WSU returns only 4 starters on offense and 6 on defense from 2018. They lost two of their top 3 rushers (James Williams is the best returner -395 yards last year), lost both QBs Luke Falk and unfortunately backup Tyler Hilinski. and their top 2 receivers, plus 3 OL and their kicker. QB Minshew is an experienced transfer from East Carolina. But they are 3-0 and Sagarin has WSU at #30 with a low Strength of Schedule of 135th toughest. USC is ranked 36 with a Strength of Schedule of 6th toughest. Recently WSU has been a danger, winning 2 of the last 3 after losing 8 in a row. They won one of those in their last game at the coliseum (2013) 10-7.

WSU: They beat Wyoming (2-2 this year, 8-4 last year) by 41-19. They beat SJSU by 31-0 (0-3, 2-11LY). And beat a Division 1-AA team In Eastern Washington (2-1, 7-4 LY) by 59-24. 17 of those points came after 3 turnovers by EW. The score was close 24-35 heading into Q4.

So far WSU looks like a typical Mike Leach team. They pass a lot, run only to change pace. Nearly 3 to 1 in pass vs. rush plays. They don't have a long passing game sticking to 10.2 yards per catch. And the run is 3.6 yards average against competition so far. But they have accomplished all that’s needed so far. One thing to look for is that they are not a great 3rd down conversion team at a mere 27% but so far they have a lot of 4th downs tries and converted 8 of 11 (73%).

On defense its tough to tell since the Passing game controls their Time of Possession. But they are smallish on DL so expect USC to pound the run. They dominated the first 2 teams but gave up about 400 yards to E Washington. In special teams they are better in punting , were abut the same as USC in KOs but McGrath is gone. However the return KOR and PR favors USC. WSU is heavily penalized (About 70 yards per game) as a team as well.

Forecast: USC 35 WSU 24. I originally had USC forecasted 45-24 but more in line with this score after looking into the teams. The SOS difference doesn’t allow for much cross comparisons.USC needs to put pressure on the QB, but can't afford as well to let the 10 yard a pop game succeed. I don’t believe this WSU team is explosive from what I have seen. The longest play was 26 yards (pass play) versus E. Washington. WSU is not the best team we will have played this year. We are the best team they will have faced so far.

For as bad as he plays and as soft and as inconsistent he is. He's projected to be the 29th pick in the first round in next year's draft lmao. I almost choked on my drink when I saw this wow lol

Miss his writings.

In 60 quarters of FB without Sam Darnold Usc has been shut out in 19 of them (33%)

Damning.

In 39 games as a head coach, USC has suffered 9 double digit losses under Helton.

In 9 years Pete Carroll only had 3, 2 of which were in his final year.

We fired Lane Kiffin after his 7th double digit loss 43 games into his tenure.

The only thing saving Helton right now seems to be an epically bad conference. Or maybe it’s Tee. One of them has to go.

EDIT: After watching a replay of the game on TV, I changed my opinion. Revised thoughts are in a post way down below.
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Attended the debacle in Austin tonight and unfortunately left with a pretty disappointing view of JTD.

Yes, the O line is atrocious. Yes, the playcalling is a disaster. Yes, we have the worst special teams I’ve ever seen from a D1 program. Yes, the receivers stink - with the exception of ASB. Yes, the tight ends are D3 caliber.

But sadly my biggest takeaway from watching live was how small JTD looked in person and how weak his arm looked. Add in he’s as slow as molasses but that’s to be expected at least.

We knew most of those other things were probably true, but at least there was hope w JTD. Im not sure anymore. I left wondering what we’re in for for the foreseeable future. He’s got great zip and accuracy on the short throws but the long ones and deep outs were all shaky, fluttering or just way off the mark. The bad decisions - and there were a lot - can probably be corrected with repetitions, but unless he packs on some pounds, grows a few more inches and hits the weights his stature and arm strength look like a big issue to me.

The one positive I saw was how good ASB looked, but I almost worry that was a negative in that ASB might have been so good in HS that he was the primary reason for all of JTD’s accolades.

Maybe I will be proved wrong and he’ll have a great career. I hope so. There’s no doubt he has no chance with this disaster of a coaching staff and O line though.

I watched the Cotton Bowl train wreck last year live too and while we stunk, at least Darnold looked the part. I sadly can’t say the same for JTD after this one. Damn.

I had a nice visit today with 2020 safety Kourt Williams at St. John Bosco HS. Williams received his USC scholarship offer last week and has plans to be in the Coliseum for the Colorado game.

See the full story below.

Also, we're launching a cool recruiting item tomorrow that I think everyone will enjoy.

https://usc.rivals.com/news/2020-safety-kourt-williams-talks-usc-offer

Tajwar Khandaker says he still has hope for Clay Helton and his staff to turn things around, but it has to start now.

Tajwar’s Take

Rewatching the game, I noticed that after the blocked FG attempt our kicker was hammered from the back as well as another one downfield!!

How was that not called? Nor was it discussed by the homer announcers.

(We'll have this on Tuesday mornings for you each week moving forward. I had a bunch of administrative stuff to handle yesterday that pushed me behind).

While Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver Antonio Brown is publicly feuding with a former team employee and his agent felt the need to clarify that he doesn't actually want a trade, former USC star JuJu Smith-Schuster is only getting better in the Steelers offense.

Smith-Schuster hauled in a career-high 13 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown Sunday in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. This after collecting five catches for 119 yards in the opener last week. He looks on the way to firmly establishing himself as one of the top receivers in the league in his second year.

And he had a message for Steelers fans after their tough loss.

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With that, here's how the rest of the former Trojans in the NFL fared over the weekend (only those who collected stats listed):

Sam Darnold, NY Jets: 25/41 passing for 334 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia Eagles: 8 catches for 88 yards and 1 TD
Robert Woods, LA Rams: 6 catches for 81 yards
Javorius Allen, Baltimore Ravens: 6 carries for 8 yards and 1 TD, 5 catches for 36 yards
Rhett Ellison, New York Giants: 2 catches for 5 yards

Jurrell Casey, Tennessee Titans: 4 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Adoree' Jackson, Tennessee Titans: 6 solo tackles, 1 interception
Leonard Williams, NY Jets: 5 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Devon Kennard, Detroit Lions: 3 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 2 sacks
Antwaun Woods, Dallas Cowboys: 2 solo tackles, 1 sack
Uchenna Nwosu, LA Chargers: 2 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 1 sack
T.J. McDonald, Miami Dolphins: 1 solo tackle, 1 interception
Nickell Robey-Coleman, LA Rams: 3 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers: 2 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle
Nick Perry, Green Bay Packers, 2 solo tackles
Everson Griffen, Minnesota Vikings: 1 solo tackle, 1 assisted tackle, .5 sack
Wes Horton, Carolina Panthers: 2 solo tackles
Rasheed Green, Seattle Seahawks: 2 solo tackles
Frostee Rucker, Oakland Raiders: 1 solo tackle

Check out the graveyard that is Swanson's new site. I won't link it here out of respect for the current staff here, but most here probably can find it. Anyway, some quality activity over there in their message board, with 75 threads all created by Swanson, with the only replies coming from Swanson. So he's basically talking to himself via his own website forum.

The best thread by far is the Stanford Game thread from last week with a record 5 replies, all from Swanson, as he just continues to update the scoring from the game to an audience of zero. I have to wonder if the man hasn't gone crazy at this point.

Rushing Offense

1. ISU: 53.0
2. Wash St: 80.0
3. FSU: 96.7
4. NC St: 99.0
5. USC: 109.3
6. Mich St: 114.0
7. Stanford: 115.3
7. ASU: 115.3
9. NW: 117.0
10. UCLA: 136.5

Passing Offense

1. GT: 117.7
2. RU: 131.3
3. Pitt: 140.3
4. Maryland: 149.3
5. KU: 161.0
6. Illini: 165.3
7. Louisville: 168.0
8. KSU: 179.0
9. LSU: 180.0
10. UNC: 185.5

Total Offense

1. RU: 277.0
2. Louisville: 307.7
3. ISU: 317.5
4. LSU: 333.7
5. FSU: 340.3
6. UCLA: 344.5
7. Pitt: 347.3
8. UNC: 348.0
9. KSU: 356.7
10. Stanford: 358.3

Points Per Game

1. ISU: 15.0
2. FSU: 15.3
3. RU: 17.3
4. UNC: 18.0
5. UCLA: 19.0
6. USC: 20.0
7. Pitt: 21.0
8. Utah: 21.7
8. Louisville: 21.7
10. ND: 23.3

Rushing Defense

1. RU: 233.0
2. Oregon: 226.3
3. AZ: 224.3
4. USC: 209.0
5. Ole Miss: 205.0
6. KSU: 201.3
7. SoCar: 198.5
8. UF: 198.3
9. Pitt: 197.0
10. UNC: 190.0

Passing Defense

1. Mich St: 349.5
2. Ole Miss: 338.7
3. Illini: 325.3
4. Purdue: 319.0
5. Ark: 316.0
6. WF: 310.0
7. Mizzou: 305.0
8. FSU: 300.3
9. Oregon St: 295.7
10. TT: 292.7

Total Defense:

1. Ole Miss: 543.7
2. Oregon St: 522.0
3. Illini: 480.0
4. Purdue: 475.0
5. AZ: 468.7
6. WF: 456.7
7. TT: 454.3
8. RU: 430.7
9. FSU: 428.3
10. Ark: 403.3

Scoring Defense

1. Oregon St: 46.3
2. Ole Miss: 43.3
3. RU: 38.0
4. UCLA: 37.5
5. AZ: 34.7
6. Ark: 32.7
7. UNC: 32.5
8. TT: 32.0
9. Purdue: 30.3
10. Baylor: 29.0

Of those in charge when they passed over Sam Darnold for a running back when it looks like Eli Manning is not going to have the year they projected..... All you have to do is look at the average length of service in the NFL by a RB compare to that of a quarterback let alone who may turn out to be a franchise level QB.

Colin Cowherd this morning referring to Pete Carroll and the SC job... Actually Colin was criticizing Seattle's performance last night against the Bears implying Pete's motivating tactics no longer work in the pros.

Let’s do this. Ask away...

The Trojans were in shoulder pads and helmets only Monday, perhaps keeping their usual full pad practice on Tuesday. The whole schedule is obviously adjusted a bit with the short week before the Friday night game.

Isaiah Pola-Mao is having his shoulder surgery Thursday and is out for the season, confirming what Adam reported last week.

Here's the rest of the notes from practice Monday with full video of Clay's press conference:

https://usc.rivals.com/news/quickhits-footnotes-from-practice-monday-before-washington-state

The Trojans were again in shells on Tuesday, but again it was competitive enough that another scuffle broke out on the line.

Here's the full report:

https://usc.rivals.com/news/quickhits-footnotes-tuesday-practice-before-washington-state

Porter Gustin seemed a bit miffed by his targeting ejection in the third quarter at Texas, noting he didn't even think it would be called roughing the passer. As is, he has to sit out the first half Friday night vs. Washington State.

He spoke today about how he'll handle that:

https://usc.rivals.com/news/porter-gustin-discusses-targeting-ejection-plans-for-first-half-friday

Just a quick heads-up -- This is due to air next Thursday (9/20) on our favorite sports channel. I really enjoy these doc's and I'm especially looking forward to this one. Sorry, but I couldn't link a trailer. Maybe someone else can.

For a game that started out so well 14-3, things went literally south in a hurry. It was a combination of problems:

1. To stop being 'predictable with a Run on each set of first downs as in the Stanford game they actually tried a blend in the first half (about 1:1 pass to run) but had to resort to mostly passes (2:1 passes to run) to attempt a comeback. They did not attack the Texas D-backs with multiple receivers nor did they counter the Texas corrections from their first quarter. Texas was loaded against the run and for a team that didn’t rush the QB much in the first 2 games, they sacked USC3 times. They obviously had the better execution.

2. I hate to say this but the choice of JT Daniels was probably pre-mature. The kid is very talented and will be terrific but with lack of experience, now isn't that time. I was surprised when he started to make poor decisions that Sears or Fink weren’t used for their run and escapability. I think Helton after fall camp was afraid of making the same error as with Browne…and made his pick of JT quickly, and now USC is almost stuck with that decision. But if TJ starts slow next game, please go to the backup QBs.

3. What happened to punting? We gave away starting position big time. A Texas FG plus a fortunate UT fumble at the USC 17 stopped another score. And now McGrath got hurt (ACL) on that blocked FG/ kick 6, And McGrath is gone for the season. That is a huge dagger. Block to the outside and never let the defense penetrate even if it took a penalty, especially directly into the kicking channel.

4. Reffing-Horrible by any low standards. The non safety call was wrong and acclaimed so by anyone that knows the rules. Once in the TD area, when the knee goes down inside that zone- it's a safety and the ball has to be entirely over the end zone line into the playing field if not down. This was neither. Add in that terrible call on Gustin where he hit the opposing player's shoulder is another home town cooking call. Worse than PAC-10 refs? Another reason one must play harder on the road..One other thing comes to mind. Amon Ra St Brown and a defender goes up for the long pass both have their hands on it. Amon-ra has it while on his back alone and then gets it ripped away. Body down, one man has the ball. Its his. That's not what the Refs thought.....Interception. That hurt. Really suspect IMO. They called every close to 50-50 play for Texas.

5. The future and the past…. The recent teams indeed seems to have problems with starts every season but last year (2017) was 4-0. Otherwise (1-2, 1-3, 3-3, 3-2). Part of it is in scheduling tough OOC, and the bad residual of ND is that Stanford early game. Would you give up ND game if it meant a better shot at a title?

But this game is not the end of the world. USC started 1-3 in 2015 and came back. We are 0-1 in the conference and face WSU at home, at Arizona, and Colorado at home before Utah where both could be 3-1 in conference.

Move Drevno too OL coach and hire a solid RB and Special Teams coach

Wazzu got 2 votes in AP and 35 votes in Coaches.

Texas remains unranked! Beating USC is not too impactful.

USC's game next week at Arizona will kickoff at 7:30 pm. PT on ESPN2, it was announced Monday.

They practiced in shells today on short week “Tuesday.” Hope they go full pads tomorrow.

We had quite a journey over the last 18 hours. I left the press box at 3 a.m. CT last night, and we hit the road for our flight out of Houston at 9 a.m. Hopefully you had a chance to catch Adam and I on the podcast (recorded during that drive). I'll have a few more stories between tonight or (maybe more likely) tomorrow morning, touching on some of what's below.

But here's everything Clay had to say Sunday night in his 18-minute teleconference with reporters:

Opening statement:
"I had the opportunity to not only watch last night's game, but all three games to evaluate where we are. And in watching, I see a team that plays with tremendous effort and tremendous competitiveness. The one thing that stands out on the tape, though, and I visited with our team about it today is the need for more consistent play. Currently right now we're playing inconsistent with our assignments, our fundamental and technique, situational mastery and sometimes even communication. And that's my job. I told them that -- that's my job as a head coach to make sure that their job is effort and to make sure that they're competing at the highest level. My job is to make sure that they're getting the assignments, fundamental technique, situational mastery and communication that is needed on a day to day basis. So I take ownership in that.

"Last night offensively I thought the positive of the night was the progress of the quarterback. I thought his decisions were more decisive than the previous game, I thought he spread the ball around nicely to nine different kids and he looked really confident to me and poised on a night which had a really incredible environment. It was also good to see the chemistry with the wide receivers continue to grow and to improve, and it was nice to get Velus Jones really involved in the offense -- a guy that can be an explosive playmaker for us, not only now but in the future.

"Watching the tape it was obvious to me that we need to handle movement as far as zone pressures when it comes to the run game. To have 10.5 tackles for loss in one game, we just did not take care of movement zone pressures assignment wise and we need to be better and need to be better in a hurry because Washington State brings the same thing this week. Usually when we are at our best is when we're a balanced offense, and that did not happen Saturday. It was heavy pass and limited run game and need to strive for more balance in this upcoming Friday night game.

"Defensively, I thought we gave them a bad draw. Had five drive starts at midfield. I thought the defense did a nice job of getting a turnover with the fumble on one of those drive starts and then limited two of those drives to field goals. We were able to contain the run for the most part with 3.3 a rush, but we really wanted to get to the quarterback this game. We were able to get two sacks by Porter Gustin, who I thought played an incredible game, but we can do a better job of keeping our rush lanes and getting the quarterback down. We allowed him to escape and be able to create downfield.

"Special teams, obviously what stood out was the inconsistency in the punting game as far as kicking. I thought the protection and coverage was there. We just need to hit the ball better. I will credit Reid after a couple shaky punts between him and Chris to come back late and hit two nice ones. I know Bax is going to continue to work with both kids and see who's the most effective for Washington State. The field goal block was disappointing -- that's all I can say. It's a fundamental technique that we use each and every day. Had a rush through the tight end in the wing area and didn't get that lane blocked correctly, and it ended up rather than making it a one-score game and killing some momentum after getting a turnover, a big-play, explosive play on offense, getting ready to cut the score to a one-score game, it goes to a three-score game difference. And I thought that was at the end of the day the turning point in the game and the second half."

"At the end of the day, I believe in this team. I believe that we have the men to compete and win a Pac-12 championship and it's my job as a head coach to make sure we're playing consistent football. I take ownership in that alone. We'll work tirelessly to continue to improve and we look forward to Friday night."

On injuries ...
"Unfortunately, we were afraid that Chase McGrath had an ACL. After an MRI, that is correct. He does have an ACL. He'll have the operation within probably about two weeks. The only good news out of it is because it's within the four-game period he will get his redshirt year back, which will make him a redshirt sophomore for next season. Replacing him this week will be Michael Brown, who came off the same surgery from last year.

"Other injuries that we'll be looking at this week, Malik Dorton suffered a quad contusion, had to come out of the game. We'll be monitoring that. Obviously Jay Tufele had been splitting time with him and will be there available if needed.

"Andrew Vorhees suffered an MCL knee sprain. We'll be monitoring that. If he can not go, we'll have Alijah Vera-Tucker available. And then John Houston had a wrist injury that he fought through. We were spelling him with Levi Jones, who came in and did a nice job. We'll see where that is at, but if he were unable to go Levi would take that spot."

On what he feels is the identity of this team after three games ...
"Right now we're leaning on our defense to keep us in games, and offensively we've got to create more balance. We've had some good run games, and then last night we had a great pass game. What I'm looking for, like I've always said, is balance. I'm looking for a team that can put up 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing on a night. That's when we've been at our best, and that's the identity we're trying to create right now."

(PART ONE OF TWO)