FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: A Big Problem For Defense

Here is a problem for the USC defense.

After the Illinois loss, I spoke to a Big Ten defensive coach who watched the game films and asked what he thought of the secondary? The first thing he told me was the players had “poor technique.”

Yesterday, I spoke to another Big Ten coach who watched the Notre Dame game and asked about the defensive line?

“Their technique is terrible,” the coach.

That’s two coaches say USC’s defense has bad technique. That’s a coaching issue. I’m not sure how that is possible when USC pays coaches as much as any school in the country.

It also shows the disconnect between pundits/media and actual coaches. Have you heard others talk about poor technique and USC? Instead all we hear about is “Dawg Work” with the defensive line.

66 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: A Big Problem For Defense”

  1. The D line coaches are Eric Henderson and Shaun Nua.

    Henderson coached the Rams DL, Nua has been at Michigan. Both have been disasters.

    If you can either or both of them, do you lose 2026 DL and edge recruits ?

    I’d love to see Orgeron coaching the DL at SC, same for Richard as the DC, but I doubt that ever happens under Lincoln ” Larry Smith ” Riley.

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      2. Smith and Riley are the same thing, poor head coaches and USC hired both of them , HAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!!

        Riley did win 4 Big 12 Championships

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      3. KAM: What has Riley Coyote done since he came to USC? He has ducked Ole Miss and been owned by Utah and ND.

        DON: His solution? Get both off the schedule.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I’d like to hear about the LBs other than Gentry.

    Bishop Fitzgerald is ranked by some NFL scouts as the top safety in college football, so his technique must be at least adequate.

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    1. CB coach Trovon Reed was a coach for ONE season at UCF

      Doug Belk has a fine resume, one wonders why his DB’s are so bad

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  3. DON: Two SC guys missed tackles on the game-changing ND 100-yard return. I guess the 2 coaches Scott checked in with would call that “poor technique”

    KAM: But is that on the coaches or the players?

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    1. Lawyer John aka Yoda aka Sparrow Calypso : Hey Michael, how much longer can we fool people on this blog that we’re lawyers ?

      Michael Guarino : Probably forever

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      1. You’re building a strong case. It’s time to contact the REAL Lawyer John & Michael Guarino…

        #AndHayleyMills…

        #AndLindseyLohan

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      2. Wait, not Perry Mason or Ben Matlock ?

        Oh, and you have referred to your in laws being at your place in Kihei, HI. Well, since your in your late 70’s and your wife or significant other is 76 , the chances that you have in laws is very doubtful.

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      3. Deduction of the highest order.

        “Why I Love This Back & Forth”

        —By Michael Guarino

        #ItHelpsPayScott’sBills

        #Let’sKeepItGoing

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      6. KAM:  Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young is a sick p e r v e r t who has devoted 25 years of her life to destroying this blog and harassing the posters.

        DON: She is such an evil weirdo:

        Gabby

        July 13, 2024 at 11:44PM

        POETIC JUSTICE WAS SERVED!

        NEXT TIME HE MAY NOT BE SO LUCKY

        Liked by 1 person

      7. I haven’t lied about anything, but you continue to think I’m fake Gabby, which I’m not.

        Your house burned down in the Oakland fire, NOPE

        You had an office next to Marcia Clark during the OJ trial, NOPE

        You had cell service on Maui during fire storm, NOPE

        You have in laws, NOPE

        Here’s another one. You said James K Hahn was a ” great guy ” yet when you ran against him in your failed attempt to become city attorney, you called him every name in the book and when you resigned said ” it would be the height of hypocrisy to return to that office. “

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      9. KAM: You already admitted that all you do is lie, Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young:

        Gabby

        8h ago

        you’re the only limp-d i c k who gives a s h i t what I said 8 months back … ….. I F—ING LIED…..I F_ING LIED…….AND NO ONE GIVES A F— BUT A FREAK LIKE YOU….. GO F— YOURSELF WHILE A DECIDE WHAT HORSE S— VIDEO TO POST

        DON: BWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    3. Both.

      No one doubts, say, Rob Ryan’s or Eric Henderson’s credentials. The problem might be more along the lines of commitment to Lincoln’s program. Less than 100% commitment on the part of the coaches bleeds onto the play on the field. Another blog has mentioned several times that our defensive players aren’t playing with the intensity of Illinois or Notre Dame. They don’t give that extra 1%.

      btw, nothing about the undeniably talented Rob Ryan screams “I teach & demand disciplined football.”

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      4. Your real name is Cowardly Gabby, Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young .

        DON: You are a street walker who lives in a dumpster on 6hth and Grand Avenue. Your whole life is a disaster so this is all you have now, making a pest of yourself for a quarter century on a USC Sports Board. What a creepy loser you are.

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  4. Old SC football coach Larry Smith’s name has popped up lately. He did take the Trojans to 3 straight Rose Bowls starting in 1987 with Rodney Peete’s ucla heroics, 1988’s possible National Championship game with ND, and 1989’s team winning the Rose Bowl game

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    1. Larry took programs that were in trouble and raised them into one or two winning years…. that’s not Hall Of Fame stuff….. but he shouldn’t get kicked in the asz for it either….

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      1. Tulane ? No. Smith had one good year ( his last year ) at Tulane and then left. Career record at Tulane 18-27

        Arizona ? No. Smith’s last couple of years at UA were good, not great. Career record at UA 48-28

        Missouri ? No. Smith had two winning seasons ( 7-5, 8-4) at Mizzou. Career record at Missouri 33-46.

        Smith’s record at USC is right there with those titan’s Ted Tollner and Paul Hackett, hell Helton had a better winning percentage at USC than Smith did.

        Larry Smith was a mediocre coach, and nothing more.

        Did you have a sexual relationship with Larry fake MG ?

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      3. Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young, you should stick to something you know about. Larry Smith as revered a god at UA. Larry directed the Wildcats to winning seasons in six consecutive years (1981-86) for the first time since 1923, to five straight victories over archrival Arizona State for the first time since 1948 (twice knocking the Sun Devils out of the Rose Bowl) and to four consecutive seasons of seven wins or more for the first time ever. 

        Larry’s squads defeated a ranked foe in six of his seven seasons, but none were more notable than the 1981 road upset of No. 1 USC on the road in the LA Memorial Coliseum. How could your forget that?

        Others significant wins included toppling No. 2 UCLA in 1980, stunning No. 9 Notre Dame on the road in 1982 and upsetting No. 6 SMU in 1985, along with three wins over ranked ASU teams.

        DON: These latter day critics of Larry don’t realize He could have stayed at UA forever. He was a miracle worker there.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Thanks for setting the record straight, Gabby…

        #NotThatItWillMatterToSybil…

        #[InvincibleIgnoranceIsNastyStuff]….

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      8. KAM: Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young has ZERO football IQ.

        DON: Who can forget when she claimed Curtis Conway never returned a kickoff for USC?

        Liked by 1 person

  5. FWIW, former ND QB Malik Zaire has a podcast and was reviewing last week’s game. Up front and center was just how aggressively ND held and wasn’t called, including blatant ones on that kickoff return.

    Not saying it would have changed the game’s outcome, but crappy refereeing is not what we are paying for.

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      1. I am with you Michael. More broadly, people get hung up on “don’t blame the officiating”. That isn’t the point. The point is incompetence, and that should be eliminated. Some years ago I was talking to a sports journalist who noted “the NCAA is particularly bad for officiating because they pay so badly and it is a part-time gig. If they paid a decent salary then the quality of refereeing would go way up.”

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      2. 100%!

        Lawyer John pointed out the fact USC got some nice calls — yes, but they were all deserved. Freeman had his corners holding on every pass play. [But…it was the non calls on the Notre Dame O-Line that constituted the REAL difference maker]….

        Liked by 1 person

      3. OMFG, can you stop WHINING about the supposed non calls ? USC gets away with stuff, they all do.

        Whining about calls is for losers, is that what SC has become ? The answer to that is, YES !

        Stephen Kay says hello fake MG

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      4. Thanks for the reminder: Message to Scott —Check out Piper Perabo for inclusion in Friday’s Installment…

        #DO IT FOR GEORGE

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      6. KAM: Yes it was the 20 year anniversary of another non-call. The Bush Push was technically an illegal play. In Section 3, Article 2b of the NCAA rule book states that, “[t]he runner shall not grasp a teammate; and no other player of his team shall grasp, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward progress.”

        DON: If you don’t complain about the officiating when it benefits you and you win, then you shouldn’t complain about the officiating when you lose.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Well…I guess technically it was cheating…. but it was beautiful….

        #TheNotreDameHoldsSeemSoUgly

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  6. It isn’t too much to ask for competent officiating that is true to the rule book, and that doesn’t favor the home team. If both teams know that, then they adjust their style of play to a clean contest. Makai Lemon is a superb receiver. The football world outside of the team playing USC wants to watch him at his best, not be collared every time he runs a route.

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  7. Funny how the SC-ND game continues to be scrutinized but it was a revealing game, and what has been revealed is that SC needs more great line guys

    It appears that the only ‘holding’ calls being made are the really fragrant ones, like when a player seems to be dancing with his opponent. The others, forgettaboutit

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    2. KAM: Democrats have quite a menu of candidates to choose from.

      A Nazi in Maine

      A communist in NY

      A Navy cheater in NJ

      A guy who wants to murder children in Virginia.

      DON: No wonder you are a front runner for 2028!

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. And yet Gavin said this yesterday…

        “To see people in positions of power and influence do absolutely nothing when they must know better — and I believe they do … Boy, they’re going to have a lot to reconcile at the pearly gates.”

        Pot, meet the Kettle.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. vanity. Southern Cal hasn’t won a Natty since Stormin’ Norman Chow was chased off by Petey for having too much glory heaped on him for engineering the Natty-worthy offenses during his tenure.

    we all know the Agin’ Cajun could light a fire under this under-achieving defensive bunch, but for Sir Riley’s fear of losing shine on his fast-fading star.

    the Gutty Bruins had the cojones to slam the breaks on their bad hire and now they’re suddenly the darlings of college football!

    but we all know the trOXan bigshots will never stick their heads out of their smoky lair to listen to the wolfman, much less the Classy Cadre.

    i conservatively estimate that if the trOXans has used their most valuable sports mind (the wolfman) instead of vilifying him, they’d have 4-6 more Nattys in football alone.

    #TheyWouldNotListenTheyDidNotKNowHow-PerhapsThey’llListenNow

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    1. Love ya, Charlie —but I’m guessing you didn’t watch much of Norm’s genius at work here in Hawaii….

      #IfNicoStaysHealthy,USC/UCLA,November29th,2025WillBeAClassic

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      1. we can all agree best case Gutties pull an upset at IU, the SC game could be a barn burner. too bad we play Ohio St the week before, we gonna be beat up, they’re three deep in HS four-five star all-americans.

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    2. KAM: The Cadre=Cowardly Gabby aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Buddhakarma &LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf & Kathy & Foreskin Thoughts & Frank Young ….

      Don: -All those voices in her empty skull.

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  12. Wolfe hasn’t spoken to any legitimate coach. If so what techniques are the players not being coached on. Wolfe as used this same format going all the way back to the Carroll coaching days. He’s trying to be relevant.

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