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Morning Buzz: The College Football Playoff Had A USC Flavor

Did you see former USC players who got better playing yesterday in the College Football Playoff?

Zacariah Branch showed he regained his speed last night against Mississippi. Something happened to him in 2024 because he was noticeably slower.

Has a player from Georgia ever transferred to USC and got better?

His brother, Zion, had five tackles for Georgia too and made a big hit late in the game.

Defensive tackle Romello Height, who left USC a year ago, continued his stellar season for Texas Tech against Oregon with five tackles and a sack. Meanwhile, Bear Alexander and Emmanuel Pregnon were playing for Oregon, which advanced to the semifinals.

Transfers can be a hit-and-miss proposition but it does seem like a lot of guys who leave USC for well-coached programs hit.

25 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: The College Football Playoff Had A USC Flavor”

    1. Someone yesterday suggested we look at the Big Picture. Okay. Lincoln isn’t to blame for EVERYTHING that went wrong in the Bowl Game or the season that preceded it. It didn’t help that the refs decided to ignore penalties and “let the boys play.” No sport is supposed to work that way. I’m glad Mike Tyson wasn’t allowed to continue biting Evander Holyfield’s ear — it didn’t seem right. I also can’t fault Lincoln for the problems on defense since his coordinator was, according to reports, banished FOR TRYING TO STEAL PLAYERS FOR PENN STATE DURING HIS FINAL 24 HOURS WITH THE TROJANS. That hurt some too. But we CAN blame Lincoln for getting a case of the nerves when he calls plays inside the 20 yard line, for spending more time propagandizing than coaching, and for actually quoting Clay Helton at his last presser: “We are VERY good but we aren’t great yet.”

      No, Lincoln. At least Clay had the decency to leave the “very” out.

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  2. Tanook Hines is faster than Zach Branch in 100 m. I kept waiting for Riley to discover Tanook all season, unfortunate that it took injuries or suspensions to Makai and/or Ja’Kobi at the end of the season for Riley to call some plays for Tanook.

    And as far as the transfers go, what a shame. I can’t help but think there could have been another win, maybe two, just with Pregnon. Illinois for sure (o-line did a terrible job) and Oregon was beatable as well.

    When I used AI yesterday to identify excellent coaches under the radar, the AI bot came back with:

    “Don’t go for the high-flying offensive genius as your new coach. That doesn’t work.”

    Thanks Bohn!

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    1. It wasn’t fair to the players, fans…. or even Lincoln himself … to make Riley the Head Coach of a Pac 12, let alone [though unforeseen at the time] Big Ten team. He is a very good [not great] Offensive Coordinator. That is all. And he lacks the capacity to grow into more than that —something he proves at every presser. I distinctly remember John McKay telling his Sunday audience that he had “a lot to fix” after the 50-0 loss to Notre Dame. He didn’t say “we were very good …but not great.”

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  3. 3 games, 162 points. That’s what Riley’s Okies gave up in the playoffs. Of course he lost all of those games.

    MF’er can’t even look people in the eye.

    Shame on SC for hiring him and shame for keeping him. Wrecked the first Ferrari he was given what on earth made them think his driving had improved?

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    1. Follow-up question: What First Magnitude Defensive Coordinator is going to jump into the mess Lincoln has created?

      #TheClockIsTicking:Let’sSeeWhoWeGet….

      #..IfIt’sAnotherD’AntonLynn…WeInTrouble

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      1. Yes, a hot seat HC is a tough sell.

        USC can always throw $$$ at a DC, but if it is true USC rebuffed Kyle Whitinghamm for that position, then we are in the really deep doo doo.

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      2. If we rebuffed Kyle Whittingham for DC, that may be the dumbest move yet and USC has made some dumb ones. It would confirm that the decision on the DC hire was made long ago thereby pointing to Jen’s boy Pete Kwiatkowski.

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  4. Wolf’s post is exactly why I said I am cautiously optimistic about our #1 recruiting class. The fanboys were whooping it up.

    That #1 distinction doesn’t mean diddly squat if you don’t make the best of that talent and, so far, Riley hasn’t proven he can do that.

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  5. On a different topic, our favorite Mr. Bucket spoke highly of Indiana’s QB Mendoza, which I agree with.

    Here is an alternative perspective about Mendoza from a former NFL scout that places Mendoza in the 5th round.

    The most interesting part I found from his analysis was comparing Mendoza to Caleb, and stating that “Caleb Williams coudn’t wait to leave the structure of the USC program.”

    https://x.com/firstroundmock/status/2006868586959351991

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    2. KAM: Bog difference, Ohio State and Georgia’s coaches won national titles in the last 4 years. Alabama’s coach made the national championship finals at UW.

      DON: Riley Coyote promised us we would be competeing for national titles and can’t even win the conference title.

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      2. KAM: You sound like 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 Manureman and eric  and Smacky who spends 26 years of her life stalking a USC sportswriter’s blog.

        DON: You have Zero Football IQ, Cowardly Gabby. Go fellowship with your fellow losers on Mediaite. Scat!

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