FOOTBALL

If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Were you one of the USC fans who before the Wisconsin game was feeling pretty good that USC would face backup QBs against Ohio State and UCLA?

Brett Yormark is leaving the Big 12 in January. However he is judged by history, the fact is he ran circles around Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff right when the Pac-12 was fighting for survival.

Former USC QB Paul McDonald will lead the Trojans out of the tunnel vs. Ohio State. Has anyone at USC considered Don Mosebar, Keith Van Horne or Dennis Smith to name just a few players who don’t seem to get invited?

Junior pitcher Tyler George from Santa Margarita High School has committed to USC.

USC men’s basketball opens the season Monday against Milwaukee at the Galen Center. The Bucks? Hardly. It’s amazing they think fans would want to go to a game like this.

  • And for some history:
  • Legendary LSU basketball coach Dale Brown died last week, the winningest coach in school history.He took the Tigers to the Final Four twice (1981, 1986).

And there is a USC connection.

When LSU fired Coach Press Maravich in 1972, it aggressively pursued USC coach Bob Boyd, who turned down the job. Boyd recommended his friend, little-known Washington State assistant coach Dale Brown.

They became friends when Brown was an assistant at Utah State and frequently recruited Southern California. That recommendation helped Brown get the job and the pair remained friends with Boyd serving as an LSU assistant in 1996-97, Brown’s final year with the Tigers.

  • For those keeping score, Boyd turned down the Lakers, the Portland Trail Blazers (twice) and LSU in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s.
  • With USC facing Ohio State, let’s revisit some past moments.

In the 1980 Rose Bowl, when USC defeated Ohio State, 17-16.

About 20 years later, I heard this story from a USC coach: With 1:32 left in the game and Ohio State ahead 16-10, USC coach John Robinson turned to offensive coordinator Paul Hackett and said, “If you call a pass play, you’re fired.”

The ball was on the USC 17-yard line.

  • Charles White gained 31 yards on first down.
  • White gained 30 on the next play.
  • Michael Hayes and Marcus Allen then gained 11 yards in the next 2 plays down to the Ohio State 11.
  • White then gained 3 yards.
  • Then 5 yards.
  • Then 2 yards just one foot from the goal line.
  • White then scored running behind Allen.
  • Hackett had followed directions.

“I was looking at the other guys and saying they have to stop 11 of us, not just me, all 11,” White said. “I didn’t think they could do that.”

  • Here’s a photo from 1973 Rose Bowl between USC and Ohio State.
  • USC coach Jeff Cravath and the Trojans enjoy the closing moments of a 32-0 victory over Ohio State in Columbus in 1947. Check out the visors the players wore on the sideline.
  • When USC played Ohio State in 2009, Buckeyes fan Vince Vaughn attended the game. All I remember aside from this photo is when he used the restroom in the pressbox, he was accompanied by two police officers.
  • Former USC coach John McKay was assistant and ex-coach John Robinson was player on the Oregon team that met Ohio State in 1958 Rose Bowl.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Barbara Steele

Keiko Hirota

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This Paul Masson ad plays perfectly off actor Oliver Reed’s well-earned reputation as a hard-drinking hellraiser. The night he died, he reportedly consumed 8 pints of beer, 12 shots of rum, half a bottle of whiskey and several shots of Hennessy cognac/brandy.

everal shots of Hennessy cognac/brandy [1, 2]

His co-star, British TV presenter Paula Yates, had relationships with Bob Geldof and Michael Hutchence and died in 2000 from a heroin overdose.

39 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. Great Friday column – the wine ad is brilliant!

    USC should do something big for Charles White’s family, plus dedicate something on campus to him. Football took a huge toll on White, took his life way too early, and he did so much for the university.

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    2. Doesn’t matter to USC what White did for the university. With them it’s all about “what have you done for us lately”, as they clearly demonstrated with Brian Kennedy & OJ.

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      1. KAM: On of my friends donated for a permanent season ticket section years ago. When Pat Haden decided to redo the Coliseum they told my friend he would be losing his season tickets to the project but he could pay for new season tickets!

        DON: That’s the new USC.

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    1. KAM: He’s a company man so he is the perfect choice.

      DON: All he did was handoff on that last classic drive. Marcus should lead them out.

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  3. Oliver Reed tried to out drink Keith Moon, he lost and it wasn’t close.

    Reed finally met his match when he challenged Moon to a drinking contest at his Surrey estate:

    • The Setup: The two men sat at opposite ends of a table with bottles of brandy.
    • The Climax: By the time they got down to the third bottle of brandy, Oliver Reed completely passed out and slid under the table.
    • The Victory: Instead of collapsing, Keith Moon casually stood up, looked down at Reed, and said, “F you, Ollie. I’m going to the pub for a real drink.

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  4. That 1979 team in the Rose Bowl with Ohio St was amazing as SC just hammered away with White time and time again until scoring the winning touchdown

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    2. The 1979 USC team was the most talented team in college football history. Period. No competition. A matter of both the eye test and statistical measure. Have been east coast press articles published on (which says all that needs to be said). Mosebar and Matthews would have started on any other team anywhere in college football history. But on this team, one played because Munoz was injured during the regular season. Otherwise, they had to sit. 2 Heisman Trophy winners in the backfield. And that’s not even getting into the defensive talent. A still unbelievable shame that they took the foot off the pedal with that 21-0 lead over the Tree. People note the 17-16 last second win over the Buckeyes, but they rarely mention that the final score could have easily been something like 44-9 without a blizzard of USC mistakes. Scott’s anecdote about Coach Robinson overriding Hackett on the sideline was mentioned in many of the post-game articles covering the game. Those who have watched or rewatched will also recall Merlin Olson’s remarks about Charles White being a warrior (blood running down his taped up nose), as well as the USC goal line stand.

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    1. He was in the booth during the game and went down to the field at the end. He was still the football hero and celebrity at that point. I just commented consistent with your point about the final score – USC probably should have won 44-9. It was absolute domination but as so often with the JRob1 teams, a host of mistakes squandered opportunities on offense and gave Schliechter opportunities that he never should have had (eg the long TD to Williams at the end of the first half – Robinson later admitted to a reporter that it was his fault because they should have been in a defense against that type of play).

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      5. Buddha is 100% correct … and even the yardage differential is misleading. It was a complete physical mismatch that only USC errors made close.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Scott, interesting tidbits, but very disconnected. It would be more interesting to have a coherent theme. The one fact that I learned from you was why victory in Columbus in 1947 when Jeff Cravath was head coach. The play by play in the 1980 Rose Bowl game was also very good. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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      1. One day Scott will get invited back to address the journalism students…and the opening line will be “Thanks Caesar, for the sanctions! Thanks Cutty Sark! Thanks Kiff, the tarmac was too good for you! Thanks Helton, thanks Haden, thanks Swann, thanks Bohn, thanks Jen, thanks…”

        And after about 20 seconds of this, he will get bum rushed from the stage…

        Liked by 4 people

      2. So hilarious…coz it’s probably just how it would go down…[I left a law office without a single friend many years ago…I recently returned and an old buddy told me “I wonder how long it will take for you to lose all the goodwill that’s built up since you left?” When asked to speak I opened with “Same group of losers.” My buddy said, “Wow…itonly took one second.”]

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  9. KAM: Notwithstanding Wisconsin, I am still pleased SC will not be facing Ohio St or ucla’s starters, and Indiana lost its Heisman quarterback

    DON: There is a reason a player is a backup

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  10. If Sayin was QB, I could see USC losing by 3 TDs easily.

    What will be really sad is if the Trojans lose games to backup QBs with Oregon, OSU, and the gutties.

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      1. Riley wins, he stays, SC is dead for another 2 years, yeah.

        You two really think Riley can beat OSU, Indiana and ucla ? He’ll have trouble beating Maryland, the team will have quit on him if they haven’t already

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      3. I am thinking 7-5…I don’t know if that will trigger a replacement. Michael is thinking 8-4, I am fairly confident that won’t do it

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  12. Anyone else start twitching, traumatized, at the mention of Paul Hackett?

    I have managed to block out that period entirely.

    Now I am having flashbacks to the tank formation (with Papadakis).

    You have to put a trigger warning before mentioning that name.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. The bizarre thing is when he first arrived at USC he was a huge success – resurrected Vince Evans into having a superb senior season and being Rose Bowl MVP (and therefore probably responsible for his nearly 20 year pro career in a sense). But it goes to show the difference between a QB coach and a play caller or head coach.

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