FOOTBALL

My Analysis Of A Disorganized USC Program That Narrowly Escaped Vs. Washington

Sometimes, it is necessary to step back and state the obvious in order to look at the big picture.

USC is in Year 5 of the Lincoln Riley Era. He said before the season everything was in order for the program to flourish and set up to be a nationally relevant program.

With that said, look at USC. It is a disjointed team. It is undisciplined. It is not physically imposing. It does not tackle well. The basics of football often elude it.

Simply put, it does not look like a team that could beat any competent team in the nation. You can see why Riley wants no part of Notre Dame. The Irish would dismantle pretenders like the Trojans.

The Greek chorus spent the past 10 months telling us about the superstars and amazing collection of talent assembled by this fantastic coaching staff. Has it looked like it at any point this season?

Instead, it has bad habits ingrained into its core. People expected USC to be angry and blow out struggling Washington by showing its true character traits. But what we got (again) was another inconsistent performance that nearly turned into a devastating last-minute loss.

That is what this team is: A reflection of its coach, who cannot inspire, lead or produce fundamentally sound football.

Does he even respect the integrity of the game, forcing true freshman QB Jonas Williams into the game on two-point plays?

While the media wrote (with Riley’s blessing) that Jayden Maiava had made a huge improvement in the offseason and was ready for the national spotlight, I wrote on this blog and even in Lindy’s magazine that you never know which Maiava you will get, and too often he produced indifferent efforts.

Every year, we have to hear about the penalties that kill drives, prolong the other team’s drives and just destroy momentum.

People were shocked at the tackling on the sideline on the 42-yard TD by Decker DeGraaf. Did they watch the TCU game? The same thing happened there too.

How does a senior safety get burned on a 43-yard completion on fourth-and-2 in the final two minutes?

Why does everyone call general manager Chad Bowden a genius? Yes, he helped compile the No. 1-ranked recruiting class.

But he did it at a cost. Bowden screwed up by not being more active in the transfer portal. It’s obvious USC needed more help at linebacker and defensive back. Did it really need 35 freshmen? How about 30 freshmen and five more transfers?

No, the staff were too obsessed with bringing in the huge freshmen class. How many are making a significant impact? It needed more transfers.

The only good part Saturday is that a segment of fans (mostly students) have finally had enough and started to voice their displeasure. It’s long overdue.

99 thoughts on “My Analysis Of A Disorganized USC Program That Narrowly Escaped Vs. Washington”

  1. wolfman you know these trOjies better than anyone, what you say is true as rain, yet somehow they are 5-1 and still in contention. as a true romantic, i am still pulling for a SC-Gutty showdown with both teams poised for the playoffs! it will take a lot of luck, but it is still in play!! a nice escape against WA can build some momentum! wolfmn i’m counting on you to motivate the trOJies to make it!!!

    #AskingTooMuch??

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    1. Yes. .It’s asking WAY too much, Charlie.

      I saw the light last night.

      USC is, at best, a top 25 team. It is not a playoff team. Jayden is, at most, a top 25 QB —- he won’t be drafted in the first or second round.

      We Trojans should be happy when this team wins. They are doing the best they can. They aren’t capable of doing more. Same goes for our coaching staff.

      Time to face reality.

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      1. P. S.

        The only bad thing about Riley is: he KNOWS all this. That’s why he didn’t wanna face Notre Dame.

        #HeShouldn’tHaveSaidAnythingAbout”OpenWindows”

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      4. My only condition: that I can pick one of wolfman’s cheer-groupies to stand in as my Dulcinea.

        #PureAndChateFromAfar

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      6. MG- this is evidently what we signed up for as SC fans. It’s a nightmare we cant escape. Riley is like the character in Saw that has us trapped, and making us suffer, and laughs because he knows there is nothing anyone can do to fire his a$$ at least for 3 more years. The issues remain ad nauseum- and the doofus cant correct any of them. Hell, he cant even call a competent offensive game plan. Yet here I am, dutifully watching game after game expecting the exact same bs that we have been watching since he got here. We are so screwed.

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  2. KAM: The Trojan Daily blog said about Scott Wolf that Scott has an “irrelevant trademark negative approach” to USC

    DON: They also claim to have more thoughtful posters than Wolf’s

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      4. Daily Trojan to Scott [for criticizing worst defensive play in last dozen years of college football]:

        #”Everything is ‘no’ with you.”

        Liked by 2 people

    2. KAM: Has the thoughtful Rah Rah Trojan Daily Blog ever been right about USC football the last 2 decades? Besides the 9 layer bean dip at the tailgate parties, that is….

      DON: What is there to be negative about? Besides USC becoming irrelevant in college football over the last 21 years and going through 6 head coaches and 4 ADs and the team getting worse in Year 5 of $110 Million Dollar Man Riley Coyote?

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  3. It was a joke of a game, this reminded me of Helton’s 2017 opening game vs. Western Michigan. And a lot more Helton games.

    Hate to admit it, I was a stinkin’ fan boy when Riley was hired. I saw that Grinch turned the defense around in one season at Oklahoma, and I saw that Riley was 15-6 vs. ranked opponents at Oklahoma, and I figured that all he needed was the draw of USC and that he would deliver top 5 teams.

    And speaking of bad officiating, check out this video. Alani Noa gets the 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, just trying to protect Jaden from a totally over-the-top blindside cheap shot.

    https://x.com/CoachDanCasey/status/2106552663877861828

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      1. Speaking of officiating, Washington got credit for two long runs when multiple USC linemen were being held by their jersey sleeves …it was impossible to miss….

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    1. We lost a couple of guys, including our veteran center —but that’s no excuse for the blocking on every pass play, two point conversion and Jayden’s only called run….

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  6. “People expected USC to be angry and blow out struggling Washington by showing its true character traits.”

    It’s not that some of us thought we would be “showing our true character traits”. It’s that we thought UW was really bad.

    What we showed is, we’re not much better…if at all.

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  8. Think about this.

    SC is a 99 yard int return and a 48 fumble return from being 0-3 in the Big 10.

    Rutgers goes in a scores, SC loses, not to mention the Rutgers DB who clanked an INT in the endzone or SC doesn’t score there.

    Last night, if Bubba doesn’t rumble in from 48 out, SC loses.

    Sadly, Baylor won and is now 4-1, unless they lose out Aranda isn’t going anywhere, SC has no one to foot Riley’s buyout, no NFL GM with a brain would hire Riley to do anything.

    Yes, Penn State is awful, but it’s a road game at 7:30 at night, and we all know how Riley does on the road.

    USC football is D E A D

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    1. Take away the 99-yard interception and Stewart’s 48-yard fumble recovery to a td and you have an entirely different ballgame and minset with SC not necessarily losing either game

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  10. Our next coach needs to be paid as follows:

    $600K per conference win

    $300K per non-conference win, unless it’s a ranked opponent. Then, the $600K applies.

    $750K for a non-CFP bowl win

    $1M for a CFP win in the first two rounds

    $2M for an NC win.

    That way, he will have EARNED his $11M!

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    3. You win your 3 conference games (unranked opponents) and 7 of your 9 conference games, you get $5.1M! There are a lot of coaches who wouldn’t mind that.

      Then you add the potential to more than double it?! Yes. Some would be up for the challenge.

      No more than a 3 year contract to start.

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  11. DON: What is disconcerting is how SC’s offense was outscored 21-19

    KAM: If they wish to remain happy after visiting Happy Valley then they will need more points than 19

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  13. DON: The “For the Rose Bowl games’ between SC-ucla are reserved for yesteryears, probably never to be repeated

    KAM: It was easier to win in the Pac-12 days than the current Big-10

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    1. Guess the voters weren’t impressed with our safeties waving to that Washington Tight End as he ran by them for a 42 yard touchdown…..

      …or Jayden overthrowing a receiver on the easy play to end the game….

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    2. People [not experienced with football] watching that play would have NO idea what football is about or how it is played…

      #”SoYouTryToPutAHandOnTheRunnerAsHeRunsBy?”

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    1. Mora got tired of 50 points being scored against him week after week…

      #UnfortunatelyForMoraThingsGotWORSEAfterThat……

      #[IGuessMoraDoesn’t”OWN”AnythingAnyMore]….

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      2. Just because he looks, acts and coaches like a chimp doesn’t make him a chimp ….

        Carol Folt: “Now that’s a coach!”

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  17. Wolfman, bolted upright in bed last night with a Eureka moment…dreamed up a simple yet effective way to solve SC’s coaching woes…hire a new Co-head coach who will have all play calling responsibilities. Inform Lil’ Lord his duty is to stand next to new coach on sidelines for whole game to advise. Give the new coach a 1yr 100k non-guaranteed contract. The overly proud Riley will vamoose, no buy-out required. Hire co-coaches for any of his bloated staff who remain. Lawsuit, sure, but cheaper than $77mil, and I know for a fact MickeyG will take the case for a case of Johnnie Walker Blue Label (or possibly a 7-11 Gift Certificate).

    #It’sPureUnadulteratedGenius

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  20. Bloch in the CA Post made note of a chant heard in the 3rd qtr….
    “Fire Lincoln” after it became clear their Trojans were in for an unexpected fight against an undermanned team.

    “Fire Lincoln!” they continued, after the offense sputtered and the defense acted like it was playing two-hand tag.

    “Fire Lincoln!” they concluded, after once again watching the same slop led by the same coach.”

    Reminds one of the days back in 2000 Paul Hackett days or more recently the greetings Arte Moreno heard prior to the glorious news he was selling the team cept’ it wasn’t ‘Fire Riley’ but…..

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    2. The lack of discipline on this team is staggering —for all their talent, they literally can’t even line up correctly….and I’m not sure it’s all on Riley, Alv. USC culture deteriorated under Folt. Academics became kinda a woke joke [particularly at the Law School]. We’re knee deep in red ink. It may be what we’re seeing on the field is a result of something wider and deeper than Riley’s staff….

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      2. Soooo true Mike – it all flows downhill. The documented crisis’s the constant scandals – all metastasizing under Nikias but her ‘tour of duty’ ensured a further descent into libtard ‘woke’ DEI land compounded by Swann’s keen insight keeping Heltonska.

        Just have to hope there’s reason to watch come Halloween and after the 7th December (final poll)….good night Riley ‘play the man’!

        Liked by 3 people

      4. RusSoviet: Exactly – as I’ve pointed out on this site over the years, so many parallels to what Donna Shalala did to the U. The moment of having Urban available to restore the football program’s fortunes is passed. The only hope now is either the blind squirrel finding a nut after decades scenario (another lucky McKay or Pete type of hiring), or … Nick Saban getting bored and the administration flinch reacting should the hostility boil over … else, this is USC football … for fans, your winter vacation in a good year will now be to see the Alamo and the Trojans playing an Iowa State, Houston, or Cincinnati (and not Bailey from WKRP) type in the bowl of the same name … maybe Helton and Hackett can be there as honorary captain for the coin flip …

        Liked by 3 people

      6. Brilliant, James: The idea of the entire Hackett Family leading the team on the field for our annual Alamo Bowl represents a kind of unequalled deliciousness. [I went to a Cal game…which we naturally lost…. with that family when Paul was coaching — and, as we were tossing the ball around outside the stadium prior to the game, Paul’s son inexplicably threw a pass into the sky that hit an unsuspecting recruit right in the eye when it came down…not intentional, just thoughtless]….

        Liked by 3 people

  22. KAM: Fortunately the regular season ends next month although some SC fans might not make it that far

    DON: During the off-season most Trojans return to feeling normal

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  23. KAM: Color me hopeful, but I still want to see how this SC season turns out

    DON: You never know in sports. Look at Florida, riding high in September and shot down in October

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  24. KAM: I still am hoping for the best with Wiley and I am sure Wiley’s wife still supports him. So that is 2 people who are behind him

    DON: It could be worse, SC could be Penn St saddled with 2-losses already

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  26. KAM: Trojan fans tarred and feathered Ton-o-Hel out of town to make way for Wiley

    DON: Which begs the question of whether SC would have been better off keeping Ton-o-Hel

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  27. KAM: Wiley’s biggest “mistake” was starting out in 2022 with that exciting Celeb Heisman season which gave the Trojan faithful hope

    DON: But the foundation was not in place

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  29. KAM: Football is supposed to be entertaining, but it seems no Trojan fans are entertained

    DON: If you don’t like what you see then change how you see it

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    1. Wow, John! You’re always implying the same thing: Drive to Tijuana, buy some LSD and find a cheap motel to take it in.

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  30. I for one am hoping for a Penn St loss, as we should lose the following 4 games as well, thereby forcing SC to finally fire this bum. After all this alleged “improvement” to the program- the results don’t lie. There will be nowhere for doofus to hide- injuries aren’t the reason, poor officiating in tight games, acts of God etc.. Plain and simply – LR will be exposed to the world for what he is- the worst head coach hire in the 2000’s. He has consistently done less with more- zero player development, make every game on adventure in frustration etc.. I hate to even say I hope they lose, but grief this dic#hea# has caused us all is reprehensible. And to know how much he is paid to be this inept is killing. Furthermore, I think the guy is stealing my weed and smoking it before games!

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    1. Coach Riley: “I have plenty first grade, hash cured weed of my own —your stuff can’t compare….it doesn’t even last for 9 hours like mine does”…

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