Stanford coach David Shaw defended USC coach Clay Helton after the Cardinal lost, 45-20, on Saturday night. “Clay Helton has heard a lot of crap from a lot of people for a lot of things,” Shaw said. “He’s one heck of football coach, and he’s got a really good football team.” But Shaw did a bigger favor for Helton during the game when you consider … Continue reading Morning Buzz: How Will Teams Defend USC Now?

Clay Helton was typical Clay Helton tonight. “As much success as Kedon (Slovis) had, a lot of it came from JT (Daniels). I give him as much credit as Kedon” Helton said USC was not worried when it trailed Stanford in the first half. “A whole team pulling for each other and pushing each other. Even when things weren’t going exactly right. I must have … Continue reading Sunday Night With Clay Helton

Was Stanford a far too accomodating opponent for USC last night? “Stanford didn’t shift or run anyone in motion or misdirecton plays,” a Pac-12 defensive coach told me. “They ran one reverse early in game and it worked but then they didn’t do anything else. They were extremely passive. “They didn’t do anything to keep USC’s defense off balance.” Continue reading Stanford Goes Passive

USC has cracked the Associated Press and coaches’ top 25 polls. The Trojans are No. 24 in both. Below are the full results of the AP Poll. RANK TEAM PV RANK CONFERENCE POINTS 1 Clemson (2-0) 1 ACC 1,544 2 Alabama (1-0) 2 SEC 1,489 3 Georgia (2-0) 3 SEC 1,385 4 LSU (2-0) 6 SEC 1,336 5 Oklahoma (2-0) 4 Big 12 1,315 6 Ohio State (2-0) 5 Big Ten … Continue reading USC No. 24 In Both Polls

In USC’s past 14 games, I’ve seen two contests where the Trojans looked energized and bonded as a team: the Arizona State game last season and Stanford last night. The common thread was the quarterback in both games was making things happen and providing on-field leadership. Kedon Slovis provided the boost and you could see the rest of the team getting excited as he made … Continue reading Morning Buzz: USC Got An Energy Boost

Kedon Slovis has a great debut. So Clay Helton has now picked the wrong starting QB twice (Max Browne, JT Daniels). That’s the main takeaway. Someone will complain that I thought Jack Sears should start ot be the backup. But what did Helton do? He didn’t see Slovis as the starter in Week 1. What would happen if Daniels was hurt for only a week? … Continue reading Discuss The USC-Stanford Game