Defensive Woes, Cotton Bowl Collapse, Shade USC Football’s Progress

USC 2022 football season review: How Lincoln Riley fared in Year 1

The Trojans won 11 games and QB Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy, but a porous defense overshadowed much success

Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  If you had asked Lincoln Riley 13 months ago if he would have accepted an 11-win campaign in his first season as USC’s football coach, he would have enthusiastically agreed.

But the circumstances of how the season unfolded left Riley with a bitter taste in his mouth, as he said Monday following USC’s stunning 46-45 Cotton Bowl loss to Tulane.

Of USC’s three losses, one came with a trip to the College Football Playoff on the line. The other two came on the games’ final possessions. The last, Monday’s debacle in Arlington, involved a spectacular collapse in the final 4:30 of play that required two Tulane touchdowns, a fumbled kickoff out of bounds at the 1-yard line and a safety.

“In a lot of ways, we’re further ahead in so many areas than I would have thought,” Riley said. “But we clearly have a lot of work to do.

Let’s take a look at where USC stands after the 2022 season, and what’s left to do entering the 2023 offseason.

What went right

Riley’s brand of the Air Raid offense was as good as advertised and certainly exceeded expectations for what the coach could accomplish in his first year after leaving Oklahoma.

It was clear that this side of the ball was the priority for Riley and his coaching staff in how they approached the transfer portal. In late January and early February last year, it seemed like they pulled in another offensive talent every day. And all of them fit into what Riley was looking to accomplish.

Quarterback Caleb Williams stepped in and became USC’s eighth Heisman Trophy winner as a sophomore, completing 66.6% of his passes for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and five interceptions. Travis Dye and Austin Jones created a formidable duo at running back, combining for 1,589 yards rushing. Receivers Jordan Addison, Brenden Rice and Mario Williams had their moments.

But Riley also elevated the players he inherited at USC. Offensive linemen Andrew Vorhees and Brett Neilon earned All-American honors in their final seasons. Tahj Washington and Kyle Ford carved out roles for themselves despite all the additions at receiver.

It all added up to an offense that ranked third nationally in scoring (41.4 points) and yards (506.6).

What went wrong

In two words, the defense.

No one expected the USC defense to be a world-beater unit in 2022 after a historically bad 2021 season. And in many ways, it did improve under coordinator Alex Grinch, with the team creating 29 turnovers and 40 sacks while players like defensive lineman and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Tuli Tuipulotu and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon shined.

But from the first game, USC gave up yards in droves. And somehow it got worse as the season progressed. The Trojans gave up more than 500 yards five times in 2022, two of those coming in the final two games. Their three worst points allowed totals came in the four last games.

And the Trojans’ tackling, never their strong suit, crumbled deeper into the season. USC missed 24 tackles in the Pac-12 championship game loss to Utah. Then after celebrating a jump in development during bowl practices, USC missed 13 more against Tulane while allowing 539 yards and watching the Green Wave put together two drives of more than 60 yards in the final 4:30.

Asked what led to these deteriorating performances, defensive captain Shane Lee said it boiled down to a lack of trust. As for the cause of the lack of trust?

“I’m not sure,” Lee said. “It’s probably different for everybody. I gotta look at myself and see what it is for me. It’s something for us to focus on moving forward in this offseason and get fixed.”

Whether it will be Grinch leading those changes remains to be seen after Riley declined to give the coordinator a vote of confidence after the game Monday.

“We’ll take a deep dive into every part of it here over the next couple of weeks. We’ll lay out a plan, just like we did when we landed in L.A. 13 months ago,” Riley said. “You take a deep dive of it, you assess what you’ve got and how can we make it better, and then you go to work.”

Who’s going?

The biggest departure comes in the form of Tuipulotu. A unanimous first-team All-American, Tuipulotu declared for the NFL draft on Tuesday after leading the nation in sacks with 13.5. It’s difficult to overstate how big of a loss this will be for a USC team that struggled with depth up front all season long.

There are, of course, a few graduating seniors that USC will miss next year. All-Pac-12 cornerback Blackmon is gone after one season with the Trojans, as is an instant fan favorite, running back Travis Dye. And starting left tackle Bobby Haskins’ eligibility has expired, too.

Then there are a few stalwarts who have been around USC for years. The losses of Vorhees and Neilon represent a changing of the guard on the USC offensive line. Defensive end Nick Figueroa and tight end Josh Falo graduate, too after seasons contributing at USC.

Then there are those who entered the transfer portal ahead of the Cotton Bowl. Linebackers Ralen Goforth, Tuasivi Nomura and Julien Simon are off to seek greener pastures, as are defensive backs Xavion Alford and Jayden Williams and defensive linemen Kobe Pepe and Colin Mobley.

Who’s on the fence?

There will be NFL draft decisions to be made, but no USC player announced ahead of the Cotton Bowl, likely in deference to the team goals.

The most likely candidate to leave early is Addison. A Biletnikoff winner at Pitt, Addison was the leading receiver at USC this year despite missing time with a leg injury and is projected to be a first-round draft pick. No one expected him to be at USC for longer than one season.

Running back Austin Jones and center Justin Dedich have said they will make their NFL decisions after the bowl game.

And then there is the Gary Bryant Jr. situation. The junior receiver decided to redshirt three games into the season after limited usage. But he remained with USC, attending class and working on the scout team and practicing in the build-up to the Cotton Bowl without entering the transfer portal when it opened last month. He will be one to monitor this offseason.

Who’s coming?

The Trojans have already loaded up in the transfer portal since the regular season ended. Former Arizona and Pac-12 leading receiver Dorian Singer should step into Addison’s shoes, while USC has also added Arizona cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace and defensive lineman Kyon Barrs.

The Trojans have also added some replacements at linebacker in the form of Oklahoma State’s Mason Cobb and Georgia State’s Jamil Muhammad. Cobb is the real coup after totaling 96 tackles in 2022 along with two sacks and a forced fumble. And USC will have a reinforcement on the offensive line coming in in the form of Florida starting right tackle Michael Tarquin.

And there’s a lot of talent coming in from the high school ranks, too, with a class ranked 15th nationally by 247Sports.com. Five-star receivers Zachariah Branch and Makai Lemon could step right in, even with a crowded receiver room. Linebacker Tackett Curtis is highly touted by the USC coaching staff among the six four-stars in the class. And of course, there’s five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, though he will have to bide his time behind Williams for a year.

ocregister.com

_________

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PN4SC
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January 7, 2023 11:14 am

You nailed it Rosegreen. SC was up 15 with 4:23 on the clock. All the defense had to do was stop Tulane from scoring in a hurry. If they took just 90 seconds to score, they still would have been forced to execute an onside kick, where recovery almost never happens when the other team knows it’s coming. It’s inexcusable that our defense couldn’t stop them from scoring in only two plays. That alone could get Grinch fired. I wish it were to happen, but I doubt it will. If Riley is insistent on keeping him, at least announce it… Read more »

rosegreen
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January 6, 2023 6:54 pm

The “telling tale”: USC is up by 15 pts in Cotton Bowl with 5+ minutes remaining in the game; Here SC must defend with more caution and make Tulane earn their way 75 yards for a TD; instead Tulane scores in JUST two plays, in a mere handful of seconds. Those 10 seconds told the STORY. The Trojans are NOT coached effectively on defense.

Steveg
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January 6, 2023 6:58 pm
Reply to  rosegreen

Amen to that.

Jamaica
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January 6, 2023 3:06 pm

Not trying to repeat myself enough to bore people. These articles brought in are just telling the reality of it all. A team without a good defense will get exposed and beaten when you least want it No matter how well the offense works. You are going to suffer defeats not having a sound defense. You should always build a football program starting with great defense. As this article states it wa defense that kept USC out of the playoff. It was defense that left a sour bitter taste in our mouths when a 2nd rate Tulane team came back… Read more »

TrojanMPA90
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January 6, 2023 3:16 pm
Reply to  Jamaica

If you lay all the blame for the defensive problems at Alex Grinch’s feet, then he needs to go and we need to hire an elite DC to replace him. If you give him another chance with more talent and we make the CFP next season, then it is all good.

Question for Lincoln Riley is what does think and what does he want to do?

Steveg
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January 6, 2023 6:15 pm
Reply to  TrojanMPA90

I was a hard proponent for giving him another year. After the Cotton Bowl I looked at the facts and stats. The 2022 defense, with all the change over in personnel was worse than the 2021 defense in most areas. What really has gotten my attention is the fact that nothing changed from game 1 to game 14. The same missed tackles and big plays. We heard all season about trusting the system. When things didn’t go right we heard about trusting again. Maybe it isn’t the players, TCU has 2 and 3 stars playing for the NC, but rather… Read more »

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 6, 2023 4:54 pm
Reply to  Jamaica

I have a variant take on building a football program…I think it starts with great trenches, both sides of the ball, and builds out from there. Both approaches will get you there, but I prefer to not neglect either side of the ball when starting out to build a great program.

TrojanMPA90
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January 6, 2023 12:46 pm

Just saw that Austin Jones is returning. That’s huge for us.

Chris
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Chris
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January 6, 2023 9:36 am

Added a running back today from…..USC. The other one.

RialtoTrojan
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January 6, 2023 10:19 am
Reply to  Chris

Yeah, but can he tackle?

Golden Trojan
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January 6, 2023 10:21 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Fills the void left by Travis Dye. Now can we get some Defense, Defense, Defense!

alfa1
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January 6, 2023 11:09 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Shades of Lendale..but quicker, he doesn’t look for a seam, he makes his own. Strong Power Runner

TrojanRJJ
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January 6, 2023 1:29 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Allen, Totally agree. Lloyd is significantly superior to Jones. R. Brown is fast enough, but he has yet to develop the ability to break a tackle.

TrojanRJJ
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January 6, 2023 1:27 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

He looks to be a superior back to Jones. I really did not see Jones as a pro back. If this kid is anywhere near as good as his tape, we have a real winner on our hands.
R. Brown has a long way to go to reach the level I saw in this film. He needs to develop more power and ability to break tackles. His vision and decision making got better as the year progressed. But, his blocking and ability to break tackles was severely wanting.

Steveg
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January 6, 2023 1:33 pm
Reply to  TrojanRJJ

I guess if Darwin Barlow had shown outstanding RB abilities in practice he would be getting more PT. What I had seen of him he seemed pretty good.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 6, 2023 6:38 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I like what I see in the highlights. Great speed, quickness, shiftiness, power, and how about that hurdle! Reminds me of Marshawn…Lynch!

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
January 6, 2023 10:15 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

USC dominated Tulane in time of possession. It was as if the defense wanted to get off the field as fast as they could. Must have been good Gatorade on the side line. After the defense controlled ND then fell flat against Utah I thought fatigue was a factor with 3 hard games in 13 days. But after a month off against Tulane they were soft butter against a hot knife! Putting MW back for the kick and then 2 calls up the middle were head scratchers. Sometimes coaches over think it or get too cute.

TrojanMPA90
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January 6, 2023 12:44 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

That’s so true that thing that killed us was the fumbled kickoff by Mario Williams. If he doesn’t catch and bobble the ball, it was going to go out of bounds. We would have had the ball at 35 yard line and could have driven to score again. If anything, this shows we need a special teams coach as soon as possible.

UtahTrojan
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January 6, 2023 5:47 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

To me it looked like he had no idea what just happened or even where he was. Almost as if he was concussed.

TrojanRJJ
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January 6, 2023 1:30 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Totally agree. Our special teams were as bad as our D in the Tulane game. Hope LR decides to hire a full time coach for this duty.

Steveg
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January 6, 2023 1:38 pm
Reply to  TrojanRJJ

The least he could do is have someone pay more attention to the details about where to field a kick and where to let it go. I personally thought Mario just went brain dead on that one. These players have been around football long enough to know to get away from a kick like that. I keep wondering why they switch return men? You have to figure Raleek had his butt chewed enough about going east/west on a return.

rleeholder1
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January 6, 2023 7:10 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I turned the TV off when it was 15-4. Had the broadcast muted because I can’t stand Bill Walton. I saw SC was down by 18 at the half so I went to bed. Must have been a good second half to only lose by 2. 2023 hasn’t started off well for USC teams but hopefully things will turn around.

UtahTrojan
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January 5, 2023 9:46 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I feel a very severe slap on the back of their hands coming soon.

UtahTrojan
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January 5, 2023 10:10 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Seeing how little they have done to every team since unjustly hammering USC I wouldn’t expect much.

Golden Trojan
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January 6, 2023 7:06 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Reggie must have looked into legal means to get it back. Sue the NCAA for lost income and reputation. If he did nothing wrong and can prove it (as he claims) he should have a case.

Fighton74
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January 5, 2023 5:03 pm

I realize that it was going to take awhile to restore what was lost from years past, and that’s fine. Riley to the transfer portal by storm. I think without the transfer portal obviously would have been a different story. Today’s college ball is much different because of that and the NIL. Defense is always the hardest to regain. I know Oregon can obviously pay more up front money for players than SC can because of Nike, and that’s ok I think team and the academics part is more especially with rebuilding an image for SC. However I do have… Read more »

Steveg
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January 5, 2023 4:29 pm

We all know USC is manned with a lot of 4-5 star players. Here is a link to show what coaching can do. TCU has been groomed to be in the position they are in.
https://footballscoop.com/news/how-talented-is-tcu-college-football-playoff-national-championship

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 6, 2023 7:48 am
Reply to  Steveg

Thanks for the link, Steve, that shed some insight for sure. Did you see my post down the board in which I listed the respective schools’ roster star counts? We only had 3 5-stars this year to 1 for TCU. 37 4-stars to 17 for TCU, and 39 3-stars to 61 for TCU. As the article points out, experience and years in a program are important, and undervalued IMO. But USC’s comparison with Tulane is really the head scratcher. TCU is essentially a 3-star program, whereas USC is an even split as a 3/4-star program. I hate to admit it,… Read more »

rleeholder1
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January 6, 2023 7:16 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I’ll always wonder how much “grease money” she pocketed over the years.

ATL D.D.S.
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ATL D.D.S.
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January 6, 2023 5:38 pm
Reply to  rleeholder1

Maybe Heinel had a lot of girlfriends to keep happy?

TrojanMPA90
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January 5, 2023 3:31 pm

Wonder what will happen first: The House electing a speaker or Alex Grinch getting fired.

TrojanMPA90
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January 5, 2023 4:16 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Ryan Young just posted on Twitter the following statistics about Grinch and they show we should be patient with him:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Flv17R9XgAEhnjK?format=jpg&name=medium

Rock2112
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January 5, 2023 7:10 pm
Reply to  TrojanMPA90

I am not sure I take the same thought away from these stats. I am not convinced that an “air raid” offense can ever be paired with a dominant or even healthy defense. But LR’s offense is not an “air raid” offense, despite his background. We run the ball, and we held a huge advantage in time of possession against Tulane. There are no excuses for the lack of execution and tackling we saw. Nothing in those stats suggests to me that there is a burst of competence soon to come from Grinch.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 6, 2023 7:23 am
Reply to  Rock2112

I agree Rock, the TCU time of possession blew holes in the prevailing theory during the season that our D wore down due to having to defend too many snaps.

I watched the Orange Bowl and noted that TN used a platoon concept on defense, almost like hockey line rotation. Obviously depth is necessary to pull that off. Or maybe not as much as we assume. It raises an interesting question of whether it’s better to have a fresh slightly lesser talented player take a snap than a gassed higher talented one.

Rock2112
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January 6, 2023 10:55 am

Right VT! Other evidence that platooning may have merit is what we see in many early season games: Like, some lesser team plays Alabama and the score is 7-7 at the end of the first. Everyone perks up, and then the final score is 54-13. I think hussle and focus goes a long way in defense, and that is what goes away as players tire. Food for thought for D coordinators everywhere!

danielmcd1
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January 5, 2023 3:17 am

Happy New Year to all the members of the Trojan Blog. I listened to the Cotton Bowl game on the Trojan radio network 790 in LA and Trojan Pete and Shaun Cody. I would like to start with some positive notes. Brenden Rice was outstanding and shows he is going to have an excellent 2023 season. Very proud of his play. Caleb at 70 or 80 percent was very effective and from what I saw on highlights rolled out and avoided sacks with his movement which I think was an excellent strategy. He could have run often per what Pete… Read more »

Chris
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Chris
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January 5, 2023 6:25 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

It was a strange year with it being played on the 2nd. Lots of people were back at work. College gave up the traditional New Year’s Day, which happened to fall on a Sunday, to the NFL, or the TV networks told them so. I think it will be back to a better number next year.

UtahTrojan
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January 5, 2023 10:07 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Both of those games have the same thing in common. Nobody really cares about any of those teams.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 4:26 pm

OK friends, I did a little digging around today and came up with some interesting data to consider. I got to wondering how USC, TCU and Tulane performed this year with what the coaching staffs had to work with based on the roster players’ composite star rating from 247sports.com. My assertion, based on the results of the the season (championships, bowl game results, etc.), is that TCU had the most successful season followed by Tulane, then USC. The summary is: USC TCU Tulane 5-stars 3 1 0 4-stars 37 17 3 3-stars 39 61 69 2-stars 4 2 2 Not… Read more »

TrojanMPA90
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January 4, 2023 12:48 pm

There are two schools of thought regarding the defense. First thought is the players we had on defense weren’t very good and that Grinch worked with what he inherited and got through the portal and made it work. This feeds the thought that because many of these players were recruited by Helton and the previous coaches that they weren’t taught proper tackling techniques. Even if you try to teach this with a new staff like we had, there’s no guarantee the players will be able to pick it up. You keep Grinch in this case for another year give him… Read more »

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 2:09 pm
Reply to  TrojanMPA90

I will go with your first thought. Two reasons, thhe high number of missed tackles that have been reported and watching guys be in position to make the play but fail to execute. The scheme is right just no ability to make the play. If I am Riley I follow your conclusion, keep Grinch, upgrade the talent. If no improvement in a year, fire Grinch.

TrojanMPA90
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January 4, 2023 2:57 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I think for sure we need a dedicated special teams coach. Mario Williams should have never caught the kickoff. It was going to go out of bounds and it would have been a penalty on Tulane wit us getting the ball at 35 yard line and there is no safety then and we probably win the game.

A good special teams coach will teach the players when to catch the ball and try a return and when to see if it’s going to go out of bounds. Also will help to know the right distance for field goals.

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 4:40 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Absolutely they need a special teams coach.

Steveg
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Steveg
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January 4, 2023 3:05 pm
Reply to  Golden Trojan

I keep wondering why things didn’t change as Grinch kept running guys in and out all the time. There was nobody who could tackle except Blackmon. It seems it is epidemic on the entire defense.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 10:33 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Gonna be a hard reputation to change for LR.

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 11:49 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I got to think a guy as smart and motivated as LR understands the criticism and will fix the defense one way or another. I am hoping that as the 2022 portal was for the offense, the 2023 portal will be for the defense.

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 2:28 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Ouch.

RialtoTrojan
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January 4, 2023 10:06 am

A Finishing Thud was the headline for this article this morning in my paper. My first thought was they misspelled turd. And next always an expression of surprise? The Helton leftovers and infusions were not trusting each other? That might explain the slapstick tacking because they were tripping over each other trying to tackle. I cannot believe students who made the grade at SC enrollment are so stupid as to not be able to wrap their arms around someone and stop them. I can see it now the non NFL players trying to get jobs as police and being turned… Read more »

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 7:20 am

I don’t even understand what “trust” means in this context, i.e., what it means for a defensive player on the field. Can someone explain it to me? Sounds like a nebulous excuse to me that seems to work and get everyone around nodding their heads and saying, “oh, yeah, you’re right by golly, it’s trust!” You certainly cannot fix what you cannot define.

RialtoTrojan
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January 4, 2023 10:08 am

Judging from the slapstick tackles I’d guess nobody thought anyone could tackle. They were all right

Steveg
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Steveg
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January 4, 2023 6:59 am

I am having a hard time putting trust in the same equation with being able to tackle. Trust in yourself that you can make the tackle? How can you be a starter for any football program and not trust in your own abilities. Trust in the coaches? Trust in the system? This is almost sounding like the great excuses we used to hear from Helton. These guys have the fundamentals to be able to tackle, they are just not playing hard nosed football. Occasionally we see it then it disappears for some reason.

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
January 4, 2023 7:56 am
Reply to  Steveg

I doubt a player is going to publicly state that some of his team mates, and maybe himself, just aren’t very good. He is thinking it but won’t say it. So he makes up something for the media.