games

      Jadarian Price racked up 209 yards and 2 scores, Jeremiyah Love ran for 228 and a touchdown and Notre Dame delivered what may be the final blow in a rivalry with USC 34-24.

      USC has suggested it may not continue the rivalry, which has been played 96 times dating back to 1926, and definitely not because Lincoln Riley said it was making him look bad and that it would be way more fun to play Portland State.

      Instead, USC feels that, now that it’s in the Big Ten where it routinely gets to lose games to Illinois, Minnesota and Maryland, there’s really no need for higher profile losses out of conference.

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  4. KAM: You hear it said that they have a lof of “soulless” people over at SC.? I got to check this out. I have never in my life seen such a person

    DON: You want to talk about “soul,” well I saw a lot of it exposed in that SC-ND game, the Trojans digging as deep as their abilities would take them, but not sufficient enough to withstand the ND dominance on both lines

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  5. DON: Midwest football is of “last man standing” st,yle, and those ‘Fighting Irish’ at Notre Dame have been doing it right for decades now

    KAM: What an ‘electric moment it was when the ND crowd went from depressed as SC took the late lead, to ‘electrified’ with the 100-yard return

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  6. KAM: We learned a couple of things from that game, number one being that SC has difficulty holding on to the ball in the rain, and number 2 is the Trojans have a way to go to have ND-type line play

    DON: Well at least SC gave them a good scare when they took the lead in the 2nd half. But face it, the Trojans are probably 2 more years away from sufficient ‘Top-10-type’ football talent

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    1. We woulda been ONE year away if we impressed our #1 rated recruiting class last night…. now we’re “probably infinity more years away from sufficient Top Ten football talent.”

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  7. KAM: How’d you feel this morning, I woke up with a queasy stomach over that Trojan loss. You were right. To paraphrase an old saying, “Losing Stinks’

    DON: I got other things on my mind

    KAM: Like what-

    DON: Oh, little things like keeping my Israel deal in place

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  9. This game highlighted just how important it is to control the LOS.

    Trojans lost big on both sides of the line. 306 yards of rushing yielded, and USC gained only 68 yards rushing, and Maiava was often under pressure.

    ND QB was awful. Stop the ND running game and you win easily.

    So much money spent on a team that can’t compete with the best.

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    1. 67 —Every single sports show is pointing out the lethargy seen on the USC sidelines —players and coaches looked beaten and/or apathetic. By comparison, the Notre Dame sideline was alive with excitement throughout the entire game. They wanted it more…and it showed on the field.

      I can’t believe Riley understands so little about the role motivation plays in sports. Why isn’t at least one coach parading the bench shouting encouragement & keeping the team pumped?

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      2. I thought prior to the game, “Not even Riley could fail to get our players up for THIS game.”

        I was wrong.

        I said prior to the season starting that we would be 8-4, if we were lucky. On that, I was right!

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    2. Marcus Freeman was in his office watching game film at 1 am.

      When the weather reports came in, Freeman said ND would have win a bloody football game. And they did.

      ND’s kicker left 7 points on the field or it would have been worse. Same kicking operation lost them the Texas A&M game.

      And, as you and Scott noted, CJ Carr was awful. Imperfect, yes, but Notre Dame dominated the trenches. ND forced three TOs.

      Notre Dame played its game and USC couldn’t handle it. 

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  10. Riley has joined Ted Tollner, Paul Hackett, Clay Helton and yes even Larry Smith as one of the worst coaches USC has ever hired

    The guy at Vanderbilt might be persuaded to come to USC, the guy at New Mexico couldn’t be worse than the group I mentioned above but…..

    Coach Pneumonia isn’t going anywhere anytime soon

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    1. spot on Budda- Coaches are supposed to set the tone for their teams. What tone does LR set- a flatline. Zero toughness or confidence displayed by his teams when playing in big games. Worst thing is we are stuck with his crap

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    2. Riley has a long way to go before he’s mentioned in the same breath as Larry Smith —Smith had great teams in 1988 and 1989 —he beat Oklahoma and Michigan and UCLA when they were powerhouses and he won big games on the road.

      Riley has little or no chance against UCLA this year unless they lose their quarterback due to injury…..meaning he’ll take it up the asz from both our archrivals.

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      1. Smith SUCKED with his own recruits, Smith was a loser just like Riley.

        Smith’s first year. Lost at Michigan St, Oregon & ND, did beat ucla and lost the RB to MSU

        Second year, great year until………….. the ND game and RB, both loses

        Third year. Lost at home to Illinois, lost at ND, tied ucla, got a lucky call to beat Michigan

        Fourth year. Shut out 31-0 at UDUB, lost to Arizona, tied Cal , lost to ND, lost to Michigan St at El Paso

        Fifth year, a complete disaster. Lost to Memphis State at home, ASU at home, Stanford at home, lost at ND, at Cal, UDUB at home, at Arizona and ucla at home. SIX loses to end the year and won ONE game at home

        Sixth year. Ties San Diego St, lost to UDUB, lost at Stanford, lost to ucla, lost to ND, lost to Fresno State.

        Smith’s record against Notre Dame ZERO and 6

        Smith’s record against ucla 3-2-1

        Smith’s record against ranked opponents 15-17

        Smith’s bowl record 1-4

        Smith’s record at USC 44-25-3

        Yeah, what a winner Larry Smith was, not.

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      2. Smith had some good years at three schools –Arizona, USC and Missouri.

        #It’sALotHarderBeingAGoodCoachThanBeingAGoodCritic

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      3. Total BS, he wasn’t a good coach, period.

        You make a claim and I destroyed it, the evidence doesn’t lie.

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      1. Miller would’ve probably been injured sometimes in the Illinois game….and played the rest of the year with shoulder problems. [At his best, Miller was more accurate in his short and medium throws than Jayden. And smarter by far. But he’d never have escaped the Notre Dame rush the way Jayden did on at least a half dozen occasions].

        #WeNeedPaigeAtFullStrength

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  12. If anyone is even remotely surprised in the result and the way it was achieved, you obviously haven’t been paying attention the last 4 years. On the plus side, if Riley Coyote gets his way, he’ll never lose to Notre Dame again.

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  13. KAM: –This game meant a lot to Freeman– after ND’s victory was in hand, Freeman exploded on the sideline by jumping up and down like a pogo stick and he couldn’t shake enough hands

    DON: Time to move on, I have to run, I believe it might be the “Russians are calling, the Russians are calling”

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  14. DON: Why are SC fans fuming, most ‘experts’ figured the Trojans would lose to Illinois, Notre Dame and Oregon

    KAM: What are you saying, ‘2 down, 1 to go?’

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    1. Announcing Riley’s buy out and offers to Meyer or Saban will help keep the 2026 class intact.

      Riley actually used the Helton “we’re good but not great” line yesterday….

      #….AndSoItBegins

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      2. The players might be getting arraigned from time to time under Meyers, So Cal —- but they wouldn’t be yawning on the bench either.

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      3. Funny, that a lot of fans who cry about us still having OJ’s jersey up would be willing to risk Meyer bringing another Aaron Hernandez to USC. (Yes, I know the odds of that aren’t great.) But he is a win at any cost kind of guy. No, thank you.

        Just as JoePa knew, Urban Liar also knew his coach was abusing his wife. I would love to see USC win another national championship in my lifetime. But not if it means bringing in someone who overlooks that sort of stuff.

        Someone who is a bit of a hot head, such as Musselman is enough of a risk. Let’s just hope he never does anything to be discussed with the likes of Bobby Knight.

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      4. I hear ya, So Cal. But, unlike, Pat Haden I’m kinda a “let’s win the right way…. or let’s win some other way” kinda guy….

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    1. THE VERY EXISTENCE OF A MAN LIKE GEORGE TIREBITER IS TODAY’S SAVING GRACE: A GUY IN HIS 90’s STILL GOING STRONG —WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT LIFE & LOVE.

      #THANK YOU, GEORGE…YOU’RE AN INSPIRATION

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  17. This is becoming comical- how many times do you see LR sabatoge a game with poor decisions- every big game he does it. We can’t continue with this fraud of a head coach

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  19. How many head football coaches like Wiley call the plays? It is highly distracting and prevents him from fully engagng with his players or the game

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    1. Great point, John. Riley is UNAVAILABLE to the team —the only person he [sometimes] encourages is the quarterback. NO ONE was around to pump the team back up after the 99 yard kickoff return. Even Helton knew he needed to get the team back in it when we fell behind in the Rose Bowl against Penn State. He kept screaming “One touchdown at a time…. we’re still in this!” Riley wasn’t made to be a head coach if he doesn’t understand that [and he doesn’t, and he isn’t]…..

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  20. thanks for the sweeeet scoops, wolfman!! ive been enjoying your dulcet prose for over 40 yrs now and somehow you seem to get better every year!! of course you called this game ahead of time, no one knows these Southern Cal coaches like the wofman! but lets face it, everyone knows the surest way to beat SC is to turn the game into a smashmouth affair! And thats exactly what the gutty bruins are going to do to the trOXans when we play. and you can take that to the bank!! i wonder if Sir Lincoln will try to cancel the series against the Bruins too?

    #Wouldn’tBeSuprised

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      1. i’m starting to get all tingly again with the resurgence of the Gutty Bruins. you trOXans are so fortunate to have the sugary sweet reportage of the wolfman! if Riley was smart, he would have the wolfman in his office every week for lunch and get a soft serve ice cream machine with a sign that says “for Wolf only”. remember what Proximo told Maximus in Gladiator: “win the crowd” if Sir Riley had the wolfman on his side, and listened to his counsel, he’s be playing for Nattys.

        #DontHoldYourBreath

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      2. Love the Gladiator reference, Charlie….especially the implied premise: We need to stab opposing coaches when the crowd isn’t looking…

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    3. Chucky Cheese shows up at opportune times for himself. Where was little buddy during the chip years? And the Foster clusterf? And the Mora years? And the Neuheisel years?

      I saw Neuheisel at the Palisades farmer’s market the day after 50-0. He looked like he had gone a few rounds with prime years Mike Tyson.

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      1. He didn’t look too wonderful after Matt Barkley threw that last second T. D. either…giving Pete a 28-14 victory instead of a 21-14 victory over UCLA…..

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      2. i was in an El Salvadorian prison camp, sent there by the Trump administration for beating up a couple of ICE agents. after a year, i was extracted by a Cadre Special Forces Unit led by Thai-Mex.
        as for coach Newhassle, his boy, Lil’ Newhassle will have a few tricks up his sleeve when we dismantle the trOXans in a few weeks, but one of the tricks WON’T be having a scat back try to throw a wet ball!!

        #TheFairHairedPadawanRises

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      3. Okay…that’s funny…

        [But don’t worry, Charlie —- no one will ever ask a receiver to throw a wet ball again as long as we live —not even Lincoln]…..

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    4. Charlie, you’re spot-on as usual about UCLA.

      Are you still dead wrong on politics? You know, supporting the party of Manifest Destiny, Indian Removal, the Trail of Tears, the Mexican-American War, supremacist slavery, the Civil War, the assassination of President Lincoln, Segregation, the KKK, re-segregation, American Internment, racial division, hatred, dependence, and exploitation, Critical Race Theory, Islamic anti-Semitism, illegal immigration, free-range criminals, child slaughter, mutilation, corruption, and grooming, election theft, Soviet show trials, political violence and assassinations, and empty husks as presidents?

      #IHopeNot

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  21. Outside of the 100-yard ND run, the turning point was when SC’s Lemon fumbled when asked to throw the wet ball. However, SC had no right to win that game, but they could have

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    1. If we QB sneaked the ball for a first down on 4th and inches instead of calling for Jayden to ROLL OUT for a throw…. we had EVERY right to win that game.

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      1. Those fourth down calls were awful. And the trick play to Makai after 5-10 yard passes were working well was also awful. What a total cluster f of play calling

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      2. All during the game Lincoln looked like that scared kid being taunted to dive off the high board by his schoolmates …. who knows he can’t swim.

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  22. Notre Dame’s db’s were coached to grab, clutch and hold. Giving up 15 yards in pass interference is better than 30-40 yard completions or worse.

    Riley needed to put Lemon in motion, it would have helped him get off the line of scrimmage.

    Riley might be an innovative OC but he’s a terrible Head Coach. There’s going to be a few HC vacancies at some big programs. I hope he takes one.

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    1. Slight amendment to this great post: “Notre Dame was coached to hold on pass plays, punt and kickoff returns.”

      But we coulda overcome ALL that with smarter play calls. No Miller runs on first down after the first quarter — he wasn’t getting it done and it constantly put us in the hole…. and run Maiava on 4th downs [but talk to our center about the high snaps first —he screwed Longstreet’s chance to score]….

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  23. Notre Dame’s db’s were coached to grab, clutch and hold. Giving up 15 yards in pass interference is better than 30-40 yard completions or worse.

    Riley needed to put Lemon in motion, it would have helped him get off the line of scrimmage.

    Riley might be an innovative OC but he’s a terrible Head Coach. There’s going to be a few HC vacancies at some big programs. I hope he takes one.

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  24. Notre Dame’s db’s were coached to grab, clutch and hold. Giving up 15 yards in pass interference is better than 30-40 yard completions or worse.

    Riley needed to put Lemon in motion, it would have helped him get off the line of scrimmage.

    Riley might be an innovative OC but he’s a terrible Head Coach. There’s going to be a few HC vacancies at some big programs. I hope he takes one.

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    1. The kickoff return featured a blatant hold around the ND 35 yard line that wasn’t called. Official nearby. ND had tons of penalties but many weren’t called.

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      1. The funny thing about holding on almost every play is the refs get worried about throwing flag after flag after flag. Even though it’s justified, it doesn’t look good. So it’s actually a workable strategy….unless you’re USC…..

        #…WhereRefsWouldBeMoreThanHappyToThrowFlagAfterFlag….

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  25. Everyone knows Riley needs to go. Riley doesn’t want to be here having to play this schedule. He came thinking he would play in the Pac 12. Clear from this attitude about the ND game that he was running from the SEC.

    SC can’t afford to fire him. No one would hire Riley away for anything close to the same salary. Riley is going to do the Kiffin thing with several years at a USF type school.

    Unfortunately, there isn’t any Saban coaches rehab around (like Kif and Sark had).

    However SC should cancel the series until ND joins a conference. Things have changed. SC is now playing in the toughest conference with no control of its schedule. ND can schedule whoever they want whenever they want. ND’s TV deal is a lot more impactful in the NIL era.

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  26. Bucket, before you start to get “tingly” over ucla football, be aware that they have arguably the toughet remaining schedule in college ball– At Indiana, Nebraska, at Ohio St, Washington and at SC

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      1. And for more than twice the money!

        That’s right up there with the line, “We can sell these at a loss, as long as we make up for it in volume!” 😛

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    1. I watched Ali go out the hard way, I watched Federer go out the hard way, I watched Elvis go out the hard way….. now I guess I’m gonna have to watch Pete go out the hard way —-seems so many of the all time greats don’t know when it’s time to call it a day….

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  29. Ha, Buddha! Lady Trojans take down #9 Wisconsin 3-1!!

    You said you weren’t going to be impressed until they took down some top ten teams…a reasonable statement. Let’s hope they keep it going!!

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