In case you wondered, Mark Sanchez also tripped to OHIO ST (forget the snow! “That was a dealbreaker”), ND, TEXAS, and UCLA back in 2004. But USC was the “quarterback factory” at the time and easily won the battle for local boy Sanchez’s signature, even though Lane Kiffin was a “total jerk and an a**hole to me until I got to be a starter…”
Caleb Williams might just win the Heisman at USC (the final, ultimate USC faceplant on OU). Wouldn’t that be fantastic! The young QB handles himself very well in the media. USC’s built on stars. This guy’s one of them. He’s already gained USC so much amazing notoriety, both through appearances and multiple NIL deals. I think this has been a hugely underrated benefit for the Trojans who are capitalizing on this every day.
USC needs another one of those revered trophies, especially since Reggie voluntarily gave his back. What were you thinking Reggie?
_________
Pete was great … but things would had been much better had never brought that puke Kiffin to USC.
That creep, along with Suckisian, killed SC football for a decade. Longer actually, if not for Leinart audibling every play and Reggie playing on fire in 2005 … that team loses 4 games with those two proven idiots at OC. Shame on Pete.
Cooper Kupp was not even rated coming out of high school.
Aaron Donald and Von Miller were 3 stars.
Just goes to show ya, there is something to this coaching up thing.
Congrats to the latest USC addition to the NFL Hall-of-Fame, Tony Boselli. ✌✌✌
A great Trojan and a class act whose Pro career was cut short. Very deserving guy who was proud to represent the JAGS.
NFL Honors where the NFL HOF Class of 2022 (Go Boselli!) will be unveiled at Sofi Stadium begins a 6 PT (NFL Network).
Trojans going all-in on the Super Bowl in L.A. (44 sec)
Sadly, this makes the Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, look truly deranged.
87% of the Super Bowls have featured a USC player
We are now seeing the power of SC football returning. There is no way that it is going back to the days of the Cat. Just look at the celebrity status that LR brings and the program provides to its stars. LR is on national shows regularly. Caleb Williams has already been on one national TV show, and he has not played a game for the Trojans.. This is just the beginning. This type of publicity is invaluable and will attract the blue chip players, the fans, and students. Elite football at SC is tied to economic success and academic… Read more »
Yes RJJ until somebody breaks a rule, Folt goes ballistic and we all hold our breath. LR, his staff and the players all have to be/stay clean for our good fortune to be maintained.
Do ya think Carol will finally understand the importance of USC football? Because of LR USC is finally getting lots of good media attention. Dang this is fun again.
I will never trust Folt. She may still try to hamper the football resurgence, especially if the program becomes unwoke. But the BOT will enjoy the resurgence of SC Football, at least most of them will. The BOT won’t let her ruin The Program again.
ALT, I suggest that Folt may not like it, but she has “loosed the Kraken” and there is no way to go back. SC Football is exploding. Nothing will contain it with LR at the helm.
she is a useful idiot … all for show. She is told what to do and how to act.
steve, I am convinced she already does. We are never going back to the dark days of the Cat.
I love how Clay is so frequently referred to as The Cat here. This special moniker for Clay should always be respected and kept-alive.
I cannot remember who came up with that nickname but it was perfect!
I read it from somewhere else, loved it, and used it here.
So I don’t claim to be the creator, but more an observer of another’s perfect creativity.
I would keep an eye on the investigations of ASU, Miami and BYU. If nothing much happens there it means there is little oversight of the Transfer Portal, and NIL For better or worse we may be in an era where schools can try to poach any player they want with little consequences.
What are the BYU and Miami investigations about?
Brent Venables admits to dropping the ball on Caleb Williams once he was in the Portal:
Venables — “I think after a few days, we didn’t have the kind of communication that would be necessary that would allow us to continue to feel good about an opportunity moving forward. The communication wasn’t where it needed to be. I don’t know exactly how many days, but at some point in time…we moved forward.”
So SC didn’t steal anybody, OU let them go. I guess LA is not Norman in a lot of ways.
I’m pretty happy that USC’s been “mean” to OU, and stole great coaches and players from them.
Notice how the USC swag is starting to return, after years of hopelessness.
When you see Munoz and Allen visiting practice at this time of year, you know the swag is back for sure
“We moved forward” is Okie for we totally screwed the pooch on Williams. Perhaps that will shut the OK crowd up for a while till we get a chance to beat them properly.
I was just thinking how ironic it is that while the word is out that Sofi Stadium will become a possible permanent, or at least frequent, Super Bowl location (despite the worst parking set up in the world), college football in the west has always had big TV contract problems in part because of the Pacific Time zone. But with the fantastic LR-led resurgence of USC, the building of otherworldly Sofi Stadium, and the influx of both the Rams and the Chargers, it’s amazing how different southern California feels now. We’re a big-time football place after all, at all levels.… Read more »
If the Pac12 wants a good TV contract they need to stop the Pac12 after dark nonsense. Rams and Chargers games come on at 7pm on the east coast not 11pm. Play Pac12 games in the afternoon on Saturdays period. Have your conference championship game on Saturday not Friday night. No more Thursday night games. The rest of the country will at least want to see SC next season.
AMEN!
Man you been reading my mind. I have hated the Friday night games, those are for CIF and ucla. Time to go prime time, Saturday kickoffs always.
A weekly Big 10 Pac 10 DH at noon and 3 pm would be a huge hit … if those SEC loving idiots tv people would figure it out.
I think the key is and always was game time exposure for SC and the PAC 12. We shouldn’t be on TV any later than 5-6 pm West coast time. New commish is on the clock
What will be the next big change that LR brings to USC. I remember when Pete Carroll changed the uniform form the horizontal stripes to the shoulder chevrons, he did so to show a shift back to the tough program it once was. Outside of the Christmas bulb helmets in recent past, there hasn’t been much of a change for the uniforms. But I’m not really worried about the uniforms, they can be tweaked as much as he likes. The change I’m looking for is real decisive wins. Fewer “My god how could a mistake like that happen?” moves. A… Read more »
The tackling issue may take a while to improve dramatically, but the hard nosed attitude should be present in 2022.
I am going to miss 10 on the field for special teams! NOT!
Or calling a timeout because you couldn’t get the play called from the sideline. Then after a conference on the sideline, the play called is run between guards for no gain or a 3 yard pass pattern on 3rd and 8. and the pass play is completed…for no gain..
Or the classic having to call time out AFTER a TV time out!
Ooh! I forgot that one. Epically bad!
Genius clock management on behalf of Helton. If there was a way to screw up, he would find it eventually. The worst was leaving Toa in to play center though.
It has been said that in order for Helton to count to 11 he had to pull his pants down. So I can give him a pass on that. But asking if the holder on the extra point counts as one of the eleven was problematic
We finally have “celebrity status” once again at USC. I just watched Lincoln Riley onset with Kurt Warner on a Pre Super Bowl program on CBS. The former HC called “The Cat” would have never been on such a program and our newest QB was on Good Morning America the other day. How long has it been since something like this has happened at USC. PETE CARROLL DAYS. I know we have not even taken a snap from center yet but the energy and the exposure has magnified so greatly in just 2.5 months that it is scary. We are… Read more »
The Decline of USC Talent Under The Cat Helton
Top California recruits who picked USC per The Athletic
YEAR/RECRUITS
2005 6 of 8
2006 5 of 6
2007 6 of 8
2008 6 of 8
2014 5 of 10 (but not Joe Mixon, who … went to Oklahoma)
2015 4 of 10
2016 4 of 20
2017 2 of 10
2018 6 of 10
2019 2 of 20
2020 1 of 25 (No Bryce Young, no DJ Uiagalelei, no C.J. Stroud)
2021 4 of 10
Note: 2009-13 are omitted because of NCAA sanctions.
Everybody loves LR…
Sorry, who is he?
Anthony Munoz
What is the deal with this law suit that wants to make college football players employees? Anyone understand the logic behind it and why is USC named?
Sorry, I’m not getting into the weeds on that one. You’ll have to ask former UCLA LB (mid-90’s) Ramogi Huma about it.
Perhaps one of our attorneys can shed some light on it.
I can barely keep up with my OWN cases, Steve!
Bucks Up Entertainment Studios/Weather Channel owner Byron Allen, possibly the next owner of the Denver Broncos, went to USC.
OU fans keep putting more bricks into the ever-building USC/OU “Wall of Hate” too: The Oklahoman — She Said, He Said: Lincoln Riley keeps talking, but is it worth listening to anything the former OU football coach says? Jenni Carlson — What Riley has said and how he has acted have been entirely different, and I suspect that may enrage Sooner Nation as much as anything. Yes, they were fired up when he left, but what he has said since has only added to the inferno. After Signing Day, he told ESPN that regarding the transfer portal, “I think at… Read more »
Oklahoma has become a joke to the rest of the nation. What they need to be concerned about is Texas. OU is going to get their clocks cleaned and they will still be raging at USC.
The poor Sooners were truly blindsided.
I think they should remake The Blind Side, this time about what USC did to the Boomer Sooner Nation! Sandra Bullock can play LR’s football genius wife.
Can you imagine if we had taken more of their staff? They probably would have taken their semi trucks and blocked I40. They seem to think USC is so below them, but the reality will sink in after OK St and Texas bury them next season.
Statistically USC – OU
Have played 7 times
OU 2 wins
1Tie
USC 4 wins. Those were with OU legend Coaches
Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer
My correction…9 games all time
SC 6
OU 2
TIE 1
much better the second time around :-))
The Sooners were blindsided but of their own making.
They moved to the SEC where they would be second to Alabama and Georgia for recruiting. Not to include the other good teams.
Where they were they were one of the big fish in the pond if not the biggest fish
Now they go to being a perhaps medium fish in a large pond.
They caused this by moving to the SEC.
OU was in a tough spot. Do I feel sorry for them? Not in the least.
But once TEXAS was headed to the SEC, leaving behind OU as the only marquee program in the castrated Big 12, that position just isn’t tenable either for OU.
Would you want to be OU in the Big 12 without TEXAS? I sure wouldn’t, especially when negotiating the next horribly compromised Big 12 TV contract.
Then USC literally jerked OU right into the Twilight Zone. TEXAS called all the shots here. OU has paid the only prices so far.
OU should have convinced BYU to join them in a move to the Pac-12.
Prestige wise, OU is a little brother to Texas. Trust me, Texas was the big attraction to the SEC to accept both schools. OU wouldn’t qualify in the eyes of the PAC-12 Universities academically. This is why when Texas backed out of joining the PAC, OU had no where to go but back to the Big 12. Where Texas goes, OU must follow in the Power 5.
I didn’t realize that — thanks for the info, Jamaica! As for Texas, I don’t think there is going to be a drastic difference in their fortunes, turning to the SEC. They are in trouble with Sark as HC, I believe. But they can compete with most of the schools in the SEC other than Alabama and Georgia. And they will probably be able to recruit a little better being in the SEC if they can stay in the upper quadrant of SEC teams with others like LSU and Ole Miss. Texas isn’t winning a Natty for a while, but… Read more »
Did you know Sark hired Gary Patterson as his assistant and is trying to get David Cutcliff to be with him too? Both of those guys could keep Sark in line and do him some good.
Or both will undercut the idiot …. Snark will never handle the pressure the Horns fans are already bringing to that fraud
After over a decade of pain as a USC alum/fan I have no sympathy for Boomer Sooner. Riley came to USC because they made him a better offer than OU. OU losing to OSU helped finalize the deal. The Sooner players entered the Portal on their own. They chose USC on their own. Riley didn’t steal anybody. The coaches and players could see USC offers so much more than OU. I have been to Norman, OK, dead flat and boring, and that’s when the weather is nice!
I think I remember that LR never even gave OU the chance to counter offer. He just took SC’s numbers, signed on the dotted line, and hopped on a plane towards L.A. with a USC hat on. It was one of the worst blow-off jilt-jobs in the history of sport. 😂 😂
Oh, I almost forgot. Oklahoma is the flattest place I’ve ever been to. Nebraska comes close. USC won both games I went to see.
My guess is OK risks potentially becoming Nebraska. They are in a tough place. They are not a glamor program. They must recruit out of state to be elite, primarily in TX. And, they just lost they star coach, most of their staff, and their best player to SC.
OU would be just fine in the SEC IMO — but only if they were headed there with a big-time, proven coach. The problem is, that’s not what longtime CLEM DC Brent Venables is yet, not by a long shot. Like all other first-time CFB HCs, he’s a total crapshoot as of now. I’d say the exact same thing about him if he were USC’s new HC. As stated by Stewart Mandel (The Athletic): “Venables is a first-time head coach. He could very well be the next Bob Stoops; he could just as well be the next Jimmy Lake. Either… Read more »
Not bad for a 4-8 team.
Headed to the NFL Combine this year:
RB Keaontay Ingram
LB Drake Jackson
WR Drake London
DB Chris Steele
DB Isaac Taylor-Stuart
I can see the top three going in the draft, the other two perhaps free agents.
I thought Drake London’s injury was pretty severe at the time. Apparently it must not have been nearly as bad as first reported if he’s going to the combine. What was his actual injury, anybody with a line on that?
And not one player at the Senior Bowl. I cannot remember that ever happening before.
Ram stars Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Von Miller are all alums of the SR Bowl. Good connection there.
I sure would like to see 49-year old Tony Boselli become an NFL Hall-of-Famer tomorrow.