Fired Mike Stoops - defensive coordinator after surrendering 48 to Texas yesterday.

“unhappy with defense in blowout win.”
THAT’s one of the differences in coaching.

Im not saying he’s the answer that would appease everyone on this board, but you have to be impressed with how much he gets out of the talent he has. On a yearly basis his teams are physical, tough, and stout on the OL/DL. He’s never had a QB with the talent of JT but that’s never mattered. He beats teams better than his at least once or twice a year (see: Stanford).

This is the resume of the experienced, proven type of coach SC should be going after if a Saban, Meyer, Petersen, and Chip are unavailable

Four-star TEs Jude Wolfe and Ethan Rae had a joint conversation with coach Clay Helton over the summer and gave their commitments soon thereafter.

I caught up with both this week to reflect back on that moment, their relationship and their thoughts on the opportunity that awaits with the Trojans.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/tes-jude-wolfe-ethan-rae-discuss-joint-pitch-that-sold-them-on-usc

I caught up with Orange Lutheran 4-star WR Kyle Ford. He's out for the season with a torn ACL, but he's been in touch with the USC coaches since the injury and is planning to use one of his official visits on the Trojans.

Here's the full story:

https://usc.rivals.com/news/highly-coveted-wr-kyle-ford-talks-acl-injury-planned-visits-and-usc

This seems to be the time when polls have shown at about the half way point what the teams are really capable of doing. So I was curious as to what the per-season judgments were vs. the present.

In the top 10 there were 3 SEC teams (Ala., Geo., Aub.) , 2 ACC teams (Clem., Miami) 1 PAC12 team U of Wash.) , 3 Big 10 ( Wisc., Ohio St., Penn St.) and 1 big 12 (Okla.) .

After this weekend its 2 SEC teams (Ala.#1, Geo #2.) , 1 ACC team (Clem.#4) 1 PAC12 team (U of Wsh.#7) , 2 Big 10 ( Ohio St. #3, Penn St. .#8) and 2 big 12 (W.Va. #6, Texas #9) with Notre Dame (#5) and UCF (#10).

Of the original 25 teams those that are gone : USC, TCU, FSU, Mich. St., Stanford, Va. Tech, and BSU.

There are 11 undefeated teams in the top 25. The only PAC10 one is Colorado at 5-0. Six of these are positioned above UW. This is making Coach Petersen already sensing that his team could be hanging outside the playoffs. 3 teams have 2 losses …all are SEC teams at 4-2 (Miss. St., TAMU and Auburn- the team that beat UW). Welcome to the NCAA world.

OTOH looking at the PAC12 with no USC game this week, here's what I saw: UW didn’t do themselves favors by struggling with 0-4 UCLA. The latter is slowly improving but UW has the sole PAC1 spotlight nationally. Stanford without Love is mundane offensively with 42 net yards running, and lost to Utah who played well and enjoyed a plus 4 Turnover margin. Colorado hosted ASU and had a solid game dominating it but wining by 7. More on UC later this week. The PAC12 South and North have each won 5 games vs. the other division (5-5).

My top 5….nearly the same as the AP…..though Ala and Geo still have the lowest SOS. Ala-Geo-Clem-ND-Ohio st,

What is your opinion about the MeToo movement??

A lot of backlash from government officials due to this movement.

I think this movement is great!!

we thought they would be given their performance tonight against Washington.... So far they are hanging with the #10 team in the country.

Since the USC game was away I got a chance to look at many of the top 15 and looking at the AP poll some are IMO overrated , or underrated. Before anyone gets steamed I think its way too early to pick yet, but ESPN started 3 weeks before the season so here's my picks:

Overrated:

#12 University of South Florida (UCF)-yes they are 4-0 (UNC game canceled) but that #158 SOS disqualifies them from the top 15. To a lesser degree #8 Auburn with 5 home games (UW was in Atlanta) with SOS=75 is here even though they beat UW 21-16. They lost to LSU who may be good and struggled vs. USM. #11 Penn State with SOS of 28 (not bad).The loss to OSU after being up 12 in Q4 isn't new. Hint (Sam Darnold). They also struggled with Appalachian State (Really?). #13 Kentucky with an SOS=36. Sometimes UK surprises and this may be one, but #13 is too high for a team that made their grade by beating Florida, Mississippi state and South Carolina (perhaps overrated0. #4 Clemson with an SOS of 38 could fall here with their QB issue, but I'll give them an undetermined at this point. But close wins over TAMU and Syracuse are worrisome. #2 Georgia is undefeated and has an SOS=74.They played relatively no one and struggled in one game versus Missouri. Until they do have a big game I'd say they are undiscovered as opposed to overrated. #15 Michigan with SOS of 43. They lost to ND, not horrible, but struggled against a weak Northwestern . Not impressive.

Underrated":

Being in the top 15 is accolades enough but a few that I feel are underrated. #14 Stanford- , SOS-13. Yes they lost big at Notre Dame, but as we know from last year (Ugh I still have nightmares) they can get up for big games. I think the Trees being felled 7 spots on losing, versus PSU dropping just 2 after blowing a win is not justified. #5 LSU with an SOS of 22 is pretty lofty and they are not terribly underrated but for a team ranked #25 coming into this season they are up to now bring underrated IMO.

Not sure yet:

#1 Alabama with an SOS of 44-they are very likely the best in the nation but really hadn't had much chance to be tested. #3 Ohio State with an SOS of 47, but without PSU it was a really blah schedule. #10 Washington with an SOS of 12 (pretty good) so they should be great, right? I am not sure , they played well vs. Auburn but had no offensive dynamics, they beat a pretty good Utah team, but struggled with ASU. Like USC they have been under 30 points for most of their games. Something isn't clicking there for a senior laden team. #7 Oklahoma with SOS of 50, they struggled with Iowa State and Army. I tend to think they are overrated, but will keep it not sure. And of course #6 Notre Dame with an SOS of 15. And the beatings to Wake Forest and Stanford are fresh in our minds but the faint remembrance of close ear;y games with Michigan, Ball State and Vandy pop up. I know they navigated the tough part of the schedule and have a "new" QB but I'll wait a little while here.

Opinions?

will have their hands full with Colorado DL and for sure Utah’s DL. Watching The Trees v Utah. Pretty impressive.

I went to St. John Bosco's win over Orange Lutheran last night, so I had to write something about USC 2020 commit Kris Hutson's four touchdowns (including two kickoff returns).

Here's another look at the intriguing prospect.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/usc-commit-kris-hutson-flashes-full-range-of-potential-with-4-tds

I'll admit it I'm envious. Fast and lethal.

Will top notch assistants enable Helton to take USC to the playoffs? Like Jacob Spavital (West Virginia Off. Coor.), Corey Raymond (LSU D-backs coach), Dell McGee (UGA Running back coach) and Dennis Simmons (Okl Recevers coach). Not saying these exact guys (but would love them to come to USC) but that caliber.

looks like a completely different sport than what SC plays.

Don't know if Texas will beat the Sooners today, but they are showing well early. Good for Hermann.

Here is a quote from Hermann after the Longhorns beat K-State on the road (first win in Manhattan since 2002).

Hermann talking about "wins".

"They all count the same. We told our guys that championships are won on the road, and this is historically a ridiculously tough environment to play in for a lot of different reasons."

I love that Helton has an incredible record at the Coliseum...but until he learns how to play better than .500 ball on the road, his team's are going nowhere...except maybe to the Sun Bowl.

One of my favorite Trojans.

Rest In Peace and Fight On ✌️

Colorado has only played 4 games (record is 4-0). These 4 teams combined record is 1 win and 16 losses! Pathetic. One of Colorado's wins is FCS New Hampshire (and NH has not won 1 single FCS game). Another one of Colorado wins is against a non-power 5 conference team, Colorado State. The 2 wins against Power 5 Conference teams (Nebraska and Ucla) have a combined record of 0.00 wins and 8 losses.

Underwhelming.

For the sake of comparison let's look at Arizona State (unranked):

Arizona State record is 3 wins and 2 losses. The combined record of the five ASU opponents is 13 wins and 10 losses. Not too shabby! The two losses by ASU are against #10 Washington and San Diego State (more poll votes than USC).

I think I will wait and see how the game goes this Saturday between ASU @ Colorado to see if they really deserve to be ranked.

For me, it will Be Arizona State @ Colorado and LSU @ Florida (Coach O, Fight On!).

As expected, 4-star cornerback Max Williams (Gardena, Calif.) announces that he's committed to USC.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/4-star-cb-max-williams-commits-to-usc

Some good stuff here....

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Beat the Buffs!!!

Yeah! You have to get up pretty early in the morning to get the jump on JBWilson!

Tom Herman actually doing good? Hate to say it but the Fart-thorns just beat one of the best teams in the country. Will it last? Eh...I couldn't tell ya if I wanted to.

Has removed every pic of USC on his social media. I think Adam is right, he is gone!!

I'm wondering what happened to Swanson?