No. 7 USC’s rematch with No. 4 UConn puts spotlight on JuJu Watkins
Watkins will be tested against the Huskies and Paige Bueckers, who ended the Trojans’ NCAA Tournament run last April
USC guard JuJu Watkins shoots over UConn’s Paige Bueckers in their Elite Eight NCAA tourney game on April 1, 2024, in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
No. 7 USC (10-1) at No. 4 UConn (9-1), Saturday, 5 p.m. PT, XL Center, Hartford, Conn,FOX (Ch. 11)
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — The day after JuJu Watkins’ first college basketball season ended, her tears long dried but the pain still burning, longtime trainer Phil Handy texted the USC sensation to keep her head held high.
The Trojans’ cardinal-carpet NCAA Tournament run had ended at the start of April at the hands of a Connecticut program that represented everything Watkins and these Trojans wanted to be. She was hounded off the ball and there was only so much the freshman could do, taking over a third of her program’s shots from the floor in a 29-point losing effort. And Watkins broke down at the postgame podium, struggling to choke out words to properly describe what the year had meant to her.
Remember this feeling, Handy remembered writing the next day, part of a longer message. Remember what it feels like, and let it fuel you to come back better.
“She just shared that, ‘Man, it hurt,’” Handy recalled, speaking with the Southern California News Group on Thursday. “She’s like, that’s one of the worst feelings she’s ever had after losing a game.”
There was one certainty after that loss that the entirety of USC’s locker room knew: Watkins would come back motivated, and better, in 2024-25. The secret of how, exactly, is a concept at the core of Watkins’ ability to hit her own ceiling, a concept she has been working through with Handy since they first began working together entering her high school years.
“There are times, yes, when great players, you’ve got to take the game over,” Handy said. “And then there are times when great players have to continue to rely on their teammates.”
“And she’s, she’s figuring that out, man.”
On Saturday, against the program that left her brokenhearted eight months ago, Watkins has as good a chance as any to showcase her development on a massive stage. No. 7 USC’s rematch with No. 4 UConn (9-1) on Saturday night is the very definition of prime time, with Watkins going head-to-head again with Huskies senior star Paige Bueckers. It is FOX’s only women’s basketball game of the season that will have an NFL game as a lead-in, as FOX Vice President of Collegiate Sports Derek Crocker told the Southern California News Group.
But USC (10-1) has come reloaded, with Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen feasting down low and Oregon State transfer guard Talia Von Oelhoffen finding her role on the perimeter. And a year after a masterfully coached UConn program knocked USC out of the Elite Eight by keying defensive attention on Watkins, Watkins’ ability to read the floor and trust teammates will be paramount in any attempt at retribution.
“We know how good JuJu is, but also, other people kind of finding their rhythm and playing off of her … that’s something I think we’ve continued to grow with,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters on Thursday. “But that’s how teams become great.”
Two weeks after that April loss to UConn, Watkins sat with her family for lunch with Handy, the former Lakers assistant coach. They sketched out a plan for her offseason direction. Paramount, as Handy said, was continuing to drill her understanding of how to attack defenses; her “basketball IQ catching up to her skill level,” he put it.
“She’s always been super open to it, very aggressive with it,” Handy said, “and just understands that that’s where her game is going to have to really take the most growth.”
She has shown more poise as a sophomore. Her efficiency is up, shooting 45% from the floor after 40% her freshman year. Her assists are up, from 3.3 per game to 3.7. Her turnovers are down, from 4.1 to 3.2. But Watkins has still been prone to forcing the issue, as any transcendent scorer sometimes is, Notre Dame limiting her to 24 points on 10-of-25 shooting in a sobering early-season loss.
“You can definitely see in moments, when we turn over, things start to go wrong, she can get in a mode of – just go score,” Von Oelhoffen said in a wide-ranging conversation with the Southern California News Group a couple of weeks ago. “Because she, so, that’s how she impacts the game. And she’s great at it. But I think as she matures, and we start to trust each other more, just knowing that she does have help and we’re there.”
Watkins’ grasp of that Saturday will be fascinating to watch, particularly against the hyper-efficient Bueckers. The UConn senior guard’s precision has been eye-popping: She’s averaging 20.6 points per game, shooting 58% from the floor and 44% from 3-point range. She’s had a star running mate in freshman forward Sarah Strong, a 6-foot-2 inside-out threat who has averaged 17.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 56%.
USC will need all hands on deck to counter. Iriafen’s matchup with Strong in the frontcourt will be fascinating. With freshman Kennedy Smith out after having an unspecified surgery a month ago, Von Oelhoffen will likely be tasked with checking Bueckers for long stretches. And Watkins will have to capably balance her own looks with her capacity to create for others.
“Just making sure that she knows that, while it may seem like the weight of the world is on her shoulders – it’s not,” Von Oelhoffen said in early December. “We’re there for her.”
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Still can’t believe how Oregon got shafted in the playoff bracket. Got to believe the committee lead by an envious Michigan AD putting it to them with a “Burma Road” gauntlet getting to the championship game. Even when I lived up in Northwest Oregon and rooted for the beavers to beat OU, I now want the ducks to make it to the championship game and win, then tell the committee to shove it!
It looks like Deuce Robinson probably picked the right place to go. Most of FSU’s best receivers were seniors and, so far, he’s the only portal transfer WR coming in. They have a good portal transfer QB coming in from Boston College. He looked seriously at ASU(he’s from Arizona). Surpriseingly he chose against them. They have one WR who caught 75 passes last year and another transferring in from Fresno State who caught 48 passes. They were both sophomores last year.Maybe he doesn’t like competition. I think his father went to FSU. That may have been a factor.
Sometimes you have to worry about what you wish for.
I’m sure the 2-loss TENN Vols were overjoyed they made the first 12-team playoffs.
Then they get paired up in Round 1 against a pissed-off OHIO ST team that destroys them in such overwhelming fashion that basically their entire 2024 season has been ruined despite beating hated rival ALA.
So often, it’s how you finish that matters. It’s gonna be a long, long offseason for the Vols.
So who was that Notre Dame fan dressed in a pink bunny suit with a pulsating green Irish shamrock? I know they don’t tell liquor inside the ND stadium. But that fan merits a drug test in that outfit in that weather. And personal history proves liquor can be secreted into ANY stadium.
I still have a hangover from my first Bay Area weekend in 1970 when I watched STAN beat us 24-14. The Indians, as they were called then when led by Jim Plunkett, were pretty good and beat #2 OHIO ST in the Rose Bowl that season 27-17.
That was the literally last time I could ever stomach bourbon which was flowing freely in these old wooden end zone stands where we were still wallowing in rot gut misery from the night before. Some memories just never go away.
I absolutely loved going to the Bay Area games and with the alcohol flowing, I never saw any fights in the stands like we see today but there were a few close calls over girls.
Want to win big time college football games? For the 4 winners this weekend, % of plays were pass attempts:
ND 48%, Penn St 38%, Texas 38%, Ohio St 48%. USC v ND 63%, USC v Penn St 58%. The Air Raid is Genius.
Here’s what a fraternity brother of mine wrote which was published by the LA Times Letters to Sports sectionyesterday:
“I’m a fan of the USC tradition to not put the players’ names on the back of their football jerseys, but until the NCAA figures out this NIL and transfer portal disaster the Trojans might need to put the names on the jerseys just to know who’s still there!”
Good point…..even serious fans are getting confused. There was a discussion some where about having contracts to prevent the…..you don’t like me or play me….I’am gone crap. They are pros so it’s time to treat them like pros. Personally I’d like to see more cash shared with the players but it has to be distributed in a more equitable and professional way.
Women of Troy Conquer UCONN in Hartford, CT Shotgun Spratling (USCFootball.com) — JuJu Watkins scored six of USC’s final eight points to carry her team to a dramatic 72-70 victory Saturday night. The Trojans didn’t fall apart after blowing a big lead. They weren’t fazed by the sold-out crowd of 15,684. “The team stuck together today,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We punched first, we made a lot of shots, and when it got hard down the stretch, we held together, and no one got off the treadmill, which is something we talked about together. So really, really proud of a big win.” Watkins… Read more »
USC vs UCONN (each team has lost to ND) going right to the wire. Tied 67-67 with two mins to go. At one time USC led by 18 points. Lots of Trojan turnovers.
USC almost let this one slip away, gave up an 18 point lead, but squeaked it out, 72-70. Their Achilles heal is turn overs. They get sloppy and try to go too fast at times. Big win in a tough venue.
How about USC just sticking to the Cardinal and Gold at home or on the road? That would be a mini step towards the different uniforms Phil Knight buys Oregon every week.
So for all of the bemoaning the playoffs and de-emphasis of the traditional bowls, we still have a P12/B1G Rose Bowl matchup. RB committee must be happy, at least for this year. Although the first 4 games were duds, the expanded playoffs shows promise. One of the reasons I like it is the exact opposite of the “tradition” angle, which is seeing matchups that we never/rarely see. I was amazed when they said Clemson and Texas had never played. Also the rarity that Indiana and ND have played, 2 schools just a couple of hundred miles apart. Great stuff, here’s… Read more »
I enjoyed all the games despite the blowouts. The home-field advantages loomed big.
CLEM fought hard but TEXAS is too talented everywhere. The Vols simply got outclassed against an angry, heavily motivated Buckeye team. IU was overwhelmed by an incredibly solid and well-balanced sleeper Irish team. More physical PSU totally humiliated SMU’s quarterback from the get-go.
Ohio State giving a butt whipping to Tenn…….three of 4 games in the cold midwest……About time some of the big time bowls are played close to home for the BIG…….The BIG welcomes them boys to the tundra. Hope you enjoy hitting concrete when you go down. . Kirk stated today Indiana did not belong in the playoffs due to their loss at Notre Dame…..He might want to check out SMU and Tenn. Of course they are from the south so we don’t bring it up.
Enjoy your slushy with real snow!
Absolutely. Now, we’ve got the Ducks, the Buckeyes, and the Nittany Lions to carry the torch for our conference. I’m rooting for the Ducks vs the Lions to make it into the NC game. But the Buckeyes looked so fantastic last night, the Ducks look like they’re really gonna have their hands full.
I love this expanded playoff format and these upcoming quarter-final games are gonna be insanely interesting.
It was not right to have the BIG together in the Rose Bowl (it will be a great game)…….Oregon as the number 1 seed is getting the roughest matchups against Ohio St and Texas while Georgia cruises thru ND and Penn St. LOL…..it’s Sunday, I’am tired from yesterday and my wife has me cleaning for Christmas……so being crabby. If Oregon wins it they will have truly beaten them all…….what will the SEC say about their dominance. So full of —-. Tenn last night looked like they were totally out of their league…..the refs handed them their first TD and the… Read more »
Ya, the Ducks got hosed in the seeding. They’ve still got some things to work out in this playoff format, but it’s definitely better than anything I’ve ever seen before at this new post-season stage of CFB.
It’ll be great when we finally get a Trojan team in this circus.
Until then, I’ve become a huge women’s Trojan basketball fan.
Watching them beat UCONN last night 72-70 was an incredible event before something like 16,000 fans. Both teams have amazing athletes and know how to win.
I realized yesterday that if Oregon gets past Ohio St, they will have to travel to Dallas to play Texas. Hardly a neutral site for the #1 seed. You can’t plan who will make the playoffs and what seedings they get and then decide location. I like giving weight to conference champs and conference runner ups. Maybe Alabama would have been better than SMU or Indiana, but they lost 3 games and sat on their butts on Conference Championship Saturday. I have no complaints, so what if the first round were blow outs the losers didn’t quit. Next year we… Read more »
I agree with you, I thought the teams that were selected were the teams the most deserving, no matter what Kiffen, the mouth of the south, or espn the clown network says. I hope the committee stands strong against all the whining and complaining from the SEC and perhaps the SEC will finally quit padding their schedules and play real football teams then their SOS will mean something. College football is so much fun simply because of all the upsets every weekend.
And I’m sure ASU and Boise St will get a big ole can of whup a** opened up on them. So what, they won their conference. Plenty of NFL teams make the playoffs by barely winning in a weak division. Upsets happen all the time.
I’m glad that both ASU and BOISE ST are in the POs, if for no other reason than I get to see both Cam Skattebo and Ashton Jeanty work their amazing skills carrying the rock.
As you say, anyone who lost three reg season games should take a cold shower and focus on winning whatever pretty good bowl game they still managed to get slotted into.
espn, the clown network, is so SEC prone it is nowadays totally obvious, they don’t even care that their bias is showing. Herby is simply a victim of being at the top of his pay scale and having to toe the line to maintain that paycheck. It has devalued his opinion a few degrees to where you can take it or leave it.
How long can it be before we see USC in some solid gold, cardinal or black uniforms?
ND wore all white against us and they put names on the back of their playoff game jerseys. OHIO ST is in all scarlet tonight. The examples of these variations are becoming endless.
It’s got to happen…..when ND does it we look like a bunch of old ladies out there and the kids want to be cutting edge. A fews weeks ago I noted how cool ND looked, imagine USC in all gold uniforms with red helmets. Its entertainment.
Indeed. Kids like change and flash and new ways to brand themselves. Who can blame them? It’s fun. They earn money and exposure in so many different ways now. USC can keep it’s great traditions and still grow with the times as well.
Should we keep the famous two red stripes on the pants? I say yes.
When I was a high school QB in the early 1970s, the goal was to get to USC and wear the uniform. The traditional uniform meant something to me. Unfortunately, my goal wasn’t achieved as USC had Pat Haden, Vince Evans, and Rob Hertel who quarterbacked USC from 1973-1977. Paul McDonald then led USC to a National Championship in 1978 and then in 1979 teamed up with Charles White and Marcus Allen to give USC one of its most formidable backfields. While I’m not opposed to some solid color jerseys for some special games in the future, the traditional USC… Read more »
One thing that has definitely been a great idea in the new 12-team playoff format is the playing of these games at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded teams. College football has always had the advantage of its passion and pageantry. No other sport in America has ever matched that. Watching these initial playoffs at Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas has been fantastic despite the lopsided contests (which can be corrected by seeding and team selection), though CLEM still has a longshot chance at TEXAS, losing 38-24 having just been stopped on the one yd line with seven mins… Read more »
Imagine in some fantasy world… USC has a first round playoff game at the Coliseum followed by a quarterfinal game at The Rose Bowl! The USC haters would be lighting their hair on fire?
Can Lincoln Riley somehow fix the beleaguered, downtrodden state of USC football? The TDB will be debating this hot topic every day until the 2025 season starts.
Isn’t that debate over? The only debate now is when can Jen Cohen pull the trigger on a new hire. LR would be gone already if he didn’t cost so much to fire.
I have no idea what Jen Cohen thinks of this Lincoln Riley issue, or if she has any idea of how she would get the enormous payoff money to send him off while she’s also still fundraising $50 plus mil more for Riley’s new football facility under construction. USC is also spending a lot of NIL money to still give Riley what he wants right now. LR’s still holding all the cards. New coaches are being hired. Who would come who didn’t think LR had at least some sort of a future at USC? LR will go down fighting. He’s… Read more »
Bring in the Bulk Baby! Credit Coach Henny… Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Earlier this week, 350-pound Jamaal Jarrett was all but convinced he’d sign with Arkansas. The big-bodied Georgia transfer wanted to stay in the SEC, after all. He’d visited Fayetteville on Tuesday, and came back telling agent Bobby McRae he planned to take the rest of his visits – USC, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and more – but would probably be a Razorback. I just felt so comfortable there, the defensive tackle told his agent. Then he came to Southern California and met Eric Henderson.… Read more »
I saw this yesterday but didn’t have time to fully read the article until it showed up in the late edition of the paper today. Something stuck with me. The player has an agent. A few short years ago this would have been a violation of the rules. Agents were only allowed after the player decided to declare for the pro football draft. It’s kind of revealing that kids out of high school, under the pretense of going to college, are being advised by people whose sole purpose is to make money off the success of their clients. How crass… Read more »
I had forgotten all about Cuba Gooding’s famous “Show Me The Money” tirade despite my intense enjoyment of “Jerry Maguire” (even though Tom Cruise is wearing a Notre Dame T-shirt when he pens his ill-fated mission statement).
Little did we know what was around the corner. It sure arrived like a thunderbolt!
Let’s see how well Jah Jarrat ends up doing. Because he has a big body doesn’t mean he will be good. There’s a lot of players out there who look like Tarzan and play like Jane. Not too long ago we got a former 5 star from Alabama(Ishmael Sophsher) and he hardly ever got on the field.
How many of USC’s D linemen have not progressed and gotten better under Henderson/Nua? Give him spring, summer, and fall, this will be the defensive plug USC needs to make the D line successful.
Georgia DL Transfer Jamaal “Jah” Jarrett Commits to USC Scott Schrader (WeAreSC) — Georgia defensive line transfer Jamaal “Jah” Jarrett announced his commitment to USC on Saturday morning after visiting USC on Wednesday.
USC also gained a huge commitment from Keeshawn Silver earlier this week.
Jarrett was a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, the nation’s No. 183 overall recruit and No. 21 defensive lineman. But he was seen as more of a developmental prospect by Georgia due to his size as a recruit, listed at 6-foot-5, 380 pounds.
True. As usual with LR, too little too late. We might be good down the line. USC’s just gonna have to take its lumps and it isn’t fun getting shredded by the CFB media on a daily basis. Plus, we’re losing our own fan base to a limited extent which has become sadly disheartened by so many USC football program mistakes over the last 15 years. The list is long and embarrassing. But LR made this bed for USC and he’s gonna have to live with it. As parcelman007 pointed out, we have no idea if 380-lb Jarrett (USC says… Read more »
Why would good, starting O-linemen want to leave their programs for the portal? They are like key treasures to a team’s success — and every team needs a lot of them and they’re getting paid whatever the market rate is for them. Since USC isn’t a winning program right now, we can’t attract guys who want a chance to play for a program that can get them the ring, or at least a great bowl and stronger NFL prep. Unfortunately, USC is also not considered a program that develops and improves its players. Quite the contrary. That’s one of the… Read more »
SC played well all year last year. They were the best 6-6 team in the nation. But it is about culture and establishing a championship mentality. Championship teams don’t lose those close games. It doesn’t do you any good to be the best 6-6 team in the country if you are just 6-6.
Sorry, but the “best 6-6 team in the country” doesn’t do much for me. Instead, it sounds pitiful to me, assuming it’s even true, which is debatable.
The Trojans often stunk when the game was on the line and we lost to crap teams like MARYD and MINN. We barely beat horrible UCLA. Poor under-siege Miller Moss was lucky he wasn’t hurt. I definitely don’t agree that we played well all last year. Not in my eyes.
“Woulda, shoulda, coulda” — the eternal mantra of all those who lost. PSU came all the way across the country to beat USC in OT. The Trojans totally folded and looked pitiful in OT. I think we went backward if memory serves. We deserved to lose and looked bad doing it. I never thought USC was going to beat ND, even though once again we were at home. ND was beating us 35-21 at the end of the 3rd Q. We’re not a comeback team and I never thought we would overcome that big disadvantage and win. We ended up… Read more »
The players played hard in everyone of those games.We were behind 35-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter. That means that the game is over right because we are always ahead in the 4th quarter and then we lose it. But not this time…..we won the 4th quarter against ND and we still found a way to give them the game. The great teams win those games in the 4th quarter.It’s a mental thing. they have no confidence that they can win at the end of the game.
Nobody ever said the USC players didn’t play hard. In fact, I’ve always said I really like this 2024 team for its fight and resilience. But that’s never been enough for any team to win in football, or any sport. It’s bottom-line expected, in fact. Performing when it counts is what this Trojan team has rarely been able to do all season. USC couldn’t overcome ND in the end because Jayden Maiava, who was forced to throw the ball 50 times, threw two ridiculously bad, inaccurate passes near or in the end zone that were both picked off by different… Read more »
I don’t know that we see it so differently.I’m certainly not saying that this team is where it needs to be.I do take issue with some people(not necessarily you) who implicate that this guy is going to ruin the program permanently. SC will always be a desired destination for any really good coach who sees the potential to win big. I still think that LR could still be learning and may become a great coach. You might say “I don’t see it that way”. You could be right. If you are, he’ll be gone in 4 or 5 years and… Read more »
Once a moron always a moron…..We can call it a Riley.
Franklin up by 14 due to some stupid plays by SMU
At home
8 left in the first half
Best part of his team the defense
goes for it on the his own 20 yard line and fails.
His defense bails him out with an interception.
If somebody mentions hiring Franklin shoot him
College Game Day analysts unanimously got it right. USC football play will mirror the lackadaisical demeanor of LR. That quote posted by Allen Wallace summed it up. No whatever the score, LR gets chauffeured back to Mount Palos Verdes Estates, behind two gates.
Too bad the Trojans have to play a great matchup on a day with 3 college football playoff games and 2 NFL games. I have my DVR set for the playoffs and WBB.
Allen, thanks for the posts from Cowherd and Weber. They got my brain twisting, trying to connect the dots. Josh Henson wasn’t fired, he left to be OC at a rebuilding Purdue. I will guess Henson was tired of being OC in name only at USC and tired of contrarian game plans. This season’s stars on offense have left for much the same reason. They are tired of trying to perform and win in fundamentally flawed game plans, play calling and clock management. What keeps going around in my head is why? Why does LR keep doing this? He knows… Read more »
I think it’s called being a “bad fit.” Two horrible words for any coach. We could all write a small book about it and how varying factors weave in and out. There’s too much talk going around about Lincoln Riley and staff not quite embracing the challenge of the USC brand enough. Seems like the perception by many CFB observers is there’s just not enough committed buy-in to USC football’s tradition and expectations nowadays, either by the coaches or the players. This had led to USC fan apathy and discord as well. It’s a mess. And Weber’s column really blew… Read more »
“Bad Fit”. He’s a Bad Fit any where except 7 on 7 summer leagues. I guess arrogant and stubborn fits best. Sticking with a pass happy offense that is finesse over power. Sticking with coaches that aren’t effective. Blame lack of execution by your players instead of poor play calling by yourself. Sticking with some bias against California HS coaches and kids. Maybe in a year or two we will have hope again with a new coach. Until then, we have a talented, well coached WBB team and the next superstar.
No one knows what’s in LR’s head and he is smart enough never to tell anyone because it would be revealing what he doesn’t know versus what he does. And my guess he only knows Air Raid and little else. If he brings in an OC who changes the offense then you have your answer. His ego image may not allow this. He has to be a nervous wreck inside knowing the walls are caving in on him. He has to pull another rabbit out of the hat hoping next season the games won’t show his incompetence again. But unless… Read more »
ESPN GameDay Crew Predictions — It’s Unanimous! Desmond Howard — A&M Nick Saban — A&M Pat McAfee — A&M Guest Host (A.J. Hawk) — A&M Lee Corso — A&M Kirk Herbstreit — A&M It’s all about “too much influx going on at USC at the moment. It’s hard to think they really have a shot at winning this game. Too many guys opting out at USC. Too many skill guys won’t be there for USC. There’s just too much going on there with Branch leaving and all. A&M wants it more. Lincoln Riley has only been 2-7 in the postseason.… Read more »
Oh, that was yours? My bad, I wasn’t trying to poke at you, I was thinking you did a copy/paste from an article that had quoted what was said on CGD, and the article used V2T translation. Far be it for me to be the grammar and spelling police…I make more than my fair share of typos.
I’m glad you corrected me. I was just furiously typing as I was watching GameDay. I do that a lot here, which I add to by taking iPhone pictures of the TV. What a production, eh! 😂
Very thankful for all you guys do in hosting the blog and publishing fresh and interesting content with which to engage. That influx typo just happened to catch my eye because it was one of those unusual occurrences when a single letter or character error reverses or completely changes the meaning.
Well……the big guys are firing at the coach. He deserves it. Let’s hope he takes a shower, improves and fights on. IMO if he would put everything into getting a couple high quality OL transfers….the roster looks reasonable. Needs depth. It will be young in a lot of spots so I’am not expecting miracles. It’s important to remember that the recruiting classes we moan about would be worshipped at most BIG programs. Not Oregon level but definitely above average. With good coaching they could win most games. I will state this…..unlike Helton…..the overall talent level of the team is improving……but… Read more »
Wait till next year. Allen was saying that all this year. Now all the talent on offense is gone. Driven away by a dysfunctional head coach. Now we have to have hope for 2026. All the talk of just get this player or that player reminds me of my old Infiniti. If I got a new paint job it would be a sharp looking car. Trouble was it needed $3500 engine repair and was only worth $3000. Lipstick on a pig. Silk purse – sow’s ear. Chicken soup – chicken s**t.
Just trying to bring some balance to the coverage. As you recall I was the first person on this site to call for his head. Nothing stated above should be interpreted as an endorsement of Riley.
I believed and continue to believe that the best thing USC can do is admit the error and move on…..but I also believe we are stuck with him for 25 and may be 26.
Let’s hope he improves.
Luca does a much better job at his task of covering USC football than some of the USC coaches do at theirs.
Thank god for Luca Evans who has the guts to actually ask questions that many Trojan fans would like to know the answers to instead of the rote routine pablum we usually hear about USC.
Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: We know what it takes at USC, now we have to figure out how to get there from here… Weber (USCFootball.com) — In Kentucky, we say “Horses for courses.” Not every thoroughbred is meant to run and win every sort of race over every sort of ground. You have to have them in the right place. Running the right race. College football is a little like that. A place like USC is Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May. No bigger stage. But only if you’ve got the right horse for the mile-and-a-quarter course. Most coaches do not have… Read more »
Dan Weber’s post is right on target in what is wrong with the direction of this football program and actually LR has yet to understand the benefits and the landmines associated with USC football and LA-SoCal. Oh he says he understands but his actions say different in a decidedly stubborn way. What his biggest mistake has been from the very beginning is turning his back on a recruiting Mecca here in California. I believe it was a purposely biased decision because only a fool would not understand how USC football had prospered for over 100 years as few other programs… Read more »
Lincoln Riley and USC are down and spiraling Colin Cowherd — “Everybody is selling their stock on Lincoln Riley.” Joel Klatt — “When you lose Duce, and you lose Kyron Hudson, they’ve got a major problem. You can explain it away all you want. No, no, no. They’ve got a major problem on their hands. “The fact is, is that if you were to sit here three and four years ago, five years ago, before NIL really became a thing, and you were to say that at some point in college football’s future, you were to have unlimited free agency, unlimited NIL, so… Read more »
Still can’t believe how Oregon got shafted in the playoff bracket. Got to believe the committee lead by an envious Michigan AD putting it to them with a “Burma Road” gauntlet getting to the championship game. Even when I lived up in Northwest Oregon and rooted for the beavers to beat OU, I now want the ducks to make it to the championship game and win, then tell the committee to shove it!
Not me. Two teams I hope get beat as soon as possible are Oregon and ND.
The last team I want to win is Texas.
I don’t want Texas to win either.
Go Ducks! Carry the West Coast CFB flag until USC gets it right!
It looks like Deuce Robinson probably picked the right place to go. Most of FSU’s best receivers were seniors and, so far, he’s the only portal transfer WR coming in. They have a good portal transfer QB coming in from Boston College. He looked seriously at ASU(he’s from Arizona). Surpriseingly he chose against them. They have one WR who caught 75 passes last year and another transferring in from Fresno State who caught 48 passes. They were both sophomores last year.Maybe he doesn’t like competition. I think his father went to FSU. That may have been a factor.
Sometimes you have to worry about what you wish for.
I’m sure the 2-loss TENN Vols were overjoyed they made the first 12-team playoffs.
Then they get paired up in Round 1 against a pissed-off OHIO ST team that destroys them in such overwhelming fashion that basically their entire 2024 season has been ruined despite beating hated rival ALA.
So often, it’s how you finish that matters. It’s gonna be a long, long offseason for the Vols.
So who was that Notre Dame fan dressed in a pink bunny suit with a pulsating green Irish shamrock? I know they don’t tell liquor inside the ND stadium. But that fan merits a drug test in that outfit in that weather. And personal history proves liquor can be secreted into ANY stadium.
I still have a hangover from my first Bay Area weekend in 1970 when I watched STAN beat us 24-14. The Indians, as they were called then when led by Jim Plunkett, were pretty good and beat #2 OHIO ST in the Rose Bowl that season 27-17.
That was the literally last time I could ever stomach bourbon which was flowing freely in these old wooden end zone stands where we were still wallowing in rot gut misery from the night before. Some memories just never go away.
I absolutely loved going to the Bay Area games and with the alcohol flowing, I never saw any fights in the stands like we see today but there were a few close calls over girls.
Been there. Done that.
Want to win big time college football games? For the 4 winners this weekend, % of plays were pass attempts:
ND 48%, Penn St 38%, Texas 38%, Ohio St 48%. USC v ND 63%, USC v Penn St 58%. The Air Raid is Genius.
That’s the way to say it!
Here’s what a fraternity brother of mine wrote which was published by the LA Times Letters to Sports section yesterday:
“I’m a fan of the USC tradition to not put the players’ names on the back of their football jerseys, but until the NCAA figures out this NIL and transfer portal disaster the Trojans might need to put the names on the jerseys just to know who’s still there!”
Good point…..even serious fans are getting confused. There was a discussion some where about having contracts to prevent the…..you don’t like me or play me….I’am gone crap. They are pros so it’s time to treat them like pros. Personally I’d like to see more cash shared with the players but it has to be distributed in a more equitable and professional way.
Women of Troy Conquer UCONN in Hartford, CT Shotgun Spratling (USCFootball.com) — JuJu Watkins scored six of USC’s final eight points to carry her team to a dramatic 72-70 victory Saturday night. The Trojans didn’t fall apart after blowing a big lead. They weren’t fazed by the sold-out crowd of 15,684. “The team stuck together today,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We punched first, we made a lot of shots, and when it got hard down the stretch, we held together, and no one got off the treadmill, which is something we talked about together. So really, really proud of a big win.” Watkins… Read more »
USC vs UCONN (each team has lost to ND) going right to the wire. Tied 67-67 with two mins to go. At one time USC led by 18 points. Lots of Trojan turnovers.
Update — USC wins 72-70. Sweet revenge.
JuJu — “This is a surreal moment for me.”
USC almost let this one slip away, gave up an 18 point lead, but squeaked it out, 72-70. Their Achilles heal is turn overs. They get sloppy and try to go too fast at times. Big win in a tough venue.
OHIO ST leads TENN 21-10 at half. The Vols refuse to be buried despite being dominated at The Shoe.
6-foot-6 Vol QB Nico Iamaleava is a lot to handle.
Great to see the intensity in these playoff games. There’s so much energy in this one.
How about USC just sticking to the Cardinal and Gold at home or on the road? That would be a mini step towards the different uniforms Phil Knight buys Oregon every week.
OHIO ST leads TENN 21-0 with seven mins to go in the 3rd Q. Vols are threatening to score but don’t look very good out there.
So for all of the bemoaning the playoffs and de-emphasis of the traditional bowls, we still have a P12/B1G Rose Bowl matchup. RB committee must be happy, at least for this year. Although the first 4 games were duds, the expanded playoffs shows promise. One of the reasons I like it is the exact opposite of the “tradition” angle, which is seeing matchups that we never/rarely see. I was amazed when they said Clemson and Texas had never played. Also the rarity that Indiana and ND have played, 2 schools just a couple of hundred miles apart. Great stuff, here’s… Read more »
I enjoyed all the games despite the blowouts. The home-field advantages loomed big.
CLEM fought hard but TEXAS is too talented everywhere. The Vols simply got outclassed against an angry, heavily motivated Buckeye team. IU was overwhelmed by an incredibly solid and well-balanced sleeper Irish team. More physical PSU totally humiliated SMU’s quarterback from the get-go.
Ohio State giving a butt whipping to Tenn…….three of 4 games in the cold midwest……About time some of the big time bowls are played close to home for the BIG…….The BIG welcomes them boys to the tundra. Hope you enjoy hitting concrete when you go down. . Kirk stated today Indiana did not belong in the playoffs due to their loss at Notre Dame…..He might want to check out SMU and Tenn. Of course they are from the south so we don’t bring it up.
Enjoy your slushy with real snow!
The B1G is kicking butt today. Glad to be a part of this conference. Lots of very capable, exciting teams in the B1G.
The Big10 and SEC are the two toughest conferences.
All the teams are tough and there are no cupcakes.
The road is harder than it used to be.
Absolutely. Now, we’ve got the Ducks, the Buckeyes, and the Nittany Lions to carry the torch for our conference. I’m rooting for the Ducks vs the Lions to make it into the NC game. But the Buckeyes looked so fantastic last night, the Ducks look like they’re really gonna have their hands full.
I love this expanded playoff format and these upcoming quarter-final games are gonna be insanely interesting.
It was not right to have the BIG together in the Rose Bowl (it will be a great game)…….Oregon as the number 1 seed is getting the roughest matchups against Ohio St and Texas while Georgia cruises thru ND and Penn St. LOL…..it’s Sunday, I’am tired from yesterday and my wife has me cleaning for Christmas……so being crabby. If Oregon wins it they will have truly beaten them all…….what will the SEC say about their dominance. So full of —-. Tenn last night looked like they were totally out of their league…..the refs handed them their first TD and the… Read more »
Ya, the Ducks got hosed in the seeding. They’ve still got some things to work out in this playoff format, but it’s definitely better than anything I’ve ever seen before at this new post-season stage of CFB.
It’ll be great when we finally get a Trojan team in this circus.
Until then, I’ve become a huge women’s Trojan basketball fan.
Watching them beat UCONN last night 72-70 was an incredible event before something like 16,000 fans. Both teams have amazing athletes and know how to win.
I realized yesterday that if Oregon gets past Ohio St, they will have to travel to Dallas to play Texas. Hardly a neutral site for the #1 seed. You can’t plan who will make the playoffs and what seedings they get and then decide location. I like giving weight to conference champs and conference runner ups. Maybe Alabama would have been better than SMU or Indiana, but they lost 3 games and sat on their butts on Conference Championship Saturday. I have no complaints, so what if the first round were blow outs the losers didn’t quit. Next year we… Read more »
I agree with you, I thought the teams that were selected were the teams the most deserving, no matter what Kiffen, the mouth of the south, or espn the clown network says. I hope the committee stands strong against all the whining and complaining from the SEC and perhaps the SEC will finally quit padding their schedules and play real football teams then their SOS will mean something. College football is so much fun simply because of all the upsets every weekend.
And I’m sure ASU and Boise St will get a big ole can of whup a** opened up on them. So what, they won their conference. Plenty of NFL teams make the playoffs by barely winning in a weak division. Upsets happen all the time.
I’m glad that both ASU and BOISE ST are in the POs, if for no other reason than I get to see both Cam Skattebo and Ashton Jeanty work their amazing skills carrying the rock.
As you say, anyone who lost three reg season games should take a cold shower and focus on winning whatever pretty good bowl game they still managed to get slotted into.
Sometimes the favoritism by the announcers, like Kirk Herbstreit gets old. He wants the playoffs to be about the SEC instead of finding the NC.
Herbstreit played QB at Ohio State. You would think that his biases would be with the Big 10. I guess ESPN demands your unquestioned loyalty
It’s all about money.
espn, the clown network, is so SEC prone it is nowadays totally obvious, they don’t even care that their bias is showing. Herby is simply a victim of being at the top of his pay scale and having to toe the line to maintain that paycheck. It has devalued his opinion a few degrees to where you can take it or leave it.
Efficient Trojan women (“end to end” JuJu with 15 pts) lead UCONN 42-29 at the half.
How long can it be before we see USC in some solid gold, cardinal or black uniforms?
ND wore all white against us and they put names on the back of their playoff game jerseys. OHIO ST is in all scarlet tonight. The examples of these variations are becoming endless.
The times they are a changin’.
It’s got to happen…..when ND does it we look like a bunch of old ladies out there and the kids want to be cutting edge. A fews weeks ago I noted how cool ND looked, imagine USC in all gold uniforms with red helmets. Its entertainment.
Indeed. Kids like change and flash and new ways to brand themselves. Who can blame them? It’s fun. They earn money and exposure in so many different ways now. USC can keep it’s great traditions and still grow with the times as well.
Should we keep the famous two red stripes on the pants? I say yes.
When I was a high school QB in the early 1970s, the goal was to get to USC and wear the uniform. The traditional uniform meant something to me. Unfortunately, my goal wasn’t achieved as USC had Pat Haden, Vince Evans, and Rob Hertel who quarterbacked USC from 1973-1977. Paul McDonald then led USC to a National Championship in 1978 and then in 1979 teamed up with Charles White and Marcus Allen to give USC one of its most formidable backfields. While I’m not opposed to some solid color jerseys for some special games in the future, the traditional USC… Read more »
One thing that has definitely been a great idea in the new 12-team playoff format is the playing of these games at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded teams. College football has always had the advantage of its passion and pageantry. No other sport in America has ever matched that. Watching these initial playoffs at Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas has been fantastic despite the lopsided contests (which can be corrected by seeding and team selection), though CLEM still has a longshot chance at TEXAS, losing 38-24 having just been stopped on the one yd line with seven mins… Read more »
Imagine in some fantasy world… USC has a first round playoff game at the Coliseum followed by a quarterfinal game at The Rose Bowl! The USC haters would be lighting their hair on fire?
With the right coach, it could happen.
Can Lincoln Riley somehow fix the beleaguered, downtrodden state of USC football? The TDB will be debating this hot topic every day until the 2025 season starts.
Isn’t that debate over? The only debate now is when can Jen Cohen pull the trigger on a new hire. LR would be gone already if he didn’t cost so much to fire.
I have no idea what Jen Cohen thinks of this Lincoln Riley issue, or if she has any idea of how she would get the enormous payoff money to send him off while she’s also still fundraising $50 plus mil more for Riley’s new football facility under construction. USC is also spending a lot of NIL money to still give Riley what he wants right now. LR’s still holding all the cards. New coaches are being hired. Who would come who didn’t think LR had at least some sort of a future at USC? LR will go down fighting. He’s… Read more »
don’t hold your breath
Oh, hell no!
Bring in the Bulk Baby! Credit Coach Henny… Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — Earlier this week, 350-pound Jamaal Jarrett was all but convinced he’d sign with Arkansas. The big-bodied Georgia transfer wanted to stay in the SEC, after all. He’d visited Fayetteville on Tuesday, and came back telling agent Bobby McRae he planned to take the rest of his visits – USC, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and more – but would probably be a Razorback. I just felt so comfortable there, the defensive tackle told his agent. Then he came to Southern California and met Eric Henderson.… Read more »
Compare the resume of Eric Henderson with that of Josh Henson and Zach Hansen. Is it any wonder that the DL is getting beefed up and the OL isn’t?
I saw this yesterday but didn’t have time to fully read the article until it showed up in the late edition of the paper today. Something stuck with me. The player has an agent. A few short years ago this would have been a violation of the rules. Agents were only allowed after the player decided to declare for the pro football draft. It’s kind of revealing that kids out of high school, under the pretense of going to college, are being advised by people whose sole purpose is to make money off the success of their clients. How crass… Read more »
I had forgotten all about Cuba Gooding’s famous “Show Me The Money” tirade despite my intense enjoyment of “Jerry Maguire” (even though Tom Cruise is wearing a Notre Dame T-shirt when he pens his ill-fated mission statement).
Little did we know what was around the corner. It sure arrived like a thunderbolt!
TEXAS is slaughtering CLEM 20-7 with seven minutes to go in the 2nd Q. Sark’s Horns have scored 21 straight points and are a running juggernaut.
Let’s see how well Jah Jarrat ends up doing. Because he has a big body doesn’t mean he will be good. There’s a lot of players out there who look like Tarzan and play like Jane. Not too long ago we got a former 5 star from Alabama(Ishmael Sophsher) and he hardly ever got on the field.
How many of USC’s D linemen have not progressed and gotten better under Henderson/Nua? Give him spring, summer, and fall, this will be the defensive plug USC needs to make the D line successful.
Both of those coaches are great. I agree totally with you
Georgia DL Transfer Jamaal “Jah” Jarrett Commits to USC
Scott Schrader (WeAreSC) — Georgia defensive line transfer Jamaal “Jah” Jarrett announced his commitment to USC on Saturday morning after visiting USC on Wednesday.
USC also gained a huge commitment from Keeshawn Silver earlier this week.
Jarrett was a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, the nation’s No. 183 overall recruit and No. 21 defensive lineman. But he was seen as more of a developmental prospect by Georgia due to his size as a recruit, listed at 6-foot-5, 380 pounds.
on3.com
In principle, at the moment I am in favor of trading wide receivers for linemen. Hope it works out.
True. As usual with LR, too little too late. We might be good down the line. USC’s just gonna have to take its lumps and it isn’t fun getting shredded by the CFB media on a daily basis. Plus, we’re losing our own fan base to a limited extent which has become sadly disheartened by so many USC football program mistakes over the last 15 years. The list is long and embarrassing. But LR made this bed for USC and he’s gonna have to live with it. As parcelman007 pointed out, we have no idea if 380-lb Jarrett (USC says… Read more »
SC is stocking up on good D-Linemen but striking out at O-Linemen in the portal.
Why would good, starting O-linemen want to leave their programs for the portal? They are like key treasures to a team’s success — and every team needs a lot of them and they’re getting paid whatever the market rate is for them. Since USC isn’t a winning program right now, we can’t attract guys who want a chance to play for a program that can get them the ring, or at least a great bowl and stronger NFL prep. Unfortunately, USC is also not considered a program that develops and improves its players. Quite the contrary. That’s one of the… Read more »
SC played well all year last year. They were the best 6-6 team in the nation. But it is about culture and establishing a championship mentality. Championship teams don’t lose those close games. It doesn’t do you any good to be the best 6-6 team in the country if you are just 6-6.
Sorry, but the “best 6-6 team in the country” doesn’t do much for me. Instead, it sounds pitiful to me, assuming it’s even true, which is debatable.
The Trojans often stunk when the game was on the line and we lost to crap teams like MARYD and MINN. We barely beat horrible UCLA. Poor under-siege Miller Moss was lucky he wasn’t hurt. I definitely don’t agree that we played well all last year. Not in my eyes.
We weren’t consistent. We should have beat PSU and we gave the game to ND
“Woulda, shoulda, coulda” — the eternal mantra of all those who lost. PSU came all the way across the country to beat USC in OT. The Trojans totally folded and looked pitiful in OT. I think we went backward if memory serves. We deserved to lose and looked bad doing it. I never thought USC was going to beat ND, even though once again we were at home. ND was beating us 35-21 at the end of the 3rd Q. We’re not a comeback team and I never thought we would overcome that big disadvantage and win. We ended up… Read more »
The players played hard in everyone of those games.We were behind 35-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter. That means that the game is over right because we are always ahead in the 4th quarter and then we lose it. But not this time…..we won the 4th quarter against ND and we still found a way to give them the game. The great teams win those games in the 4th quarter.It’s a mental thing. they have no confidence that they can win at the end of the game.
Nobody ever said the USC players didn’t play hard. In fact, I’ve always said I really like this 2024 team for its fight and resilience. But that’s never been enough for any team to win in football, or any sport. It’s bottom-line expected, in fact. Performing when it counts is what this Trojan team has rarely been able to do all season. USC couldn’t overcome ND in the end because Jayden Maiava, who was forced to throw the ball 50 times, threw two ridiculously bad, inaccurate passes near or in the end zone that were both picked off by different… Read more »
I don’t know that we see it so differently.I’m certainly not saying that this team is where it needs to be.I do take issue with some people(not necessarily you) who implicate that this guy is going to ruin the program permanently. SC will always be a desired destination for any really good coach who sees the potential to win big. I still think that LR could still be learning and may become a great coach. You might say “I don’t see it that way”. You could be right. If you are, he’ll be gone in 4 or 5 years and… Read more »
Well said p07.
amen
It’s the B1G and the SEC, as we knew all along…
Agree ✌️
And SMU looking like a pretender against PSU. Blue bloods rising to the top. So much for my upset weekend wish.
Once a moron always a moron…..We can call it a Riley.
Franklin up by 14 due to some stupid plays by SMU
At home
8 left in the first half
Best part of his team the defense
goes for it on the his own 20 yard line and fails.
His defense bails him out with an interception.
If somebody mentions hiring Franklin shoot him
PSU leads SMU 14-0 in the 2nd Q on two pick-sixes. Brings back bad Domer memories for me.
College Game Day analysts unanimously got it right. USC football play will mirror the lackadaisical demeanor of LR. That quote posted by Allen Wallace summed it up. No whatever the score, LR gets chauffeured back to Mount Palos Verdes Estates, behind two gates.
Too bad the Trojans have to play a great matchup on a day with 3 college football playoff games and 2 NFL games. I have my DVR set for the playoffs and WBB.
Allen, thanks for the posts from Cowherd and Weber. They got my brain twisting, trying to connect the dots. Josh Henson wasn’t fired, he left to be OC at a rebuilding Purdue. I will guess Henson was tired of being OC in name only at USC and tired of contrarian game plans. This season’s stars on offense have left for much the same reason. They are tired of trying to perform and win in fundamentally flawed game plans, play calling and clock management. What keeps going around in my head is why? Why does LR keep doing this? He knows… Read more »
I think it’s called being a “bad fit.” Two horrible words for any coach. We could all write a small book about it and how varying factors weave in and out. There’s too much talk going around about Lincoln Riley and staff not quite embracing the challenge of the USC brand enough. Seems like the perception by many CFB observers is there’s just not enough committed buy-in to USC football’s tradition and expectations nowadays, either by the coaches or the players. This had led to USC fan apathy and discord as well. It’s a mess. And Weber’s column really blew… Read more »
“Bad Fit”. He’s a Bad Fit any where except 7 on 7 summer leagues. I guess arrogant and stubborn fits best. Sticking with a pass happy offense that is finesse over power. Sticking with coaches that aren’t effective. Blame lack of execution by your players instead of poor play calling by yourself. Sticking with some bias against California HS coaches and kids. Maybe in a year or two we will have hope again with a new coach. Until then, we have a talented, well coached WBB team and the next superstar.
No one knows what’s in LR’s head and he is smart enough never to tell anyone because it would be revealing what he doesn’t know versus what he does. And my guess he only knows Air Raid and little else. If he brings in an OC who changes the offense then you have your answer. His ego image may not allow this. He has to be a nervous wreck inside knowing the walls are caving in on him. He has to pull another rabbit out of the hat hoping next season the games won’t show his incompetence again. But unless… Read more »
ESPN GameDay Crew Predictions — It’s Unanimous! Desmond Howard — A&M Nick Saban — A&M Pat McAfee — A&M Guest Host (A.J. Hawk) — A&M Lee Corso — A&M Kirk Herbstreit — A&M It’s all about “too much influx going on at USC at the moment. It’s hard to think they really have a shot at winning this game. Too many guys opting out at USC. Too many skill guys won’t be there for USC. There’s just too much going on there with Branch leaving and all. A&M wants it more. Lincoln Riley has only been 2-7 in the postseason.… Read more »
Lost in translation of speech to text, “too much influx” is the exact opposite of what’s going on. Probably meant “too much in (a state of) flux”.
My mistake. I should have written “in flux” with a space. Good catch!
Oh, that was yours? My bad, I wasn’t trying to poke at you, I was thinking you did a copy/paste from an article that had quoted what was said on CGD, and the article used V2T translation. Far be it for me to be the grammar and spelling police…I make more than my fair share of typos.
I’m glad you corrected me. I was just furiously typing as I was watching GameDay. I do that a lot here, which I add to by taking iPhone pictures of the TV. What a production, eh! 😂
Very thankful for all you guys do in hosting the blog and publishing fresh and interesting content with which to engage. That influx typo just happened to catch my eye because it was one of those unusual occurrences when a single letter or character error reverses or completely changes the meaning.
Well……the big guys are firing at the coach. He deserves it. Let’s hope he takes a shower, improves and fights on. IMO if he would put everything into getting a couple high quality OL transfers….the roster looks reasonable. Needs depth. It will be young in a lot of spots so I’am not expecting miracles. It’s important to remember that the recruiting classes we moan about would be worshipped at most BIG programs. Not Oregon level but definitely above average. With good coaching they could win most games. I will state this…..unlike Helton…..the overall talent level of the team is improving……but… Read more »
Wait till next year. Allen was saying that all this year. Now all the talent on offense is gone. Driven away by a dysfunctional head coach. Now we have to have hope for 2026. All the talk of just get this player or that player reminds me of my old Infiniti. If I got a new paint job it would be a sharp looking car. Trouble was it needed $3500 engine repair and was only worth $3000. Lipstick on a pig. Silk purse – sow’s ear. Chicken soup – chicken s**t.
Hope you got rid of your Infiniti before it became too much of a money drain.
That’s kind of like a bad coach’s buyout number. 😂 😂
I traded it in this past February. I only got $1500 but felt glad to unload it. Coach’s buy out! Perfect!
It sounds like you certainly got your money’s worth if you drove that sucker down to the $1500 auto auction trade-in range. Congrats.
Hope your replacement does as well for you.
Just trying to bring some balance to the coverage. As you recall I was the first person on this site to call for his head. Nothing stated above should be interpreted as an endorsement of Riley.
I believed and continue to believe that the best thing USC can do is admit the error and move on…..but I also believe we are stuck with him for 25 and may be 26.
Let’s hope he improves.
For sure. The maddening thing is any decent coach could take off with this program and players.
Yep!….we should have been 10-2 or better this year. Probably another mess next year based solely on that dummy.
What’s the story with Eric Henderson in a tiff with a reporter? I can’t find any details other than he wrote a tweet and then took it down.
Luca pissed him off with an interview with a player after practice asking him 3 times if he was going to transfer.
Luca does a much better job at his task of covering USC football than some of the USC coaches do at theirs.
Thank god for Luca Evans who has the guts to actually ask questions that many Trojan fans would like to know the answers to instead of the rote routine pablum we usually hear about USC.
Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: We know what it takes at USC, now we have to figure out how to get there from here… Weber (USCFootball.com) — In Kentucky, we say “Horses for courses.” Not every thoroughbred is meant to run and win every sort of race over every sort of ground. You have to have them in the right place. Running the right race. College football is a little like that. A place like USC is Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May. No bigger stage. But only if you’ve got the right horse for the mile-and-a-quarter course. Most coaches do not have… Read more »
Dan Weber’s post is right on target in what is wrong with the direction of this football program and actually LR has yet to understand the benefits and the landmines associated with USC football and LA-SoCal. Oh he says he understands but his actions say different in a decidedly stubborn way. What his biggest mistake has been from the very beginning is turning his back on a recruiting Mecca here in California. I believe it was a purposely biased decision because only a fool would not understand how USC football had prospered for over 100 years as few other programs… Read more »
Lincoln Riley and USC are down and spiraling Colin Cowherd — “Everybody is selling their stock on Lincoln Riley.” Joel Klatt — “When you lose Duce, and you lose Kyron Hudson, they’ve got a major problem. You can explain it away all you want. No, no, no. They’ve got a major problem on their hands. “The fact is, is that if you were to sit here three and four years ago, five years ago, before NIL really became a thing, and you were to say that at some point in college football’s future, you were to have unlimited free agency, unlimited NIL, so… Read more »