USC’s historic loss wasn’t the miracle Donte Williams needed at the Coliseum
Dylan Hernandez (LA Times) — Well, we know who won’t be USC’s head coach next year.
Donte Williams’ miniscule chances of remaining in charge of the Trojans beyond this season were completely obliterated on Saturday night in 45-27 defeat to Oregon State that was as historic as it was humiliating.
With USC presumably looking for a big-name coach, the assumption was that Williams had to perform a miracle to remove the interim label from his job description. Instead, he was responsible for a different kind of once-in-a-lifetime event, as the Trojans lost to the Beavers in Los Angeles for the first time since 1960.
That Williams is extremely likeable or that his story is inspiring didn’t matter. That he preaches accountability didn’t matter.
Against the lowly-regarded Beavers, Clay Helton’s spirit continued haunting the USC sideline and hovering over everything the Trojans did on the field. They couldn’t run the football, and they couldn’t stop Oregon State from running it. They couldn’t stop the pass, either. They couldn’t tackle.
The game was a continuous defensive breakdown for USC, with Oregon State receivers finding themselves wide open downfield and running backs galloping through holes that looked as broad as the 110 freeway.
“I got outcoached today,” Williams said.
The Beavers finished with 535 yards of offense, including 322 on the ground. The game wasn’t as close as the score suggested, as the Trojans were down by much as 42-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Helton might as well have coached.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis defended Williams by saying, “You’re not going to change in one week.”
Kedon Slovis had 355 yards passing with one touchdown, but also took two sacks and had three passes intercepted in a loss to Oregon State. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
Fair or not, however, that’s basically what Williams had to do to beat out the other coaching candidates in what should be an exhaustive national search.
That doesn’t mean Williams has no future at USC. The school is expected to make every effort to retain its top recruiter.
That also doesn’t mean Williams won’t eventually develop into the caliber of coach who can lead a major program. The former defensive backs coach is only 39.
He just won’t be USC’s next head coach.
Williams pushed back against the notion that he was taking on too much too soon.
“This is what I’ve been doing my whole life,” Williams said. “So, no moment will ever be too big. This is what I’ve been doing. This is what I’ll continue to do.”
Except the X’s and O’s weren’t the only problems.
He also fumbled Jaxson Dart’s situation.
A true freshman, Dart was spectacular in his college debut a week earlier, leading the Trojans to a comeback victory at Washington State after Slovis was knocked out of the game. Dart was noticeably limping during and after the game, but Williams downplayed the injury and continued to do so in the days that followed.
But on Thursday, 247 Sports reported that Dart underwent an operation to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
Williams was evasive on Saturday night when questioned about when he learned Dart required surgery.
“You know what?” Williams said. “I didn’t really know. It was kind of something, he played the whole game. So with the injury he had, he played the whole game last week. So, we actually didn’t think that it was nothing too bad, and then next thing you know, he needed a small procedure, and it will be week to week.”
Jaxson Dart walks off the Coliseum field after the Trojans’ 45-27 loss to Oregon State.
(Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
“It will all get fixed,” he said. “I promise you that.”
I wish I could figure out why USC comes out against Washington St looking like they did against Oregon St, yet come out the 2nd half and play lights out football. Are they suiting up two different teams? I just don’t understand how they can be so bad and then be so good. We have no idea what to expect, and so I am expecting the worst and if anything good happens I can find some joy in that.
Simple. Style of offense and loss of the starting QB. WSU was eating SC D for lunch and then lost their starting QB. And, the WSU offense is a finesse style O based on the pass. SC D has its best talent on D in the D backfield. OSU had a totally different style of O to which SC D does not match up to and it did not lose its starting QB.
So are you saying there was no difference in the USC team for the 2nd half of Washington St game?
Not exactly. The team played with fire in the 2nd half, but that was due to both factors I listed plus Jaxson Dart providing leadership and a spark. I doubt Jaxson would have mattered last Saturday.
It would have been a time to give Moss some PT to get a look at him in game conditions, but agree, the OSU game was evidence of being at the bottom of the barrel.
Agreed. I would have pulled both inside LBs and let the frosh play. Right now, a lot of the starters do not seem to care that much. The stench of the Cat.
SC needs more than a new coach. A few more great players would help, especially along the offensive and defensive lines.
Kiffin loves to stir the pot. Never backs down.
I didn’t know until today that Mike Bohn was a 3-sport athlete at Boulder (Colo.) High and also was the CU AD from 2005-13. I didn’t know he had been there so long.
He sure didn’t come close to fixing their football program.
USC has won all 14 of its meetings with CU while outscoring the Buffaloes, 485-220.
USC’s home game on Saturday, Oct. 9 against UTAH will kick off at 5:00 p.m. PT on FOX.
On radio, the game will air on 790 KABC.
Mark Kulkin (WeAreSC.com) — “After talking with a handful of guys from the team these past few weeks, there’s a strong feeling among many from USC’s locker room that the talk about accountability is just that, talk. The actions are not supporting the messages being sent; in other words, it’s been nothing more than verbal Diarherria…”
on3.com
I am staying away from the SC/CU game this week. Both programs are train wrecks, coached by marginal at best coaches. I have no idea what will happen.
CFB at its finest! This will quite possibly end up being a fantastic game! Think about it: two losers battling for any little scrap they can get before even significantly more difficult reality exists.
My guess is the CO kids care a lot more than the SC kids. But, I have no idea who will win.
Why would CU kids care more?
They’re stuck with Karl Dorrell, one of the truly worst HCs in America, and they’ve lost five of their last six. with both ORE and UCLA on the road coming up, and only the ski season to look forward to.
That is certainly possible. Hard to pull players for lack of accountability when there is nothing behind them to throw into the battle as suitable back-up troops.
Very true. And that being the case, talking about doing it makes even less sense. USC football has sunk into a deep dark hole. Not many options at this stage. Every single week just points to that more and more. I actually feel sorry for Donte having to take over the Trojans in this situation. It might end up being held against him for years if USC continues to spiral down. All the more reason he should stay as an asst at USC if offered and see if he can be a major part of the rebuild. As of now,… Read more »
Isn’t this years class, heavy on DB’s, the first class Donte really impacted? Not sure of his timeline. Allen where do you stand in the idea of inserting “2nd” teamers into the lineup? I guess they could do worse. But upside is they might do better than the “1st” teamers. Also by getting playing time we might keep a few from entering the portal. IMO I think the new DB’s & LB’s should get a lot of playing time from now on. Plus I would like to see some concrete visible displays of holding players accountable. IE Steele needs to… Read more »
Steele gets beat all the time. But if USC has nobody better, who’s gonna step in? I’ve said here before that Donte Williams should throw seniority completely out and play who practices best and wants to play the most, period. I don’t know if Williams has the intention of doing that. But here’s something for you to chew on: Pac-12 analyst on USC: “I don’t think they care that much” The one thing USC needs to display, in order to convince top coaches this is a job worth taking, is a sense of pride. USC has not played with pride in its… Read more »
True or not the perception is out there. I saw a tweet showing Cristobal roasting a player for a personal foul. One of the replies was the dad of Courtland Ford—he totally supported Cristobal. And then proceeded to point out that accountability doesn’t happen at SC. Using Steele as an example. I think we are going to see & hear lots of bad stories coming out of the locker room. I kinda feel sorry for the new coach. He is walking into a job with huge expectations and deep deep problems. I hope he is up to the task.
I pointed this out in an earlier comment.
Donte Williams basically got stuck with this interim HC tag of a sinking ship.
He has no chance for the job and has a disheveled, demoralized, confused, browbeaten, and unprepared group of kids on his hands. Somewhat over-rated talent-wise as well.
Any winners on this Trojan team should stand out now, just because of pure effort. I wonder who they will be?
USC S Isaiah Pola-Mao: “We’re not a finished product right now so we still got a lot of season left.”
“How can you not be romantic about football man,” said Aaron Rodgers about the sport after beating the 49ers 30-28 on a game-winning FG yesterday.
I’d definitely say Pola-Mao is taking the “romantic” view of USC’s team at this stage of the game.
Isaiah sounds like he learned language at the Clay Helton school of public speaking.
Note to Graham Harrell. Keep up the good work dude:
USC RBs scrounged just 12 yds in 12 carries in the second half. 😂😂
It just crossed my mind that USC could actually lose to Karl Dorrell’s CU Buffs at Folsom Field in Boulder at 11 am this Saturday. The tape is out on USC now and the Trojans are only favored by seven. Teams watch USC now and see exactly what can be done to the Trojans. They’re licking their chops now.
BTW, Folsom Field is just an awesome place to see a game in Boulder. If they ever get another coach who knows what he’s doing with the Buffs, that would be a great place to play ball IMO.
Colorado should have beaten Texas A+M, and has a good defense. I wouldn’t touch the game except betting the “under”
But then I watched CU against MINN and ASU.
Two words came to mind: life support.
Why is there a part of me that is concerned we will go 2-10 this season ?
At the beginning of the season I had SC 3-5 the rest of the season from here. That’s 5-7. I had wins against Colorado, Arizona and Cal. Right now I would say those 3 games are a toss up at best. So yes, 2-10 is very possible. 4-8 at best.
Who would have thought my prediction of 6-6 would turn out to way too optimistic?
We all get sucked into preseason hype to some degree. Hopefully leaders will emerge in this program and help carry them the rest of the way.
Whoever those leaders turn out to be, they’re gonna have to do some super heavy lifting based on what I’ve seen from this USC disaster so far.
A headline on internet sometime this week ????? >>>>> Vegas Casinos announce not ……one ……human……being ….. placed a bet on USC on its game vs Colorado .
As bad as I think Graham Harrell is as an offensive Coordinator, I think he is even worse as a Quarterback Coach. No development. Both Slovis and Dart have shown skill and promise, as true freshman, based on the coaching they got in high school and or clinics. In Slovis case, he was mentored by none other than Kurt Warner, and has now regressed every year since. You can say it’s injury and O Line, but it’s more between the ears. I lost count how many times Slovis raised his arm to throw, only to pull it down and wait… Read more »
To me what is between his ears is a bell ringing every time he gets hit. Wish we could see his face close up when he drops back to see if he is a deer in the headlights. I kind of think that after being tutored by Warner, Slovis would be aware of someone who is steering him wrong. Harrell was a very good QB, and I think a decent QB coach, OC not so much, and play caller even worse. Just my worthless 2 cents.
Mike Bohn is at an amazing spot in his life. He will ALWAYS be judged by the decision he makes on the next USC football coach over the next few months.
I don’t know that he’ll ever choose another one for USC. If he chooses wrong, why let him be the guy to try again? If he chooses right, the new coach could easily outlast Bohn’s term as AD. It’s all ridin’ on your choice now Mike.
I’m glad he’s feeling the heat. The easy thing would be to wait for Fickell, and he may be a great fit. But I want Bohn to feel the full weight of this so he has no choice but to go out and offer everything to the short listed guys.
Allen, do you feel worse about this era of USC football or what we went through in the 90’s?
The ’90s (Robo II, Hackett) were especially horrible for not beating ND and UCLA. And from ’96-2001, USC was only 37-35. Pretty darn bad, even though the Internet hadn’t really kicked in yet. But it’s worse for me now as the Pete Carroll years spoiled me later in life. And now I see USC’s wounds as more self-inflicted, and downright dumb. Plus, we know more about our teams now because of social media which has also inflamed many of our feelings. We’ve seen a lot more behind the puppet strings, and it hasn’t been pretty at USC. It sounds like… Read more »
This thought is really the only thing giving me hope that we will get a good one. If he screws this one up it will be career defining.
Never would’ve thought that the Raiders would have more wins than USC right now.
As the Rams game is being televised here in NY Metro area local NY Media throwing some compliments towards the Rams head coaches way .
I blame most of last night’s loss on Todd Orlando and not having the defense ready. I’m looking forward to a new coach that has our team working hard in practice so they are physically and mentally ready for games like we were when Pete was here. Also want coaches that understand how to make in game adjustments,
When watching the game USC was blitz crazy. When they didn’t blitz and had 3 or 4 linebackers back 2-3 yards they shut down OSU every time. Orlando couldn’t see that and continued to blitz, showing where the blitz was coming from, and OSU simply ran right past the blitzing linebacker for big yards. He needs to simplify greatly.
When they brought Orlando in everyone was saying he’s a one year coach. He was good his first year at TX but did nothing his second year. I don’t think he respects the people who are running the show an thus is leading by example. “I don’t like my boss’s way so I’ll do it my way.” is the lesson he’s teaching.
Kedon Slovis — “This is not a turnaround overnight; we’re trying to build something here,” said QB Kedon Slovis, who finished with three interceptions and a lost fumble. “Coach Donte has done a great job of starting to hold guys accountable and changing the culture and building the culture. You’re not going to see a change in one week…”
The young man has a point, but when is he going to be accountable for his play?
I think Jaxson Dart will speed up that process for Kedon. I. would be surprised if Kedon is one of the guys who isn’t fully committed . I think his problem is more that his physical limitation has been reached.
Wow, that’s a huge statement to make. I am not sure if he is not committed, I just think he is scared to be behind his O line, which didn’t do a horrible job last night protecting him, but he is taking a lot of time to decide back there and that is where he gets USC in trouble. As a freshman he got the ball off quicker, but wasn’t making all his reads. Too bad he can’t roll out more or use play action, but I haven’t seen any of that.
Agreed, he is too timid and fun shy. I was hoping he would come around but have grown tired of waiting for something that might never happen. Would have liked to see Moss get the 4th qtr last night.
I think you are onto something. Getting hit and harrassed takes a toll on a QB. Combine the lack of quality coaching, poor line play, & a poor run game and you have a recipe for a QB to regress. Jim Plunkett got pummeled early and often at the beginning of his NFL career. He was better when he played with the Raiders. But by then he was clearly not the same player he was when he joined the Patriots.
Remember JT and his deer in the headlights look playing behind the USC line? Slovis is looking the same way, like he is just waiting to get hit every play. Dart hasn’t had to go through that yet very much, but he is much more mobile and either Slovis or JT. It is refreshing to see a dual threat back there for USC.
What I find amazing is Kedon did not defend Clay at all. In fact, he did the opposite- he confirmed that Clay culture was awful. Wonder why he stayed?
I sure never dreamed Clay Helton’s sappy culture would get USC gored big-time by the Beavers in the Coliseum. But I saw it happen. I swear I did!
This loss has Clay Helton’s fingerprints all over it. The team is all Helton recruits which have been coddled and under-developed with little playing discipline and, you can’t expect a new interim HC and even a DC with only one year of working with his players to overcome 4-years of poor leadership. You can question the OC in his play calling since this is all his offense giving the offense has had two full years practicing it. Again you can say our player talent was better against OSU but with the lack of coaching development USC football has now come… Read more »
AP Poll
1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Oregon
4. Penn State
5. Iowa
6. Oklahoma
7. Cincinnati
8. Arkansas
9. Notre Dame
10. Florida
11. Ohio State
12. Ole Miss
13. BYU
14. Michigan
15. Texas A&M
16. Coastal Carolina
17. Michigan State
18. Fresno State
19. Oklahoma State
20. UCLA
21. Baylor
22. Auburn
23. North Carolina State
24. Wake Forest
25. Clemson
So the question is who out of the top 10 coaches would want to give up what they have built to move to Los Angeles, Calunicornia to coach the USC Trojans? Next question which ones are a good fit?
Don’t ask me. Bohn has a hugely tough job ahead of him, unless everything just falls right for him.
Georgia should be #1 based in schedule. Clemson with two losses stays in but San Diego St 4-0 isn’t in and then Texas A&M goes to just 15, why? Then we have Army, Boston College, and SMU at 4-0 unranked. Polls, ya just can’t trust them.
Alan- do you think Bohn had free reign to fire Helton after the 2019 season?
I can’t help but feel he was hamstrung, and forced to retain him, against his better judgement.
Any thoughts?
I really don’t know, but I tend to guess Folt held him back.
But that all started because of the persistent rumor that she was not pro-Trojan football. When Helton suddenly got space shipped out, some of us wondered whether Folt had simply changed when faced with a new reality, or maybe been misunderstood all the time. I don’t know.
It’s all part of this huge Trojan mystery. People working on this have done a great job of confusing this issue.
I have come to the realization that we have hit bottom, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This season is much like Hackett’s last(2000), where the team lost repeatedly, and look hopeless and aimless. As Alan said, this is an opportunity for a coach to come in, put his stamp on things, change the coaching staff, culture and how we recruit, and have a massive impact on our program.
Now Bohn has to go out and get the right guy. Until then, more embarrassing loses are on the immediate horizon.
I started my morning reading a USA today article about the fact that USC fans were right all along. Helton should have been fired in 2018. Then I turned off the tablet. Some people will correctly point out that McKay teams didn’t play well for a couple of seasons, but McKay didn’t start with the “talent” that is present at USC right now. The coaches have lost the ability to do their job due to their lack of respect for the head coach. The whole crew needs to go but it won’t happen. I place this fiasco of a season… Read more »
What do you think the talent level is on this team? I’m not seeing much. I think Folt and Bohn made the decision as soon as they could. As far as the level of wokeness on campus, well that is everywhere. We’ll see how it affects football. They make a great hire all is forgiven.
We have a few 4-5* players, but to many 3 star kids who could have been coached up but weren’t. USC is above all else just plain slow, at linebacker, running back, db’s and qb. As I watched OSU run around USC I was thinking “Oh man, what is ucla going to do to them”.
I am just not in the same boat. You take the job because of what you can do with it, not make excuses. For me personally I do not forget gross incompetence.
Donte clearly wanted to be a HC and he clearly thought he could do it. He is now learning that it is a lot more difficult than he thought. Let’s see what happens. This is his chance to see what he can do. We will see how quickly he learns. And, I agree, last night’s blow out loss to OSU ended any thoughts he had of becoming the permanent SC football HC.
I ever thought Donte was incompetent at what he was doing (although his position group was pathetic for the most part). He is just not ready to be a head coach if at all.
To answer you question, we started the year with a Heisman candidate at quarterback, a veteran defensive backfield and some pretty good receivers. I think the quarterback has regressed to his original self and may suffer from PTSD in our current backfield. Our defensive backfield is a shambles and the offensive line is a work in progress. The problem as pointed out by the article I referenced this morning is we have not built a foundation for the supposed stars to shine from. There was a time not too long ago that the offensive linemen were almost a lock for… Read more »
The toxic environment created by Helton over many years is still with us. He was on staff at our university since 2010 and that is too long. Based upon Slovis’ post game comments which I appreciate, this will take a long time to fix and remove the atmosphere of his kindergarten style of leadership for a major Division 1 college football program. We have been dealing with such scandals and doctor misbehaviors, and Varsity Blues issues that releasing Helton became a lower priority. I understand that. We are clearing the decks of these messy situations finally and we released Helton… Read more »
As far as I’m concerned, USC hit rock bottom last night in front of the home crowd. How much lower can the team go? There will be other bad defeats, but the blinders are off all the way now. USC is as bad as it’s EVER been. It’s a full-on Trojan shipwreck, I say. And Blackbeard’s not around to help out. We learned USC is truly, undisputably bad now, and that Donte Williams has no ability whatsoever to lead USC as the HC either. Frankly, he doesn’t look like he’s HC material period to me. Some coaches are just better… Read more »
I’m not sure we can make any decisions on Donte, it’s not fair to pin this mess on him. I’ll be clear, I don’t want him as our coach. We need an established guy who at worst will be really good. That is not Donte yet, but someday might be, or not. Clay sank the ship and Donte is here just to make the ride to the bottom slightly smoother.
I’ve never even come close to pinning this mess on Donte.
All I’ve said is that he’ll never be the one to come close to fixing it as USC’s HC.
I worded it poorly. My bad. I just don’t think Donte should have to wear this mess in his professional future.
Let’s put it this way, IMHO. Donte just had a REALLY bad week, both as a coach and spokesperson for USC football. Better luck next week Donte.
This team overall is fully on CH and the administration for keeping him for so long (they do not get a free pass). Donte also wears much of this. His group performed horribly. I saw a text last night from Su’a Cravens trashing their tackling technique, or lack their of. Also he has been speaking accountability, but for the most part did not pull players for their boneheaded plays. I lost count, how many false starts did Liam Jimmons have? Never came out. How about Slovis? At times you could argue he had no right to be on the field.… Read more »
I’m pretty sure there will be no Cat statue next to McKay’s.
Only if McKay’s foot is on his head.
My thought of the morning. Urban Meyer is the Medicine Man. He comes to town, he does the abundantly hard work to fix all that is wrong with your program, and he takes you to the top — almost supernaturally. Then, the moment you arrive there, he lowers the brim of his hat and saunters out of town in the night — on to the next needy town. Urban doesn’t like the assignment of trying to stay on top while everyone is gunning for you, like a Pete Carroll. The Medicine Man is not into that “Win Forever” stuff. He… Read more »
Rock you are reading my mind. I too am thinking this program is so far down what top 10 coach would want it? If James Franklin takes PSU to the Playoffs or even a top 10 rank, is he going to pack up, move across country and try to do that all over again? Second thought, this SC team showed some combo of lacking talent, desire, preparation. The latter two can be fixed with good coaching, talent will take time. How much time? It took Chip Kelly 3 seasons to turn around UCLA. Now with NIL/transfer maybe it can be… Read more »
USC’s gonna bring in a fantastic big-name coach.
It’s a perfect total rebuild opportunity that can launch a big-name guy into another stratosphere with his USC repair job. Get your wallet out Bohn. This one is gonna cost you.
But who will want to? A guy like Franklin, spends 15 years working up the ranks to be a HC, turns a low tier Power 5 program into a winner, gets a rebuild job at a top tier program, bring it back and now after 7 years you got it where you want, able to compete for NC. Unless he and his wife hate where they are and think LA would be awesome why would he leave?
The answer to those questions are really easy. USC is a school that wins championships when the right coach is there. Recruiting base is to good. History is too easy to sell. Any never underestimate a good coach and his ego.
Sure SC potentially can be great again but my point is who is going to want to come and rebuild the old broken down mansion when they are already living in a fully tricked out mansion?
For somebody out there, they absolutely will not be able to turn down USC and L.A.
I just have a good feeling about this. Not sure why. Maybe I just think USC is due.
Do we remember when MG couldn’t get the HCs he wanted before “settling” for PC? (Riley, Erickson, Peterson, etc) He kept getting turned down. Can you say the program was in similar shape back then as today and nobody good wanted it? And back then you had an AD & administration that supported playing football championships more than what we see today unless something remarkable has happened. Just thinking about that time.
Again, No James Franklin!
NO JAMES FRANKLIN!
Rock, I agree that now is the time to begin the house cleaning. We have seen what the “starters” can do and it is downright bad. Other than Drake Jackson & Drake London there isn’t a player whose job should be secure. IE Steele & Stewart – do you think we risk much if we play the 2020 recruits? Probably not. Is anyone happy with the LB play? No!!!! Let Davis and Simon play. Can they produce? Let’s find out. Time for Bohn/Donte to be bold.
So true. Were I Donte, I’d pull out all the stops. This may end up being the only time he’s ever a CFB HC, interim or otherwise.
Call off all your dogs Donte! Go for greatness now, and maybe something good will happen for USC football before the new Big Gun comes in.
He is stuck with this coaching staff. If the starters play like last night, is there any probability the backups are any better? Where we are lacking in execution there are depth issues. I don’t think Donte & staff have many options right now.
Were I Donte, I’d be just ruthless with my roster, playing only the most talented, enthusiastic guys. Seniority would matter not. It seems like USC might be struggling with a laziness/lack-of-buy-in problem, among many others. Just a wild guess.
And I was totally wrong about the new S/C guy’s positive effect on the team. He seems to have done nothing exceptional for USC, but makes one wonder what the successful programs do?
Successful programs have competent to elite coaches. S&C is necessary but is not a substitute for quality coaching, which SC has not had for 6 long years.
You don’t understand me — I’m not talking about winning anymore. That is not going to happen. This team is in for a lot of but kickings the rest of the season anyway. I am talking about putting the guys that want it and prove that out on the field, despite their slot on the depth chart. Let’s ruthlessly employ “always compete,” and reward the guys who deliver — not the guys who have the most stars on their old Rivals profiles. “Playoffs?! Don’t talk to me about … Playoffs!”
I am not sure I would put Drake Jackson in there. I don’t think he gives 110 percent of what he’s got, like a true champion and leader. The talent and the assets are there, but I don’t see the heart and desire with him. Maybe it is because of the culture. It has hurt him like many others. Things turn around when guys like Drake Jackson go next level. Start blowing up plays MORE OFTEN. He should have been eating that OSU offensive line for breakfast. But no. And Orlando needs to stop dropping him into coverage so often.… Read more »
I’d say Drake Jackson is a good, not great player. But compared to the rest of USC’s D, it’s still very nice to have him because he’s formidable physically. He can get after it when he wants to.
Rock, your on as always. But remember, some two plus years ago, Slovis came on the field when JT got hurt and he became Jaxson Dart. So what has happened these past two years? Kedon has gotten beaten on by a poorus OL. Due to Helton’s recruiting, his receivers are not getting space like previous ones as quickly. And also remember he is dinged up playing hurt. You can sense it watching him. He looks like an old man out there. Just imagine Slovis able to stand back in the pocket and can wait until his target is open. I… Read more »
Kedon’s problem is he drops back and there is never a threat he will run. We rarely roll him out. He doesn’t even step up well, he usually tries to curl around in the opposite direction, which is tough. Defenders know exactly where to go on every snap to get to him. This is Graham Harrell’s fault, and a bit Kedon’s for his lack of real athleticism. Harrell is awful. And Orlando is not looking so great right now either.
Rock, You nailed it. For GH’s style of Air Raid to work, he must have a very mobile QB (elite RB status ala Kyler Murray/Lamar Jackson or very saavy and mobile ala Sam Darnold). His style simply does not work with an immobile QB like Kedon. Interestingly, Lincoln Riley runs the air raid, but it is totally different in approach. I agree GH is awful; he seems to be very stubborn and unable to adjust his system to an immobile QB combined with a mediocre at best OL. I think what we are seeing is GH’s scheme runs the same… Read more »
Totally agree. Let’s see how Donte responds. His next game is away against an awful CO team. If it were me, I would play the kids who want to play and will give 100 percent effort. I remember when Lou Holtz was coaching I think Arkansas and he kicked about half of the starters off the team before a big bowl game. He said he wanted to go with kids who wanted to be there. He slaughtered the other team.
Horrible performance, this game showed why they better retain Mr Williams is some form, speed is missing, discipline is missing and fundamentals are missing. Several times the back or TE just walked into the open space wide open. 355 running yards with most coming after first contact. The only bright spot London might not make it through the season and Oregon State was willing to be penalized because they were going to make someone else beat them. Imagine beavers with chainsaws, scary thought!
Slovis with the quote and truth of the night “When you talk about accountability, you can’t start holding people accountable for two weeks and expect it to change everything,”
Mark Slovis down as a shell-shocked kid who thinks his 20 years or so as a human makes him an expert on all things football and leadership. Pipe down, snowflake and figure out what happened to your game skills of 2 years ago. 👎
Clay Helton is that you responding?
‘Ignorance is bliss’!– I too woke up this morning, not knowing the final score. Last night I turned in after the First Half thinking that Oregon St had come to play and to win, and that my bet of 13 1/2 points for SC was down the drain. Seemed like an even game…….
So I awake and scroll down to see “Final Score– 40-something to 20-something, and I think SC won big, until I suddenly realized it was Oregon St that won big. I let out a loud “Holy Cow!”…..
Short story. Need anything further be discussed?
Good morning to all. As with Chris, I am not at all mad. I look at the silver lining here. Reality crashed through last night and reality is a good thing. Donte Williams is not ready to be a HC yet. So, there is now no chance that he is our next HC. It is now also obvious how important the HC is to a program. We all knew the Cat was incompetent; in fact, it was obvious he was incompetent years ago. Yet he was allowed to run (and ruin) the SC football program for years. So we all… Read more »
Good to get thoughts of elevating the interim coach to head coach again out of the way early on, although it sucks that it had to come through a loss to the Beavers.
Rushmore, Good morning and I agree. The Stanford game ended The Cat’s career at HC and the OSU game ended any thought that Donte would get the job. The coaching search can now proceed with a clear focus. And, I think it obvious that this entire staff except Donte and the S&C coach are gone as well. Donte is an elite recruiter; he should be kept in that role.