The Trojans’ nonconference opponent next Saturday, led by quarterback Jake Haener, is 1-1 after losing a close game to Oregon State on a late exchange of touchdowns
Fresno State at USC (opening 12.5 faves)
When:Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where:Coliseum
TV/radio:Fox (Ch. 11)/790 AM
Records:Fresno State 1-1; USC 2-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12
Fresno State update:The Bulldogs got their hearts broken against Oregon State on Saturday. Fresno appeared to have wrapped up the win with a four-yard TD pass from QB Jake Haener to Erik Brooks with 1:05 to play, giving the Bulldogs a three-point lead. But Oregon State drove down the field and, with three seconds left at the Fresno two-yard line, opted to go for the win rather than force overtime. A Jack Colletto keeper out of the Wildcat was successful and Fresno lost 35-32. … Haener had the opportunity to follow former Fresno coach Jake Dickert to Washington State but opted to stay with the Bulldogs. Through two games, he has completed 74.7% of his passes for 737 yards and three TDs. … RB Jordan Mims is averaging 5.4 ypc to go with four touchdowns (five, including a passing TD).
USC update:The Trojans passed their first Pac-12 and road test on Saturday with a 41-28 win over Stanford. … QB Caleb Williams continued his stellar play, completing 20 of 27 passes for 341 yards and four TDs without an interception. … The lion’s share of the yards went to WR Jordan Addison, who gained 172 yards on seven receptions while scoring two touchdowns for the second consecutive week. … RB Travis Dye got more of a workhorse workload on Saturday, with 14 carries compared to Austin Jones’ eight. Dye gained 105 yards with a touchdown while adding a 19-yard reception. … For the second consecutive game, USC recorded four turnovers, bringing the season total to eight. The Trojans had 19 turnovers all last season.
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When I was a substitute teacher at Kaiser high school in Fontana, I noticed that Kaiser sent a lot of players to Fresno State. I asked the coach and he told me the philosophy of the team was to never give up. He said Fresno had beaten PAC 12 teams who thought they were just a tune up for the season. I expect that type of game Saturday. The real difference is the way Riley approaches the game. I am pretty sure he doesn’t fear Fresno as much as he fears complacency on his team. Maybe the band can start… Read more »
Fresno used to have a program where players could enroll with an ineligible gpa, tutor them up and get them into the program. Not sure if they still do it or not but Chino High sent a couple of guys up there to enroll in it.
I’d say USC will be fired up to the max to beat the Bulldogs, and very well prepared. The team is riding high, already #7, and well aware that Tedford and FRESNO ST can be very dangerous. It should be a raucous, exciting affair in front of a big crowd.
I didn’t watch the Beavers beat the Bulldogs, so I have no idea what Tedford’s team looks like.
Coach Bruich was pretty nice to work with. After I got a full time gig teaching in the district, I worked summer school teaching English. Kids in the football program would take the class to advance in school so they would be ahead enough to devote time to football. The thing that made these kids stand out was respectful attitude they displayed. Many of the non football kids were in summer school because they needed to make up credits. The football kids were putting the others to shame. The attitude was demanded by the coaches.
Heard a radio segment yesterday talking about the “blue bloods”. They spoke about those already there- Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State. Those one the rise- Miami, Michigan, USC, possibly Texas. And those on the decline-Nebraska, ND, and Texas A&M. I had two thoughts since when is Texas A&M a blue blood? Don’t you have to win something first? also, how great would it be if for the next decade the top 10 teams were USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, Clemson, and if Nebraska or ND can get their act together to join the group. That… Read more »
He’s a bizarre coach to analyze or predict anything about for me. I’m generally pessimistic about Sark’s chances because he’s always seemed “soft” to me. But with TEXAS on his back now, maybe he’ll get some killer in him somehow.
Maybe the Pac-12 should merge with the Sun Belt Conference!
What a Saturday for the Sun Belt Conference with three absolutely wild upsets:
Georgia Southern beats Nebraska (-22.5) in Lincoln. Marshall stuffs Notre Dame (-20.5) in South Bend. Appalachian State wrecks A&M (-18) in College Station.
The Huskers immediately fire their coach and both ND and A&M drop out of the top 25, the Irish for the first time in five years.
SC better be up for playing Fresno State. They gave us a run for our money back in the Bush/Leinart days and only a fantastic, long run by Reggie put the game out of reach although the Bulldogs did make it close in the end. They always seem to have a good QB that can put up some points.
You might be thinking of the Oregon State game played in Corvallis in the fog. The Fresno State game was played in the Coliseum in 2005 as I recall. Bush and Leinart had a great game but so did Paul Pinegar, Fresno State’s QB. SC won 50-42.
Reading around the Net, it’s amazing to see that after just two games with Notre Dame averaging a meager 15 ppg, Irish fans are already scared out of their wits that their first team QB is out for the year, and more troublesome, that their play-caller, Tommy Rees, doesn’t have the faintest clue about how to match up with offensive savants like Lincoln Riley. Fighting Irish Wire — “Our friends at Trojans Wire are experiencing whiplash from how quickly they’ve seen a modern offense come storming into Troy, led by Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams.” This is just another way… Read more »
but…….BUT the ESPN…….Fox NFL Show and NFL Network today at least 2/3rds of the guys on those shows picked Broncos to win tonight (I thought Seahawks are a last place team …..Per some predictors anyway ) …..Hmmmmm .
Neither team looked any good IMO, But Wilson had plenty of chances to beat his old coach, PC, and couldn’t get it done. Maybe it’s because the Broncos are coached by Nathaniel Hackett, son of that disastrous Trojan HC, Paul.
Paul was a disaster as HC but did very well as a QB coach. He turned my classmate, USC QB Vince Evans, from a thrower to a passer. The turnaround Vince made from his Junior to Senior years was remarkable. I didn’t see any of the Paul Hackett HC years as I was living/working in Maryland after the Lockheed and Martin Marietta merger. They never showed SC back there and I understand now there was a good reason for that. Kudos to Mike Garrett for hiring Pete Carroll.
Hackett was a great QB coach under JRob. Vince Evans in 1975 was as bad a passer as I’ve seen — 31% for the season. With Hackett’s help in 1976, he was more than adequate — just under 54%, which was top-10 level in that era. It got him an NFL career.
Hackett’s the classic example of a great OC for his time who couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag as a HC.
The collector of old jukeboxes was pitiful at both PITT and USC. I’m thinking maybe he needed to budget his time a little better after reading this blurb.
“For someone who has given three years of his life and for the last six months hasn’t slept or eaten, I’m very disappointed,” Hackett lamented shortly after being fired by Mike Garrett.
Hackett was also an extremely poor player-manager who let guys like uber-talented/first-round pick R.J. Soward, an arrogant poster boy for entitled, bad behavior, set his own rules, while scoring 32 TDs with his 4.35 speed in four seasons at USC. Hackett’s teams were badly fractured by these player inequities which he allowed among his team. Rapper-wannabee Soward eventually busted out of the NFL because of alcohol abuse, a pattern he began as a Trojan while admittedly smoking pot every day while at USC. During Soward’s first training camp with the Jags, Tom Coughlin literally had to send a limo to… Read more »
Brandon Baker, the recruit Lincoln Riley and USC have to sign “Brandon Baker thought he’d play the recruiting game a little bit. “The four-star Class of 2024 OT of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei took to his Twitter account on Sept. 1 and posted a quick message: ‘Commitment coming soon.‘ He added the eyeballs Emoji for a little intrigue. Though Baker is a 6-foot-5, 285-pound mountain of a human, he’s a soft-spoken teenager who said late in the summer that he was still trying to sort through his recruitment. Now he was ready to commit? (No) “Riley was the perfect… Read more »
Steveg you are our boots on the ground for Fresno. What is your take? IMO offensively USC will be better, defensively USC should have at least a bit better talent. After these last 2 games I think Grinch will have them prepared for whatever Tedford/Haener will throw at them. I am liking SC by at least 14.
I still get nervous before games, I think it is left over from the ghost of Clay Helton. Fresno can be feisty, that is a perfect word for them. We know going in our O has the talent edge and our D should be able to play with them I think from what I have seen. I know I am taking the spread and USC in this one simply because of the explosiveness of our offense. We should be able to mount a ground game also. Where I see Fresno’s weakness is the deep pass and their bench is not… Read more »
At this stage, I agree @Golden Trojan. In last weeks game against Stanford, we only scored two field goals in the second-half which allowed Stanford to get back into the game. I think Coach LR will not allow that to happen again.
I think Caleb Williams will get player of the week every week. I am so proud of the play we are getting from our O line and backs. They are doing a great job of protecting their captain. Tuli is an unsung hero, he just drives defenses nuts and lets the linebackers do their job. Hope Benton is at 100% as well as Romelo Height.
Height and Ford did not practice today. Solomon Byrd has to step up.
When I was a substitute teacher at Kaiser high school in Fontana, I noticed that Kaiser sent a lot of players to Fresno State. I asked the coach and he told me the philosophy of the team was to never give up. He said Fresno had beaten PAC 12 teams who thought they were just a tune up for the season. I expect that type of game Saturday. The real difference is the way Riley approaches the game. I am pretty sure he doesn’t fear Fresno as much as he fears complacency on his team. Maybe the band can start… Read more »
Fresno used to have a program where players could enroll with an ineligible gpa, tutor them up and get them into the program. Not sure if they still do it or not but Chino High sent a couple of guys up there to enroll in it.
I’d say USC will be fired up to the max to beat the Bulldogs, and very well prepared. The team is riding high, already #7, and well aware that Tedford and FRESNO ST can be very dangerous. It should be a raucous, exciting affair in front of a big crowd.
I didn’t watch the Beavers beat the Bulldogs, so I have no idea what Tedford’s team looks like.
Dick Bruich left coaching Fontana High school for the opportunity to create the new football program at Kaiser.
I liked Dick a lot and dealt with him many times over the years trying to cover his players for SuperPrep. Great HS coach.
Bruich was at Kaiser when I was at Chino. We never got to play against him. I know our HC John Monger respected him a lot.
Coach Bruich was pretty nice to work with. After I got a full time gig teaching in the district, I worked summer school teaching English. Kids in the football program would take the class to advance in school so they would be ahead enough to devote time to football. The thing that made these kids stand out was respectful attitude they displayed. Many of the non football kids were in summer school because they needed to make up credits. The football kids were putting the others to shame. The attitude was demanded by the coaches.
Heard a radio segment yesterday talking about the “blue bloods”. They spoke about those already there- Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State. Those one the rise- Miami, Michigan, USC, possibly Texas. And those on the decline-Nebraska, ND, and Texas A&M. I had two thoughts since when is Texas A&M a blue blood? Don’t you have to win something first? also, how great would it be if for the next decade the top 10 teams were USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, Clemson, and if Nebraska or ND can get their act together to join the group. That… Read more »
Texas has Suck … they are going nowhere
He’s a bizarre coach to analyze or predict anything about for me. I’m generally pessimistic about Sark’s chances because he’s always seemed “soft” to me. But with TEXAS on his back now, maybe he’ll get some killer in him somehow.
A Jeff Tedford-coached team has never beaten USC at the Coliseum, where he is 0-7.
The damage:
FRESNO ST
2019: L, 31-23
CAL
2012: L, 27-9
2010: L, 48-14
2008: L, 17-3
2006: L, 23-9
2004: L, 23-17 (Aaron Rodgers game)
2002: L, 30-28
Two of those CAL teams finished with 10 wins and a third had nine but could not get a win on the road in L.A.
fresnobee.com
You would think the percentages would be with him eventually, but I doubt it this year.
Maybe the Pac-12 should merge with the Sun Belt Conference!
What a Saturday for the Sun Belt Conference with three absolutely wild upsets:
Georgia Southern beats Nebraska (-22.5) in Lincoln.
Marshall stuffs Notre Dame (-20.5) in South Bend.
Appalachian State wrecks A&M (-18) in College Station.
The Huskers immediately fire their coach and both ND and A&M drop out of the top 25, the Irish for the first time in five years.
SC better be up for playing Fresno State. They gave us a run for our money back in the Bush/Leinart days and only a fantastic, long run by Reggie put the game out of reach although the Bulldogs did make it close in the end. They always seem to have a good QB that can put up some points.
That game was played in really foggy conditions, as I recall. Hard to watch the action on TV.
You might be thinking of the Oregon State game played in Corvallis in the fog. The Fresno State game was played in the Coliseum in 2005 as I recall. Bush and Leinart had a great game but so did Paul Pinegar, Fresno State’s QB. SC won 50-42.
Reading around the Net, it’s amazing to see that after just two games with Notre Dame averaging a meager 15 ppg, Irish fans are already scared out of their wits that their first team QB is out for the year, and more troublesome, that their play-caller, Tommy Rees, doesn’t have the faintest clue about how to match up with offensive savants like Lincoln Riley. Fighting Irish Wire — “Our friends at Trojans Wire are experiencing whiplash from how quickly they’ve seen a modern offense come storming into Troy, led by Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams.” This is just another way… Read more »
but…….BUT the ESPN…….Fox NFL Show and NFL Network today at least 2/3rds of the guys on those shows picked Broncos to win tonight (I thought Seahawks are a last place team …..Per some predictors anyway ) …..Hmmmmm .
Neither team looked any good IMO, But Wilson had plenty of chances to beat his old coach, PC, and couldn’t get it done. Maybe it’s because the Broncos are coached by Nathaniel Hackett, son of that disastrous Trojan HC, Paul.
Paul was a disaster as HC but did very well as a QB coach. He turned my classmate, USC QB Vince Evans, from a thrower to a passer. The turnaround Vince made from his Junior to Senior years was remarkable. I didn’t see any of the Paul Hackett HC years as I was living/working in Maryland after the Lockheed and Martin Marietta merger. They never showed SC back there and I understand now there was a good reason for that. Kudos to Mike Garrett for hiring Pete Carroll.
Hackett was a great QB coach under JRob. Vince Evans in 1975 was as bad a passer as I’ve seen — 31% for the season. With Hackett’s help in 1976, he was more than adequate — just under 54%, which was top-10 level in that era. It got him an NFL career.
Hackett’s the classic example of a great OC for his time who couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag as a HC.
The collector of old jukeboxes was pitiful at both PITT and USC. I’m thinking maybe he needed to budget his time a little better after reading this blurb.
“For someone who has given three years of his life and for the last six months hasn’t slept or eaten, I’m very disappointed,” Hackett lamented shortly after being fired by Mike Garrett.
Hackett was apparently a classic micromanager.
Hackett was also an extremely poor player-manager who let guys like uber-talented/first-round pick R.J. Soward, an arrogant poster boy for entitled, bad behavior, set his own rules, while scoring 32 TDs with his 4.35 speed in four seasons at USC. Hackett’s teams were badly fractured by these player inequities which he allowed among his team. Rapper-wannabee Soward eventually busted out of the NFL because of alcohol abuse, a pattern he began as a Trojan while admittedly smoking pot every day while at USC. During Soward’s first training camp with the Jags, Tom Coughlin literally had to send a limo to… Read more »
Shotgun Spratling @ShotgunSpr
“USC has missed 10 tackles through the first two games, according to Pro Football Focus.
It has played 149 defensive snaps, so one missed tackle every 14.9 plays.
“Last season, the Trojans averaged a missed tackle every 5.6 defensive snaps.”
Smart and tough Trojan S Max Williams putting the hurt on Cardinal RB E.J. Smith (Emmitt’s son) and causing yet another turnover inside the five.
USC’s causing of eight turnovers in two games has played a huge part in USC’s strong start.
Caleb Williams says this about Max: “Since I’ve gotten here he’s made me better.”
theathletic.com
Brandon Baker, the recruit Lincoln Riley and USC have to sign “Brandon Baker thought he’d play the recruiting game a little bit. “The four-star Class of 2024 OT of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei took to his Twitter account on Sept. 1 and posted a quick message: ‘Commitment coming soon.‘ He added the eyeballs Emoji for a little intrigue. Though Baker is a 6-foot-5, 285-pound mountain of a human, he’s a soft-spoken teenager who said late in the summer that he was still trying to sort through his recruitment. Now he was ready to commit? (No) “Riley was the perfect… Read more »
Pete Carroll on facing Russell Wilson just before kickoff as opponents for the first time:
“There’s nobody I like beating better than the people I know best.”
How would Helton respond to the same question?
Helton gracefully lose big to the teams he would knows the best—you know, ucla, ND, the Oregon philknights….
Watch Peyton and Eli on ESPN2 Monday Nights, Just great!
Steveg you are our boots on the ground for Fresno. What is your take? IMO offensively USC will be better, defensively USC should have at least a bit better talent. After these last 2 games I think Grinch will have them prepared for whatever Tedford/Haener will throw at them. I am liking SC by at least 14.
I still get nervous before games, I think it is left over from the ghost of Clay Helton. Fresno can be feisty, that is a perfect word for them. We know going in our O has the talent edge and our D should be able to play with them I think from what I have seen. I know I am taking the spread and USC in this one simply because of the explosiveness of our offense. We should be able to mount a ground game also. Where I see Fresno’s weakness is the deep pass and their bench is not… Read more »
At this stage, I agree @Golden Trojan. In last weeks game against Stanford, we only scored two field goals in the second-half which allowed Stanford to get back into the game. I think Coach LR will not allow that to happen again.
usctrojans.com
Too Funny!
I think Caleb Williams will get player of the week every week. I am so proud of the play we are getting from our O line and backs. They are doing a great job of protecting their captain. Tuli is an unsung hero, he just drives defenses nuts and lets the linebackers do their job. Hope Benton is at 100% as well as Romelo Height.