Winning Ugly Returns To USC

USC’s attempt at road villainy falls flat in ugly victory over energized, better-prepared ASU

The Trojans won with a sloppy, disappointing performance saved by five touchdowns from Caleb Williams, but it didn’t inspire confidence that it deserved its #5 ranking

Luca Evans (OC Register)  —  TEMPE, Ariz. — They roared in as villains, assembling in the end zone of Mountain America Stadium under the Tempe afternoon sun and waving their arms in glee to the roaring boos of ASU’s student section.

Caleb Williams tosses a pass during the first half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium on Sept. 23, 2023 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

They left humbled, villains who bumbled and buckled from their very first drive under the weight of a stadium screaming for an upset, escaping by the skin of their teeth with a 42-28 win that left Caleb Williams throwing up his hands on drive after drive and a slew of questions as to the Trojans’ ultimate chances in the Pac-12.

He loved being the bad guy, USC inside linebacker Mason Cobb grinned on Tuesday. And this was USC’s first road game of the year, an opportunity for the bad-guy Trojans to punch down against an Arizona State team pushed to the absolute brink by a slew of injuries. And they entered with mouth-frothing, with swag dripping, with hoots and hollers and continued encouragement to a rocking ASU crowd pregame to give them more.

Yet they came out, seemingly, unprepared for a desert storm in Tempe.

On the Trojans’ very first drive, amid the roar of a Mountain America crowd, center Justin Dedich committed a false start. On the very next play, Williams gestured wildly in a cacophony of noise, only for a delay-of-game flag to be called. The Trojans committed six penalties in the first quarter alone, yellow laundry littering the offensive lines’ ledger, marring a first quarter where Williams finished off two rollercoaster drives by bullying his way in for rushing touchdowns.

In the week leading up to the bout with USC, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham considered using a wide receiver, he told media, to impersonate Williams. And it wasn’t the worst idea, sure. A plague of ailments had befallen ASU’s quarterback corps, and pass-catcher Jake Smith was pretty fast, Dillingham reasoned: he could dart around in the pocket like Williams.

Eh, one problem.

“I’m like, ‘But Caleb can sling that thing too – Jake, can you throw it?’” Dillingham joked to media in a weekly presser. “It was just funny. Like, (Caleb’s) great at everything. Smart, elusive, calm.”

And such is Williams’ greatness – able, for nearly one and a half years now, to simply mask any USC issues with his creativity. His elusiveness. His unrelenting ability to pull rabbits out of hats. In the fourth quarter, up 27-21, he went into just-trust-me scramble mode, weaving his way around 360 degrees before rolling to his right and lofting a 29-yard beauty on the run to Brenden Rice (2) in the end zone for the score that would seemingly put Arizona State away.

He finished with 322 yards and five total touchdowns. But Williams’ brilliance, in this one, wasn’t nearly enough to mask the ugliness that lay beneath.

In the first quarter, a botched handoff gave ASU their first takeaway of the year, leading to a 19-yard touchdown from a constantly motoring Cam Skattebo where USC safety Calen Bullock took a horribly misguided route. In the second quarter, former Oregon offensive coordinator turned-ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham threw the kitchen sink at an Alex Grinch defense that seemed a step slow, complete with fourth-down Wildcats and running back Skattebo firing to quarterback Drew Pyne, USC taking just a 21-13 lead into the break. And after Williams’ beauty to Rice, Skattebo motored up the right sideline courtesy of a fourth-quarter pass from Pyne, Ceyair Wright seemingly in perfect position to take him out.

He dove into Skattebo’s legs, fell away, and Skattebo stumbled only slightly before taking a 52-yard catch to the house.

It was improbable – a seven-touchdown pregame spread cut to one by a crucial point in the fourth quarter, ASU’s faithful the loudest they’d been all evening. Williams finally put ASU away with a 45-yard bomb to Tahj Washington, and the Trojans’ defense stepped up in waning fourth-quarter minutes with a slew of sacks.

But the end result was far from villainous.

ocregister.com

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RialtoTrojan
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RialtoTrojan
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September 25, 2023 10:23 am

Does anyone see a day of reckoning coming for Lincoln Riley? Everyone from every angle was screaming to get rid of Alex Grinch as (not so) defensive coordinator. Riley blamed the lack of quality players for the woes of the unit. Now the defense has a stable of linebackers and Hal Roach directing them. When will Riley say, enough is enough. I kinda thought he was referring to his friend when he said, “shitty coaching.” The elephant in the room has to be; is Lincoln Riley cutthroat enough to fire a friend for the sake of winning? Can he remove… Read more »

Golden Trojan
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September 25, 2023 1:56 pm
Reply to  RialtoTrojan

If it comes down to Grinch needing to go, maybe AG will be the friend and tell LR to fire him. I’m still hoping ASU was an off night and Nevada and Stanford will be the norm.

Steveg
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September 25, 2023 2:30 pm
Reply to  Golden Trojan

If Riley can get Grinch to tone down all of his mind boggling schemes and replace the DB coach with someone that wants his guys to look at the ball, a lot of problems will be cured. He can fix Grinch overnight by having him call some straight football, have the players start in the gaps instead of trying to communicate with each other and missing the snaps.

Chris
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Chris
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September 25, 2023 10:35 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I don’t think we know anything yet. Our offense is good, but not elite yet. No idea what our defense is.

I will say this, Oregon looked Ana big this week but Texas Tech should have beat Oregon and they are garbage. Winning on the road is hard.

Chris
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September 25, 2023 11:56 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

UW also gave up over 500 yards to Cal. College football is strange.

USC1988
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September 25, 2023 12:44 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

At ND will answer many questions

Golden Trojan
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September 25, 2023 1:52 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

UDUB giving up 32 to Cal, their fans must be wondering about their defense like us. It is college sometimes weird stuff happens.

TrojanRJJ
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September 25, 2023 3:11 pm
Reply to  Chris

Chris, I disagree. I think we know a lot about this team. When they concentrate, the O is elite (just as advertised, only OR or WA have O’s that are comparable). The D is bad It could not make a top 50 D playing marginal to bad Os. LR said his team needs to become a “killer”. Well, when he needed to be to a “killer” himself, he gambled and brought back Grinch. Cannot second guess it now, but I doubt a Grinch coached D will be able to stop either OR or WA. The issue will be whether or… Read more »

USC1988
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September 25, 2023 12:51 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

ASU a lot of teams playing like that vs USC … a sell out crowd will do that. Udubs win at Mich St ?? they quit before kick off with the coach phone sex mess … the idiot

Steveg
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September 25, 2023 2:31 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

About as bad as Georgia schedule.

USC1988
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USC1988
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September 25, 2023 7:10 pm
Reply to  Steveg

That thing is pathetic … get real Georgia

Golden Trojan
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September 25, 2023 8:37 am

Stat of the day, only Boston College and Colorado St are worse than USC (128th in the nation) for Penalty Yards Per Game, 86.75. That’s one score a game due to penalties.

Chris
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Chris
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September 24, 2023 7:41 pm

the Raiders are going to get the first pick. Caleb might be here another year. They are one of if not the worst professional franchise in sports, and I am a lifelong fan. Not a good place to land at all.

USC1988
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September 24, 2023 7:53 pm
Reply to  Chris

Caleb is long gone … hope we can exploit his talents and get to the Rose Bowl

Chris
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Chris
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September 24, 2023 5:00 pm

Our fellow fans are a little crazy. Reading lots of comments about Riley not being the answer. Are you kidding me?

Steveg
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September 24, 2023 5:17 pm
Reply to  Chris

Riley is the best coach USC could possibly get and is a certified offensive genius. His one fault that I can see is his loyalty to Grinch. It could cost him an NC in the end. He has all the talent he needs, better talent than a lot of teams that play better defense as a team. I am not a coach any more, but I do remember teaching young players on defense to look for the ball.

Chris
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September 24, 2023 5:21 pm
Reply to  Steveg

I won’t pretend I know the ins and outs of our D, but I do see us shift in and out of big plays. I don’t see others do this at all. They bring pressure and disguises, but they don’t shift out of position. We do it every game. Not sure why?

Steveg
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September 24, 2023 6:34 pm
Reply to  Chris

I see the same thing, USC schemes left and the offense goes right. Happens to much.

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 7:07 pm
Reply to  Steveg

That sounds like the QB is reading the SC D. If so disguise it better.

Rock2112
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September 25, 2023 12:14 pm
Reply to  Steveg

I think it is madness to suggest LR may not be for us. Crazy talk. It is almost impossible to pair an explosive offense with a strong defense. Those things rarely go together — it is just very demanding when the defense comes off and is back on the field every two or three minutes of clock time. It is not just Grinch – Oregon has struggled through this, UCLA is struggling through this under Choc Chip. Boise State struggled with it under Chris Petersen in their heyday. There are countless examples. Take a guy like Bear. Gobs of talent,… Read more »

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 7:12 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Allen don’t worry. One loss does not break a season. Prime, C Chip and the Domers are not packing it in. One bad game that still gets a road win is definitely nothing to worry about. It is a sign of a very good team. From here on out this team will be ready to play, including the defense.

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 7:24 pm
Reply to  Golden Trojan

How would like to be a Domer Fan, your defense played the last 2 plays of the game in a goal line stand with 10 players!

Steveg
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September 24, 2023 3:55 pm

I would love to know what happened in the 4th quarter when the USC D line became a sack machine. What changed. Did Grinch quit calling his stupid schemes?

Jamaica
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September 24, 2023 4:02 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Riley has Grinch here to be the scapegoat for any negative happenings. If I were recruiting to bring better than average players here and kept seeing less effort & ability than their talent, I would not continue having a DC lead it. Not with a 100-million area contract in my back pocket.
Something has to slake up this level of performance as everyone is saying, playing the better teams with as good offenses but yet good defense. Riley has to come to grips with this.

Steveg
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September 24, 2023 5:20 pm
Reply to  Jamaica

One guy said the defense is 65% right on, and 35% WTF. Describes the USC defense pretty well up to this point.

Golden Trojan
Major Genius
September 24, 2023 4:57 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Nicole may have hit the nail here. This could be as close as SC gets to a trap game. Play bad and still win on the road is what good teams do. This is college not the NFL. 18-20 year olds hcan get over confident and also psyched up for an upset.

TrojanRJJ
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September 24, 2023 12:05 pm

I think this article is what I call “NY/Philadelphia” sensationalism. It focused on SC bringing its C game, rather than its A game. It did not focus on ASU bringing its A game. This game is why we all love collegiate sport. The ASU O had not scored for six straight quarters; its O was led by a very tough RB. It is not hard to figure out – stop Skattebo (#4) and you stop ASU. It was also a turn over machine. On paper, this was a mismatch. But, the ASU kids did not think so; even though the… Read more »

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 1:27 pm
Reply to  TrojanRJJ

Grinch has no excuses anymore. He has enough talent. LR is apparently aware when he calls the lack of tackling “shitty coaching”. The pressure will be on the D in Boulder with the whole country watching the first game of the day. Lets hope last night was just a bad game all the way around (even the offense looked off), on the road, rusty from the bye, overconfident and they got a wake up call.

TrojanRJJ
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September 24, 2023 11:50 am

I thought I would use a couple of shorter posts than one larger one. I picked the Utah game correctly except for one major detail – I did not think Donte Moore would self-destruct. I thought Utah would NOT play Rising this week and would hold him out for next week. I also thought this UCLA D is the real deal, much better than last year (Kelly hired a competent DC, whereas SC still has Grinch). What I did not anticipate was Donte Moore completely self destructing – he single-handedly lost that game. He threw a pick 6, fumbled the… Read more »

TrojanRJJ
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September 24, 2023 11:40 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I wish they had dropped us to #15. This is the Grinch narrative – SC is Offensively elite and Defensively challenged; it will continue throughout the season. Please remember, ASU had been shut out for six straight quarters prior to this game. The kids need to have both humility and a anger when they play. I doubt Grinch will hold CO to 6 as OR did. We could win at Boulder and still drop further. Washington is now correctly seen as the best team in the last year of the PAC.

TrojanRJJ
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September 24, 2023 11:42 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Oregon State is ranked and Washington State is not? That makes no sense! IMO, OU is also ranked too low. Can you believe Sark might actually win more than 8 games this year?

USC1988
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September 24, 2023 2:23 pm
Reply to  TrojanRJJ

Texas $$$ bought Suck a lot of talent but he will screw it up … it’s what he does

Chris
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Chris
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September 24, 2023 11:05 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

That’s more than fair. They should be even lower. If there were no pre-season rankings I bet we would be around 15ish.

ATL D.D.S.
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September 24, 2023 11:27 am
Reply to  Chris

That is the Alex Grinch correction. What does Grinch have on Riley that the Head Coach is stuck with this overrated DC?

USC1988
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USC1988
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September 24, 2023 2:24 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

So he didn’t know

RialtoTrojan
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September 24, 2023 10:40 am

I said it last night and I stand by it; We need a defensive coordinator who didn’t try to steal Christmas. He should have been tarmaced for his coaching (or lack there of) I said he was the Helton of defense and not ready for prime time (as in Prime Time) Two observations made by others Grinch was on the sidelines sweating, while his counterpart was breezing. I noticed Grinch had a Denny’s menu (like Kiffin did back when) and he was visibly shaking in the fourth quarter. Ceyair was in the fetal position when he was bypassed by the… Read more »

USC1988
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USC1988
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September 24, 2023 2:28 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

That assine corner blitz on 4th and 8 for an easy 1st down was so Grinch
Can he ever stop a 4th down play or two point conversion EVER
Games could end so much earlier if he had just a clue

UtahTrojan
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September 24, 2023 10:30 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I like that he admits it. Now do something about it

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 10:32 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

LR’s comment on the ASU offense was the most informative. You lose 2 QBs at the start of the game is crushing, having a week to prepare with the QB you know you are going with is easier especially for a good offensive coach like Dillingham. We all got sucked into the idea ASU has no offense. They didn’t last week but they did last night. Clearly the team was out of sinc, especially defense. They still won having a bad game on the road.

I couldn’t hear the question, what was the shiitty coaching comment about?

Golden Trojan
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September 24, 2023 12:57 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Gee, who’s responsible for that?

Steveg
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Steveg
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September 24, 2023 7:45 am

Wow, did that remind you of USC during the Helton years. If you look at it in its entirety, nobody was ready to play on O,D, or ST. That bye week did something to them. They should or could drop in the polls, and deservedly so. With defense scheming I watched players run away from where the ball went. What did they do different toward the end of the game that they got all those sacks and TFL’s. I have seen teams with much lesser talent play better defense as a group. That leads me to finally say I have… Read more »

Chris
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Chris
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September 24, 2023 8:26 am
Reply to  Steveg

You can only hear “wrong gap, we will get that fixed” so many times.

I coach HS basketball, we started the fall season getting crushed on the boards. I ran practices with only rebound drills. The boys asked me “Coach, Are we going to do something different today?” My answer, “I don’t know, are you?”.

illinoisusc
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illinoisusc
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September 24, 2023 7:22 am

They were running on us with a second team OL. I’am not looking forward to the ND OL. We were lucky Pyne is a very poor Qb. ND got rid of him for obvious reasons. I never felt they were going to win……Caleb had a look on the bench of total confidence and the ASU defense was not very good. As for the point spread, the USC bettors got a bit wild eyed due to the injuries Az St had suffered. On the other hand…..it’s a win and not all wins are story book. We move on to Colorado with… Read more »

UtahTrojan
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September 24, 2023 7:33 am
Reply to  illinoisusc

Stating the obvious but Fresno State wiped the floor with ASU.
unless the whole team (players and coaches) pulls their heads out we will lose to Colorado. I expect that to happen, but after last night I don’t believe it is guaranteed.

illinoisusc
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illinoisusc
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September 24, 2023 8:25 am
Reply to  UtahTrojan

Utah, I wonder why Riley was not whipping the horses last night. It was almost as if nobody on the team cared all that much about winning big. Every time Az St got close Williams would throw a beauty and extend the lead but no energy at all. The week before we were 40-0 and Riley was going crazy on the sidelines. Personally, I think we handle Colorado easily. Without Hunter they just don’t have much to threaten us with. Just hoping the kids were so bored playing this beat up team that they went to sleep…..but where were the… Read more »

volunteerTrojan
Major Genius
September 24, 2023 6:58 am

The article is fair, that’s pretty much how I saw it. It should be obvious, but these Trojans need to keep at the forefront of their minds that they are going to get every opponent’s better than best shot. Football is an emotional game, and emotions in football can take an underdog a long way. Last evening, one team had them, the other didn’t, and the result was a closer game than should’ve been. Add a terribly sloppy offense, a poorly coached defense, and all the ingredients for an upset were in Tempe. As frustrating as watching the game was,… Read more »

alfa1
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September 24, 2023 4:18 am

After reading the above, Lincoln, you’ve not only made yourself an enemy but created a new young vibrant copy of Plasche’ shadow to haunt you mercilessly

TrojanRon
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September 24, 2023 4:07 am

With SC up 27-21, I honestly felt ASU had a chance to overtake the Trojans. USC’s defense may have better players than last year, but no better team play, discipline, and coaching than last year, IMO. Had ASU overtaken USC and won the game, I think it would have been “tarmac time” for Alex Grinch. Why Lincoln Riley continues to keep his buddy on staff as a DC just boggles my mind. It’s very frustrating when you have to consistently put up 40-50 points on Offense to win games. It’s getting really old for me, but then again, I’m getting… Read more »

UtahTrojan
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September 24, 2023 7:35 am
Reply to  TrojanRon

There was one good DC out there last night. Unfortunately he was not ours.

USC1988
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September 24, 2023 2:36 pm
Reply to  UtahTrojan

And that one good DC gave up 550 yds and 42 pts to a team that didn’t seem interested unless it had to be … worst job in sports being a DC in college football

TrojanRon
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September 25, 2023 4:09 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Allen: I see your point and agree. Offenses have become so wide open and unpredictable. Also gone, except for the military academies, is the Wishbone-T formation. Darrell Royal of Texas came out with it in the 1960s and had a lot of success. Teams that ran that offensive scheme didn’t throw over 10 passes in a game for the most part. I remember UCLA’s version of it under HC Pepper Rodgers. Mark Harmon was the QB when I was a Freshman at USC in the Fall of 1973. UCLA went up to Nebraska, who were defending back-to-back National Champions,and absolutely… Read more »

USC1988
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September 25, 2023 12:48 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

The 10 DL rotation wore down ASU Oline and battered the qb in 4th quarter.
Byrd was superb too

USC1988
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September 25, 2023 12:46 pm
Reply to  TrojanRon

That 1972 UCLA Neb game was at the Coli

Steveg
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September 25, 2023 12:04 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

I agree Allen I think they just help somewhat.