USC Morning Buzz: Do Transfers Appreciate Crosstown Rivalry?

One question going into the season was whether a team with 26 transfers would appreciate something like the Crosstown Rivalry? “It’s another game to me,” USC QB Caleb Williams said. “I’ve been in other big rivalry games so far in my career, so I’m just treating it like another game.” I suppose Williams is referring to last year’s Oklahoma-Texas and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State games. The stakes … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Do Transfers Appreciate Crosstown Rivalry?

USC-UCLA Morning Buzz: First Team To 60 Wins

It seems like all the good Crosstown Rivalry quotes are coming from UCLA this week. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson said UCLA wants to break 60 points vs. USC. Did Thompson-Robinson say if that would be enough to win the game? I’m going 63-62, someone. UCLA ranks 9th in the Pac-12 in pass defense. USC ranks 8th in rush defense. The culprit again for the Trojans was … Continue reading USC-UCLA Morning Buzz: First Team To 60 Wins

It’s Rivalry Week, Baby

Lincoln Riley gave an update on Eric Gentry and Mario Williams today, which sounded conservative. I suspect Gentry will play quite a bit. “They’re practicing. They’re progressing. It’s an inexact science,” he said. “We’re at Tuesday morning right now but we’re hopeful we’ll be able to rep some of them both in the game.” Here is George with Victory Bell in 1947. Continue reading It’s Rivalry Week, Baby

USC Notes: A Possible Weakness Saturday?

If you’re looking for a weakness with UCLA, a Pac-12 coach who played the Bruins tells me it’s in their receiving corps. “They’re just an average group,” the coach said. “DTR doesn’t like to wait in the pocket, so if you can cover them a little bit, he’ll start running.” There’s no place like home #fighton #committed pic.twitter.com/MWzIvONg58 — Judea (Juju) Watkins (@Jujubballin) November 15, … Continue reading USC Notes: A Possible Weakness Saturday?

USC Morning Buzz: The Crosstown Rivalry Coaching Soap Opera

The USC source I spoke to Sunday night told me Monday they found out Clancy Pendergast did call the plays for UCLA’s defense vs. Arizona. This raises an interesting issue. Chip Kelly declined to hire Pendergast after last season as defensive coordinator even though Pendergast was already on the UCLA staff. He went outside and hired Bill McGovern instead. Now that McGovern is unable to … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: The Crosstown Rivalry Coaching Soap Opera