Fellow Trojans and Fans,
The streak of 14 consecutive wins over Cal is over and so is the Trojans last gasp of trying to win the PAC 12 South Title. USC snapped themselves right out of the race. I have mentioned more than once in past couple of weeks that Center Toa Lobendahn would snap one poorly where it would be most costly. As we all know he aired one to the end zone and JT Daniels chased it down and Aca’Cedric Ware attempted to pick it up and get it out of end zone and got blasted. Luckily Daniels ended up with the ball causing the safety and not a touchdown. This was the turning point of the game on the Trojans first possession of the second half. Cal would go on to score all of their 15 points in the 3rd quarter and win 15-14. They are now Bowl Eligible at 6-4.
This Trojan team has come out of the gate against multiple teams this season with 14+ point leads only to lose momentum, focus and motivation to put those teams away. Every team has a personality and they often reflect the Head Coach. Clay Helton is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but his teams have no killer instinct and get complacent. We all remember great Trojan teams of the past and how you would almost feel sorry for them because USC would beat them so badly and bury them in the Coliseum Turf! This one only buries itself with dropped passes, missed blocks, way too many penalties and incredibly bad tackling. USC can limp into a nothing bowl by beating the Bruins at the Rose Bowl Saturday at 12:30 on Fox. One of the good things about playing in any bowl is the Seniors get to play one more and the Under-Classmen get a few more practices, provided something is actually taught at those practices and that they do the maximum number as opposed to last year where they only practiced a few days and got killed by Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Let’s talk about the good and bad of the game itself. The Trojans came out and drove down the field and were in a position to take the lead with a chip shot field goal when Clay Helton tried to pull the rabbit out of the hat and had Holder, Red-Shirt Senior, Wyatt Schmidt (81) fake the hold and throw to Kicker Michael Brown, who is wearing a massive right knee brace and was tackled for a loss of two yards. Cal is a very good defensive team and Helton should have taken the points. So instead of being up 3-0 USC turned the ball over to Cal. USC was lucky the Cal offense never got going in the first half amassing only 42 yards of total offense and 3 first downs in the opening half. USC on the other hand had Daniels and Tyler Vaughns were teaming up on touchdown passes of 2 and 23 yards to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead that should have been 17-0. Late in the second quarter USC mounted a 13-play drive to the 15-yard line of the Bears and Daniels found his high school buddy, Amon-Ra St. Brown over the middle at the 10 and while fighting for more yards he fumbled to Cal. Instead of at least a 21-0 lead over an inept Cal offense, USC only led 14-0 at the half and really could have been ahead 24-0. With USC’s defense playing really well, I doubt Cal could have overcome that lead. However, this is all imaginary! I guess I was dreaming of Old USC!
As we all know the turning point was the first possession of the second half and the “snap of the year”! The Safety energized Cal who fielded the free kick and returned it to their 45. On the next play Freshman Corner Back Olaijah Griffin got flagged for Pass Interference moving the ball to the USC 35. The momentum was clearly shifting to Call and two plays later Bear, Vic Wharton caught a Chase Garbers’ pass and scored his first touchdown of the year from 29 yards out, blowing by Griffin who was clearly over matched on the play. The Bears had pulled to within 5 points of the Trojans at 14-9. USC started the next drive at the 25 and moved smartly down the field mixing short runs by Vavae Malepeai with short passes to Vaughns and Tight End Erik Krommenhoak (84) 6’5” 255 So. from Monte Vista HS in Danville, CA. I might add that the tight ends were open most of the game, but Daniels insists on throwing to the first man he sees, whether they are covered or double covered or not. On the 7th play of this drive Daniels tried to force the ball to Trevor Sidney (13) a Red-Shirt Sophomore from local Bishop Amat and #22 picked it off and luckily fell down or it would have been a pick six! Cal was now positioned at the 40-yard line and moved smartly down the field and Quarterback Chase Garbers scored from the 4-yard line by rolling right and dashing into the end zone, while Senior Safety Ajene Harris dove at Garber’s ankles rather than forming up and putting Garbers down to force a field goal or at least a 4th down situation. This completed the scoring with Cal ahead 15-14.
In the 4th quarter neither team could mount a drive to score and it became a chess match between two coaches who know either well. Justin Wilcox who was let go by Clay Helton 3 years ago as defensive coordinator at USC and Clancy Pendergast, the defensive coordinator for the Trojans. The Bears sacked Daniels ending both of the USC drives in the 4th quarter and USC kept the Bears from scoring as well. Cal took over for a final drive with 4:50 remaining in the game and the Trojans defense stopped them to apparently set up USC for one final drive to kick the winning field goal until Iman Marshall was goaded into a personal foul penalty at the Bears Bench, giving Cal a first down and they ran out the clock with one more first down.
Good things that happened during the game.
1. Aca’Cedric Ware rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries.
2. Cameron Smith was all over the field making great plays
3. Jacob Lichtenstein (97) 6’5”, 270 lb., Red-Shirt Freshman, Defensive Lineman, no doubt played his best game. He batted down one pass as well. He will be a menace next year!
4. Jalen McKenzie, who replaced injured Chuma Edoga, also played well at Right Tackle.
5. Alijah Vera-Tucker replaced Andrew Vorhees at Right Guard in the second quarter and also did well. This was the first game where Vorhees and Tucker alternated, I think?
6. Tyler Vaughns scored two touchdowns and caught 8 passes for 91 yards and wins the highest jump for a ball in the game! Too bad he was triple-covered!
7. Ajene Harris caused a fumble.
8. Senior Isaiah Langley (23) is playing well at Nickel Defensive Back.
Things to work on
1. Put Brett Neilon at Center and move Toa to Right Guard.
2. Stop useless Taunting and Personal Fouls.
3. Learn how to run a wide receiver screen
4. Put in a draw play trap on passing downs
5. Pass Block your zone first, then help out if no one comes
6. Take the points in or near the Red Zone
7. Stop trick plays when you are still working on perfecting your basic ones
Now the question you all have been asking since Saturday is should Clay Helton and staff remain coaching the Trojans with a record of 5-5 with our two biggest rivals coming up in the final two weeks of the regular season. In any case I think Lynn Swann will let Helton and staff coach the last two games to say good bye to the Seniors properly.
Now on to whether the staff should remain at all. If USC loses both games, there is no question in my mind that a change would occur. Should they beat UCLA and lose to Notre Dame, you could flip a coin on Helton. Should they miraculously find some way to win both game and finish 7-5, they come back for next year. A complicating matter that many are aware of is that USC currently has no President and eating contracts of the Head Coach of $3,000,000 per year for the next two years or maybe a buy-out of one and all the Assistants that would not be retained by a new Coach may not be possible. The Interim President is a Member of the Board of Directors and upon Athletic Director Lynn Swann’s recommendation, they might do it. If large donors all of sudden start inundating the Board with demands of Helton’s removal or they close up their wallets, Helton is a goner.
Coach Rhino out, I need a Jameson on the Rocks!
The streak of 14 consecutive wins over Cal is over and so is the Trojans last gasp of trying to win the PAC 12 South Title. USC snapped themselves right out of the race. I have mentioned more than once in past couple of weeks that Center Toa Lobendahn would snap one poorly where it would be most costly. As we all know he aired one to the end zone and JT Daniels chased it down and Aca’Cedric Ware attempted to pick it up and get it out of end zone and got blasted. Luckily Daniels ended up with the ball causing the safety and not a touchdown. This was the turning point of the game on the Trojans first possession of the second half. Cal would go on to score all of their 15 points in the 3rd quarter and win 15-14. They are now Bowl Eligible at 6-4.
This Trojan team has come out of the gate against multiple teams this season with 14+ point leads only to lose momentum, focus and motivation to put those teams away. Every team has a personality and they often reflect the Head Coach. Clay Helton is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but his teams have no killer instinct and get complacent. We all remember great Trojan teams of the past and how you would almost feel sorry for them because USC would beat them so badly and bury them in the Coliseum Turf! This one only buries itself with dropped passes, missed blocks, way too many penalties and incredibly bad tackling. USC can limp into a nothing bowl by beating the Bruins at the Rose Bowl Saturday at 12:30 on Fox. One of the good things about playing in any bowl is the Seniors get to play one more and the Under-Classmen get a few more practices, provided something is actually taught at those practices and that they do the maximum number as opposed to last year where they only practiced a few days and got killed by Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Let’s talk about the good and bad of the game itself. The Trojans came out and drove down the field and were in a position to take the lead with a chip shot field goal when Clay Helton tried to pull the rabbit out of the hat and had Holder, Red-Shirt Senior, Wyatt Schmidt (81) fake the hold and throw to Kicker Michael Brown, who is wearing a massive right knee brace and was tackled for a loss of two yards. Cal is a very good defensive team and Helton should have taken the points. So instead of being up 3-0 USC turned the ball over to Cal. USC was lucky the Cal offense never got going in the first half amassing only 42 yards of total offense and 3 first downs in the opening half. USC on the other hand had Daniels and Tyler Vaughns were teaming up on touchdown passes of 2 and 23 yards to give the Trojans a 14-0 lead that should have been 17-0. Late in the second quarter USC mounted a 13-play drive to the 15-yard line of the Bears and Daniels found his high school buddy, Amon-Ra St. Brown over the middle at the 10 and while fighting for more yards he fumbled to Cal. Instead of at least a 21-0 lead over an inept Cal offense, USC only led 14-0 at the half and really could have been ahead 24-0. With USC’s defense playing really well, I doubt Cal could have overcome that lead. However, this is all imaginary! I guess I was dreaming of Old USC!
As we all know the turning point was the first possession of the second half and the “snap of the year”! The Safety energized Cal who fielded the free kick and returned it to their 45. On the next play Freshman Corner Back Olaijah Griffin got flagged for Pass Interference moving the ball to the USC 35. The momentum was clearly shifting to Call and two plays later Bear, Vic Wharton caught a Chase Garbers’ pass and scored his first touchdown of the year from 29 yards out, blowing by Griffin who was clearly over matched on the play. The Bears had pulled to within 5 points of the Trojans at 14-9. USC started the next drive at the 25 and moved smartly down the field mixing short runs by Vavae Malepeai with short passes to Vaughns and Tight End Erik Krommenhoak (84) 6’5” 255 So. from Monte Vista HS in Danville, CA. I might add that the tight ends were open most of the game, but Daniels insists on throwing to the first man he sees, whether they are covered or double covered or not. On the 7th play of this drive Daniels tried to force the ball to Trevor Sidney (13) a Red-Shirt Sophomore from local Bishop Amat and #22 picked it off and luckily fell down or it would have been a pick six! Cal was now positioned at the 40-yard line and moved smartly down the field and Quarterback Chase Garbers scored from the 4-yard line by rolling right and dashing into the end zone, while Senior Safety Ajene Harris dove at Garber’s ankles rather than forming up and putting Garbers down to force a field goal or at least a 4th down situation. This completed the scoring with Cal ahead 15-14.
In the 4th quarter neither team could mount a drive to score and it became a chess match between two coaches who know either well. Justin Wilcox who was let go by Clay Helton 3 years ago as defensive coordinator at USC and Clancy Pendergast, the defensive coordinator for the Trojans. The Bears sacked Daniels ending both of the USC drives in the 4th quarter and USC kept the Bears from scoring as well. Cal took over for a final drive with 4:50 remaining in the game and the Trojans defense stopped them to apparently set up USC for one final drive to kick the winning field goal until Iman Marshall was goaded into a personal foul penalty at the Bears Bench, giving Cal a first down and they ran out the clock with one more first down.
Good things that happened during the game.
1. Aca’Cedric Ware rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries.
2. Cameron Smith was all over the field making great plays
3. Jacob Lichtenstein (97) 6’5”, 270 lb., Red-Shirt Freshman, Defensive Lineman, no doubt played his best game. He batted down one pass as well. He will be a menace next year!
4. Jalen McKenzie, who replaced injured Chuma Edoga, also played well at Right Tackle.
5. Alijah Vera-Tucker replaced Andrew Vorhees at Right Guard in the second quarter and also did well. This was the first game where Vorhees and Tucker alternated, I think?
6. Tyler Vaughns scored two touchdowns and caught 8 passes for 91 yards and wins the highest jump for a ball in the game! Too bad he was triple-covered!
7. Ajene Harris caused a fumble.
8. Senior Isaiah Langley (23) is playing well at Nickel Defensive Back.
Things to work on
1. Put Brett Neilon at Center and move Toa to Right Guard.
2. Stop useless Taunting and Personal Fouls.
3. Learn how to run a wide receiver screen
4. Put in a draw play trap on passing downs
5. Pass Block your zone first, then help out if no one comes
6. Take the points in or near the Red Zone
7. Stop trick plays when you are still working on perfecting your basic ones
Now the question you all have been asking since Saturday is should Clay Helton and staff remain coaching the Trojans with a record of 5-5 with our two biggest rivals coming up in the final two weeks of the regular season. In any case I think Lynn Swann will let Helton and staff coach the last two games to say good bye to the Seniors properly.
Now on to whether the staff should remain at all. If USC loses both games, there is no question in my mind that a change would occur. Should they beat UCLA and lose to Notre Dame, you could flip a coin on Helton. Should they miraculously find some way to win both game and finish 7-5, they come back for next year. A complicating matter that many are aware of is that USC currently has no President and eating contracts of the Head Coach of $3,000,000 per year for the next two years or maybe a buy-out of one and all the Assistants that would not be retained by a new Coach may not be possible. The Interim President is a Member of the Board of Directors and upon Athletic Director Lynn Swann’s recommendation, they might do it. If large donors all of sudden start inundating the Board with demands of Helton’s removal or they close up their wallets, Helton is a goner.
Coach Rhino out, I need a Jameson on the Rocks!
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