Dan Patrick's question this morning to his crew and audience saying that he expected the Trojans to be at least at 6th in the final poll. Like the rest of us he stated that obviously conference championships mean nothing and that basically they are a "money grab". He also added that who in the rest of the country cares about Georgia Alabama and Florida State... He also intimated that the playoff committee has been trying to set up an Alabama Oklahoma matchup. He feels if you're going to ignore the criteria then at least pick the teams that appear to be the best at the end of the year and that should include the Trojans.

Are you personally aware of any "silent commitments" this year? More than 1?

I spoke to someone I trust about Rivals100 DB Julius Irvin and his recruitment.

This person says he believes Irvin will "probably" pick USC.

He believes the biggest competition for USC is most likely coming from Washington. He says he doesn't believe the noise about Irvin favoring Notre Dame and thinks that storyline might be coming from Irish fans and their reactions to reports from their football writers.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/julius-irvin-180584

Don't lose to lame Washington St. To be clear we haven't shown we're better then the team's voted ahead of us. If we beat Ohio St.. it'll go along way on bring respectability to ourselves. Just win baby. No excuses

who is on the selection committee. Complete southeast bias. who picks the committee and why would anyone from the NCAA be on the committee.

I just saw someone say there is bias towards the pac 12 and big 12. I think that is nonsense.

Remember the acc, big 10 and sec have 14 teams and several powerhouses. the pac 12 has 12 teams and the big 12 has 10 teams. so it is certainly possible that 2 teams from the acc, big 10 or sec might be in the top 4 at the end of the season. there are simply more teams and powerhouses in those conferences. those conferences total 42 teams. the pac 12 and big 12 have 22 teams and maybe 3 to 4 true powerhouses. maybe 4 if you count uw or stan or oregon as a powerhouse in given yr. acc, big 10 and the sec have more like 11 powerhouses. in a given year maybe 6 of those teams play great football(playoff caliber or close to playoff caliber) and maybe 2 or 3 teams in total from the big 12 or pac 12 play football where they are in the conversation for a playoff bid.

the pac 12 does not have a lot of blue blood programs. they have sc. and occasionally a team like uw, ore or stan is in the top 10. sc has been down in the past and has had 2 losses in each of the last two yrs. usc has had two blowouts losses as well. stan loses 2 or 3 games a year. oregon got in when they had a great yr. uw did too. the big 12 has two powerhouses and texas has been down. the only really good team has been okla during the last few years. i do not think there is bias. if sc wants in they need to lose 0 to 1 games and dont get blown out. the committee has not even put in a 2 loss team which got blown yet. so the formula is easy. if sc wants in, they know what to do. so why complain?

The Playoff Committee appeared to disrespect SC and the PAC 12. They seemed to be saying:

-- Conference championships don't matter
-- SOS doesn't matter
-- It's better to play Mercer at home than Texas and ND on the road
-- It's better to be idle on championship weekend than to play and risk a loss

Did you feel disrespected? What messages did you hear them send? And how do you intend to adjust?

They are 10-3. They won the Conference USA. Kiffin is a semi-finalist for Coach of the Year, but as of now, they only have two (2) commits. Two! What team has two committed players by Dec.? Is it because players think the head coach might leave? Would that really make a difference?

So I was out of the loop yesterday and only knew that we were playing Ohio State and not the actual date of the game--this I found out this morning.

So....let's just say that a certain someone was getting married on 12/29. Should that someone bet on the game??? (USC of course)

https://www.davidbahnsen.com/index....-sin-of-the-college-playoff-decision-in-2017/

Link here

nfm

fight on

in 2018 Alabama has four road games. That's it
1. Before road game one they play Arkansas St
2. Before road game two Louisiana Lafayette
3. Before road game three they play home to Missouri
4. Before last road game they have a bye
And week before Auburn they play the Citadel at home
Does anyone see a built-in scheduling advantage? this allows built in rest and chances to get healthy as well as a great opportunity for playing time to develop players
These are facts

...balls drop on Friday night? I certainly hope so.

...so you know how a long time ago (when you were young) you had a childhood hero that you looked up to? That hero was 10-feet tall and could do no wrong. Perhaps this figure was a ball player or a politician, or perhaps it was a parent (your mom or your dad). Well, as you advanced in age and became more observant, you started to notice things that you had missed before. Maybe you discovered that your hero was an alcoholic. Perhaps that one parent cheated on or beat the other. Perhaps that politician was held back or done in by hubris.

Well, one of Clay Helton's role models was indeed done in by hubris on Friday night. Clay always admired the Stanford team for its ability to "impose its will" on its opponents--bullying and churning out yards on the ground regardless of the opponent's strategy or formation. The Cardinal employed this strategy when Harbaugh was the team's coach, and this is exactly how his successor, David Shaw, has been operating.

This past Friday night, during a moment no bigger than the late fourth quarter of the Pac-12 championship game itself, David Shaw, needing two yards on third down, decided to run straight into the teeth of a USC defense that was stacking 11 in the box and selling out to stop the run. NO DICE!!! Not to be deterred, this confident coach opted for the exact same strategy (and in fact ran the exact same play) on fourth down against the sell-out Trojans. IN YOUR FACE!!! ...and the rest is history.

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David, Shaw, once the hero of the nascent head coach of the USC Trojans, became a fable on Friday night whose cautionary tale should be heeded by said young Trojan coach. Beware of hubris! Trust yourself, but look for the humility within yourself. Don't follow he who bashes head against rock.

Perhaps it's time for Clay to look for a new hero. "Be water, my friend," said one Bruce Lee. He's my recommendation for Helton's next role model, but we might want to clear this Bruce Lee candidate first with Korn Ferry.

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...or...Clay can just be clay.

When I asked in the subject line whether the coaching staff's balls dropped on Friday, it's because I believe that I witnessed a ton of good work on the part of these coaches (especially on the offense). I have yet to watch the game replay, so I can't be sure of that which I'm about to say, but I thought that I witnessed the following:

• Heavy usage of pulling linemen to support the run plays (working the math at the point of attack), and
• Heavy usage of slant routes, etc. (which I don't believe that we've seen a lot of for most of this season).

Again, I could be wrong about all of this; these are just my own musings.

We "only" scored 31 points on Friday, but the play calling and designs seemed vastly improved. The proof in the pudding is mixed in within Adam Maya's game notes--the Trojans scored on four of five red zone opportunities. They prevailed in the biggest contest of the year.

All of this bodes very well for the bowl game and for next season. Enjoy the future; meanwhile, I'll take it upon myself to go inform the choir director that Clay, Tee, and Tyson will be vacating the tenors section to go sing with the basses.

Alex3000 and Upperwestidetrojan, please PM me your gift card preference and address and I'll get those gift cards to you ASAP.

Lots of recruits will be watching...

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Welp, my optimism pre-season did not get rewarded (thanks Friday night Larry, you dolt!), but at least I get my money back on one of these tickets. Maybe next year.

At least my optimism regarding the game was rewarded. I told GiftHorse, TB1 and 187 right before the game I felt pretty good about us winning. I think Gift Horse almost choked on the burger he wasn’t eating.

2018 Harvard Westlake OT and USC commit Liam Douglass

"I thought it was an incredibly fought game by USC. The defense showed a ton of toughness, especially on that goal line stop later in the game. The offense looked great and put up a ton of yards and points. I thought it was a very impressive championship win."

Offensive Freshmen Of The Year?
Mi know he’s a redshirt so maybe he was overlooked.

Their hocus pocus scheduling worked again. 14 teams and 8 games ensures inflated records. Total garbage. I side with David Shaw here:

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They have 7 home games, 4 away, and one neutral.

Of the 4 road games, Texas A&M is 600 miles away, the other 3 are much closer.

Plus unbelievable easy schedule....

Just Say'in

... or does the moon seem to shine even brighter now that we are Pac-12 Champs?

are you going to do a “Ask the Expert” bowl edition? I hope so. Have some great questions for Yogi.

A look back at the key numbers and notes from USC's 31-28 win vs. Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game...

USC has won its first Pac-12 title since 2008 and boasts 11 wins for the first time since that season.

USC has won 20 of its past 22 games, its best 22-game stretch since going 20-2 between 2007-09.

USC improved to 63-32-3 overall vs. Stanford. The Trojans have won three of the past six meetings, this after losing five of six before that.

This was the 15th meeting in which both teams entered the game ranked in the top 25. USC improved to 7-8 in such games.

USC won its first game in the month of December since Clay Helton became the permanent head coach (three tries).

The Trojans became the first South Division champion to win the conference title game (seven tries).

***
Sam Darnold finished 17 of 24 for 325 yards and two touchdowns.

His 13.5 yards per attempt and 19.1 yards per completion were both career highs.

He has thrown for 200 yards in 22 of 23 career starts and 300 yards 11 times. He’s thrown at least two touchdowns in 18 starts and scored a touchdown in all 23.

He was sacked once and has been sacked 21 times this season. (He was sacked six times all of last season.)

He did not throw an interception for the fourth time in seven games. This was only the second occurrence all season where he did not commit a single turnover.

Darnold has set a new USC single-season record with 3,877 yards of total offense, eclipsing Matt Leinart's mark in 2005 (3,851).

Darnold now has 3,787 passing yards this year, fourth on USC’s single-season chart. He's 156 yards away from surpassing Carson Palmer for No. 1.

Ronald Jones II rushed a career-high 30 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

He moved into fifth place on USC’s career rushing chart (now with 3,555), passing O.J. Simpson. With perhaps one game left in his USC career, he’s 135 yards from passing Ricky Bell and 170 yards from passing Anthony Davis.

He went over 100 rushing yards for the fifth consecutive game, ninth time this year and 13th time in his past 18 games. His 814 rushing yards over the past five games are his most of any five-game stretch.

He became the starter 19 games ago and has rushed for 2,360 yards during that span. He tallied 1,195 yards in the first 19 games of his career.

Jones now has 1,486 rushing yards this year, 10th all time in a season on USC’s list

RoJo scored twice to extend his team lead to 19 touchdowns. He now has at least one TD in 18 of his last 19 games and has 41 touchdowns in 39 career games.

Michael Pittman set career highs with seven receptions for 146 yards, which were a Pac-12 Championship Game record.

His 54-yard reception in the fourth quarter was a career long and the first 50-yard catch for a USC wide receiver all season.

Steven Mitchell’s 49-yard reception equaled a career long.

Daniel Imatorbhebhe’s 48-yard reception was a career-long

USC had 501 total yards of offense and has topped 500 yards in six of the past eight games.

***
Chris Hawkins finished with a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss and a forced fumble. No other Trojan had half as many tackles as Hawkins, whose previous high was set last game vs. UCLA (10).

Rasheem Green’s sack made him the team leader in sacks (9) and tackles for loss (11.5). He also had a forced fumble.

Cam Smith had a tackle for loss and two pass break-ups.

Malik Dorton had a pair of pass deflections.

Stanford’s 343 yards of offense was the third lowest total for a USC opponent this season. The Trojans have held teams under 400 yards seven times.

USC held its opponent to less than 60 percent completion percentage for the 10th time.

***
USC was the more penalized team for the seventh time this season.

The Trojans converted six of 13 third downs and two of two fourth downs. They scored on five of six red-zone opportunities.

USC held a 31:13-28:46 lead in time of possession, winning that battle for the ninth time this season.

The Trojans are 11-0 against teams with four losses or more this season but 0-2 against three-loss teams.

I'll miss that guy.

wow. They do not think much of pac12.

Auburn at 3 losses gets over USC at 7

Are uppermost in the minds of the playoff committee when others thought Conference Championship winners had some merit. Both Ohio State and SC we're on the wrong end of blowouts and it cost them dearly.