http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/la-sp-bernstein-football-report-20180911-story.html

Cue the puns and GIFs in 3...2...1

It’s not only RB Keaontay Ingram who appears on the injury report for Texas this week. Center Zach Shackelford, OL Patrick Hudson, WR John Burt and DB DeMarvion Overshown are all expected to miss all football-related activities, including Saturday’s game, this week.

If RB Keontay Ingram cannot play, and it sounds like he won’t, Tom Herman will have to choose between Cal graduate transfer Tre Watson (who is returning from a torn ACL a year ago) or sophomore Daniel Young to get starters touches at running back vs USC.

With only 2 games, here is the NCAA comparison team stats:

• Total Defense = USC 374 yards per game allowed; Texas 380 yards
• Rushing Defense = USC 234 yds/gm; Texas 166 yds/gm
• Pass Efficiency Defense = USC 111.7; Texas 126.4
• 3rd Down Efficiency Defense = USC 32%; Texas 28%
• Total Offense = USC 417 yards per game; Texas 442 yards
• Rushing Offense = USC 167 yards/gm; Texas 192 yards
• Pass Offense = USC 250 yds/gm; Texas 250 yards
• Passing Efficiency Offense = USC 111.7; Texas 141.2
• Red Zone Touchdowns = USC 3 TD's (USC #64 in nation with 87.5% scoring incl FG's made); Texas 4 TD's (Texas ranked #113 with 66.7% scoring).

Texas secondary is suspect. Stats are fairly even between the teams but we played a Top 10 team.

This suprised me a little but usually home feild is about three points. Feels like a pickem game as of today.

A day no one ever forgets where they were. Sad.

USC safety Isaiah Pola-Mao is expected to require surgery to repair his injured shoulder and will likely miss the remainder of the season, sources have informed me.

Pola-Mao, who started the first two contests at strong safety, injured his shoulder on the first series of USC’s loss to Stanford last Saturday and did not return.

The redshirt freshman has experienced shoulder subluxation since arriving at USC and underwent season-ending surgery last year for the same issue.

It’s an unfortunate blow to a depleted safety corps. Pola-Mao started in place of indefinitely suspended Bubba Bolden in the season opener versus UNLV and was one of the Trojans’ top defensive performers. The 6-4, 200-pound underclassmen appeared primed for a productive rookie season.

His absence leaves USC with just three scholarship safeties, prompting Clay Helton to announce Sunday he would move freshman cornerback Chase Williams.

Redshirt sophomore C.J. Pollard and freshman Talanoa Hufanga, both of whom rotated in place of Pola-Mao versus Stanford, will compete for playing time alongside Marvell Tell.

The best defense Stephen Carr and Amon-Ra St. Brown faced at Stanford was the one brought on by their own coaches.

Postgame analysis

When was the last time USC lost consecutive games in the regular season with the same head coach and starting quarterback?

New publisher Ryan Young and I opine on several topics in our first show together, including USC's season-opener, the upcoming bout with Stanford and expectations for the 2018 season.

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Ideally, I wanted to have this posted earlier, but I was traveling back from Stanford on Sunday and got caught up tracking down some recruiting stuff yesterday.

From the general sentiment I saw on the board Saturday, I think some or many will disagree with me here, but breaking down JT's performance throw by throw while watching the game again only confirmed my initial impression.

Here's what I saw:

https://usc.rivals.com/news/tale-of-the-tape-breaking-down-jt-daniels-performance-at-stanford

There were a couple notable updates to the depth chart USC released in advance of the Texas game.

• QB JT Daniels's status is listed as uncertain.
• LB Palaie Gaoteote is no longer listed as injured.
• Safeties C.J. Pollard and Talanoa Hufanga are listed as co-starters at strong safety, with Pollard listed first.
• Chase Williams is listed at both nickel and safety.
• Bubba Bolden has been dropped from second to last at strong safety. (Not sure why he was even second last week.)
• Tyler Vaughns is now listed as the starting punt returner.

Here is the full depth chart.

Thoughts?

Now some of us have been saying consistently for a while now that this offense is a total cluster and that only Sam Darnold and his unique ability to break off the predictable scripted plays and make plays with improvisation saved Clay from the inevitable.

Seems others are catching on. Also note that without Sam, Clay is 0-5 versus P5 teams since being named perm head coach. That is insane.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09...should-theres-plenty-of-talent-but-it-doesnt/

Power ratings: Does USC’s offense work without Sam Darnold? It should (there’s plenty of talent), but it doesn’t
Jon WilnerSeptember 10, 2018 at 6:53 am
It’s mighty early to draw conclusions or offer pointed critiques. Then again, we witnessed a fairly stunning sight in Week Two when USC — U. S. C. — failed to score a touchdown.

The Trojans were held to three points by a Stanford defense that, while respectably talented and well-prepared, is hardly a dominant unit NFL dripping draft picks.

USC, with all its speed and power, could not muster a single touchdown.

Watching it unfold, I couldn’t help but note the lack of creativity in the gameplan — anybody heard of a screen? — and the inability to maximize the playmakers and the continued resistance within the scheme to a full dose of power football.

Were the Trojans limited because they had a true freshman quarterback playing his first conference game and his first road game all at once? Sure.

But does JT Daniels’ inexperience fully account for the point total? Nope.

Nope, nope, nope.

Which got me wondering two things …

* Did USC struggle to this extent when Matt Barkley started the 2009 season as a true freshman?

Answer: No. The Trojans’ lowest-scoring game from the ’09 season was a 13-point output at Washington.

* Is it fair to fully credit Sam Darnold for the offensive success in 2016-17?

(Here’s where we get to the part about the drawing conclusions and offering pointed critiques.)

The sample size for judging coach Clay Helton, his staff and his scheme in a world without Darnold isn’t exactly extensive, but it’s a bit larger than you might think.

Since Helton was named permanent coach late in the 2015 season, the Trojans have played seven games without Darnold as the starter, either because he was redshirting (late 2015), on the bench (early 2016) or in the NFL (now),

In those games, USC is 2-5 overall and 0-5 against Power Five competition.

The Trojans have averaged 12.4 points against the Power Five opponents, lost by 10+ points four times and scored one or zero touchdowns three times.

Here’s the list:

2015
Lost to Stanford 41-22
Lost to Wisconsin 23-21

(Note: The Trojans were 5-2 with Helton as the interim head coach in 2015.)

2016
Lost to Alabama 52-6
Beat Utah State 45-7
Lost to Stanford 27-10

2018
Beat UNLV 43-21
Lost to Stanford 17-3

It is, in other words, becoming increasing difficult to believe Helton and his staff will make the most of their personnel without Darnold and his knack for improvisation.

Absent that lifeline, it seems, USC’s offense in the Helton era has experienced quite a few power outages.

Speaking of power …

Ask and I shall answer...

12 years later the dude is still playing in the league. Quietly had one of the better pro careers of any Trojan defender in the past decade.

Clay Helton addressed JT's hand injury on the Pac-12 coaches teleconference on Tuesday, giving an encouraging report on the QB's status for the week.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/latest-on-jt-daniels-hand-injury-he-was-spinning-it-really-good-

Texas weakness (ranked worse than #100):

• Offensive 3rd down conversions = .296
• Penalties = 84 yards per game
• Net punting = 33.3 yards
• Kick off return defense = 26.7 yards
• Red zone offense = 67%
• Defensive sacks = .50 per game

USC weakness (ranked worse than #100):

• Completion % = 53.5%
• Net punting = 30.4 yards
• Rushing defense = 233.5 yds
• Team passing efficiency = 111.7

Texas strengths (ranked better than #30):

• 3rd down conversion defense = 28.1%

USC strengths (ranked better than #30):

• Kick off returns = 38 yards
• Passing yards allowed = 140 yards
• Punt returns = 16.75 yards

The Good News:

• Texas has not been able to put a lot of pressure on QB and Texas secondary is a bit suspect. JTD should do better vs. Texas than Stanford.
• Texas punting sucks as bad as USC but our punt returns are a strength
• Texas struggles in the red zone (no field goals)
• Texas commits a ton of penalties
• Texas weakness in kick off return defense vs. USC strength kick off return offense
• USC has a better FG kicker
• USC has more strengths and fewer weaknesses than Texas - USC's stats include a Top 10 opponent. Texas stats do not include a ranked opponent.

When this play happened live, I was really impressed with JT Daniels' effort and strength to stay on his feet. This was all him, making something out of nothing.

But what I didn't see watching the play live was the lack of effort by Chuma at RT. Just abysmal. If doesn't lead to a ripping during film session, then I don't know what will...

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I had a great time talking with USC running back commit Jordan Wilmore and his coach last week. He has a really interesting connection to Trojans tailback Stephen Carr, which I focus on in this feature story.

Expect a lot more stories like this moving forward that take a deeper look at USC recruits and commits.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/usc-rb-commit-jordan-wilmore-has-a-special-connection-with-stephen-carr

this offense got exposed as a bunch of posers

What is going on? I try to get SC's full schedule and when I click on it, I get sent to Yahoo's home page. I have tried several times and over an hour but no luck. Is the schedule site down?? I get everything else on this site. Help!!

At least as much hitting today as during the full pads practices!

Credit to albertocrespi for this great apropos post. I didn’t write it but think it deserves to be read here:
============================
After being soundly beaten by USC in his final game of 2016. Brian Kelly's ND team ended the year 4-8. Most people were calling for his head. He managed to wring another year out of Swarbrick however, by promising that changes would be made. Instead of just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, he made real changes. He interviewed all 93 of his players. Asked them what was wrong with him and the way the team was being run.
Then the changes began. He had already fired DC VanGorder during the season. 3 of 5 members of the strength and conditioning staff were let go after the season. He brought in 5 new position coaches. 3 of the coaches that left had served a combined 35 years under Kelly. The assistant head coach, Mike Denbrock, the play caller, was pushed out the door to Cincinnati. They made a home run hire in bringing Mike Elko in from Wake Forrest as the new DC. They hired bright young Chip Long from Memphis to run the offense, as the OC. Overall 17 new hires were made within the program.
All the above was done by a process of vetting, recruiting and setting up interviews with a variety of potential coaches. A holistic interview process was used to bring in a staff that fit together and worked together well. Notre Dame interviewed five strength coaches, three wide receivers coaches, three offensive coordinators and two defensive coordinators. The process was done with the AD and assistant AD involved every step of the way.
Brian Kelly is a far different coach and person than Clay, so analogies can only go so far. However, he was smart enough to realize that things had to change or the team was not going to turn things around and that he would be fired. The next year, the Irish went 10-3 with heart-breaking losses to Georgia and Stanford, along with a loss at Miami. I don't have to remind anyone what happened when a USC team, which had beaten ND handily the year before, went into South Bend last October.
A ND team that has not been above USC in the recruiting rankings in any of the last 4-5 years, is now in the top 10.
Sadly, I'm fairly certain that USC will stand pat with Clay and wait until things get worse before doing anything at all. Many here will say that the Stanford game is a one-off event and should not be cause for panic.
Personally, I think that unless USC goes through a similar process to what Brian Kelly and ND went through in 2016/17, this program is not going to be sniffing the Top 10.