Cotton Bowl Prediction: Tulane and USC Face Off in AT&T Stadium
Trojans look to bounce back from Pac-12 title game loss with win in Arlington over AAC champion Green Wave.
Kane Webb (Athlon Sports) — USC announced to the world that it has returned to the top of the heap in 2022 by not only hiring Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma but also taking several key players, including this year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams. Williams pretty much ran away with the award, and his only serious competition was Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, who unfortunately went down with a season-ending injury. The Trojans then capped off the year with a Cotton Bowl bid and a top 12 recruiting class that included the nation’s No. 2 overall player, quarterback Malachi Nelson, who is only behind Arch Manning.
But before the Trojans turn their attention to building upon this season, they still have a very tough game against the Tulane Green Wave in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Even though Williams (and Riley) has stated he will be playing, there will be several players who sit out to focus on their NFL future and others who have left the team to seek transfer opportunities that will not be playing in the bowl. This leaves USC with a solid team, but a team that Tulane could beat rather easily if they don’t prepare or take the game seriously.
Williams will not have offensive linemen Andrew Vorhees nor center Brett Neilon when they play Tulane. This means Gino Quinones will be making his first start since Week 5 at left guard and Justin Dedich will be taking Neilon’s spot as the quarterback of the offensive line. In other words, the Heisman Trophy winner will be playing behind a makeshift offensive line against a team highly motivated to win their first major bowl since they played in the 1940 Sugar Bowl against Texas A&M — who coincidentally shared the national title with USC that year. Let’s take a look at the keys to this game.
Kickoff: Monday, Jan. 2 at 10 a.m. PT Where: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) TV: ESPN Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial) Spread: USC -2 Tickets: As low as $8 on SITickets.com
When Tulane Has the Ball
Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt gave the Green Wave an early Christmas present this year when he and his center, Sincere Haynesworth, announced they would be returning for another year. Pratt is the key cog in the nation’s 21st-ranked scoring offense (35.2 ppg). Pratt has 25 touchdowns to only five interceptions and completes 64.5 percent of his passes. In other words, he’s an efficient passer who makes few mistakes.
Unlike most players who are efficient but don’t make many mistakes, Pratt isn’t what you would call “serviceable” because he’s much more than that. He spreads the ball around the field with seven different Tulane receivers or tight ends logging at least 200 receiving yards, and they have an astonishing 10 different receivers who are averaging more than 10 yards per reception. That will get the job done at any school.
Tulane head coach Willie Fritz is a rising star in the coaching profession, and it’s clear that he knows how to get consistency out of his guys. If there’s a thing that can beat USC nine out of 10 times, it’s consistent teams. Tulane shares that with Utah in that they’re both consistent and well-coached teams, and as long as they bring that efficient consistency with them to their efforts on the field, it’s not really hard to understand why this game is viewed as a toss-up, truly.
When USC Has the Ball
The primary responsibility for USC is to take care of Caleb Williams with an offensive line that is made up of various parts, some experienced and some without. The overall picture of USC’s offensive line is probably why the oddsmakers don’t feel comfortable making this anything more than a pick ’em. The Trojans had problems keeping Williams upright at the end of the year, and the beating he took in the Pac-12 Championship didn’t help much. While Tulane won’t be fielding the same kind of size and speed the Utes can, they are still a very talented team that believes in their coach and believes in their ability to beat any team.
The Trojans have a number of weapons at their disposal on the offensive side of the ball, and it won’t be surprising if Lincoln Riley gives some of the younger guys more playing time in the bowl game as they look to see what they have for the coming year. The offense hasn’t been the problem for USC in 2022, and it’s unlikely that Tulane will be able to completely shut it down, but if the Wave can keep this game close until the fourth quarter, they certainly have an offense that can score in high volume. Pratt might not be Williams, but he’s sporting his own 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio, and that’s nothing to sneeze at for the junior signal-caller.
Variety is probably the key to success in this game. If Williams and Riley can keep the Tulane defense guessing at where they’re going with the ball, then USC likely has an easier day. The problems tend to arise when USC doesn’t have another receiver who can get involved with the game, leading to Williams focusing on trying to find Jordan Addison over and over again. And he won’t even have Addison in this game, as the Pitt transfer is rehabbing an ankle injury. The running game can make Williams’ day easier if they can get going as Tulane doesn’t have the greatest run defense.
Final Analysis
USC is an awfully hard team to predict when it comes to bowls. It’s been a hard team to peg down this year, as well. The head says USC should win this game, but the heart feels like Tulane is destined for a magical season and the inconsistency along the offensive line for the Trojans seems like a poison pill against the consistency that has been Tulane. Only one thing appears likely and that is if it’s a close game, Tulane probably wins.
Tulane’s only losses this year come by a combined 10 points, and the Green Wave avenged one of those losses in the AAC Championship Game against UCF. The other loss was to Southern Miss, and though it was only by a field goal, USC’s lone loss on the year came to a really talented and physical Utah team — and Tulane is certainly not that. Just as easily as a case can be made for Tulane winning this game, it’s even easier to do the same with the Trojans.
Confidence doesn’t set in either way this game is analyzed. But someone has to win that game and it’s likely going to be the Trojans. While Tulane is extremely consistent and has quality players, it lacks the true standouts that can keep pace with USC over four quarters and will have to play mistake-free football against one of the best defenses in the collegiate game for 2022 in terms of takeaways. It’s hard to see Tulane slugging it out over four quarters if USC comes ready and prepared, but that’s a big if.
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Monday evening quarterbacking, I know I wouldn’t have run up the middle on the goal line, because my special teams coach would have taught my return team when to not touch the ball. I know all of the defensive players understand the concept of defense, I doubt they understand how to do it. The defensive line looked like a frat house hazing paddle line. Everybody took a swing at the running back, but nobody stopped him. With all the accountability at the beginning of the season, nobody was holding the coaches accountable. Grinch needs to do up downs next week.… Read more »
Unbelievably bad performance by the defense. Our USC group in ATL got together for the first time in 3 years (2019) to watch the game today. (Remember how chairman mao-folt abruptly pulled the charters for SC trojan clubs and alumni groups?) It was a great afternoon until the inevitable happened. I kept saying that if we punted, we would lose. I cannot remember if we punted or not, but we did lose. Our defense is horrible, special teams coaching by committee needs to be scrapped. How can #4 not be field aware enough to stand on the goal line not… Read more »
Who needs who the most ? …The USC Football Program (and anyone that makes money off the popularity of USC Football) Needs Caleb …….Or does Caleb NEED the USC Football program ?
I’m on board with the program, slightly cooling on LR, and totally down on Grinch. My eyes tell me our D is slow, small and can’t tackle. The first two are the result of the prior staff. The third is on the current staff. Tackling technique should have been addressed in Spring camp and completely remedied before game 1.
Had we played GA Saturday, we’d have probably had the same result as today or as tosu had. We’d have scored a bunch of points, but lost it at the end.
I’m still happy with where we are at and happy we have Lincoln Riley instead of Clay Helton. Yes today’s loss hurts but the program is so much better than it was a year ago. Get more speed on defense, practice tackling in spring and fall camp, and things will hopefully get better.
Can’t argue your point. Solid. I’d just add that Helton is an extremely low benchmark against which to measure. But realistically, without LR, we would not have CW, and without CW, we would have had quite a few more losses.
Hey, even had USC won, the team faces the exact same problems with the loss. We’re all just blown away by the sudden defeat, but nothing’s changed about Riley’s tasks ahead.
At least USC went down blazing, no matter how curiously inept.
And once again, USC is on the map big-time in college football. That’s why conferences will pay billions to get us with them.
With me, it’s not so much losing as it is how we lost. I expected we would improve defensively this year, but my eyes tell me we haven’t, and I expect stats back them up for the most part. Seeing the same result we suffered through with Clancy and Orlando is disheartening at best, infuriating at worst. LR is in the process of creating a brand as an “offense-only” head coach who can’t win the biggest games. His offenses will always be good, but he absolutely must address the other two phases of the game: defense and special teams. And… Read more »
For the first time, in I don’t remember when, I took my USC gear off before driving to Rialto after the game. I was in no mood to hear it, sort to speak. If I were where all of my USC shirts are hung up (San Marcos) there would be a fire burning shirts.
I don’t know-can I blame the loss on a poster who posted that the game was over and the Trojans won? I think the defense reads your posts. ( And I thought I was a jinx LOL)
Ya … terrible but somehow not surprising. With this god awful D giving up 2 play 23 second TD drives 3 times after it looked like the game was over, its pathetic and unbecoming of a HC like Lincoln Riley. Who is also to blame, the horrible safety call that you knew was going to cost us the win. Where was half roll he used all year long from the EZ ! Come on ! That Tulane secondary was as bad as ours, they can’t cover anything. Plus Jones has no vision or quicks for MESH play. Have been burned… Read more »
Good news … past decade has built up our immune system for losing. Surprising, that this would happen to a LR team, but the game has changed and you just never know now, it’s like basketball.
The lack of hold calls on final drive didn’t surprise me either, but probably would not had mattered, anyway. This D couldn’t stop a Iowa type offense.
Why do I feel that the Heisman quarterback might look at the transfer portal? He wants to win and that means on both sides of the ball. The only way my crystal ball sees Caleb winning the National Championship is on another team. Just sad to have a coach so invested in friendship with an ineffective coach he’d allow his team to lose.
Well I Rialto …….My family IS wrong ….Why ??? Because since the Game ended I have been preaching to my Family that I AM concerned that Caleb my be doubting that he can win a Championship here and he might lets say “Yearn for greener pastures” …My family responded that thought would never occur to anyone or Caleb for that Matter ….Well it occured to you !
Honestly I want to believe your family, and I am just angry posting right now, but the look on Caleb’s face was telling. Hopefully he’ll hang in there.
The amount of things that had to happen for USC to actually lose this game is stunning. Hopefully, LR learns some things from this, because I elevated him to god-like status for most all of 2022, only to discover he’s still got a long way to go if he ever expects to win a NC at USC. Maybe the NFL is having second thoughts about him now as well. The honeymoon’s officially over for LR. That seems slightly cruel in view of all that he’s done at USC in one season. But you blow games like the one LR did… Read more »
I coach high school baseball and basketball teams and my go to coach speak line is “toughest teams win”. It’s not revolutionary, but I preach it and coach to it.
USC is not a tough team. Not physically tough, and even worse, not mentally tough.
Our defense couldn’t even stop Tulane. Well, this year’s frustration with the defense is finally over. But no matter how good your offense is, you are going to lose games if your defense isn’t good also. And I will stand by that statement.
It also helps when your head coach doesn’t go into a coma and call one of the plays most likely to end up a safety, the one play that will lose that game for you right there.
And who could ever forget Mario Williams’s fumble on the one, at the worst possible time?
Just a horrible USC floperoo. Too bad. Too real. Too predictable, some would say.
No special team’s coach means no special team. Who goes after a ball that’s headed for the end zone. Honestly the face Mario made after that drop was classic.
And I thought all of Helton/Kiffin playbooks were burned. Who calls two consecutive runs from the one yard line?
I cannot figure out why they would change kick returners late in the game. Granted we have not had one all season after they quit using Bryant.
I am done defending this staff, starting with LR. He has made several very stupid calls this season and this last one cost us a bowl game. He needs to reassess his play calling, game management, and staff. If he cannot make changes and USC is going to continue in this manner, will Bohn make a change? I doubt it.
Was hoping we could somehow pull it out with Williams. No shocker. Since the USC base is like a bunch of starved men/women trying to make their way across a desert Riley has gotten a free pass for year one……and heck year two is probably not going to be held against him…..much……..but the clock is ticking……..and those guys at Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Illinois, Iowa etc are starting to salivate at the thought of our non existent defense trying to stop them in 20 degree weather after traveling 3000 miles. Bohn needs to get a meeting together to do… Read more »
This is just so aggravating because, just when I was again enjoying Trojan football and shaking off the misery of the Helton/Sarkiffian nightmare eras, I have to go into the offseason with another clown game hung around our neck, on the heels of the title game loss. This is going to be another joyless offseason, even though we made big strides this year. And no, I am not dismissing winning 11 games, or beating both our rivals, and placing another Heisman in Heritage Hall. But the upshot is that we have nothing else but that little statute to show for… Read more »
At least we will all be grumbling together. Hopefully Bohn will do his job and LR will do his. This will hurt the recruiting for sure and could set USC back another year or two.
What Lincoln Riley will spend this whole winter and some of spring dealing with (and it might not be fair) But this WILL BE the reality of National Press >>>>>The ONLY thing people will remember of this 2022 USC Season ????? This Cotton Bowl <<<<< Fact !
Grinch has to go, if for no other reason than he will be toxic in recruiting now. But LR is not without blame. A MESH HANDOFF IN THE END ZONE? That was criminal stupidity. You either do a clean handoff there or you pass it out. Who has f’ing time for reads there? That was moronic and accounts for the loss in and of itself. Only a safety could have lost that game and we did it. The defense was not anywhere on the field when that happened. LR is going to have to do an awful lot in the… Read more »
We are thinking about the opinions(and mood) of Lincoln Riley about his players and even more his staff ….But what about the mood and opinions of our Athletic Director ….Does he come out and say “All members of roster and staff will be under review because of the Cotton Bowl”.He is the BOSS NOT Lincoln .
We need 3 on the DL, 2-3 at LB, and 1-2 at CB. The defensive strategy needs changed. Tackling needs to be taught from square one. This can be fixed. If heads roll so be it but what changes USC has made on defense for the last decade have not helped.
My Ohio State friends are saying they are still cleaning up the mess Grinch left in 2018. We had supreme talent, yet they couldn’t implement basic fundamentals. With Washington and Oregon on the schedule next year, and the Big 10 beyond, it’s not going to get any easier.
Definitely one of USC’s worst defeats ever. We had so many chances to put this away as a win, but couldn’t do it.
Hopefully, LR learns something from this game, because he just verified that he needs a lot of work to do if he ever expects to overcome what OU fans have been telling us ever since we stole him. His defenses stink.
We have proved all year we are incapable of really putting a game away. That shows that we also do t really know how to win. Part of that is LR play calling, but part of that also rests in the players. Have some damn pride and step up.
After watching this monumental USC collapse, I’m not that disappointed. USC couldn’t hurt a fly on D and deserved to lose. Congrats to the Green Wave. Job well done!
i don’t even want to hear anything from our staff, LR included. This was a total collapse at every level. Just absolutely terrible. See you all later, im going to go barf.
An 8-9 month long BAD TASTE in My Mouth …..DANG IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is still the same, inept, USC defense. All that talk about this new “culture” that LR has brought, it’s all just pure BS. The truth is the team on the field NEVER ONCE this season(even when they were winning) looked any different/improved defensively. The main weakness that has plagued this team remains and LR looks bad right now. Zero progress made on year one, they choked hard too and it’s going to sting for a long time.
I’ve said this all season. We will never be able to compete nationally with Grinch as our DC. We just lost to an AAC team. Let that sink in for a minute.
Kane Webb (Athlon Sports) — USC announced to the world that it has returned to the top of the heap in 2022 by not only hiring Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma but also taking several key players, including this year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams. Williams pretty much ran away with the award, and his only serious competition was Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker, who unfortunately went down with a season-ending injury. The Trojans then capped off the year with a Cotton Bowl bid and a top 12 recruiting class that included the nation’s No. 2 overall player, quarterback Malachi Nelson, who is only behind Arch Manning.
The primary responsibility for USC is to take care of Caleb Williams with an offensive line that is made up of various parts, some experienced and some without. The overall picture of USC’s offensive line is probably why the oddsmakers don’t feel comfortable making this anything more than a pick ’em. The Trojans had problems keeping Williams upright at the end of the year, and the beating he took in the Pac-12 Championship didn’t help much. While Tulane won’t be fielding the same kind of size and speed the Utes can, they are still a very talented team that believes in their coach and believes in their ability to beat any team.
Variety is probably the key to success in this game. If Williams and Riley can keep the Tulane defense guessing at where they’re going with the ball, then USC likely has an easier day. The problems tend to arise when USC doesn’t have another receiver who can get involved with the game, leading to Williams focusing on trying to find Jordan Addison over and over again. And he won’t even have Addison in this game, as the Pitt transfer is rehabbing an ankle injury. The running game can make Williams’ day easier if they can get going as Tulane doesn’t have the greatest run defense.
Monday evening quarterbacking, I know I wouldn’t have run up the middle on the goal line, because my special teams coach would have taught my return team when to not touch the ball. I know all of the defensive players understand the concept of defense, I doubt they understand how to do it. The defensive line looked like a frat house hazing paddle line. Everybody took a swing at the running back, but nobody stopped him. With all the accountability at the beginning of the season, nobody was holding the coaches accountable. Grinch needs to do up downs next week.… Read more »
Unbelievably bad performance by the defense. Our USC group in ATL got together for the first time in 3 years (2019) to watch the game today. (Remember how chairman mao-folt abruptly pulled the charters for SC trojan clubs and alumni groups?) It was a great afternoon until the inevitable happened. I kept saying that if we punted, we would lose. I cannot remember if we punted or not, but we did lose. Our defense is horrible, special teams coaching by committee needs to be scrapped. How can #4 not be field aware enough to stand on the goal line not… Read more »
Who needs who the most ? …The USC Football Program (and anyone that makes money off the popularity of USC Football) Needs Caleb …….Or does Caleb NEED the USC Football program ?
USC needs a new D coordinator more than either of the above.
Man, the wheels supporting USC football sure came off quickly from the look of things.
I’m on board with the program, slightly cooling on LR, and totally down on Grinch. My eyes tell me our D is slow, small and can’t tackle. The first two are the result of the prior staff. The third is on the current staff. Tackling technique should have been addressed in Spring camp and completely remedied before game 1.
Had we played GA Saturday, we’d have probably had the same result as today or as tosu had. We’d have scored a bunch of points, but lost it at the end.
I’m still happy with where we are at and happy we have Lincoln Riley instead of Clay Helton. Yes today’s loss hurts but the program is so much better than it was a year ago. Get more speed on defense, practice tackling in spring and fall camp, and things will hopefully get better.
Can’t argue your point. Solid. I’d just add that Helton is an extremely low benchmark against which to measure. But realistically, without LR, we would not have CW, and without CW, we would have had quite a few more losses.
Hey, even had USC won, the team faces the exact same problems with the loss. We’re all just blown away by the sudden defeat, but nothing’s changed about Riley’s tasks ahead.
At least USC went down blazing, no matter how curiously inept.
And once again, USC is on the map big-time in college football. That’s why conferences will pay billions to get us with them.
With me, it’s not so much losing as it is how we lost. I expected we would improve defensively this year, but my eyes tell me we haven’t, and I expect stats back them up for the most part. Seeing the same result we suffered through with Clancy and Orlando is disheartening at best, infuriating at worst. LR is in the process of creating a brand as an “offense-only” head coach who can’t win the biggest games. His offenses will always be good, but he absolutely must address the other two phases of the game: defense and special teams. And… Read more »
For the first time, in I don’t remember when, I took my USC gear off before driving to Rialto after the game. I was in no mood to hear it, sort to speak. If I were where all of my USC shirts are hung up (San Marcos) there would be a fire burning shirts.
It was quite a loss, wasn’t it? Catastrophically memorable
I don’t know-can I blame the loss on a poster who posted that the game was over and the Trojans won? I think the defense reads your posts. ( And I thought I was a jinx LOL)
I take complete responsibility.
The most stunning USC loss for me ever, even more than my now #2, the 1965 Beban Bomb 20-16 game, my first in-person USC/UCLA game.
It only took 57 years to see such a disaster come around again.
TUL truly deserved this win, just like the Bruins did in ’65, despite a tough but fumble-marred performance by Mike Garrett.
😂
Ya … terrible but somehow not surprising. With this god awful D giving up 2 play 23 second TD drives 3 times after it looked like the game was over, its pathetic and unbecoming of a HC like Lincoln Riley. Who is also to blame, the horrible safety call that you knew was going to cost us the win. Where was half roll he used all year long from the EZ ! Come on ! That Tulane secondary was as bad as ours, they can’t cover anything. Plus Jones has no vision or quicks for MESH play. Have been burned… Read more »
Good news … past decade has built up our immune system for losing. Surprising, that this would happen to a LR team, but the game has changed and you just never know now, it’s like basketball.
The lack of hold calls on final drive didn’t surprise me either, but probably would not had mattered, anyway. This D couldn’t stop a Iowa type offense.
Damn … we were all decked out in new SC garb, now we all never want to wear it again. I’m going back to my 2002 SC pull over.
Why do I feel that the Heisman quarterback might look at the transfer portal? He wants to win and that means on both sides of the ball. The only way my crystal ball sees Caleb winning the National Championship is on another team. Just sad to have a coach so invested in friendship with an ineffective coach he’d allow his team to lose.
Well I Rialto …….My family IS wrong ….Why ??? Because since the Game ended I have been preaching to my Family that I AM concerned that Caleb my be doubting that he can win a Championship here and he might lets say “Yearn for greener pastures” …My family responded that thought would never occur to anyone or Caleb for that Matter ….Well it occured to you !
Honestly I want to believe your family, and I am just angry posting right now, but the look on Caleb’s face was telling. Hopefully he’ll hang in there.
The amount of things that had to happen for USC to actually lose this game is stunning. Hopefully, LR learns some things from this, because I elevated him to god-like status for most all of 2022, only to discover he’s still got a long way to go if he ever expects to win a NC at USC. Maybe the NFL is having second thoughts about him now as well. The honeymoon’s officially over for LR. That seems slightly cruel in view of all that he’s done at USC in one season. But you blow games like the one LR did… Read more »
The Trojans need [1] A special teams coach and [2] they need to learn how to tackle…end of story.
I coach high school baseball and basketball teams and my go to coach speak line is “toughest teams win”. It’s not revolutionary, but I preach it and coach to it.
USC is not a tough team. Not physically tough, and even worse, not mentally tough.
USC will be forever famous for this epic meltdown. Gonna have to live with that often I’m afraid.
USC defense = butter, Tulane offense = Hot Knife!
You get my drift!
“They went through us like butter,” as my favorite person always likes to say.
USC special teams = 3 Stooges, can’t kick off straight, can’t field kick off, can’t cover kick offs.
Our defense couldn’t even stop Tulane. Well, this year’s frustration with the defense is finally over. But no matter how good your offense is, you are going to lose games if your defense isn’t good also. And I will stand by that statement.
It also helps when your head coach doesn’t go into a coma and call one of the plays most likely to end up a safety, the one play that will lose that game for you right there.
And who could ever forget Mario Williams’s fumble on the one, at the worst possible time?
Just a horrible USC floperoo. Too bad. Too real. Too predictable, some would say.
No special team’s coach means no special team. Who goes after a ball that’s headed for the end zone. Honestly the face Mario made after that drop was classic.
And I thought all of Helton/Kiffin playbooks were burned. Who calls two consecutive runs from the one yard line?
Special team coach or not, that play was on Mario, period. Dumb and he should have known better.
Not so Super Mario is getting ripped apart on the Internet. Lots of blame to go around today.
I cannot figure out why they would change kick returners late in the game. Granted we have not had one all season after they quit using Bryant.
I am done defending this staff, starting with LR. He has made several very stupid calls this season and this last one cost us a bowl game. He needs to reassess his play calling, game management, and staff. If he cannot make changes and USC is going to continue in this manner, will Bohn make a change? I doubt it.
Go Utes! Beat PSU. Help fix my day!
They’re now getting clubbed by PSU, our future conference mate.
5 minutes ago on Twitter website >>>>> Sports · Trending
Alex Grinch
Was hoping we could somehow pull it out with Williams. No shocker. Since the USC base is like a bunch of starved men/women trying to make their way across a desert Riley has gotten a free pass for year one……and heck year two is probably not going to be held against him…..much……..but the clock is ticking……..and those guys at Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St, Illinois, Iowa etc are starting to salivate at the thought of our non existent defense trying to stop them in 20 degree weather after traveling 3000 miles. Bohn needs to get a meeting together to do… Read more »
If I were recent big-time losers MICH, OHIO ST and ILL, I’d be a lot more worried about their own clear deficiencies than USC’s.
Totally agree.
Good ! >>>>> Chris Mattmann
@chrismattmann
Lol USC and USC Defense are both trending now on Twitter
This is just so aggravating because, just when I was again enjoying Trojan football and shaking off the misery of the Helton/Sarkiffian nightmare eras, I have to go into the offseason with another clown game hung around our neck, on the heels of the title game loss. This is going to be another joyless offseason, even though we made big strides this year. And no, I am not dismissing winning 11 games, or beating both our rivals, and placing another Heisman in Heritage Hall. But the upshot is that we have nothing else but that little statute to show for… Read more »
At least we will all be grumbling together. Hopefully Bohn will do his job and LR will do his. This will hurt the recruiting for sure and could set USC back another year or two.
What Lincoln Riley will spend this whole winter and some of spring dealing with (and it might not be fair) But this WILL BE the reality of National Press >>>>>The ONLY thing people will remember of this 2022 USC Season ????? This Cotton Bowl <<<<< Fact !
This just may go down in history as the worst USC defensive performance I have ever witnessed, since the 1962 season. Talk about a crash.
Some defensive staff changes need to occur, and if LR won’t do that, I’ll be pretty disappointed because that means he’s got his head in the sand.
Allen either it is up his a$$ or he is to arrogant to admit change needs to happen.
OH THE HUMANITY!
Resjon Davis was the leading tackler for the linebackers. He leads the future. Lee can stay but he should be sitting more next season.
Shane Lee is slow–that’s why he kept sinking down the ALA depth chart. Which is why he was available.
Grinch has to go, if for no other reason than he will be toxic in recruiting now. But LR is not without blame. A MESH HANDOFF IN THE END ZONE? That was criminal stupidity. You either do a clean handoff there or you pass it out. Who has f’ing time for reads there? That was moronic and accounts for the loss in and of itself. Only a safety could have lost that game and we did it. The defense was not anywhere on the field when that happened. LR is going to have to do an awful lot in the… Read more »
LR just lost his genius playcalling label as far as I’m concerned. “Moronic”, as you said, would be much more like it.
We are thinking about the opinions(and mood) of Lincoln Riley about his players and even more his staff ….But what about the mood and opinions of our Athletic Director ….Does he come out and say “All members of roster and staff will be under review because of the Cotton Bowl”.He is the BOSS NOT Lincoln .
We need 3 on the DL, 2-3 at LB, and 1-2 at CB. The defensive strategy needs changed. Tackling needs to be taught from square one. This can be fixed. If heads roll so be it but what changes USC has made on defense for the last decade have not helped.
I said earlier today, we’ll need to put up 48 plus to win. I hate when I’m right.
Our crappy kicker did a dead-duck kick that cost us a FG earlier in the game.
My Ohio State friends are saying they are still cleaning up the mess Grinch left in 2018. We had supreme talent, yet they couldn’t implement basic fundamentals. With Washington and Oregon on the schedule next year, and the Big 10 beyond, it’s not going to get any easier.
I do not care WHO has to go ……..FIX THIS !
Still will be surprised if anyone goes. Everyone will get a pass
LR obviously likes Grinch. After what I just saw, that may be a bad thing.
Agreed. 2 star players can be taught to tackle. There was zero improvement from last year.
Definitely one of USC’s worst defeats ever. We had so many chances to put this away as a win, but couldn’t do it.
Hopefully, LR learns something from this game, because he just verified that he needs a lot of work to do if he ever expects to overcome what OU fans have been telling us ever since we stole him. His defenses stink.
My first thought when I first heard the news that he was coming to USC (What the National press was saying about his defenses ).
We have proved all year we are incapable of really putting a game away. That shows that we also do t really know how to win. Part of that is LR play calling, but part of that also rests in the players. Have some damn pride and step up.
Shotgun Spratling
@ShotgunSpr
·3m
FINAL:
GreenWave
46,
USC
45.
– Trojans blow a 15-point lead in the final 4:30. That one is going to sting ALL OFFSEASON. Complete collapse.
USC will be the punchline for this bowl season.
Do me a favor AP Poll ….Rank USC somewhere around # 19th on the final 2022 AP Poll <<<<< I MEAN IT !!!!!
We don’t deserve a number in front of us. Half our team is completely broken.
The defense should be forced to stay on the field and cheer on the Green Wave celebration
After watching this monumental USC collapse, I’m not that disappointed. USC couldn’t hurt a fly on D and deserved to lose. Congrats to the Green Wave. Job well done!
USC continues to make history for other schools. This outcome is pathetic
I hope we don’t hear the same crap platitudes. This was a defensive failure. If only they could tackle. No, I don’t want anyone fired yet.
12-3 is still something we can be proud of.
Except we lost. So we don’t have 12 wins.
Sorry I meant 11-3
With our D not sure how we got 11
i don’t even want to hear anything from our staff, LR included. This was a total collapse at every level. Just absolutely terrible. See you all later, im going to go barf.
Chris, I am with you.
An 8-9 month long BAD TASTE in My Mouth …..DANG IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is still the same, inept, USC defense. All that talk about this new “culture” that LR has brought, it’s all just pure BS. The truth is the team on the field NEVER ONCE this season(even when they were winning) looked any different/improved defensively. The main weakness that has plagued this team remains and LR looks bad right now. Zero progress made on year one, they choked hard too and it’s going to sting for a long time.
Go back to Oklahoma.
Utah never led in our first game against them either.
UTAH 2, the sequel.
Ok. Now I have just seen the worst executed play.
I’ve said this all season. We will never be able to compete nationally with Grinch as our DC. We just lost to an AAC team. Let that sink in for a minute.
That pass perfectly summed up the 4th quarter
Defense has proven they have no heart.
TUL deserved it. What a total Trojan collapse! Unbelievable loss.
Enough can not be said about how bad our defense is.
Well, I did call it. Very entertaining game. Better team won. We were far superior on O; we stunk on D and on special teams.
This game was lost by our D and by Mario Williams
#1 choke job out of ALL this years Bowl Games ??????????
Fire Grinch!
3 losses solidly rest on the defense.
Defense shits the bed.
That is the game