Trojan Football? In March?
It may still be winter, but spring has sprung for USC Football as their first week of practice is in the books. So let’s check in on our Trojans.
USC for decades has prided itself as a program that would “reload, not rebuild.” Unfortunately, for the past couple of years, this has not been the case since many of our departures whether it be a player, coach, or athletic director has created issues for the upcoming season. The program has been trying to “reload” by hiring former assistants of the Pete Carroll in order to recapture the prestige of his former dynasty. At the beginning of last season, it looked like it was time to give up on that strategy and blow the whole thing up. Thankfully, Clay Helton prevented any “rebuild” by leading the Trojans to nine straight wins, capping it off with a incredible comeback victory in the Rose Bowl.
With this year’s recruiting class, it is the first time in awhile I feel this team will get back to the program that can immediately fill the holes left by players graduating or declaring for the draft. USC usually gets into the top 10 in recruiting by picking up every five-star position player it can, with only a few linemen and linebackers getting remaining scholarships. This year, the Trojans loaded up in the trenches, and from reports, they look like they will be able to play right away.
Several players recovering from injuries last year will sit out spring practice. Without Falah and Talamaivao, the team will be able to plug in some of the younger guys and play with different offensive line combinations. The offensive line was a staple of the Trojans’ success last year.
The more time Porter is on the field, the less time he gets in the gym. Besides quarterback (obviously), pretty much every position is open for competition.
No more JuJu on that beat and no more third down conversions from Rogers. The wide receiver battle is wide open. The talent and depth is there with this wide receiver group. Just depends on who is going to come out on top and step onto the field against Western Michigan on September 2nd.
With Zach Banner (6'9'’), Chad Wheeler (6'7'’), and Damien Mama (6'4'’) leaving for the draft, the average height and weight of the starting offensive line is bound to plummet. Replacing the three starters from last years’ line will be one of the main focuses this offseason.
As stated above, with Falah and Talamaivao sitting out this spring, the team will play around with the offensive line and figure out the best combination before the season opener. Rome wasn’t built in one day.
Neither will this offensive line.
Gathering the quotes from several players, and Coach Helton, it seems that one of the bigger issues for the team will be getting over the Rose Bowl hangover.
Hawkins says the teams over it.
Clay Helton disagrees.
USC has not been able to live up to the preseason hype in recent past. If there’s any sort of optimism for this team over the past decade it gets squashed immediately when they lose to an unranked opponent in the first three to four games.
This year may have the most hype ever. Will USC be able to national prominence? Going into this season, we will have had one of the nation’s top recruiting classes, be in the preseason top 5, and have two potential Heisman candidates in Darnold and Jones.
There’s going to be a lot of pressure on USC and two NFL teams in Los Angeles won’t hinder the amount of coverage the Trojans will get this year.
Here’s hoping Clay Helton can handle the bright Hollywood lights. We know Chris Petersen can’t.
I hope he’s referring to the team as a whole when he said this, because a lot of the blame on the early season losses can be put on his decision to start Max Browne in the first three games of the season, and his decision to punt in the final minutes against Utah.
This is psychopath behavior. I not only have this game recorded, I spent more than one Saturday morning watching it in it’s entirety. You just have to make sure that field goal went in.
It did.
Deontay Burnett doesn’t even seem to care about the Rose Bowl. He just wants to prove to the world that his performance in that game wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Burnett became Darnold’s go-to receiver towards the latter half of the season. Let’s hope he can keep up the momentum. It will be a lot more difficult without the opponent’s secondary focusing on JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Matt Barkley went from a potential 1st round pick his junior year to being drafted in the 4th round and currently competing against Brian Hoyer for the opportunity to throw passes to Pierre Garcon, Jeremy Kerley, and Marquise Godwin for the 49ers. Not even sure if those last two names are real.
That’s what happens when your team finishes 7–6 with a loss in El Paso, with Lane Kiffin wearing sunglasses to shield his black eyes from the crippling hangover caused by a night of drinking and fighting with assistant coaches (allegedly).
As long as the team slogan isn’t a hashtag with Darnold’s number replacing one of the letters and someone makes sure he doesn’t head to the 901 Bar & Grill on school nights, he’ll be having NFL teams tanking for the 1st overall pick by mid-season.
With Adoree’ and JuJu gone, this team doesn’t have much known star power besides Dick Hammer’s grandson and the Texas Tesla. Will be interesting to see who steps up to lead this team and what kind of identity the Trojans will have for the 2017 season.
Best of luck to John on his future endeavors. Fight On!
I’m confused on how we picked up a five star kicker with no scholarships left but you’re not going to hear me complaining (or looking for a proper explanation).
Also, this commitment comes over a month after National Signing Day. Do teams just forget about kickers? Was he even recruited or did he just show up to spring practice and start kicking field goals?
If the suspension to Matt Boermeester wasn’t writing on the wall already, then the commitment of McGarth is the nail in the coffin for his chances of returning to the team.
Boermeester was suspended due to a student code of conduct issue, that is rumored to be related to an incident involving him and his ex-girlfriend.
Sam Cutler out here just throwing interceptions in his first week back. Not surprising, given that he lost the quarterback competition to Browne last year. Sam treats practice like he’s Allen Iverson. He’s a gamer. Simple as that.
Jack Jones looking to replace Adoree’ on both defense AND offense. Pretty big shoes to fill but there’s no doubt in my mind that Jones thinks he can do it. Don’t forget when he said he was going to win the Heisman before the season last year. As a backup.
Only took two decades, but we finally have a Keyshawn back at wide receiver.
Tuipulotu is one of our five star commitments that took a hell of an effort from our coaching staff to switch his commitment from Washington to USC, but it may be worth it by how quickly he’s learning the Trojans’ defense. With Stevie T. graduating, and Noah Jefferson transferring to your safety school’s safety school, hopefully Marlon will be ready to help the Trojans’ depleted defensive front immediately.
One week down, two dozen to go.
FIGHT ON!
