FOOTBALL

USC-UCLA Report Card

QUARTERBACK

Jayden Maiava was pretty much the offense, or whatever you would call it, until UCLA collapsed in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t one of his best games but it didn’t need to be.

Grade: B-

RUNNING BACK

The running game was fairly atrocious until King Miller’s 41-yard TD run. If USC wasn’t playing UCLA, it might have mattered.

Grade: C

WIDE RECEIVER

Can Makai Lemon win the Biletnikoff Award after 34 yards receiving against Oregon and 32 yards against UCLA? The answer is probably yes.

Grade: C+

OFFENSIVE LINE

The pass protection in the first half was below par and the running game struggled most of the game. For me, that’s business as usual with an average offensive line.

Grade: C-

DEFENSIVE LINE

It’s been 11 games and this group has been completely overhyped. Who is the disruptor? Who dominates? What did they do in key moments? And yet, the facile media/fanboys fall for it.

Grade: D+

LINEBACKER

Let’s grade Rob Ryan: Eric Gentry was better in previous seasons. Did anyone develop? Not really. Is there a candidate to wear No. 55? Willie McGinest was still probably the best linebacker coming out of the tunnel Saturday.

Grade: D

DEFENSIVE BACK

The best news of the day was the secondary got to face Jerry Neuheisel because Nico Iamaleava was pretty good despite getting little support from the sideline or on the field except for receiver Kwazi Gilmer, who had 10 receptions.

Grade: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS

It’s been quite a meltdown to end the season as the normally reliable Ryon Sayeri missed two field goals against UCLA. The punting has been shambolic all season. What type of evaluation will Lincoln Riley do with special teams? He doesn’t seem willing to make changes.

Grade: F

COACHING

A big part of coaching is having your team prepared to play. Did USC show up ready to play its most-hated rival? Nope. You had a crowd bursting at the seams waiting for a reason to explode and a team sleepwalking for three quarters.

How would Riley fare against Lane Kiffin? Ryan Day? Kirby Smart? No wonder he refused to go to the SEC.

I don’t know why Lincoln Riley can’t appreciate the rivalry but he doesn’t appreciate a lot of things. What was the deal at the end of the first half? UCLA has the ball with 1:26 left and the ball at the 26-yard line.

Iamaleava scrambled for six yards and Riley let the clock wind down to 22 seconds when UCLA called a timeout. The Bruins could have gone for it on fourth down but settled for a field goal and the lead.

Didn’t Riley want to get the ball back and try and score? His clock management is terrible.

Grade: F

31 thoughts on “USC-UCLA Report Card”

  1. Scott is consistent with the coaching grades. I am starting to agree with him. The defensive coaches have been a huge disappointment. The defensive players still seem to struggle with understanding the play calls, gap control, positioning, ect. And I can’t think of anyone who has taken a jump in development.

    We just lost Braylon Conley and Gus Cordoba to the transfer portal. I expected Cordoba to be really good. A big body, fast, high motor guy who was recruited by all the top schools. What happened Coach Henny? Did he lose faith in the program.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. KAM: More bad news: USC Trojans sophomore running back Bryan Jackson plans to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens on Jan. 2. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.  Jackson appeared in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2024, primarily as a special teams player.

      DON: This season, Jackson played in eight games after missing the entire month of September because of a turf toe.

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      1. Best of luck to these guys, particularly Brian Jackson, who came back early from turf toe, which is one of the most difficult injuries to recover from, as it can disrupt the integrity of the big toe joint.

        He had a great bowl game last year for the Trojans. I will always consider him a USC guy.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Wrong!!!!!!!!!!… Even the most ardent Rah Rahs can’t defend Scott Wolf, aka fake Gabby, so they must distract. ….. Like me!

        Like

      4. KAM: A new classic Cowardly Gabby post!

        Gabby

        October 14, 2025 at 8:15 pm

        you’re barking up the wrong free dumb—–ass

        senile turd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        DON: BWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! Cowardly Gabby as senile as Senile Joe Biden your role model.

        Like

  3. KAM: How are your peace making efforts coming along?

    DON: Israel-Gaza is on life support, and I can’t even jump-start a resolution to Russia-Ukraine

    Like

    Reply

    1. KAM: Blue state Democrats have a penchant for voting for the worst that their party has to offer. At this point, there probably isn’t a best, or even better, option. Zohran Mamdani, Governor Mimbo, Timmy Walz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are far more representative of the 2025 Democrats than any members of the Blue Dog Coalition who may still be hanging around. 

      DON: Incarceration might not be enough to keep Democrats from voting for these miscreants. 

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. KAM: USC wide receiver DJ Jordan to enter transfer portal.

    DON: DJ Jordan is the second USC player to enter the portal along with running back Bryan Jackson.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. HOT OFF THE AP WIRE, SCOTT WOLF TO ENTER THE TRANSFER PORTAL.

      A SOURCE CLAIMS THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER IS HIS HOPE FOR A LANDING SPOT

      (How can we all be so lucky)

      Like

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      1. KAM:

        Plow Horse

        June 22, 2024 at 1:28 am

        Gabby says “you lost my attention after the first senstance.” Maybe that is why he didn’t do very well in school.

        DON:BWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

        Like

    2. Scott is such a loser, yet she insists on coming here every day to cry about him & other posters, which makes her a FAR bigger loser! Only her insanity keeps her from recognizing this.

      The only way “we would all be so lucky” is if she left, never to return.

      Like

      Reply

      1. Again with the lies, about how pathetic her life is that she needs to come to a place no one wants her, in order to find something in her life that is worthwhile.

        Too stupid to realize that is what she’s saying.

        #NotShocked

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Hi — My name is Sybil…but please feel free to call me “he/she/it”. I’d like to talk about my blog life. I enjoy blogs devoted to USC sports [cuz I hate USC]. Whenever I post I do my best to libel & denigrate the blogger and all of his followers. I poke fun at the day’s subject matter and belittle those interested in it. In general, I try to drag the conversation down to my level. If anyone objects, I challenge them to a fight in some faraway forum.

        [Full disclosure: I do this cuz there is something wrong with me that I can’t fix]…..

        Liked by 2 people

      4. KAM: Here’s a concept,  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, why don’t you stop hijacking every other poster’s username for the last 20 years……you look like a dumb—-ass

        ……and apologize for being a d i c k

        DON: Senile Joe Biden is your man-crush.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Sybil responds with line from El Cid: “It’s not that I don’t want to do what you ask…it’s just that I can’t.”

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Wolfman, you lose more respect, if there is any left in the tank, each time you post a very subjective report card. Are you even watching the games?

    Wolf is definitely the Rodney Dangerfield of sports blogging. The “Razzie Awards” confirm it

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. “Ghost of Bucket”!

      The bruin blog apparently wrote “the best thing about this season is that it is over.”

      That is a cut and paste from many previous bruin seasons.

      Liked by 2 people

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    2. Brain dead Vile antisemitic and racist Board Pest Board Cancer Cowardly Gabby aka Sparrow Calypso aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka The Guy who posts as Buddhakarma & So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Trojan RJJ & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse and TrojanFan 1-3 & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and KATHY and Foreskin Thoughts and SCOTTLOVESTHEROOOOOTTÞ and Psycho and Manureman and eric  and Smacky and Susan is the Rodney Dangerfield of blog stalkers.

      DON: Please go away you pest!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. I was wrong in assuming a grade of “f” for special teams. Scottie just went with the upper case “F”.

    For the season, I believe that the coaching staff has earned an averaged Scottie grade of a “D-“, with a couple of “D” grades pulling them out of the “F” range.

    The WR story on Saturday was Tanook Hines, the fastest guy on the team, and a guy who could have a breakout season next year. Without him, they would have lost that game.

    On the Kiffin front, he is being paid $13 million per year, buyout is 80% of the money owed, including if he finds another job,

    Only in the US can you get tarmac’d and come back from that. Try doing that in China or Russia or dozens of other countries without our freedoms and opportunities.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. The best part of his LSU contract is that he will receive the same bonuses he would have at Ole Miss for their CFP performance, starting at $150K just to get in and maxing out at $1M for an NC!

      Liked by 3 people

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    1. John, to play devil’s advocate, Kiffin’s winning percentage as USC HC is nearly the same as Riley’s, and he did inherit a severe scholarship problem after Pete skeedadlled. And he did put on a good show for the annual summer scrimmage at the end of training camp. I used to take my youngest son to those events, which were a lot of fun, and brought out a ton of people who couldn’t afford to go to regular season games.

      Liked by 3 people

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  9. Scooter,

    Guess what? We are gonna get the same bullsh#t of a season along with the plays, open holes on the defense, no lber’s covering, and dbs not in position. Oline will suck because they can;t open holes. To top it all off, Riley will say that they are improving and that the 2026 season was the best ever at SC at 9-3. The only difference is that SC does not play nd.

    Riley is soft and so is his team

    Liked by 1 person

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