Wide receiver Rod Sherman, who made one of the greatest catches in USC history, died in February. He was 79. Sherman will forever be known for one moment. In 1964, No. 1-ranked Notre Dame led USC, 17-0, at halftime. It was 17-7 entering the fourth quarter. USC trailed 17-13 with 1:33 left and had a fourth-and-eight at the Irish 15-yard line. Quarterback Craig Fertig dropped back and found Sherman … Continue reading Remembering Rod Sherman

Wayne Moses, who was the running backs coach on Pete Carroll’s first coaching staff at USC, died March. He was 69. Moses also coached at UCLA from 1990-95 and 2008-11. During a 45-year coaching career, he coached at Pac-12 schools like Cal, Stanford and Washington along with a 2-year stint with the St. Louis Rams (2007-08). He played football at San Dimas High School and was a … Continue reading Remembering Wayne Moses

Last week I mentioned a Big Ten coach questioned whether Lincoln Riley runs the ball enough. Here’s some observations from the same coach: “The way they look when they play, they don’t look tough. I equate them to a boxer who did minimal sparring before a fight. “They don’t look like they are physical. I would ask how hard do they practice? It doesn’t look … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Does Play Reflect Practice?

With the year almost over, it’s time to remember a few Trojans who died in 2024. USC shot putter Dallas Long, who won the gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, in November. He was 84. Long also won a bronze medal in the 1960 Olympics. He was a three-time NCAA champion in the shot put. He probably would have been a four-time champion but … Continue reading Remembering Dallas Long

Generally, I prefer to go by what my eyes see over stats. USC’s offensive line was credited with allowing only eight QB hurries. That’s a good number. But watching the game, I felt like Jayden Maiava was under a lot of stress from the pass rush even if he wasn’t officially hurried. Some of his bad throws were directly because of that pass rush. And … Continue reading USC Sunday Buzz: Do You Trust Your Eyes Or Stats?

USC cannot consistently win games if it has to win in spite of Lincoln Riley. USC had scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-14 and stopped Texas A&M on the first drive of the fourth quarter. The Trojans took over at their own 4-yard line. So what does Riley do? He calls a deep route down the sideline that gets intercepted at the … Continue reading And Another Thing Regarding Bad Decisions