USC’s Travis Dye warns teammates about complacency
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — When Lincoln Riley added veterans to the USC locker room from winning programs — Caleb Williams from Oklahoma, Shane Lee from Alabama, Travis Dye (26) from Oregon — the goal was to bring in voices that could create a similarly successful culture.
Sometimes it goes beyond learning how to win. Sometimes you have to learn how not to lose.
After a closer-than-necessary, 42-25 win over an Arizona State team in flux, Dye isn’t sure the sixth-ranked Trojans (5-0, 3-0 in Pac-12) have learned that lesson yet.
“Some people don’t know what it’s like to lose on this team. That can be a problem,” Dye said. “But we’re going to get it right, we’re going to get it right. We’re going to make sure our guys know that winning like this is very rare.”
It started in practice last week. Dye noticed that USC wasn’t working with the same energy level, the same focus, as it did in the first few weeks of the season when the Trojans rolled without effort.
That, he felt, carried over into the first half against the Sun Devils on Saturday night at the Coliseum. The Trojans committed six penalties, four by the offensive line. The USC defense struggled to contain Arizona State, allowing 8.1 yards per play.
This letdown was something that Riley felt, as well, even if USC responded with a much more complete second half.
“It just wasn’t quite us, wasn’t quite the edge that we’re used to playing with and we expect to play with,” Riley said. “We’re gonna have to build, gonna have to play a lot better. We got some really good opponents coming up that we’re gonna certainly need to improve.”
Those opponents would be a feisty 4-1 Washington State team this week, and a trip to face No. 11 Utah, the preseason Pac-12 favorite. It’s arguably the toughest two-week stack in USC’s schedule this season.
It’s a stretch where we will likely learn about this USC team, and whether it is capable of lifting some hardware at the end of the season.
Dye’s concern is that USC’s emotional, come-from-behind win over Oregon State two weekends ago lured the Trojans into a false sense of security.
“It’s almost like this feeling like, ‘Ok, we made it over this hump, we made it.’ When that’s just not the case at all,” Dye said. “You can’t have any type of time where you think that you made it. Until the season’s over, you cannot think like that.”
It’s hard to imagine that hubris would so quickly become a concern for a USC team that went 4-8 a season ago. But USC has already surpassed that win total, and the Trojans have to learn new lessons about complacency and consistency.
That’s what Dye and presumably other leaders on the team will preach this week in practice, when they will try to get the Trojans to not overlook any detail.
“We need to put our main focus on the little stuff and just realizing that winning does not come easy. It’s not something that you just get used to,” Dye said. “You have to come in week in, week out with everything you have. Because you’re going to get everybody’s best shot. That’s just how it is. When you go to USC with all this hype around you, you’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
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I’m a little leery of the odds this week. I have looked at the WSU schedule and scores. They seem impressive, they pushed Oregon for a good part of a game. So why do odds makers make USC 12.5 point favorites? I believe USC can achieve this if they get their heads in the game. I think the experts think this score is possible or the odds would be lower. Anyway if the Trojans are looking at this game (and not next week) they should win.
My experience with the odds is that they throw an opening number out and then the money bet either way influences whether the odds go up or down. The opening odds are their guess at the score as best as they can scientifically predict. I often go with the opening odds, not worrying about the betting line influences.
Dye gets it. He knows what it takes and what the expense is to get to be the best you can be, which is never quite attained, but you keep striving for. Now if other players plug in to that concept it is very possible they can do what none of us thought possible. We have enough games left that improvements can be seen by the last game, and this will show is if they have truly bought in to LR and his culture. Wow, I sure didn’t ever expect to see USC at this level, both physically and mentally… Read more »
I watched some of Wisconsin’s games and they always looked fundamentally sound. Not sure why they pulled the trigger at this point, but perhaps they know more about it than I do.
Why did WIS fire Paul Chryst? Sporting News (Edward Sutelan) — The Badgers have not publicly said why their coach of the past eight seasons is out, but a few factors almost certainly contributed to his ouster. Wisconsin found moderate success under Chryst but had yet to take the next step in the college football world. The Badgers won the Big Ten West three times under Chryst (2016, 2017 and 2019), but lost to Penn State in 2016 and Ohio State in both 2017 and 2019 in the conference championship game. The Badgers went 67-26 (43-18 Big Ten) under Chryst,… Read more »
Former Wis. coach Bileima left for Arkansas claiming he couldn’t get an increase in budget from AD Barry Alvarez to hire better assistant coaches or keep them from being hired away, to improve the player performances. I wonder if Chryst had the same issue when called on the carpet? If so, that is a legitimate reason. Your position coaches are invaluable in improving a football program.
Maybe the problem is now Barry Alvarez, the always sturdy coach who basically conceived and built the formidable Badger program in his image? Calling Al Davis! Calling Al Davis!
It was indeed a glorious day when The Cat was thrown out by Bohn.
Finally, it was over, and there was wonderful, almost unexpected renewed hope that USC did in fact care about its dormant, depressing football program.
Thank you David Shaw. Now it’s time for you to step aside and let someone else take over a Cardinal program you have now reduced to mud.
I wish both Tom and Gisele the best. Imagine being this worldwide uber high-profile married couple with young kids that loses their way and has to live every moment of their end publicly since Tom started mysteriously missing pre-season practices.
Yeah, can’t imagine the difficulty of being so high profile as they are, and trying to work out every day family problems, without everyone else knowing or speculating. Hard to believe that Tom coming back was the straw that broke the camels back. Sad to see
I’m not taking sides here since marriages generally break down for a lot of reasons, some well-hidden. But I think asking your partner to quit their passion at age 45 is a risky proposition in life. Frankly, TB looks about the same as ever, certainly strong enough to remain one of the NFL’s better QBs. But I do feel for Gisele too, who clearly thinks she’s been unforgivably duped and betrayed. Amazing story here. Three months ago they were the most beautiful couple in the world. Now it’s over. Things can always change fast, like the Trojans in football, except… Read more »
There was a revealing interview of her a few months ago. It flips the script. She was pointing out how she sacrificed HER life’s passions to be a supportive wife and mother to the kids all the years while he pursued his passions. Also, how excited she was to be able to put more of her time into her pursuits now that he would be around much more. So, maybe it was the straw. All speculation, of course, and I’m not one to pay much attention to the goings on of the rich and famous, but I can certainly see… Read more »
The Rising Star of Talanoa Hufanga 49ers’ Talanoa Hufanga on pick-six vs. Rams: “Screens are like — you can smell a rat when it comes to those things” Despite the 49ers mostly controlling the Rams, it remained a one-possession game with under seven mins to go. Then Talanoa Hufanga stepped in. The 49ers safety jumped a Matthew Stafford WR screen to Cooper Kupp and dashed to the EZ for the game-sealing score to give the Niners a 24-9 cushion. “Screens are like — you can smell a rat when it comes to those things,” Hufanga said of what he saw on the play. “Very quick to… Read more »
He was such a steal for the Niners. Stafford is like a statue and his line isn’t as good as last year to give him enough time to go through his reads. The Rams are going to have to roll him out more, and he needs to get rid of the ball quickly when they face a top defense. To me, he had too many poor decisions throwing down field in coverage, and not hitting an underneath back on a check down. I guess Kupp is the only receiver he can count on, so teams are always going to double… Read more »
It’s crazy how quickly the SB champion Rams have folded under so-called offensive genius Sean McVay. This is a great example of just how fine-tuned these teams can be. With the loss of a couple of big-timers, the Rams are suddenly woeful on both sides of the trenches, have no offense, a lame QB, and don’t even look like they’re a PO team — unless the wild card is their road. Last night was a real beat down from what I saw. And Talanoa Hufanga made Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford look like they need a new act. But I… Read more »
If you want to succeed at the college level playing football and you want to win championships, you have to have pride in your ability to get better each time you play & practice. And if the player across from you makes a play, you have to take it personal in not letting him beat you next time. If you don’t feel that way, then you are hurting your team’s chances to win.
Grading new coaches Lincoln Riley, Brent Venables and more… Stock Up Lincoln Riley, USC (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12): Riley was unquestionably the hire that garnered the loudest applause during the 2021 offseason, so you may be wondering how he could have improved his value so early into his first season leading the Trojans. The answer goes far beyond the No. 6 next to USC’s name in the national polls. The turnaround from a 4-8 season to a 5-0 start is impressive, sure, but the changes he’s made to the culture within the McKay Center and outside of it among the Trojan legions have been… Read more »
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — When Lincoln Riley added veterans to the USC locker room from winning programs — Caleb Williams from Oklahoma, Shane Lee from Alabama, Travis Dye (26) from Oregon — the goal was to bring in voices that could create a similarly successful culture.
I’m a little leery of the odds this week. I have looked at the WSU schedule and scores. They seem impressive, they pushed Oregon for a good part of a game. So why do odds makers make USC 12.5 point favorites? I believe USC can achieve this if they get their heads in the game. I think the experts think this score is possible or the odds would be lower. Anyway if the Trojans are looking at this game (and not next week) they should win.
My experience with the odds is that they throw an opening number out and then the money bet either way influences whether the odds go up or down. The opening odds are their guess at the score as best as they can scientifically predict. I often go with the opening odds, not worrying about the betting line influences.
Dye gets it. He knows what it takes and what the expense is to get to be the best you can be, which is never quite attained, but you keep striving for. Now if other players plug in to that concept it is very possible they can do what none of us thought possible. We have enough games left that improvements can be seen by the last game, and this will show is if they have truly bought in to LR and his culture. Wow, I sure didn’t ever expect to see USC at this level, both physically and mentally… Read more »
I watched some of Wisconsin’s games and they always looked fundamentally sound. Not sure why they pulled the trigger at this point, but perhaps they know more about it than I do.
Why did WIS fire Paul Chryst? Sporting News (Edward Sutelan) — The Badgers have not publicly said why their coach of the past eight seasons is out, but a few factors almost certainly contributed to his ouster. Wisconsin found moderate success under Chryst but had yet to take the next step in the college football world. The Badgers won the Big Ten West three times under Chryst (2016, 2017 and 2019), but lost to Penn State in 2016 and Ohio State in both 2017 and 2019 in the conference championship game. The Badgers went 67-26 (43-18 Big Ten) under Chryst,… Read more »
Former Wis. coach Bileima left for Arkansas claiming he couldn’t get an increase in budget from AD Barry Alvarez to hire better assistant coaches or keep them from being hired away, to improve the player performances. I wonder if Chryst had the same issue when called on the carpet? If so, that is a legitimate reason. Your position coaches are invaluable in improving a football program.
Maybe the problem is now Barry Alvarez, the always sturdy coach who basically conceived and built the formidable Badger program in his image? Calling Al Davis! Calling Al Davis!
A couple of the guys on this list were wanted by the frustrated Trojan fans. We are extremely lucky from what I see.
The person who is the single most responsible soul for getting LR to USC should have their statue erected on campus, and in front of the McKay Center.
I would venture to say it was Sosna, who left USC soon afterward.
A lot of money to go away
The Cat received $10 mil or so to split.
Got the ask – why do you call Gomer, the Cat ? he sure the hell wasn’t cool !
Nine Lives
Hahaha … indeed
Worth every penny and then some.
It was indeed a glorious day when The Cat was thrown out by Bohn.
Finally, it was over, and there was wonderful, almost unexpected renewed hope that USC did in fact care about its dormant, depressing football program.
Thank you David Shaw. Now it’s time for you to step aside and let someone else take over a Cardinal program you have now reduced to mud.
I sure never saw this coming for the NFL’s GOAT.
Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel/activist Gisele Bundchen, have both hired divorce lawyers, The New York Post’s Page Six reported Tuesday.
yahoo.com
Dude should have stayed retired.
The Goat did retire. He retired from Gisele.
I wish both Tom and Gisele the best. Imagine being this worldwide uber high-profile married couple with young kids that loses their way and has to live every moment of their end publicly since Tom started mysteriously missing pre-season practices.
Yeah, can’t imagine the difficulty of being so high profile as they are, and trying to work out every day family problems, without everyone else knowing or speculating. Hard to believe that Tom coming back was the straw that broke the camels back. Sad to see
I’m not taking sides here since marriages generally break down for a lot of reasons, some well-hidden. But I think asking your partner to quit their passion at age 45 is a risky proposition in life. Frankly, TB looks about the same as ever, certainly strong enough to remain one of the NFL’s better QBs. But I do feel for Gisele too, who clearly thinks she’s been unforgivably duped and betrayed. Amazing story here. Three months ago they were the most beautiful couple in the world. Now it’s over. Things can always change fast, like the Trojans in football, except… Read more »
There was a revealing interview of her a few months ago. It flips the script. She was pointing out how she sacrificed HER life’s passions to be a supportive wife and mother to the kids all the years while he pursued his passions. Also, how excited she was to be able to put more of her time into her pursuits now that he would be around much more. So, maybe it was the straw. All speculation, of course, and I’m not one to pay much attention to the goings on of the rich and famous, but I can certainly see… Read more »
Someday, each version will be in a book, maybe the unauthorized type. Sad, but both have a lot of options out there, and are still relatively young.
Such a shocker to me. It’s enough to drive a person to read People magazine in the checkout line!
😅
The Rising Star of Talanoa Hufanga 49ers’ Talanoa Hufanga on pick-six vs. Rams: “Screens are like — you can smell a rat when it comes to those things” Despite the 49ers mostly controlling the Rams, it remained a one-possession game with under seven mins to go. Then Talanoa Hufanga stepped in. The 49ers safety jumped a Matthew Stafford WR screen to Cooper Kupp and dashed to the EZ for the game-sealing score to give the Niners a 24-9 cushion. “Screens are like — you can smell a rat when it comes to those things,” Hufanga said of what he saw on the play. “Very quick to… Read more »
He was such a steal for the Niners. Stafford is like a statue and his line isn’t as good as last year to give him enough time to go through his reads. The Rams are going to have to roll him out more, and he needs to get rid of the ball quickly when they face a top defense. To me, he had too many poor decisions throwing down field in coverage, and not hitting an underneath back on a check down. I guess Kupp is the only receiver he can count on, so teams are always going to double… Read more »
It’s crazy how quickly the SB champion Rams have folded under so-called offensive genius Sean McVay. This is a great example of just how fine-tuned these teams can be. With the loss of a couple of big-timers, the Rams are suddenly woeful on both sides of the trenches, have no offense, a lame QB, and don’t even look like they’re a PO team — unless the wild card is their road. Last night was a real beat down from what I saw. And Talanoa Hufanga made Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford look like they need a new act. But I… Read more »
If you want to succeed at the college level playing football and you want to win championships, you have to have pride in your ability to get better each time you play & practice. And if the player across from you makes a play, you have to take it personal in not letting him beat you next time. If you don’t feel that way, then you are hurting your team’s chances to win.
Grading new coaches Lincoln Riley, Brent Venables and more… Stock Up Lincoln Riley, USC (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12): Riley was unquestionably the hire that garnered the loudest applause during the 2021 offseason, so you may be wondering how he could have improved his value so early into his first season leading the Trojans. The answer goes far beyond the No. 6 next to USC’s name in the national polls. The turnaround from a 4-8 season to a 5-0 start is impressive, sure, but the changes he’s made to the culture within the McKay Center and outside of it among the Trojan legions have been… Read more »