OFFICIAL 2021-2022 COLLEGE FOOTBALL THREAD

[N41D]

Booooooy I thought they’d let him die there.

That job will be interesting. Don’t think it’s super attractive.

 

[nako xl]

Booooooy I thought they’d let him die there.

That job will be interesting. Don’t think it’s super attractive.

Some of the people that may have looked at TTU could turn to it instead though, specifically Justin Fuente, Jeff Traylor, and Sonny ****s.

 

[N41D]

Some of the people that may have looked at TTU could turn to it instead though, specifically Justin Fuente, Jeff Traylor, and Sonny ****s.

Traylor just signed a massive (for UTSA) 10 year deal with UTSA. He may not leave.

Rumors are he doesn’t think Sark will survive and might have eyes towards the UT gig - and he’s certainly got the contacts there to back channel aggressively for that gig over time.

Fuente would definitely take the TCU gig. That might not be a bad name to watch.

 

[elpablo21]

Ready to see Cincy ranked fifth on Tuesday for shenanigans purposes

 

[nako xl]

Ready to see Cincy ranked fifth on Tuesday for shenanigans purposes

I hope so. Fickell needs to stop with the pipe dreams and come home.

 

[witnesskb24]

What’s everyone’s top 6 going into the (meaningless) rankings?

UGA
Cincy
OU
MSU
Bama
Oregon

(I got tOSU at 7th)

And I know Bama will be in the top 4 because, well, Bama and losses don’t count the same for them

 

[N41D]

UGA, OU, MSU, Bama would be my 4 today.

 

[yobyellav]

What’s everyone’s top 6 going into the (meaningless) rankings?

UGA
Cincy
OU
MSU
Bama
Oregon

(I got tOSU at 7th)

And I know Bama will be in the top 4 because, well, Bama and losses don’t count the same for them

Be fair, of those top 4, how many you think as good as bama? I’m only going with GA.

 

[atlsfinest]

Be fair, of those top 4, how many you think as good as bama? I’m only going with GA.

I get what you're saying but there needs to be some objective measure involved. Who has Bama beaten the season? Who is their best win? Frustration with the playoff committee is that their rationale changes from situation to situation. Sometimes they go based off of strength of victory, sometimes it's best resume and sometimes it's eye test other times it's head to head victories.

For example, I'm sure Ohio State is going to be ranked ahead of Cincinnati and Oregon. I'll ask the question: who is Ohio state's best win? And shouldn't Oregon be ranked ahead of Ohio State (seeing as they're both one loss teams and Oregon beat Ohio State head to head.

Whether it's fair or not, teams like Alabama will always get the benefit of the doubt. Over a team like Cincinnati given their track record of success.

 

[witnesskb24]

Be fair, of those top 4, how many you think as good as bama? I’m only going with GA.

Oh I’d agree. But are they looking at best teams or most deserving? Because if it’s best teams that top 4 is totally different. Cincy, OU, and MSU wouldn’t be up there at all

 

[N41D]

nako xl

Just read Traylor’s deal carries a $7.5m buyout in year 1… he’s off the market.

Sonny D and Napier appear to be their early two - and Sonny does in fact prefer TCU to Tech.

TTU might end up being the place to take the chance on Briles.

 

[IATT]

 

[Bobby Layne]

nako xl

Just read Traylor’s deal carries a $7.5m buyout in year 1… he’s off the market.

Sonny D and Napier appear to be their early two - and Sonny does in fact prefer TCU to Tech.

TTU might end up being the place to take the chance on Briles.

If your TT, wouldn’t the safer play be just hiring lil Briles, and letting the older one hang around in a unofficial role?

 

[N41D]

If your TT, wouldn’t the safer play be just hiring lil Briles, and letting the older one hang around in a unofficial role?

Maybe - but I don’t think Kendall needs to be in a rush to take a bad job. He’ll get opportunities the further removed he gets from all that mess at Baylor.

Dad’s an alum and doesn’t have options.

 

[nako xl]

nako xl

Just read Traylor’s deal carries a $7.5m buyout in year 1… he’s off the market.

Sonny D and Napier appear to be their early two - and Sonny does in fact prefer TCU to Tech.

TTU might end up being the place to take the chance on Briles.

But is that a buyout for if he's fired by the school or the penalty if he leaves for another job? That's a bad deal if Traylor is letting UTSA of all places hold him to a $7.5M buyout when he's only making $2.8m/year.

 

[nako xl]

If your TT, wouldn’t the safer play be just hiring lil Briles, and letting the older one hang around in a unofficial role?

Idk if Kendall wants that job, I think he thinks he can do better. I also think TTU's admin is going to face hell that first year if they make either Briles a HC. If it translates into wins quickly then the uproar will probably die down, because Texas, but if there's a rough start good luck.

 

[N41D]

But is that a buyout for if he's fired by the school or the penalty if he leaves for another job? That's a bad deal if Traylor is letting UTSA of all places hold him to a $7.5M buyout when he's only making $2.8m/year.

The way I read it is he pays to leave after Year 1 or 2... shrinks to almost nothing after year 3.

He may think he can hang around and get a better gig than TCU or Tech. He’s probably not wrong.

Idk if Kendall wants that job, I think he thinks he can do better. I also think TTU's admin is going to face hell that first year if they make either Briles a HC. If it translates into wins quickly then the uproar will probably die down, because Texas, but if there's a rough start good luck.

If it’s Briles, it’s a decision that got made behind the admins backs. There’s been tons of rumors he’s been hovering around there chumming it up with the heavy donors for the last two years.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it were him or Lebby.

If they avoid the Briles tree entirely - Joey McGuire at Baylor is another guy that would make a ton of sense if they’re dead set on a guy with deep ties to the state in his coaching background .

 

[nako xl]

Kiszla: All Mel Tucker does is win, win, win. And it makes the CU Buffs sick, sick, sick.

Kiszla: All Mel Tucker does is win, win, win. And it makes the CU Buffs sick, sick, sick.

Every victory by Mel Tucker is a punch in the gut to the Colorado Buffaloes.

www.denverpost.com

Op/Ed on CU football and how they had a good thing and refused to leverage it dragicon

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

 

[witnesskb24]

I get what you're saying but there needs to be some objective measure involved. Who has Bama beaten the season? Who is their best win? Frustration with the playoff committee is that their rationale changes from situation to situation. Sometimes they go based off of strength of victory, sometimes it's best resume and sometimes it's eye test other times it's head to head victories.

For example, I'm sure Ohio State is going to be ranked ahead of Cincinnati and Oregon. I'll ask the question: who is Ohio state's best win? And shouldn't Oregon be ranked ahead of Ohio State (seeing as they're both one loss teams and Oregon beat Ohio State head to head.

Whether it's fair or not, teams like Alabama will always get the benefit of the doubt. Over a team like Cincinnati given their track record of success.

Id say 7 of the top 10 teams don’t have good wins. Oregon probably has the best win followed by MSU and Cincy.

1. UGA- beat a bunch of decent teams but have looked dominant. Best win auburn

2. Cincy- best win top ten notre dame

3. MSU- Best win top ten Michigan

4. Oklahoma- beat a bunch of nobodies and looked terrible doing so. Best win is Texas?

5. Bama- lost to the best team they’ve played. Best win ole miss

6. Oregon- lost to a bad team but probably has the best win so far beating Ohio state in Columbus

7. Ohio State- lost to the best team they’ve played. Best win Penn State

8. Notre Dame- lost to cincy. Best win is Wisconsin? UNC?

9. Michigan- lost to the best team they’ve played. Best win is Wisconsin?

10. Wake Forest- beat a lot of mediocre teams but still undefeated.

 

[witnesskb24]

Was it ever explained why the upcoming Wake/UNC game doesn’t count as a conference game? I don’t think last years did either

 

[tupac003]

nako xl casper90403

Here is an Athletic article on USC

Spoiler: We Miss Drake

USC takeaways: Drake London’s injury leaves the Trojans feeling lost even in victory

By Antonio Morales Oct 31, 2021

LOS ANGELES — Kyle Ford knows what the football-appropriate thing to say would be. But at the same time, he also knows better.

Drake London has been by far USC’s best player this season and has been arguably the best receiver in the country. Quite frankly, he was one of the few reasons left to watch the sputtering Trojans this season. So when he suffered what looked like a potentially season-ending ankle injury in the second quarter of USC’s 41-34 win over Arizona on Saturday and needed to be carted off the field, of course it took an emotional toll on the team.

“We like to say that doesn’t affect us, but I know for sure it did,” said Ford, who caught two passes for 20 yards on Saturday. “Because he’s obviously the guy we’ve gone to (on offense), and when you lose a guy like that, it obviously hits your team a little hard. It kind of affected me a little because like I said, that’s my boy. Obviously, it sucks it happened, but now we’ve just got to step and move forward.”

It’s difficult to envision how USC will move forward without London. He’s been such a dominant presence in this offense all season. He entered Saturday with 79 receptions for 1,003 yards and five touchdowns. In less than one half against the Wildcats (0-8, 0-5 Pac-12), he caught nine passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

That would qualify as a good game for most receivers. This season, that’s merely been a good half for London, who has emerged as the frontrunner for the Biletnikoff Award. Then on Saturday, London was carted off the field with an air cast wrapped around his right leg to a cheer from the crowd, who had gained a greater appreciation for his play over the past three seasons.

“That (injury) sucked,” said true freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart, who tossed the 6-yard touchdown pass to London immediately preceding his injury. “I love Drake just as much on the field as I love him off the field. He’s been such a great mentor for me and someone I look up to with his work ethic and leadership. Seeing a guy go down like that, it really hurt.”

London was carted back to the sideline in the second half of the game and sat on the bench for a bit. After the game, he rode the cart to the locker room. He had a hard cast on his right leg and was using crutches to get around.

Trojans interim coach Donte Wiliams, who is generally ambiguous about injuries, said after the game London “will be out right now,” that it’s an ankle injury and there’s fear it’s a season-ending injury.

USC (4-4, 3-3) faced an uphill climb over these final four games with a healthy and effective London. The prospect of playing the remainder of the season without him makes the Trojans’ outlook that much more daunting.

“Drake comes in every single day and works his butt off,” said running back Keaontay Ingram. “He treats every single day like it’s game day. So to see a player like that go down, the whole entire team felt it, and I could tell some of the guys felt it when I even came to the sideline. … Of course, losing a player like that in this type of environment, it sucks. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to have a 1-0 mentality and next man up.”

A QB controversy rekindled

When Dart lit up Washington State back on Sept. 18, it was clear USC had a delicate tightrope to walk sometime soon regarding its quarterback situation. There’s Kedon Slovis, an All-Pac-12 quarterback who started the past two seasons, and there’s Dart, a freshman who has immense potential and can cover up a lot of the offense’s flaws with his playmaking ability.

That dilemma was pushed to the backburner when it was revealed days later that Dart had torn his meniscus against the Cougars. The injury kept him out for three games. He returned last week against Notre Dame but didn’t play, mainly because he wasn’t cleared for practice until Thursday that week.
There were talks throughout the week that gave Dart the impression he’d play against Arizona, so he prepared accordingly. He didn’t know that officially until he spoke with USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell on Friday night, though.

“I talked to Graham last night and he gave us a heads up of what was going to happen,” Dart said. “I just prepared and just tried to do the best I can and when I was in the game, I was able to execute.”

And now USC’s QB quandary is back at the forefront.
Harrell spoke with Dart on Friday night, but he also spoke with Slovis, who spoke with Williams about the decision as well.

“I wanted to know why, obviously,” Slovis said. “Not to take away from Jaxson, he’s a great player. I wanted to know if it was something I was doing to kind of make this happen or what the reason behind it was.”

Slovis said he was told they wanted to get certain elements of the offense into the game with Dart. The initial plan was for Slovis to start the game and for Dart to come in starting with USC’s third drive.
Slovis led a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession. On the second possession, he led a two-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 62-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. Since it was only a two-play drive, Slovis also got the next possession, which ended in a punt.
Dart took over on the next series and led two touchdown drives, which both ended with short touchdown passes to London. When Dart entered the game, USC’s student section started loudly chanting, “Let’s go Dart.”

“I was so jacked to be playing again,” Dart said. “It’s so hard just watching and not being able to participate. Sometimes you feel like you can help the team out and you’re just not able to do that. And then just like personally, I love the game so much. I came to SC for football. So being able to get back on the field with the guys, it was super exhilarating.”
In total, Slovis led eight drives. Dart led four. Slovis completed 15 of 21 passes for 204 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. Dart completed 12 of 18 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

“Both of them had good days. Both of them were efficient,” Williams said. “Both of them passed the ball. Both of them scored touchdowns. The offense moved with both of them in the huddle. Both of them made little small mistakes they’ll continue to clean up. So we were efficient with both. At the end of the day, we put up 41 points.”

After the game, there was a decent amount of discussion about the fact that Dart was the quarterback leading the offense on USC’s possession midway through the fourth quarter after Arizona cut the Trojans’ lead to seven points, 38-31.
Both quarterbacks said they didn’t know which one was going in until right before the drive. Williams said it was planned for Dart to play at that moment, and Harrell echoed him.

“I just had a plan going in and didn’t vary from it,” Harrell said. “I got confidence in both of them no matter what the situation is. Like I said, it’s not like it’s tight so I’m going to play this guy or, oh, it’s a blowout — if we have a plan, I was just sticking to the plan. My plan was to play him on that drive. I don’t really care what the score was, we were going to play him. I got a ton of confidence in either one of them. Either one of them in the game, winning, losing, we need to go score, we expect to go do it with either one of them.”

Dart handed the ball off on all four plays on that drive. Afterward, Slovis was asked what it was like as a competitor to not be in at that moment.

“It’s tough,” he said. “Obviously, you want to be in and you think you give your team the best chance to win, but again, that’s coach’s decision and let coach make the best decision for the team at the time.”
The main question moving forward is how long this QB platoon will last. Will USC eventually decide on playing only Slovis or Dart? Nobody seemed too willing to talk about the future of the position after Saturday’s win.

“We’re going to do what we need to do to win that particular ballgame,” Williams said. “So I can’t tell you that.”

“I’m not really sure what’s going to happen from here on out,” Dart said. “I’m just going to be ready. When my number’s called, I’m going to execute.”

Keaontay Ingram carries the load

With London out, Ingram looks set to become the focal point of this offense. He had emerged as a steady playmaker over the past month, rushing for 100-plus yards in two of USC’s last three games.
Then on Saturday, he racked up 204 yards and could have had close to 300 if three long runs weren’t negated by penalties. He also carried the ball a season-high 27 times, one week after getting 24 carries against Notre Dame.

“He’s been great,” Slovis said. “He’s an explosive player. He can turn a 15-yard explosive play into a touchdown for us. When we can run the ball like that and have almost 200 rushing yards on the night, that’s a game-changer for us.”

USC’s run game has been a pleasant surprise this season. Expectations were low entering the season after the Trojans were dismal running the ball in 2020, but Ingram has added a spark to the running back room, and the offensive line has been a better run-blocking unit than it was in 2020.

“I’m not sure (if the offense will be more run-oriented),” center Brett Neilon said. “We’ll stick to what we’re doing. We love running the ball, and all season I feel like it’s been effective. So if the team needs to count on us (the offensive line), we’ll rise to the occasion.”

It was probably too soon for most of the offensive players or coaches to assess how the offense will change without London, but giving more touches to Ingram seems like the best path forward at this moment.

The defense struggled … again

It might have been easy to overlook USC’s defense on Saturday. The Trojans’ best player got hurt, and the coaching staff unveiled a two-quarterback system, so the offense generated most of the headlines.

But quietly, the defense continued its season-long trend of poor play. Arizona didn’t crack the 20-point plateau in any of its first seven games this season, then scored 27 and put up 466 yards of total offense against USC.

The Wildcats connected on passes of 21, 24, 37 and 73 yards against the Trojans and hit on runs of 18 and 32 yards, the latter coming on a fake punt. USC was never truly able to pull away because the defense couldn’t stop what had previously been an anemic Arizona offense.

Arizona State laid an egg against Washington State on Saturday, but USC will face a Sun Devils offense next week in Tempe that has much more talent than the one that just moved the ball up and down the field against it.


Antonio Morales covers USC football for The Athletic. Previously, he spent three years at the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi where he covered Ole Miss for two seasons and Jackson State for another. He also spent two years covering preps for the Orange County Register and Torrance Daily Breeze. Follow Antonio on Twitter @AntonioCMorales.

 

[witnesskb24]

 

[nako xl]

nako xl casper90403

Here is an Athletic article on USC

Spoiler: We Miss Drake

USC takeaways: Drake London’s injury leaves the Trojans feeling lost even in victory

By Antonio Morales Oct 31, 2021

LOS ANGELES — Kyle Ford knows what the football-appropriate thing to say would be. But at the same time, he also knows better.

Drake London has been by far USC’s best player this season and has been arguably the best receiver in the country. Quite frankly, he was one of the few reasons left to watch the sputtering Trojans this season. So when he suffered what looked like a potentially season-ending ankle injury in the second quarter of USC’s 41-34 win over Arizona on Saturday and needed to be carted off the field, of course it took an emotional toll on the team.

“We like to say that doesn’t affect us, but I know for sure it did,” said Ford, who caught two passes for 20 yards on Saturday. “Because he’s obviously the guy we’ve gone to (on offense), and when you lose a guy like that, it obviously hits your team a little hard. It kind of affected me a little because like I said, that’s my boy. Obviously, it sucks it happened, but now we’ve just got to step and move forward.”

It’s difficult to envision how USC will move forward without London. He’s been such a dominant presence in this offense all season. He entered Saturday with 79 receptions for 1,003 yards and five touchdowns. In less than one half against the Wildcats (0-8, 0-5 Pac-12), he caught nine passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

That would qualify as a good game for most receivers. This season, that’s merely been a good half for London, who has emerged as the frontrunner for the Biletnikoff Award. Then on Saturday, London was carted off the field with an air cast wrapped around his right leg to a cheer from the crowd, who had gained a greater appreciation for his play over the past three seasons.

“That (injury) sucked,” said true freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart, who tossed the 6-yard touchdown pass to London immediately preceding his injury. “I love Drake just as much on the field as I love him off the field. He’s been such a great mentor for me and someone I look up to with his work ethic and leadership. Seeing a guy go down like that, it really hurt.”

London was carted back to the sideline in the second half of the game and sat on the bench for a bit. After the game, he rode the cart to the locker room. He had a hard cast on his right leg and was using crutches to get around.

Trojans interim coach Donte Wiliams, who is generally ambiguous about injuries, said after the game London “will be out right now,” that it’s an ankle injury and there’s fear it’s a season-ending injury.

USC (4-4, 3-3) faced an uphill climb over these final four games with a healthy and effective London. The prospect of playing the remainder of the season without him makes the Trojans’ outlook that much more daunting.

“Drake comes in every single day and works his butt off,” said running back Keaontay Ingram. “He treats every single day like it’s game day. So to see a player like that go down, the whole entire team felt it, and I could tell some of the guys felt it when I even came to the sideline. … Of course, losing a player like that in this type of environment, it sucks. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to have a 1-0 mentality and next man up.”

A QB controversy rekindled

When Dart lit up Washington State back on Sept. 18, it was clear USC had a delicate tightrope to walk sometime soon regarding its quarterback situation. There’s Kedon Slovis, an All-Pac-12 quarterback who started the past two seasons, and there’s Dart, a freshman who has immense potential and can cover up a lot of the offense’s flaws with his playmaking ability.

That dilemma was pushed to the backburner when it was revealed days later that Dart had torn his meniscus against the Cougars. The injury kept him out for three games. He returned last week against Notre Dame but didn’t play, mainly because he wasn’t cleared for practice until Thursday that week.
There were talks throughout the week that gave Dart the impression he’d play against Arizona, so he prepared accordingly. He didn’t know that officially until he spoke with USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell on Friday night, though.

“I talked to Graham last night and he gave us a heads up of what was going to happen,” Dart said. “I just prepared and just tried to do the best I can and when I was in the game, I was able to execute.”

And now USC’s QB quandary is back at the forefront.
Harrell spoke with Dart on Friday night, but he also spoke with Slovis, who spoke with Williams about the decision as well.

“I wanted to know why, obviously,” Slovis said. “Not to take away from Jaxson, he’s a great player. I wanted to know if it was something I was doing to kind of make this happen or what the reason behind it was.”

Slovis said he was told they wanted to get certain elements of the offense into the game with Dart. The initial plan was for Slovis to start the game and for Dart to come in starting with USC’s third drive.
Slovis led a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession. On the second possession, he led a two-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a 62-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. Since it was only a two-play drive, Slovis also got the next possession, which ended in a punt.
Dart took over on the next series and led two touchdown drives, which both ended with short touchdown passes to London. When Dart entered the game, USC’s student section started loudly chanting, “Let’s go Dart.”

“I was so jacked to be playing again,” Dart said. “It’s so hard just watching and not being able to participate. Sometimes you feel like you can help the team out and you’re just not able to do that. And then just like personally, I love the game so much. I came to SC for football. So being able to get back on the field with the guys, it was super exhilarating.”
In total, Slovis led eight drives. Dart led four. Slovis completed 15 of 21 passes for 204 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. Dart completed 12 of 18 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

“Both of them had good days. Both of them were efficient,” Williams said. “Both of them passed the ball. Both of them scored touchdowns. The offense moved with both of them in the huddle. Both of them made little small mistakes they’ll continue to clean up. So we were efficient with both. At the end of the day, we put up 41 points.”

After the game, there was a decent amount of discussion about the fact that Dart was the quarterback leading the offense on USC’s possession midway through the fourth quarter after Arizona cut the Trojans’ lead to seven points, 38-31.
Both quarterbacks said they didn’t know which one was going in until right before the drive. Williams said it was planned for Dart to play at that moment, and Harrell echoed him.

“I just had a plan going in and didn’t vary from it,” Harrell said. “I got confidence in both of them no matter what the situation is. Like I said, it’s not like it’s tight so I’m going to play this guy or, oh, it’s a blowout — if we have a plan, I was just sticking to the plan. My plan was to play him on that drive. I don’t really care what the score was, we were going to play him. I got a ton of confidence in either one of them. Either one of them in the game, winning, losing, we need to go score, we expect to go do it with either one of them.”

Dart handed the ball off on all four plays on that drive. Afterward, Slovis was asked what it was like as a competitor to not be in at that moment.

“It’s tough,” he said. “Obviously, you want to be in and you think you give your team the best chance to win, but again, that’s coach’s decision and let coach make the best decision for the team at the time.”
The main question moving forward is how long this QB platoon will last. Will USC eventually decide on playing only Slovis or Dart? Nobody seemed too willing to talk about the future of the position after Saturday’s win.

“We’re going to do what we need to do to win that particular ballgame,” Williams said. “So I can’t tell you that.”

“I’m not really sure what’s going to happen from here on out,” Dart said. “I’m just going to be ready. When my number’s called, I’m going to execute.”

Keaontay Ingram carries the load

With London out, Ingram looks set to become the focal point of this offense. He had emerged as a steady playmaker over the past month, rushing for 100-plus yards in two of USC’s last three games.
Then on Saturday, he racked up 204 yards and could have had close to 300 if three long runs weren’t negated by penalties. He also carried the ball a season-high 27 times, one week after getting 24 carries against Notre Dame.

“He’s been great,” Slovis said. “He’s an explosive player. He can turn a 15-yard explosive play into a touchdown for us. When we can run the ball like that and have almost 200 rushing yards on the night, that’s a game-changer for us.”

USC’s run game has been a pleasant surprise this season. Expectations were low entering the season after the Trojans were dismal running the ball in 2020, but Ingram has added a spark to the running back room, and the offensive line has been a better run-blocking unit than it was in 2020.

“I’m not sure (if the offense will be more run-oriented),” center Brett Neilon said. “We’ll stick to what we’re doing. We love running the ball, and all season I feel like it’s been effective. So if the team needs to count on us (the offensive line), we’ll rise to the occasion.”

It was probably too soon for most of the offensive players or coaches to assess how the offense will change without London, but giving more touches to Ingram seems like the best path forward at this moment.

The defense struggled … again

It might have been easy to overlook USC’s defense on Saturday. The Trojans’ best player got hurt, and the coaching staff unveiled a two-quarterback system, so the offense generated most of the headlines.

But quietly, the defense continued its season-long trend of poor play. Arizona didn’t crack the 20-point plateau in any of its first seven games this season, then scored 27 and put up 466 yards of total offense against USC.

The Wildcats connected on passes of 21, 24, 37 and 73 yards against the Trojans and hit on runs of 18 and 32 yards, the latter coming on a fake punt. USC was never truly able to pull away because the defense couldn’t stop what had previously been an anemic Arizona offense.

Arizona State laid an egg against Washington State on Saturday, but USC will face a Sun Devils offense next week in Tempe that has much more talent than the one that just moved the ball up and down the field against it.


Antonio Morales covers USC football for The Athletic. Previously, he spent three years at the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi where he covered Ole Miss for two seasons and Jackson State for another. He also spent two years covering preps for the Orange County Register and Torrance Daily Breeze. Follow Antonio on Twitter @AntonioCMorales.

Yeah Drake was the entire offense. I feel bad for
him because he was going to win the Biletnikoff, but it was a lost season. They need to plug Kyle Ford into that role and start giving the young guys some run. And force Manjack to wear gloves.

 

[nako xl]