at this point, it feels like there are just no excuses to lose against any of the Pac-12 teams, even Oregon. SC is more stacked than anyone they play with talent.
I have high hopes for this season. I can se us winning all of the regular season games, especially if we get average play on both lines. I don’t think we need to be exceptional, just not terrible. Our skill and edge talent will be so much better than our opponents, we should win everything in front of us until we match up with teams that can match our talent. Then, our coaching will play a large part and that’s when I start to get less confident.
Maybe by the time they get to the championship the new coaches will have proven themselves to the point where our disgust over Helton will be behind us. Who knows.
There is a potential loss or two in those first 3 games. Early start on the opener. The team that is best prepped and ready to go will win that. Then the road game in Az and Utah. SC should win out the last 3.
ASU has been able to maximize their NCAA-allotted mandatory participation schedule since June 14. SC has been dinking around with CA restrictions. Edge to sun Devils in preparation.
If talent-superior USC can’t beat an on-the-road ASU team with a 9:00 am start time in the Coliseum — well…that would be a set-back I don’t actually think will happen. The Sun Devils have also undergone a lot of new coach additions as well. But if it does, especially with all these new (and improved) Trojan defensive coaches, then unfortunately, it would just be typical of Gentleman Clay football. USC has plenty of time to get ready IMO. And after all, it was the Trojan players who penned the letter to Gavin Newsom, begging to be allowed to return to… Read more »
I’m hoping the defense is much improved and shuts down the Sun Devil QB. Just hope they don’t get off to a CH slow start with the early morning first game of the season.
the only thing i care about is that Bohn sets the bar high for Helton this year. win out, or leave. Bohn has given Helton all the support he needs. win or leave.
and i will root for SC to win, even if that means Helton stays for a long time. I just cant root against our great players.
He would be a pretty big program culture shock for the average USC player! Imagine switching from “Faith, Family and Football” Gentleman Clay to the much more aggressive Bill O’Brien.
I just don’t see any fireball type coach being hired under Folt. I only see a Helton-type HC more than willing to be totally submissive to her authority and that includes don’t win too many games in gaining power away from me. Pretty damn sad but I think it is accurate. AD Bohn will never be allowed to hire a HC that Folt sees as a threat to her total authority. I am wondering how she is kissing up to combined faculty. That would be the ultimate power to oust her if it wanted to and the BOTs would be… Read more »
With the assistants Bohn has brought in I can see change in the wind, and in my opinion Bohn could get a top tier coach that her highness would approve of, except of course Meyer.
I think Fickell is the perfect head coach for SC. A family man. Hard worker. Not a flashy type. Builds real sold defenses and going to build a tough team that wins in the trenches. But no controversy surrounding him. I am actually of the mind that Bohn simply could not come into the AD position last year and fire Helton (there just wasnt time for him to gain the gravitas to pull that off), but that Bohn can make the strategic/business case that Helton needs to be fired this year in order to bring in a new head coach… Read more »
I certainly hope that the culture shock is already in place and lead by Todd Orlando. If Clay is still controlling practice, SC’s season is over before it starts. The pollsters certainly believe that Clay is still running the show as is reflected in SC not being ranked. And, candidly, that is an accurate assessment of Clay – top 25 talent, bottom 25 coach.
Good morning Allen. Everyone is in agreement that Clay has to go and until he does USC will not be an elite program. I have a proposal to address the problem. Option A is you can replace Clay with either Sark or Justin Wilcox. If you do not want either of these choices Option B is Clay remains HC until the expiration of his contract. What do you do? Assuming he is no longer drinking I go with Sark. His time with Saban is a plus. He can recruit. And he is a good offensive coach. Wilcox is and was… Read more »
Neither option is one I would happily endorse, but if I had to, I would stick with Helton because I don’t believe that even a sober Sark would be that much of an improvement, and at least Helton is marching towards the end of his contract.
With Sark, we’d just start another contract with a mediocre guy. His ability to recruit isn’t enough for me. I’m looking for a guy who can both coach an entire big-time/tradition rich team, as well as recruit in L.A. — which shouldn’t be that tough at a program like USC.
OMG have we forgotten what a crappy head coach Sark is? Drinking or not? Never again. Trojan nation has to get past all this constant looking into our “family” for coaches. Our family has been dysfunctional since before PC who was just a temporary but awesome respite. Urban Meyer was the right idea, and we chose against that, for all the wrong reasons. This program needs a 12-step program.
You might be right. Surprised Wilcox hasn’t generated any response. I thought you were an anti Wilcox guy. I held out for a long time, but finally reached the conclusion he had to go. He just didn’t fit at SC.
True — I am anti-Wilcox (but really based only on his time at USC, which was just plain bad). But he had a really good year as the WIS DC and probably is right in line with the type of HC a program like CAL could get. It’s funny how things work out. I would have never thought Wilcox would ever get a HC position so quickly, and I never thought Sarkisian would have the post-USC success which has come his way as an OC. Good for him! He was in a dark hole at USC. Haden did him a… Read more »
Sark is the beneficiary of the Saban Coaches School of Rehabilitation. Kiffin was and so was Locksley of Md. There are more but I can’t recall all the names. SC was the only blip on Wilcox’s resume. We got Vera-Tucker back today. That is good news.
I was thinking about this 9 am start with ASU. So looking around at pregame schedules. Arrive at the stadium 2 hours prior to kickoff, 7 am. Players eat the pregame meal 4 hours prior to kickoff, 5 am. 😴
I used to work at Lockheed Skunk Works in Palmdale, CA and lived in Thousand Oaks. Periodically, I would have to attend a telecon with the Corporate HQ which they would schedule at 7:30AM EST/4:30AM PST. As it took an hour to get to PMD, I’d be up at 3 in the morning and on the road by 3:30AM. If I could do that when I was in my 50’s, these kids can get up for a 9:00AM Football Game!
But does it even really matter? We could win all 6 games and I don’t see us cracking the Top 10, especially starting from an unranked position. Only Oregon has a chance, and even that is a longshot.
@Rock1212 USC could get 7-0 conference championship, and beat everyone VERY impressively, and I think the Trojans could just slide in, if all the cards fell perfectly right with other teams. The Big 12 is already out. Let’s assume ALA and CLEM and OHIO ST are in. Could USC be #4?
2% chance is what I give us. We can beat ORE this year if we play well. They have some very major questions.
I know people are tired of hearing from others they will be glad when 2020 is over. I know I’ve both said and thought that sentiment a few times. And while I will be glad to see what 2021 brings to our lives, I’m very grateful that USC will get to play at least seven games in 2020. It wasn’t that long ago when I thought the entire Pac-12 would be sitting on the bench this season. USC seemingly has a favorable schedule to reach the Pac-12 championship game and I fully expect that to happen. If it doesn’t, Gentleman… Read more »
All true, Allen. But I cannot let that dominant voice in my head not speak: we can never underestimate the ability of Clay Helton to screw the pooch. So my only correction to what you say above is we get “at least SIX games”! My most present concern is that Clay Helton teams tend to be critically underprepared early in a season, and my sense is that comes from a practice methodology dictated from the top. The constant question is whether Helton assistants can ever knock him out of the way, but now Covid and California’s version of it has… Read more »
@Rock 2112 We get at least seven games, the last one on Dec. 18, against an unnamed opponent as of yet. I’m sure we’ll squeeze into some bowl game, making it eight games.
Thanks for being such a valued participant here on the TDB Rock. Always appreciate your thinking.
BTW, we dodged a bullet with Tom Herman IMO. He had me fooled.
Great post Rock2112. It’s good to hear from you. I now will be living in Bullhead City, AZ as of 11/1/2020. I’m in an RV Park in Topock which is close to BHC and have been taking a lot of smack talk on how ASU will beat us in the first game. I don’t see that happening, but Herm Edwards is heads and tails above Clay Helton as a HC, in my opinion. USC will win because of our talent and the fact that Helton appears to have turned the Offense over to Harrell. We will have to see if… Read more »
Congrats on your move Rlee — get Trojan Nation in their unmasked faces out there! I hope you are right. It is definitely time for the talent of the Trojans to start equaling high win probabilities!
It depends on how those wins look. If they are sloppy games with lots of mistakes that USC manages to pull through in the last minutes, then we dont crack the top 10, but 6-0 at end of season probably gets us into the top 10 and then it all depends on how strong Oregon looks.
Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — The Pac-12 takes a lot of heat for its scheduling decisions, and rightfully so given its questionable track record in that field. In a year when the conference’s College Football Playoff chances seem slim, there was always going to be some debate about what the Pac-12 should do with Oregon and USC. The Ducks and Trojans are going to be the conference’s highest-ranked teams once the season starts and were preseason top-20 teams. They were slated to play each other before the Pac-12 moved to a conference-only schedule, and they were scheduled to play each… Read more »
It would take an unusual season like this one for a PAC-12 team, probably Oregon, to make it into the playoff. They would still face an Alabama, Clemson or Ohio St. and that would be the end of that. But it would give Larry Scott bragging rights to use for the next 10 years: “wow” look at what we did in 2020!
Darnold On the Hotseat ESPN.com (Rich Cimini) — Sam Darnold has been inconsistent, alternately flashing big-time ability with questionable decision-making and hesitancy in the pocket. The lack of infrastructure has hurt his development — blame the organization for that — and that complicates the decision if the Jets land the top pick. Realistically, it’s hard to imagine Jets GM Joe Douglas passing on Trevor Lawrence, who is regarded by many as a generational talent. Also, as Brian Billick noted in his book, “The Q Factor: The Elusive Search For The Next Great NFL Quarterback,” Douglas isn’t personally invested in Darnold.… Read more »
Very unfortunate about how Darnold’s career is going. But can anyone be that surprised playing QB for the Jets? They have been chewing up QBs way before Sanchez played there with the same results. It is always the promise of playing in the pros, being a high draft pick and told you will be the franchise savior. Seems it is alway the QB’s fault a team isn’t winning. I’m not sure Trevor Lawrence would do that much better if he had the same players surrounding him. Sam is no doubt feeling the pressure he alone must win games and it… Read more »
I thought Darnold would be better, but I didn’t think the Jets would be this bad. Tough position for both sides I would say. Still, I’d stick with Darnold and give him much more time. But I don’t think Adam Gace is up to the job. What a colossal mess for Darnold. From what I’ve seen, it all really has set him back in year three. Tough to see for such a tough-minded player IMO.
I really hope Darnold can pull out of this tailspin. At this stage, for the first time ever, I have doubts about his ability to be a precision NFL passer. Until he gets some real time to throw, we’ll never know. But some NFL QBs never really get that consistent luxury. Whether Darnold ever does is a mystery that will just need to slowly unfold. I somehow doubt his future lies with the Jets however. I’m also hopeful that is the case and would love to see him shipped off to the Saints, Colts or Bucs — where he can… Read more »
Don’t ask the Jets administration to “waste” a draft pick or two on Offensive linemen.They obviously don’t understand you need to protect the QB and give him the assets to make an offense work. They will draft another QB and then go after a RB then pile up on more defensive backfield & backers. Sam needs to get out of Dodge ASAP.
The QB that has impressed me the most so far this season is Rattler from Oklahoma. Not the team so much, but he has a lot of tools, a quick release, good feet, and some speed.
He is young, but I can see him in the Heisman hunt in the future if he stays healthy.
I’m SO glad USC didn’t bend over to get Tom Herman now. The guy has “mediocre” written all over him and I’m so glad USC has his old DC.
Just goes to show that you never truly know what you are getting in a coach on-the-way-up, who hasn’t proven it in the big-time yet. There just aren’t many sure things.
And now the ‘Horns are stuck with an overpaid, prima donna coach whose teams routinely make a lot of mistakes and don’t play well when the chips are down against good teams.
Horns are stuck with an overpaid prima donna coach whose teams routinely make a lot of mistakes and don’t play well when the chips are down against good teams. That seems to identify Clay Helton at USC pretty closely let alone Herman. Only Herman won enough at Houston. Helton? where has he ever won?
It’s going to feel like a year before we play but I’m now excited for college football. This year seems to be a total crap shoot, except that Clemson and Alabama are really good. The rest we just don’t know.
Funny how things work out. The Big 12 is now a mess. OK has lost twice: once at home to Kansas State and a second time on the road to Iowa State. Texas just lost to a weak TCU at home (and should have lost to a very weak Texas Tech team on the road) and Baylor just lost to a weak West VA team on the road. OK and TX play next week. My guess is OK beats TX, but who knows. As Allen has correctly pointed out, the TX D is a mess. So, Herman blaming Todd Orlando… Read more »
That would be funny if the Big 12 beats itself up and none of them look dominating. Of course the Pac 12 has a knack for that as well. Especially with sending the favored teams on the road on a Friday after a road game the previous week. Oregon has to travel to WSU then has UCLA at home on a Friday, they should handle both fairly well. Utah is home then goes to UCLA the next Friday. The SEC could have 2 teams in the playoffs, 3-4 teams look dominating.
With the Big 12 now stuck with downtrodden TEXAS and OU, things are really looking up for the Pac-12.
I now think (dream of) an undefeated, powerful looking Pac-12 champ could somehow squeeze in.
USC should win out with it’s comfortable schedule. Nice to see the Pac-12 finally try to slightly protect its marquee team and give it a shot at some postseason opportunities IMO!
I actually think that the Pac-12 gave USC the worst possible schedule to make a bid for the CFP. Two reasons why. First, we start off with a game that will decide the Pac-12 South most likely in the first week. If this game were toward the end of the season, then both teams could have been undefeated and potentially run up the rankings charts, so a win over a higher ranked ASU would look much better than beating them in the first game and preventing them from ever moving up the rankings. ASU has also had more practice time… Read more »
If ASU has a decent team and we beat them early is should still reflect on the SoS. Just so long as we run the table convincingly like you say. Helton has a bad habit of getting ahead then playing not to lose instead of keeping his foot on the pedal. That does scare me, especially with the voting committee.
I think you are right Steveg. What the PAC-12 really needs to do is raise the level of its conference play to get a the respect of the pollsters. Playing in a conference that has too many tomato can teams is not going to give a team the benefit of the doubt getting into the playoffs, which it is having a very hard time in getting into. Right now, the PAC-12 is its own worst enemy for a number of reasons.
Here I was thinking Auburn would shut down Georgia. What a miss on that one. Baylor just doesn’t seem to have the offense, and Oklahoma is a disaster and will probably get worse now that they have 2 losses. I sure agree about the Texas defense, proves it was not Orlando, so I wonder if the shine has come off their pride and joy Herman. I cannot see a solid reason for the Trojans to not run the table, including a diluted Oregon team. Do miss having ND on the schedule this season though.
Did GH make a mistake not going to Texas? Not so sure. At least Texas has physical practices. At least they have a HC who still recruits hard and is trying to find the right chemistry hiring new coaches and would defer to GH who knows the lay of the land better where he grew up & played. At least Texas knows football is very important and willing to pay the big money to get top names and doesn’t have its president being an obstacle. With A & M & OU battling to win over the best recruits and favor… Read more »
Hey, it’s a schedule. A lot more than we had a month ago. They now have a direction with a goal to pursue. All the talk is finally going to come to fruition and game times are when the rubber meets the road. Here we go gang, we finally have football to look forward to. Like USC used to say, we will play anyone, anywhere. Time to start winning for a change. We get to see if these new coaches have what they are proclaimed to have, and the team has the swagger to win every week, in spite of… Read more »
I’ve looked at this schedule trying to figure out something good to say about it (other than it’s football) a thought occurred to me. I know in California there will not be people in the stands (even if the pandemic ends November 4th ) But how about AZ ? I’d travel to a game if they allow fans.
Do I see that correctly? Week 4 there are not 1, not 2 but 3 Friday night games! All are rivalry games, W v WSU, O v OSU, Stanford v Cal. Week 7 has 2 Friday games, also both rivalries.🤔
Funny that Urban was quick to say that OK was eliminated from CFB when they lost last week. But was much more charitable to TX today. Wonder if the fact that Tom Herman worked for Urban may have influenced his assessment.
UCLA has to open up against their old coach/player, who was often referred to derogatorily as “Radio” in the old days, as in insult to his presumed intelligence. He’ll always have 13-9 over USC in 2006 — just a horrible game for the Trojans.
It will be very interesting to see if Karl Dorrell can continue the upwards trajectory of where Mel Tucker had the Buffs headed — before he quickly (and some would say surprisingly) scooted over to in-state-second-fiddle MICH ST.
Even though the USC/ASU game starts at 9 am, why is this bad, with no people in the Coliseum? I actually like it, for this season at least.
As a result of this super early time slot, USC be the featured game on Fox that day.
Furthermore, the increasingly popular “Big Noon Kickoff” (over ESPN’s GameDay) pre-game show will originate from the Coliseum. So there’s terrific exposure — something USC football can really use nowadays.
I am not certain the wisdom of having your two top teams in the South open against each other. At least, SC plays only one snow game (in Utah). From the way the schedule is set up, the South looks to be decided that week. Odd. They have the two best teams in the North play the last week and the two best teams in the South play the first. But, SC only travels out of the basin only twice – to play Utah and AZ, with AZ being a total wreck due to transfers.
Seems to me that ASU has the advantage against USC at the beginning of the season. USC is installing a new defense and has had more limits on practices during the past weeks. But it might be best that we have 2 of the toughest games early on. If we lose both ASU and Utah, that might be enough to finally dump Helton. 1-2 start to a short season seems like a reason to move on.
USC’s new D will be better in the first game IMO, than it was ALL of last season under No-Personality Pendergast. I’m so much more excited about the possibilities of USC’s D now! Ya, baby!
Maybe bowl game spots? Otherwise, I just really like the idea of each team getting another, final in-conference shot at a team of relative equal calibur.
oregon has a cream-puff schedule for the first 4 games and then finally plays Cal and Washington to end the season. why did they put ASU and SC as the first game of the season? seems that someone still hates USC at the Pac-12.
I couldn’t agree more with leaving the league. Let Fresno take our spot. First the division setup favors the north. Even though both Utah and Colorado are physically further north than Stanturd and Cal, the league put the two newcomers in the south. Then the only team projected to win anything (Oregon) is given a slide into the playoff. USC is treated to a 9 am game and Friday night game and maybe two challenges this “season.”
Utah and Colorado have a big home field advantage from the altitude. it is a very substantial detriment to travel to mile high location and have to perform at peak physical performance.
time for SC to dump the Pac-12 or demand major changes.
totally agree that Cal and Stanford should be part of the Pac-12 south and utah/colorado should be in the north.
CAL and STAN have to be in the North, or they simply don’t have enough historical landmark teams there IMO. It was all about creating Pac-12 Division balance IMO.
He’s Baaaaack!
Chris Treviño@ChrisNTrevino
BREAKING: #USC OL Alijah Vera-Tucker just announced he is opting back in for #Trojan football. Massive news for the team
Outstanding, we need him. Hope he’s in shape. Let’s tee this up! This October is my new August, a long month till Kickoff!
Just knew he would come back. Really excited to see it.
excellent!
at this point, it feels like there are just no excuses to lose against any of the Pac-12 teams, even Oregon. SC is more stacked than anyone they play with talent.
I have high hopes for this season. I can se us winning all of the regular season games, especially if we get average play on both lines. I don’t think we need to be exceptional, just not terrible. Our skill and edge talent will be so much better than our opponents, we should win everything in front of us until we match up with teams that can match our talent. Then, our coaching will play a large part and that’s when I start to get less confident.
Maybe by the time they get to the championship the new coaches will have proven themselves to the point where our disgust over Helton will be behind us. Who knows.
There is a potential loss or two in those first 3 games. Early start on the opener. The team that is best prepped and ready to go will win that. Then the road game in Az and Utah. SC should win out the last 3.
ASU has been able to maximize their NCAA-allotted mandatory participation schedule since June 14. SC has been dinking around with CA restrictions. Edge to sun Devils in preparation.
If talent-superior USC can’t beat an on-the-road ASU team with a 9:00 am start time in the Coliseum — well…that would be a set-back I don’t actually think will happen. The Sun Devils have also undergone a lot of new coach additions as well. But if it does, especially with all these new (and improved) Trojan defensive coaches, then unfortunately, it would just be typical of Gentleman Clay football. USC has plenty of time to get ready IMO. And after all, it was the Trojan players who penned the letter to Gavin Newsom, begging to be allowed to return to… Read more »
I’m hoping the defense is much improved and shuts down the Sun Devil QB. Just hope they don’t get off to a CH slow start with the early morning first game of the season.
the only thing i care about is that Bohn sets the bar high for Helton this year. win out, or leave. Bohn has given Helton all the support he needs. win or leave.
and i will root for SC to win, even if that means Helton stays for a long time. I just cant root against our great players.
Bill O Brien got fired today. Just another coach who would be a massive upgrade for us.
He would be a pretty big program culture shock for the average USC player! Imagine switching from “Faith, Family and Football” Gentleman Clay to the much more aggressive Bill O’Brien.
But he would scare foltie. Too much toxic masculinity for her little collectivist soul.
I just don’t see any fireball type coach being hired under Folt. I only see a Helton-type HC more than willing to be totally submissive to her authority and that includes don’t win too many games in gaining power away from me. Pretty damn sad but I think it is accurate. AD Bohn will never be allowed to hire a HC that Folt sees as a threat to her total authority. I am wondering how she is kissing up to combined faculty. That would be the ultimate power to oust her if it wanted to and the BOTs would be… Read more »
With the assistants Bohn has brought in I can see change in the wind, and in my opinion Bohn could get a top tier coach that her highness would approve of, except of course Meyer.
I think Fickell is the perfect head coach for SC. A family man. Hard worker. Not a flashy type. Builds real sold defenses and going to build a tough team that wins in the trenches. But no controversy surrounding him. I am actually of the mind that Bohn simply could not come into the AD position last year and fire Helton (there just wasnt time for him to gain the gravitas to pull that off), but that Bohn can make the strategic/business case that Helton needs to be fired this year in order to bring in a new head coach… Read more »
Absolutely, Jamaica.
I am hoping the new defensive staff brings a massive culture change if not a shock. We all expect a significant rise in physicality during practice.
I certainly hope that the culture shock is already in place and lead by Todd Orlando. If Clay is still controlling practice, SC’s season is over before it starts. The pollsters certainly believe that Clay is still running the show as is reflected in SC not being ranked. And, candidly, that is an accurate assessment of Clay – top 25 talent, bottom 25 coach.
Good morning Allen. Everyone is in agreement that Clay has to go and until he does USC will not be an elite program. I have a proposal to address the problem. Option A is you can replace Clay with either Sark or Justin Wilcox. If you do not want either of these choices Option B is Clay remains HC until the expiration of his contract. What do you do? Assuming he is no longer drinking I go with Sark. His time with Saban is a plus. He can recruit. And he is a good offensive coach. Wilcox is and was… Read more »
They could always promote Helton to assistant or director in the athletic department. That could be a good thing.
Nope. You get Option A or Option B only. What to you do?
I guess I would swallow the poison with plan A. Such controversy when we all know we need new blood, leadership, culture, and winning philosophy.
Neither option is one I would happily endorse, but if I had to, I would stick with Helton because I don’t believe that even a sober Sark would be that much of an improvement, and at least Helton is marching towards the end of his contract.
With Sark, we’d just start another contract with a mediocre guy. His ability to recruit isn’t enough for me. I’m looking for a guy who can both coach an entire big-time/tradition rich team, as well as recruit in L.A. — which shouldn’t be that tough at a program like USC.
I almost went with Option A, but ultimately decided that Sark had more upside than Clay. But the harsh reality is neither option is a good one.
OMG have we forgotten what a crappy head coach Sark is? Drinking or not? Never again. Trojan nation has to get past all this constant looking into our “family” for coaches. Our family has been dysfunctional since before PC who was just a temporary but awesome respite. Urban Meyer was the right idea, and we chose against that, for all the wrong reasons. This program needs a 12-step program.
I didn’t say Sark was a good choice. In my scenario he is the least objectionable of the choices available. Mabe.
For Sober Sark’s sake, I hope he stays at the OC level, where he is much better suited IMO.
You might be right. Surprised Wilcox hasn’t generated any response. I thought you were an anti Wilcox guy. I held out for a long time, but finally reached the conclusion he had to go. He just didn’t fit at SC.
True — I am anti-Wilcox (but really based only on his time at USC, which was just plain bad). But he had a really good year as the WIS DC and probably is right in line with the type of HC a program like CAL could get. It’s funny how things work out. I would have never thought Wilcox would ever get a HC position so quickly, and I never thought Sarkisian would have the post-USC success which has come his way as an OC. Good for him! He was in a dark hole at USC. Haden did him a… Read more »
Sark is the beneficiary of the Saban Coaches School of Rehabilitation. Kiffin was and so was Locksley of Md. There are more but I can’t recall all the names. SC was the only blip on Wilcox’s resume. We got Vera-Tucker back today. That is good news.
I was thinking about this 9 am start with ASU. So looking around at pregame schedules. Arrive at the stadium 2 hours prior to kickoff, 7 am. Players eat the pregame meal 4 hours prior to kickoff, 5 am. 😴
I used to work at Lockheed Skunk Works in Palmdale, CA and lived in Thousand Oaks. Periodically, I would have to attend a telecon with the Corporate HQ which they would schedule at 7:30AM EST/4:30AM PST. As it took an hour to get to PMD, I’d be up at 3 in the morning and on the road by 3:30AM. If I could do that when I was in my 50’s, these kids can get up for a 9:00AM Football Game!
One of the reasons I enjoy sailing and not surfing, the best waves are early morning, the wind doesn’t up till lunch time!😎
Good one to remember!
ARIZ HC Kevin Sumlin has contracted COVID-19 and will continue to work remotely while he quarantines, the school announced Monday.
bleacherreport.com
AP Top 25 Poll – Week of October 4-10th
As USC starts and, as we all hope, starts winning, the Trojans will crack the top 25.
But does it even really matter? We could win all 6 games and I don’t see us cracking the Top 10, especially starting from an unranked position. Only Oregon has a chance, and even that is a longshot.
@Rock1212 USC could get 7-0 conference championship, and beat everyone VERY impressively, and I think the Trojans could just slide in, if all the cards fell perfectly right with other teams. The Big 12 is already out. Let’s assume ALA and CLEM and OHIO ST are in. Could USC be #4?
2% chance is what I give us. We can beat ORE this year if we play well. They have some very major questions.
I’ll go with 2%, because 2020 has taught me to expect anything and that anything — good or bad — is possible.
I know people are tired of hearing from others they will be glad when 2020 is over. I know I’ve both said and thought that sentiment a few times. And while I will be glad to see what 2021 brings to our lives, I’m very grateful that USC will get to play at least seven games in 2020. It wasn’t that long ago when I thought the entire Pac-12 would be sitting on the bench this season. USC seemingly has a favorable schedule to reach the Pac-12 championship game and I fully expect that to happen. If it doesn’t, Gentleman… Read more »
All true, Allen. But I cannot let that dominant voice in my head not speak: we can never underestimate the ability of Clay Helton to screw the pooch. So my only correction to what you say above is we get “at least SIX games”! My most present concern is that Clay Helton teams tend to be critically underprepared early in a season, and my sense is that comes from a practice methodology dictated from the top. The constant question is whether Helton assistants can ever knock him out of the way, but now Covid and California’s version of it has… Read more »
@Rock 2112 We get at least seven games, the last one on Dec. 18, against an unnamed opponent as of yet. I’m sure we’ll squeeze into some bowl game, making it eight games.
Thanks for being such a valued participant here on the TDB Rock. Always appreciate your thinking.
BTW, we dodged a bullet with Tom Herman IMO. He had me fooled.
Great post Rock2112. It’s good to hear from you. I now will be living in Bullhead City, AZ as of 11/1/2020. I’m in an RV Park in Topock which is close to BHC and have been taking a lot of smack talk on how ASU will beat us in the first game. I don’t see that happening, but Herm Edwards is heads and tails above Clay Helton as a HC, in my opinion. USC will win because of our talent and the fact that Helton appears to have turned the Offense over to Harrell. We will have to see if… Read more »
Congrats on your move Rlee — get Trojan Nation in their unmasked faces out there! I hope you are right. It is definitely time for the talent of the Trojans to start equaling high win probabilities!
It depends on how those wins look. If they are sloppy games with lots of mistakes that USC manages to pull through in the last minutes, then we dont crack the top 10, but 6-0 at end of season probably gets us into the top 10 and then it all depends on how strong Oregon looks.
Antonio Morales (The Athletic) — The Pac-12 takes a lot of heat for its scheduling decisions, and rightfully so given its questionable track record in that field. In a year when the conference’s College Football Playoff chances seem slim, there was always going to be some debate about what the Pac-12 should do with Oregon and USC. The Ducks and Trojans are going to be the conference’s highest-ranked teams once the season starts and were preseason top-20 teams. They were slated to play each other before the Pac-12 moved to a conference-only schedule, and they were scheduled to play each… Read more »
It would take an unusual season like this one for a PAC-12 team, probably Oregon, to make it into the playoff. They would still face an Alabama, Clemson or Ohio St. and that would be the end of that. But it would give Larry Scott bragging rights to use for the next 10 years: “wow” look at what we did in 2020!
Darnold On the Hotseat ESPN.com (Rich Cimini) — Sam Darnold has been inconsistent, alternately flashing big-time ability with questionable decision-making and hesitancy in the pocket. The lack of infrastructure has hurt his development — blame the organization for that — and that complicates the decision if the Jets land the top pick. Realistically, it’s hard to imagine Jets GM Joe Douglas passing on Trevor Lawrence, who is regarded by many as a generational talent. Also, as Brian Billick noted in his book, “The Q Factor: The Elusive Search For The Next Great NFL Quarterback,” Douglas isn’t personally invested in Darnold.… Read more »
Very unfortunate about how Darnold’s career is going. But can anyone be that surprised playing QB for the Jets? They have been chewing up QBs way before Sanchez played there with the same results. It is always the promise of playing in the pros, being a high draft pick and told you will be the franchise savior. Seems it is alway the QB’s fault a team isn’t winning. I’m not sure Trevor Lawrence would do that much better if he had the same players surrounding him. Sam is no doubt feeling the pressure he alone must win games and it… Read more »
I thought Darnold would be better, but I didn’t think the Jets would be this bad. Tough position for both sides I would say. Still, I’d stick with Darnold and give him much more time. But I don’t think Adam Gace is up to the job. What a colossal mess for Darnold. From what I’ve seen, it all really has set him back in year three. Tough to see for such a tough-minded player IMO.
I hope he saved and wisely invested his signing bonus!😰
I really hope Darnold can pull out of this tailspin. At this stage, for the first time ever, I have doubts about his ability to be a precision NFL passer. Until he gets some real time to throw, we’ll never know. But some NFL QBs never really get that consistent luxury. Whether Darnold ever does is a mystery that will just need to slowly unfold. I somehow doubt his future lies with the Jets however. I’m also hopeful that is the case and would love to see him shipped off to the Saints, Colts or Bucs — where he can… Read more »
Don’t ask the Jets administration to “waste” a draft pick or two on Offensive linemen.They obviously don’t understand you need to protect the QB and give him the assets to make an offense work. They will draft another QB and then go after a RB then pile up on more defensive backfield & backers. Sam needs to get out of Dodge ASAP.
The QB that has impressed me the most so far this season is Rattler from Oklahoma. Not the team so much, but he has a lot of tools, a quick release, good feet, and some speed.
He is young, but I can see him in the Heisman hunt in the future if he stays healthy.
I’m SO glad USC didn’t bend over to get Tom Herman now. The guy has “mediocre” written all over him and I’m so glad USC has his old DC.
Just goes to show that you never truly know what you are getting in a coach on-the-way-up, who hasn’t proven it in the big-time yet. There just aren’t many sure things.
And now the ‘Horns are stuck with an overpaid, prima donna coach whose teams routinely make a lot of mistakes and don’t play well when the chips are down against good teams.
Bye bye Herman. We hardly knew ye!
Horns are stuck with an overpaid prima donna coach whose teams routinely make a lot of mistakes and don’t play well when the chips are down against good teams. That seems to identify Clay Helton at USC pretty closely let alone Herman. Only Herman won enough at Houston. Helton? where has he ever won?
It’s going to feel like a year before we play but I’m now excited for college football. This year seems to be a total crap shoot, except that Clemson and Alabama are really good. The rest we just don’t know.
Funny how things work out. The Big 12 is now a mess. OK has lost twice: once at home to Kansas State and a second time on the road to Iowa State. Texas just lost to a weak TCU at home (and should have lost to a very weak Texas Tech team on the road) and Baylor just lost to a weak West VA team on the road. OK and TX play next week. My guess is OK beats TX, but who knows. As Allen has correctly pointed out, the TX D is a mess. So, Herman blaming Todd Orlando… Read more »
That would be funny if the Big 12 beats itself up and none of them look dominating. Of course the Pac 12 has a knack for that as well. Especially with sending the favored teams on the road on a Friday after a road game the previous week. Oregon has to travel to WSU then has UCLA at home on a Friday, they should handle both fairly well. Utah is home then goes to UCLA the next Friday. The SEC could have 2 teams in the playoffs, 3-4 teams look dominating.
With the Big 12 now stuck with downtrodden TEXAS and OU, things are really looking up for the Pac-12.
I now think (dream of) an undefeated, powerful looking Pac-12 champ could somehow squeeze in.
USC should win out with it’s comfortable schedule. Nice to see the Pac-12 finally try to slightly protect its marquee team and give it a shot at some postseason opportunities IMO!
I actually think that the Pac-12 gave USC the worst possible schedule to make a bid for the CFP. Two reasons why. First, we start off with a game that will decide the Pac-12 South most likely in the first week. If this game were toward the end of the season, then both teams could have been undefeated and potentially run up the rankings charts, so a win over a higher ranked ASU would look much better than beating them in the first game and preventing them from ever moving up the rankings. ASU has also had more practice time… Read more »
If ASU has a decent team and we beat them early is should still reflect on the SoS. Just so long as we run the table convincingly like you say. Helton has a bad habit of getting ahead then playing not to lose instead of keeping his foot on the pedal. That does scare me, especially with the voting committee.
I think you are right Steveg. What the PAC-12 really needs to do is raise the level of its conference play to get a the respect of the pollsters. Playing in a conference that has too many tomato can teams is not going to give a team the benefit of the doubt getting into the playoffs, which it is having a very hard time in getting into. Right now, the PAC-12 is its own worst enemy for a number of reasons.
Here I was thinking Auburn would shut down Georgia. What a miss on that one. Baylor just doesn’t seem to have the offense, and Oklahoma is a disaster and will probably get worse now that they have 2 losses. I sure agree about the Texas defense, proves it was not Orlando, so I wonder if the shine has come off their pride and joy Herman. I cannot see a solid reason for the Trojans to not run the table, including a diluted Oregon team. Do miss having ND on the schedule this season though.
Did GH make a mistake not going to Texas? Not so sure. At least Texas has physical practices. At least they have a HC who still recruits hard and is trying to find the right chemistry hiring new coaches and would defer to GH who knows the lay of the land better where he grew up & played. At least Texas knows football is very important and willing to pay the big money to get top names and doesn’t have its president being an obstacle. With A & M & OU battling to win over the best recruits and favor… Read more »
Hey, it’s a schedule. A lot more than we had a month ago. They now have a direction with a goal to pursue. All the talk is finally going to come to fruition and game times are when the rubber meets the road. Here we go gang, we finally have football to look forward to. Like USC used to say, we will play anyone, anywhere. Time to start winning for a change. We get to see if these new coaches have what they are proclaimed to have, and the team has the swagger to win every week, in spite of… Read more »
I like our schedule and could easily see us runnng the table and being 6-0.
I’ve looked at this schedule trying to figure out something good to say about it (other than it’s football) a thought occurred to me. I know in California there will not be people in the stands (even if the pandemic ends November 4th ) But how about AZ ? I’d travel to a game if they allow fans.
Just checked Stub Hub for tickets and nothing is available at this point.
Do I see that correctly? Week 4 there are not 1, not 2 but 3 Friday night games! All are rivalry games, W v WSU, O v OSU, Stanford v Cal. Week 7 has 2 Friday games, also both rivalries.🤔
That’s Thanksgiving weekend. Used to be a good football weekend. This year there will probably be a tainted turkey recall that Friday.
In a normal year that would be the rivalry weekend. Hopefully, they won’t all be on at 7 PM. Should be spread out in the day.
There ya go, the idiocy of Larry Scott and the Pac12 presidents.
So great! TCU beats #9 TEXAS in Austin, 33-31. 😀
Tide is Rollin’
If I understand you correctly, Todd Orlando was not the problem.
How’d you guess?
Funny that Urban was quick to say that OK was eliminated from CFB when they lost last week. But was much more charitable to TX today. Wonder if the fact that Tom Herman worked for Urban may have influenced his assessment.
I also think the mystery round-robin #7 game based on where you stand within the conference is a stupendously good idea.
I think CAL, ARIZ and WSU have the toughest schedules. UCLA’s isn’t easy either.
UCLA has to open up against their old coach/player, who was often referred to derogatorily as “Radio” in the old days, as in insult to his presumed intelligence. He’ll always have 13-9 over USC in 2006 — just a horrible game for the Trojans.
It will be very interesting to see if Karl Dorrell can continue the upwards trajectory of where Mel Tucker had the Buffs headed — before he quickly (and some would say surprisingly) scooted over to in-state-second-fiddle MICH ST.
And Karl will be going beyond the call of duty to whoop them. 😎
That would be just awesome if he somehow could!
Even though the USC/ASU game starts at 9 am, why is this bad, with no people in the Coliseum? I actually like it, for this season at least.
As a result of this super early time slot, USC be the featured game on Fox that day.
Furthermore, the increasingly popular “Big Noon Kickoff” (over ESPN’s GameDay) pre-game show will originate from the Coliseum. So there’s terrific exposure — something USC football can really use nowadays.
I am not certain the wisdom of having your two top teams in the South open against each other. At least, SC plays only one snow game (in Utah). From the way the schedule is set up, the South looks to be decided that week. Odd. They have the two best teams in the North play the last week and the two best teams in the South play the first. But, SC only travels out of the basin only twice – to play Utah and AZ, with AZ being a total wreck due to transfers.
I like USC’s schedule and I’d rather play ASU at home to open than after they gel more.
Terrific line-up. Wonder who we’ll play in game 7 Maybe it’ll be STAN or CAL.
Also, would be unreal to hook up against ND in a bowl!
Seems to me that ASU has the advantage against USC at the beginning of the season. USC is installing a new defense and has had more limits on practices during the past weeks. But it might be best that we have 2 of the toughest games early on. If we lose both ASU and Utah, that might be enough to finally dump Helton. 1-2 start to a short season seems like a reason to move on.
USC’s new D will be better in the first game IMO, than it was ALL of last season under No-Personality Pendergast. I’m so much more excited about the possibilities of USC’s D now! Ya, baby!
Hopefully, we are playing the first place team from the North. In the Conference Championship Game!😉
Allen by now I gotta guess you know where I live (I mentioned it enough ) so you know that start time is quite OK with me …….FIGHT ON !!!!!
Except for the PAC-12 Championship Contenders …..The other teams playing on week 7 are playing for what ???????????
Maybe bowl game spots? Otherwise, I just really like the idea of each team getting another, final in-conference shot at a team of relative equal calibur.
oregon has a cream-puff schedule for the first 4 games and then finally plays Cal and Washington to end the season. why did they put ASU and SC as the first game of the season? seems that someone still hates USC at the Pac-12.
Time we leave this train-wreck of a league.
I couldn’t agree more with leaving the league. Let Fresno take our spot. First the division setup favors the north. Even though both Utah and Colorado are physically further north than Stanturd and Cal, the league put the two newcomers in the south. Then the only team projected to win anything (Oregon) is given a slide into the playoff. USC is treated to a 9 am game and Friday night game and maybe two challenges this “season.”
Utah and Colorado have a big home field advantage from the altitude. it is a very substantial detriment to travel to mile high location and have to perform at peak physical performance.
time for SC to dump the Pac-12 or demand major changes.
totally agree that Cal and Stanford should be part of the Pac-12 south and utah/colorado should be in the north.
CAL and STAN have to be in the North, or they simply don’t have enough historical landmark teams there IMO. It was all about creating Pac-12 Division balance IMO.