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USC Morning Buzz: The Secret Weapon Fizzled

Remember last week USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn said general manager Chad “Charmin” Bowden was a “big help” sharing information on Notre Dame’s personnel?

Well, 442 yards later, how much help was Bowden? Maybe this is why he is a general manager and not a coach. Talking seems to be his specialty.

TRIVIA TIME

There have been 512 games played in the storied history of Notre Dame Stadium.

No Irish player has ever had more rushing yards in a single game there than Jeremiyah Love’s 228 yards vs. USC.

Not Jerome Bettis, who had 178 yards vs. USC in 1991. Not Vagas Ferguson, who had 185 yards vs. USC in 1979. Not George Gipp, who never played against USC.

It’s also the most yards gained by a Notre Dame player in the history of the series.

Lynn has pulled off quite a double as USC defensive coordinator: Tight end Tyler Warren set Big 10 and Penn State tight end records for receiving yards last year vs. USC (224) and tied an FBS tight end record with 17 receptions.

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42 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: The Secret Weapon Fizzled”

    1. Correct, P. T.! USC has had backs who eclipsed 200 yards against Notre Dame —-it’s Notre Dame that had difficulty getting the really big yardage outta their backs against USC…until Lynn came along …. and lazily used pretty much the same defense that worked against Michigan against a Notre Dame team with a much more diversified offense…..

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      1. btw, USC [with all the dumb play calls] still has one of the most successful offenses, if not the most successful offense, in college football….it’s Lynn’s defense that’s screwing up the season…..

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      2. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the offense shat the bed at ND or did you forget about the silly trick play, the horrid QB bootleg etc etc ?????

        This team is a mess just like the ones Helton coached because the man in charge is incompetent.

        How many times does SC F up a special teams play ?

        How many years does Coach Pneumonia get to recruit DL & OL that can actually play ?

        How many games does Coach Pneumonia get to figure out how to manage the clock and effectively use his timeouts ?

        How many more games does Lynn get to figure out how to game plan for an opponent to ACTUALLY stop them ?

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  2. Wolfman, you’re bound to catch hell from the in-denial Homers on this venerable blog. let me know if you feel the threat level requires a Cadre protective detail. one phone call to Col. Thai-Mex of the Cadre Special Forces Unit and they’ll establish an unbreachable defensive perimeter around your home office, or more likely if you are shaking up with a BigTen cheerleader, we can cover that a well.

    Sir Riley has got to be MAGA, the lack of shame, cowardly tendencies and overall mendacity, all point to this. can you picture Pete Carroll chickening out of such a hallowed series, and saying out loud its to help him make the playoffs?? everyone knows Pete was a disciple of the teachings of the great John Wooden, and i dont memorize seeing Chicken Out, Weasel, or No Integrity on the Pyramid of Success.

    #CadreHasGotYourBackBloodBrother

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    1. KAM”: Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan forgot that Riley Coyote is a big Democrat who proudly embraced the racist Black Lives Matter movement.

      DON:
      Search Assist

      Lincoln Riley, the head coach of Oklahoma football, has publicly expressed his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. He is willing to stand alongside his team in their efforts for social justice.

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      1. She’s not the brightest. Riley’s cowardly tendencies are exactly what would tell anyone with a triple digit IQ that he leans Left. Just look at the way they wasted their time this past Saturday, throwing tantrums in the streets.

        Did it change anything? LOL! Nope. We still don’t have a king. We didn’t have one before their tantrum either.

        The stuff they make up in their heads is amusing.

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    2. Charlie,

      Rley is a pencil neck geek, therefore he is a democrap. Second, don’t even bring that name Johnny cheetin’ Wooden around here. He should have gone to jail for all the cheetin’ he did. He copied his sayings from others and took credit. That guy is full of crap.

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  3. If you read/listened to the fan boys yesterday, it was downright embarrassing how so many refuse to admit that USC is nothing more than a molly mediocre program with a Head Coach who has been handed everything he wants, but still can’t win ten games, and earn a CFP birth. They kept repeating the same dogma from the last two seasons. “We’re young.” “We’re rebuilding.” “Our best days are ahead of us.” Complete and total B.S. Look at it this way, the fact that N.D. ‘s kicker left four points on the board and N.D.’s O-Coordinator screwed up at the goal line, the score could’ve been 45-24. The fact of the matter is that N.D. could’ve, and probably should’ve, just run the ball the entire night, and there wasn’t a thing USC could’ve done about it.

    This whole debacle is part and parcel to the new leadership that has poisoned USC. Who in their right mind can call themself a Trojan and Not want to play N.D. every year? There needs to be a meeting of the minds of the big money donors and force the Board of Trustees to do a thorough house cleaning from top to bottom of the entire Athletic Department.

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  4. What do you get when you combine an incompetent head coach with an equally incompetent DEI DC ? Gashed for 306 yards rushing against !

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  5. What is it with the inconsistency?

    The d-line didn’t show up at all against Illinois, were solid against Michigan, and then were totally blown out against the run versus the Domers.

    USC would be better if they had hired Matt Entz as D-coordinator (he had a ton of success at ND State for years, instead of making him a well-paid LB coach last year and then losing him after one year.

    Lynn had one year at ucla in which the d stats were padded against Coastal Carolina, North Carolina Central, SD State. Cal hung 33 on them.

    I think Riley became enamored with Lynn because we only scored 20. LR didn’t realize it was him, and not Lynn, that led to that outcome.

    LR is an O-coordinator, not an HC. I recall Buhhda Karma seeing that when he was hired.

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      1. Pay him enough, you never know. Even if he did leave after one season, and he had succeeded as D coordinator, that would have set a foundation for future success.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Absolutely 100% spot on. LR is a doofus. Hoodwinked Mike Bhonehead into that ridiculous contract that we cant get out of. Bhon is probably laughing right now seeing how that contract is fing up USC. What they should do is hire an Assistant Head Coach who actually coaches the game, and let Doofus just call the plays and nothing else. Let that Assistant coach manage all the other specialty assistant coaches- you know, like a real Head Coach. I bet that hillbilly has never spent one minute in a defensive or special teams meeting. The only reason he admitted to that stupid WR pass play was that there was no where to hide or justify the call. He was finally caught being the ignoramus that he is. For every great offensive play call he makes, he backs them up with equally stupid play call. There is a reason we cant beat anyone better than us- because he cant coach up a team, prepare the team for battle, or hire reputable coaches to assist him in game planning. He a complete farce.

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  6. Here’s some questions for the blog

    Do you buy out Riley and risk losing the 2026 recruits ?

    What do you do if Riley can’t right the ship the rest of this year and recruits start bailing, do you buy him out ?

    Do you keep Riley and hope he somehow learns to coach with the 2026 recruits even though the schedule is murder in 2026 ?

    You keep Riley, the 2026 recruits all come, he blows in 2026, do you fire him and hope the players don’t portal ?

    Do you keep Riley and can Lynn and possibly other D coaches ?

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    1. Riley is not anybody’s idea of a Head Coach. No one is on the other side of that argument. The retention of the 2026 class is a separate issue, though. We are probably not gonna lose players on offense. The players we’ll lose are gonna be on defense. No recruit is gonna want any part of playing for Lynn. That means we don’t need to phuck ourselves over by buying out Lincoln — we need to replace Lynn. Unfortunately, that’s way easier said than done. What top NFL or college D-Coordinator would want to work under Riley?

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      1. So, keep Riley, fire Lynn but no decent DC wants to work for Riley, that makes no sense.

        You bite the bullet, buy out Muleshoe, hire the guy from Vandy or New Mexico (who sure as shat wouldn’t get run over like Skinny Jeans did on Saturday ), and take your chances.

        One things is for sure, Riley isn’t going to get better no matter what and Lynn is a just a phucking disaster, why wait ?

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      2. They’re waiting …cuz…. they don’t exactly have the $$$. Riley is fine as an offensive coordinator…..Lynn is less than fine as a defensive coordinator….

        #ThereIsNoPerfect,Black&WhiteSolution….

        #It’sAboutBeingAdult….&BalancingTheAvailableImperfectOptions

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    2. I have no idea where they get the $$$ to buy out Riley. Probably $55 million at the end of this year. I don’t know about Lynn’s buyout.

      A friend is on the faculty of the B-school, has been there for many years, says that Folt was a total disaster, she busted the budget, the interim guy is quite good, and that the financial situation is a mess. Particularly the USC hospital which loses about $250 million a year and needs to try to recontract with LA County for their contribution to covering all the people who go there and have no or low-paying insurance.

      I don’t think a Riley buy out is possible, at least not for a couple of years.

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      1. Keeping Riley will not hurt the offensive side of our 2026 recruiting class…. plenty of high school receivers and quarterbacks want to play for him. Plenty of 0-Lineman want to play for Hanson. Our problem is finding a proven D-Coordinator who’s willing to work with Riley…. and there’s gotta be somebody out there who fits the bill….

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    3. Buddha, never let a recruiting class hold you hostage from doing the right thing for your program. First of all half of ’26 and ’27 class will decommit regardless. That is NCAA football and especially at usc. That is before they step foot on campus day one as a frosh. Another chunk will leave after year 1 since there is an over load in recruiting receivers and qb’s. The other end are those who can tell the lack of development. So they are out. The only kids that want to stay are those qb’s thinking they will be the next Baker, Tyler, Jalen, Caleb (the only thing LR trys to hang his hat on) and receivers who know he’ll throw the ball 65 times a game so they can have video game stats. And do you really want either those types. Those guys are not focused on creating a winning powerful program. Fans are funny with recruiting rankings and how that means everything but we all see how flawed that is. The sooner your program structure and culture change to the correct format, the better your overall recruiting and retention will be and the less hollow your program is. Im not a fire a guy after 2 years guys but just think what the first 4 years would have looked like without a generational player like Williams. We need a team full of Travis Dyes (of course of different sizes) who were tough as nails had had heart for days and could do anything for the team to win. We don’t see any of those guys on this roster. Those dudes don’t usually register as 4 or 5 stars out of hs anyway (Dye, Grootagood, Kirtman, Woody, Joiner, Seau, Darnold, Bickett, Allen, Byrd, Colbert, dudes with out fanfare but hard work and heart from the past) Even in todays football Pavia, Aguilar, Jeanty, etc. Guys who are self starters and self inspired. But LR couldnt inspire a fly to land on a steaming pile.

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  7. KAM: What some are not seeing is that this Notre Dame’s Love is a possible Heisman winner, he might be the best runner in college

    DON: I believe Love has also made other defenses look weak

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  8. DON: Before the season started weren’t Trojan fans bragging about their SC defensive coordinator Lynn?

    KAM: They love you when you’re winning, and want nothing to do with you when you’re losing

    DON: In politics, as in sports

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  9. KAM: Trojans can wish what they want, but they have both Wiley and Lynn at least through 2026

    DON: One thing about SC football being only average is that their coaches won’t be getting better offers elsewhere

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  10. KAM: -And one more thing about that game, who is responsible for coaching the SC special teams because the Trojans blew that 100-yard play-

    DON: Is Wiley trying to save SC some money by not hiring a specialist coach?

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  11. KAM: I think I can finally let go of that ND loss

    DON: One last thing was that there was a driving rain throughout the second half, and ND was more accustomed to playing in the rain, and it showed

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  12. KAM: SC has to run the table to get to 10-2 and probably be Playoff eligible

    DON: But none of their remaining games are ‘gimmes, and they will be about a 2-touchdown underdog at Oregon next month

    KAM: And bless his heart, but King proved to be too big of a drop in runner’s talent after SC lost their 1st and 2nd stringers

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    1. IF King is as big a drop off as he appeared against Notre Dame —- Riley loses his balanced 27 runs, 27 passes offense….. that means more pressure on Jayden….
      #AndJaydenDoesn’tRiseToTheOccasionALLTheTime…

      #…OnlySomeOfTheTime

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  13. KAM: OK, I can’t lt it go. But Notre Dame had more questionable calls against it then SC did. I might stop accusing ND of hiring only Irish referees

    DON: You got to like ND’s attitude about poor calls against it. Just move on to the next play

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    1. I disagree. Notre Dame got flagged more cuz they were holding more. Notre Dame didn’t get hurt on the number of calls. We got hurt on the number of non calls.

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  14. Well put, Michael. The number of holds the ND O line was getting away with was laughable. Welcome to Homertown, population, all referees.

    Lynn’s problem as D coordinator is that he coaches scared. We had 2 deep safeties on every play. Every play. What does that tell you? We are surrendering the run. That is a dangerous scheme against a running team like ND.

    And on the other side of the ball, what is ND doing? Jamming the LoS. All coverage is within 5 yards of the line. And then they bounce back and forth between man and zone coverage. LR could not read what the ND D was giving him, and they were giving him a lot. When ND dropped into zone, LR was passing. And when ND went into man cover, LR would run. It was just so sad to watch the ND D outmaneuvering LR when they were literally broadcasting what they were doing throughout the game. And then LR thinks a trick-play will work? Wow. Stupid.

    Final thought. Jayden looked really panicked near the end of the game. How well do panicked players play? What would a real HC do in that situation? Probably go and settle his QB down, put his arm around him and tell him to tune it all out and just have fun playing ball, being in the moment. What does LR do? Nothing.

    This loss was all about coaching. USC does not have it.

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