USC scores 45 unanswered points in dominant win over Washington State
Day of debuts: QB Jaxson Dart shines in interim coach Donte Williams first game
Steve Henson (LA Times) — The debut of the day was that of USC interim coach Donte Williams, who replaced the fired Clay Helton after last week’s debacle against Stanford.
Another debut eclipsed even Williams leading the Trojans to a 45-14 victory at Washington State on Saturday.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart, a freshman who was the national high school player of the year in 2020, was thrust into the game after Kedon Slovis was injured on the first series.
And Dart delivered, overcoming early jitters to complete 30 of 46 passes for 391 yards and four touchdowns. He connected with Drake London 13 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Gary Bryant Jr. and Kyle Ford also caught touchdown passes.
The USC defense, porous throughout the first half, stiffened in the second half and contributed a touchdown when Drake Jackson forced a fumble on a sack in the end zone and the ball was recovered by Tuli Tuipulotu.
USC CB Jayden Williams and S Xavion Alford tackle WSU WR Calvin Jackson Jr. during the first half Saturday. (Young Kwak / AP)
Washington State was held to 174 yards passing and 99 yards rushing, the bulk of which came in the first half.
The victory improved USC to 2-1 and 1-0 under Williams, who was demonstrative and celebratory on the sideline as his team pulled away in the second half.
Dart’s 391 yards passing were the most by a Trojan in his debut and his performance likely will create a quarterback controversy when Slovis — the starter since 2019 — returns.
Last season at Corner Canyon High in Draper, Utah, Dart threw 67 touchdown passes and for 4,691 yards to go along with 1,195 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
latimes.com
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I just can’t get over the fact the “Jesus-moment” feeling came into the SC fans’ bosoms, both male and female, this week… In your dreams, would one have imagined SC losing in a cruel fashion, leading to Helton’s Respectful Goodbye….And respect is due him, now that we can look back. ‘Time heals all wounds.’ But what a wonderful feeling I have on this cool Sunday night in ‘The City of Angels’— the greatest city in the world, Los Angeles. Well, there might be a bit of a dispute over that, but does it matter? Those emotions come to me through… Read more »
I think Donte will make himself some big money this year. I would bet some of my credits he ends up with a head coaching gig somewhere. He is all culture all the time.
LOL>>>>> Watching tidbits of different press conferences after some of the NFL games …..After Raiders beat Steelers (I’m paraphrasing) Derek Carr started his press conference with something like “How about that Fresno State ….And how are they NOT in the Pac-12 ” …..Oh and he also said >>>”By the way I feel like Fresno State is the best team in California “.
AP Top 25 per Bleacher Report Each of the nation’s top 10 teams were victorious Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the Associated Press Top 25 poll was stagnant. Alabama and Georgia remain the nation’s top two teams, with Oregon sliding up to No. 3 after Oklahoma’s less-than-stellar showing against Nebraska. Penn State moved up four spots to No. 6 after an impressive win over Auburn, while Clemson slid down three spots to No. 9 despite winning this week. Here is a look at how the entire Top 25 played out. 1. Alabama 2. Georgia 3. Oregon 4. Oklahoma 5. Iowa 6. Penn… Read more »
Keep an eye on Cincy. As the Bearcats go in the polls, so does Fickell for the SC job.
I am pretty much okay with the AP poll, but the coaches poll I am not. How does Fresno beat ucla and still be ranked below them. I don’t always believe these coaches give it a lot of thought. It is also time for Texas A&M to take a big drop, they haven’t really had a hard game and eventually they will and lose it.
Thank goodness the backup QB Dart had the moxie to stay focused and the talent to get the football to the receivers. But it sure looked ugly for close to the whole first half. And that was due to the OL! OK maybe WSU has a decent defense. But surely not up to the talent level USC has supposedly on the other side. This time the porous OL execution almost got two QBs hurt. Don’t have a clue what the OL position coaches has been teaching but it’s not what will be needed playing better teams than WSU. As for… Read more »
I’m not into pre-season prognostications, instead waiting until the season is 1/4 completed, 3-games in, to make predictions: Oregon St– I thought they would cover against a poor Hawaii team, but SC looked like more of a lock vs Washington St. until it started pouring. Beavers will be no pushovers, but it would be appalling if SC lost this game. WIN At Colorado. I took a loss when Texas A&M failed to beat up the Buffaloes like Minnesota did yesterday. At least the weather won’t be the late October type. WIN Utah– Lost to BYU and now San Diego St.,… Read more »
Slovis can transfer and use this season as a redshirt year. Similar to the JT Daniels situation. I’m thinking the job is still Slovis’, but keep him on a short leash
Question, did SC make changes in the O Line personnel in the second half? If so, something you know who would not do.
I heard from the Fox Broadcast guys that one of our frosh tackles was pulled and the upperclassman that played the position last year was put into the game.
Saw McKenzie a lot in the 2nd half at RT. Didn’t pay attention to whether they just pulled Monheim, or slid him to LT and sat Ford…
You can have the dancing, prancing NFL; all I want is college football. And Donte Williams. So I will continue to campaign for him to be the next SC coach, beyond 2021. He (and Jaxson) lit a fire under this ex-introverted team.
But now Donte has a tough decision regarding his quarterbacks. The unwritten rule in sports is that when your No. 1 player goes down with an injury, and the No. 2 plays a great game in his stead, you still instill No. 1 back in the game when he is healthy….
Hopefully the coaching staff will make an unbiased decision with you know who out of the way.
P.S. LJ how’s that pile of 30K TDB coins feel sifting through your fingers? Nice win.
Thanks for the support, Golden Trojan, you and John are my only allies here, and I note you won 10,000 units on that game, keeping you alive after your losses with Alabama and sucla bets. And I liked your comment about whether it was best to lead a long average life or a short exciting life. I would prefer a long exciting life.
I recall vast majority not wanting that a couple of years ago… I think the displaced #1 went into obscurity playing for a chump team down South… I also recall that when the said #2 player had his breakout game, everybody was commenting on how he “lifted up” the team with his attitude, and the (un)said #1 couldn’t do that. Now we seem to be saying the same thing about #1 & #2 of this season. Oh, and do recall that time when a certain #3 QB lit up Utah, and there were rumblings about him starting the following week.… Read more »
Panthers (and Sam Darnold) winning 17-0 ……Darnold is 14/18….201 yds…….2TD’s
I didn’t start him. I started Burrow instead who has negative points. Should’ve known better.
Franklin and USC J. Brady McCollough (LA Times) — At Penn State, James Franklin has to deal with Ohio State within his own division, and, in most years, Michigan has been a pain to deal with too. USC, despite the results of the last decade, should expect to win the Pac-12 every year when things are rolling. That advantage, of course, comes from the plentiful talent in Southern California. USC should be able to recruit within a 100-mile radius of L.A. and stockpile top-five classes. Franklin is a formidable recruiter without such a luxury. The combination of the USC brand plus… Read more »
As I have said before I am not in on Franklin. We have just fired the absolute worst in-game coach in the history of football and we could possibly go to “I’m not convinced he is that good of an in-game coach”? That would not be close to a home run hire.
Would pass on Franklin.
But Luke Fickell and Matt Campbell would be great choices.
It would take a great package to get them to leave their situations.
It would be great to get a younger coach but who has been through
the mill as a HC.
Room to grow but enough experience to have learnt from mistakes.
Fickell brought his team back yesterday but they played very sloppy, penalties and a turnover. He has Notre Dame in 2 weeks. A win there and he has to go top of Bohn’s list and they know each other well.
Just Don’t think Franklin is a top tier coach. His teams don’t steadily improve to win division or conference championships. He can build programs but not championship level.
I don’t know much about Franklin, but have been told he possesses the following positives. Downsides to come later:
I will await the downsides to see if my opinion is swayed.
I keep seeing Franklin’s mug on TV and, if you take off his glasses and shave off the goatee, you’ve got Clay Helton with a little bit of a tan. IMO…. For that reason alone, pass! Let the nittany perverts of PSU enjoy him.
Also, I think Franklin gets about $ 9 million/year! He ain’t worth that much.
Click on my computer …..Google “College Sports Headlines ” ……..and see a headline that reads >>>”UCLA Upset by Fresno State ” ……Now that is a good way to start a day …….FIGHT ON !!!!!
Reggie tossed out Deion Sanders yesterday. No go for us, but I really do think he will be the #1 guy for FSU. He is charismatic enough to recruit at elite levels. Get him some coaches and he could be great there.
The reason Fresno St beat ucla is because they are that good. They have been playing good ball all season and get better each week. That is why I bet on them every week. They are very very well coached and motivated, DeBoer has to be considered for the USC job no doubt. Perhaps now they will get the recognition they deserve and be rated in the top 25 after giving Oregon the game with two fumbles and beating ucla after giving them two touchdowns on fumbles, with an injured QB that stayed in to play and win. Of course… Read more »
Let’s also remember that the bRuins are not very good. They beat a really bad LSU team and the overreaction that followed was silly. Chip has been terrible. He doesn’t like to recruit and it shows. He’s an OK play caller, but everyone knows how to play against uptempo spread now. This is the first of many losses this year for that team.
The thing I can’t ignore is that had Fresno held on to the ball against Oregon, they would have won. They played Oregon really tough even though Oregon had gained momentum. The score over ucla would have been really embarrassing for ucla had Fresno not turned over twice for td’s. They also beat Uconn and CalPoly by gigantic scores in each. They are one of the few teams to have four games in.
I sat in awe of USC, Donte, and the turnaround that happened against WSU. An incredible comeback in such a stylish way was way overdue for us fans. Dart is obviously the guy, even if Slovis is healthy and I am a big Slovis fan. Still problems with the run game but otherwise it seemed the passing game looked a lot different. Donte has a tough decision to make this week.
Ingram had zippo for room to run. Hope we can somehow provide that for him as the season goes on. I like him, as well as that other transfer Barlow. I like them both slightly better than Stepp and Carr from what little I’ve seen so far. Good exchange for the Trojans in that regard. But our OL is still way behind for lack of a better description, like USC fans have been worried about all year.
It will be interesting to see going forward. WSU said going in they were going to stuff the box, which they did most of the time. But they still were in the backfield when they only rushed 4. But they payed heavily for this due to the Superman like performance of Dart. If Fart is in there (or Slovis finds a way to get his head on straight) teams will have to start double teaming the receivers opening up running lanes.
There were plenty of plays were Dart had plenty of time to throw, that at least is an improvement.
I think this future QB starter designation issue could become a real problem for Donte Williams.
Slovis is suddenly in a real precarious spot, as worthy as he may be. I am sure he has his supporters on the team. But Dart gives USC a chance to improve the most IMO.
What’s Williams gonna decide?
agree with you that there are players in Slovis’ corner, also read a lot of good comments from players about Dart. What made Darts performance even better was that he did it with his knee hurt not allowing him to use his legs as much as he normally would. Fact is that Slovis is having a big problem getting out of his own head. I think his body has healed but he is holding himself back. Dart can run much better and currently is throwing a much better long ball. I feel for Slovis but he may no longer be… Read more »
Who’s to say Slovis wouldn’t have rallied the offense if the OL had kept him on his feet. Slovis is your starter and has the game experience. You don’t pull a QB who shows he can win. You pull O-linemen who can’t protect the QB and open holes for RBs!
Slovis will deservedly start while many of us will be rooting for Dart to take over, without USC having to lose games because of it.
If Slovis can win the games, it is fine for me if Dart sits and waits his turn. Slovis has paid his dues and I agree with Jamaica that you put in a lineman that wants to protect his qb.
Dart’s mobility is effective for our offense as he naturally moves the pocket where Slovis is a pure drop back passer. This is one major reason Dart was so effective, it allowed him time for routes to develop and go through his reads. Slovis usually doesn’t have time, and this whole situation is not because of Slovis, it is because of the O line just like it was with JT. JT now has time and is quite successful at Georgia.
the decision may be put off another week—that injury was a significant whip-lash type injury in my view. Slovis may be laid up longer than a week…
Good info. Let Slovis heal. Get Dart experience and Coliseum playtime. Perfect.
After thinking about yesterday’s game, I had this perspective: most of the first half was a redux of the Huggs the Cat era. It reminded us of why the HC change was LONG overdue. But the rest of that wonderful game showed how emphatic positive leadership with high expectations can bring the best from talented players.
It’s a long season, but what a beautiful start!
Not to mention what the bRuin game did for our recruiting image in Los Angeles. I was getting sick every time I heard the Powder Blue fans saying the tide is about to turn. JMHO
TT — You should read Bill Plaschke’s LA Times column on the Bruins after FRESNO ST abused them:
“We have to make plays when it’s our turn and we didn’t,” said Chip Kelly.
This year was supposed to be their turn. And it still can be, if Thompson-Robinson somehow evolves into a consistent game-changer and the defensive backs can get their scripts straight.
The bandwagon wasn’t totaled.
But on just the third lap of its journey, it has already been run off the road.
latimes.com
Sorry I missed the best half of SC football since Sam left. Granted it was against a bad team with a lousy pass defense, but Clay’s Cats never did it absent Sam. Dart passes for about 400 yards, the team plays its best 2nd half in 4 years, the D made major adjustments, and SC has hope. I really hope Donte can keep it going. And, he has to play Dart, even if Kedon can play next week. Dart can beat Utah and ND and ASU and BYU and UCLA. Doubt Kedon can.
Closing out.
CU had 63 yds total offense (-19 rushing) today in their 30-0 loss to MINN.
I have no idea where Karl Dorrell goes from here. He plays what will be a very upset, bounce-back-minded ASU team next Saturday in Tempe. Good luck with that Karl.
We all know where Dorrell will end up…gone. He may not last the season he is so bad, different from Helton but similar in some ways, all bad.
Such bad luck for CU. They suddenly lose upstart newbie Mel Tucker to MICH ST, who looks like he’s got legs there, and they get Karl Dorrell in exchange. I feel for the Buffs, now horrible again.
The coaching search should also be going on at Colorado right now.
This has been one of my greatest CFB days ever!
UCLA loses in the Rose Bowl to FRESNO ST QB Jake Haener, who is obviously hurt, but undaunted and totally amazing in victory. 40-37. Sorry Bruins! I mean, little gutties. Better luck next time. Not really. 😂
Take the time and watch a replay of the 4th quarter, it was amazing. The Mountain West has the Pac-12’s number today.
I’ve never seen a gutsier performance by a QB than what I saw today from injured Bulldog QB Jake Haener. I don’t know how he did it, but he did, connecting over and over and over and over again to sink the overly confident little gutties despite all the breaks the Bruins seemed to get.
I had never even heard of this transfer from UW before today. Thank you Jake for just totally ruining UCLA today. It was exhausting, but one of the most satisfying and wonderful Bruin losses I have seen in the last 60 years.
It was amazing to watch, bolstered, of course, by the correct result!
Well, UCLA chokes again. Bruins cannot help being Bruins! Did not expect it, but not bothered by it. Even though I beat against it. Looks like both of us overestimated the Bruins. Looks like Fresno took away the Bruin power run game and forced DTR and their D to win the game. D could not do it.
Actually, the Bruin offense was pretty good from what I saw, though spotty. Actually, I’m totally wrong. UCLA could only muster 16 first downs. UCLA just could NOT stop FRESNO ST (33 first downs). With 54 secs left, the Bulldogs took UCLA apart and Haener just completed perfect pass after pass (while injured and in pain) until he scored again (428 yds and 2 TDs) with like 15 secs left. It was a beautiful sight to see. Go Bulldogs! What a game. 40-37! It’ll take a long time for the Bruins to live this loss down, if ever. What a… Read more »
It is always great to see someone become a believer. Go Bulldogs.
Did you pay attention to how many upsets yesterday? We counted 12, not even figuring the spread, just plain upsets. What an exciting day, except perhaps for Vegas.
Alan, this has been a spectacular week for so many reasons: -Helton fired(finally) -Donte holds the team together, and we fight our way back to a big victory -Dart looks like the second coming of Sam Darnold( a generational player) -fucla blows it against FSU, and their perfect season is over. They may come back to earth, and were listening to too much hype at ESPN, about how they could crash the playoffs. -And to top it off, SC BB beats out Baylor and the bruins for a 5 Star center I don’t see how it gets any better than… Read more »
It’s been a beautiful week to be a Trojan. I’m loving every second of it.
Seriously, what a great game by Bulldog QB. Just awesome!
Horrible day for pac 12. I’m hoping it gets worse in the next few minutes, let’s go Bulldogs!
That Bulldog QB, Haener, is quite a player!
Wow, that kid is a gamer.
Looks like Florida St will have a job opening soon as well.
The Sunshine State really took it in the shorts today. MIA, UF and FSU all lost and FSU and MIA are basically miserable outfits. Love it, especially when the ‘Canes, the home of the evil and corrupt Paul Dee, are bad.
Looks like BYU would be 2-0 in the PAC South too, Tied with San Diego St. What the hell is going on! Ha! And if Fresno beats UCLA, the Mountain West Conference is our Daddy! Go figure College Football. That’s why we can love it and hate it all at the same time
23-10 Fresno over UCLA. Go Bulldogs!
Upset Bruin? 20-10 Fresno late second
Go Bulldogs. Embarrass UCLA in the Rose Bowl please!
Fresno is better than LSU.
Fresno leading UCLA 13-7 now.
San Diego State just beat Utah .
Crazy day. Beautiful USC win. One of my favorites in a long time.
I think I just saw Clancy Pendergast on the UCLA sideline. Bruins lead FRESNO ST 7-6 in the first Q with 3:59 to go.
This game was great in that I was listening to the radio broadcast while doing chores around the house. I can’t remember the last time I listened to a radio broadcast. I thought for USC was going to lose when they fell behind 14-0 and was happy with how they came back. This would never happen under Helton. We would have folded since we would have been shell shocked. Happy with the win!
I thought about Helton when USC started to pile it on today. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad for him, which felt completely inappropriate. He doesn’t deserve that compassion because he really cleaned up on the Trojans.
It was amazing to see the entire USC team get into the WSU game in a way that was strangely absent under Helton. Whatever happens to Donte, he had quite a day today. Was it Donte? Or was it Jaxson who made the Trojans change course?
Now the question is who do you start next week. Jaxson or Kedon?
Me, I start Jaxson, because he is USC’s QB of the future and for USC, the future is now. Every snap Jaxson takes gets us readier for a team like ND.
But Slovis will start, and he probably deserves it. I just wish he’d get his mojo back and start playing like he’s much more sure of himself.
USC has an honest-to-goodness QB starting dilemma. Clay Helton screwed this exact thing up in the Browne vs Darnold debacle. He never recovered. Hopefully, Donte doesn’t make the same mistake and cost USC a game or two in the process.
All I needed to know about Donte happened very late in the game. WSU was trying to get a late score against the 2nd and 3rd teamers and many players on the sidelines were seated on the bench not paying attention or standing around joking with each other. Obviously Clay allowed this. Donte yelled at them to get up and get to the sidelines for their teammates on the field. A culture change will help get this Trojan team back to where we all expect them to be.
I understand the sentiment. Helton will never miss another meal cause SC set him and his family up financially for life. I’ll be real curious to see if he gets another head coaching job, and where. Maybe his brother’s conference
Clay’s a program killer. (“Killing me softly…”). I really believe that.
He made USC as soft as my favorite pillow. That was so evident today when we all got the chance to see USC really get after it.
For some reason, I think Clay’s gonna catch on again at a lesser school from a lesser conference. He seems to have the ability to hypnotize those who write the checks. I really have no idea how he does this.
Utah having a bit of trouble with San Diego State .
After a bad start they kept it together and just played football. Halftime adjustments we definitely made. Dart looked poised and other than the interception (which was basically a punt) he played great. After the half, the offense and the defense were finally on the same page and played inspired! Hopefully we get more of this next week, anxiously awaiting to see what the crowd looks like!
IMO Dontae is the only current coach that is a must retain guy. His recruiting skills and connections are too valuable for any new HC to let go. I might consider So’oto because he is so close to the Polynesian community. But to be brutally honest, if the new guy cleans house and brings in a whole staff of his guys I am OK with that.
I would like to keep Dontae as well, but at the very least he would have to keep the same titles and that might be tough for a new coach to swallow.
The downside of having an interim guy is they can look really good over a small sample size. That fools gold can lead to bad long term decisions. No knock on Dontae but I think an experienced guy is needed to take on the rebuild that is needed. Keeping Dontae as an assistant or even assistant head coach is ok with me. Even if he goes undefeated I still don’t give him the HC job. I wonder what Bohn told Dontae when he gave him the job. Any expectation he would get a chance at the HC job?
I read he would be told that he would be considered, but Bohn also said there is no substitute for HC experience.
I read that too. But it was a pretty ambiguous statement. Kinda like a non denial denial. The only thing we know for sure is that Clay is gone. And that is a good thing.
This USC coaching search is shaping up to be a regular Sherlock Holmes affair! So many angles. So much pressure on USC to get this right. The future of CFB rests on Troy. It’s amazing how quickly things can change in this game.
I won’t mind if the search is done quietly and professionally. Bohn has already done a better job than Haden or Swann.
So true. The failure of both Trojan heroes Haden and Swann to have the faintest clue about how to be ADs hopefully marks the end of an era that will never be repeated at USC.
As I call it a night UCLA is losing at the half. Do you think you can handle a Saturday that USC wins & UCLA loses? Christmas comes early.
I pray UCLA doesn’t come back. They only ran 15 offensive plays in the first half and are only behind 23-10. So I’m afraid they will come to life in front of a home crowd that will boooo them like they were coached by The Cat Helton if the #14 ranked Bruins lose.
Those two are failed examples of the
“They Get USC” misplaced philosophy.
True, things change rapidly…but, dynasties take a little longer.
Oregon woke up .
The team that is giving Oregon a little trouble tonight got blown out last season by Maine University .
stony brook
The local NY Media consider Stony Brook Univ ( from Long Island NY ) to be a program that is BARELY Division 1 level ……..and Oregon should be rolling over them (which they ain’t ) .
Oregon appears to play to the level of their opponent.
Well, I left at half. I then was able to catch up in mid 4th Q. I could not believe it! It appears SC actually made some half time adjustments and a different team showed up in the second half. Allen was right about Dart. The staff must play him as he has a much higher potential than Kedon. It was like Darnold replacing Browne. The OL play was still awful – GH does not know how to scheme runs. If this team improves, and the only way that happens is with Dart, it will be a difficult out for… Read more »
Earlier in the week Allen said Harrell and Orlando will be replaced at the end of the season. Now I agree whole heartedly. There was adjustment on defense but the line couldn’t move a grape downhill. I hope Donte gets on that Monday.