McCoy, London come up big late as USC beats ASU

I think London should have been targeted more. And Wolfe too.

 

In terms of play calling and design, Harrell was not all that and more today. He left a lot to be desired, especially for the money he is getting. He is still a work in progress, IMO.

I don't know what they're going to do about the offensive line.

 

Will we see Slovis under center at all in short yardage situations? I get staying the shotgun if we’re going to try and quick snap in a short yardage situation but when the defense has to time set up and prepare for a 3rd/4th and 1 situation id much rather see Slovis under center with Stepp behind him.
Do we even have a functional full back? An I formation with Slovis-Vavae-Stepp could be interesting.

 

I don't understand the stubborn and IMO foolish resistance to that. As I mentioned, Harrell is a highly paid work in progress. I'm not saying he's not good, but he's leaving a lot of chicken on the bone.

 

The key to the air raid success will be running the ball
There are no different formations for other team to prepare for
When will coaching win instead of talent or luck?

 

I agree that this is a much better ASU team than we anticipated. Their new additions, which were question marks, played very well. Two grad transfers on OL were very good, new running backs were excellent. The freshman WR had lots of trouble holding onto the ball. Marvin Lewis has always been an amazing DC and along with Pierce, they are incredible - they have this defense playing very well right out of the chute. I think there were a lot of learning points while playing a solid opponent - let's see how we look next week.

 

As Sam Darnold saved Helton's job, now Slovis has.

 

Lol. Well played.

 

Thanks. All kidding aside, it was windy. I think in addition to passes wobbling, it limited the Trojans' ability to throw deep.

 

What was more disappointing, the offense or defense? Harrell's play calling and execution were subpar as usual. But we were facing a talented defense that was well-coached. The OL played like crap. The 4 turnovers meant we left a lot of points on the field. The defense gave up too many big plays. Tackling in space was terrible, and we were facing mostly inexperienced skill position players. I would have liked our chances against Oregon with a good defense and a sleeping giant on offense. But the way things stand, we don't have a chance.

 

I actually question whether Harrell called all the plays. Something about the rhythm of the game did not completely jibe with his offensive philosophy.

 

Don’t say Clay is injecting plays, pray not

 

What the East Coast actually saw yesterday :

Undisciplined defensive backs making unnecessary pass interference infractions
Linebackers? Where were they?
Offensive line, pretty much was just plain offensive and appeared weak, lethargic and slow
Poor play calling (fourth and 1 up the gut twice, instead of at least trying an off-tackle or power back play)
Complete meltdown/turnovers in the Red Zone allowing them to stay in the game and keep our D on the field
Poor defensive alignments/schemes which allowed us to be gashed and actually cut off our own pursuit angles
Questionable offensive play calling again....was Clay making some calls or changing Harrell’s calls from the sideline?
Pure luck on the St. Brown-McCoy “immaculate reception”
Another “Sam D” miracle moment where Slovis/London save Clay’s ass from another self-ignited dumpster fire debut

They saw underutilized talent that is not “coached-up” very well and a lot of luck, period!

I think we all expected better, at least for the first 55 minutes of the game.

Fight On!

 

Yes sir, we’ve known this for some time. A better online AA types

 

So let's step back. The offensive line was just that- incredibly offensive. Vast improvement needed or Slovis won't survive even a shortened season. Turnovers - inexcusable. Most of the game was just too damn sloppy and typical of a Helton unprepared football team. The 4th and 1 calls were Kiffienesque or even Hackettesque

Ok now the sunshine - 556 yards of total offense. Only 5 penalties and two were major ones on Chris Steele. The turnovers were key though. We left two TDs on the field, maybe three. Without those it's a comfortable win. Much improvement is needed or we will drop one of these future games against a mediocre opponent we are so famous for.

 

Agree that the failed 4th and 1 plays were very disturbing - OLine should be able to convert those - hopefully that issue can be remedied

 

Agree with all of your qualitative analysis. I was especially disappointed by the Oline play.

Disagree with your prognostication though. Rest of the schedule is doable with minimal improvement and Ore did not impress me at home against a hobbled Furd.

Not worried about ND or tOSU because we are not seeing them this year, even at 7-0.

 

I hate to tell you but with nearly all teams, the OC does NOT call all the plays. HCs and OCs all have hand off points at certain times of the game. For example, David Shaw of Stanford calls all plays inside the red zone. Perhaps Gomer and GH have hand off points on 4th and short? Just looking at some of the play selection throughout this game, it sure didn't look like GH had total control.

 

Why do we continue to struggle on the oline? Is it Drevno, strength and conditioning? This has been going on for years. No push and lousy pass blocking.

 

Erik K. continues to struggle blocking and catching passes. I like Wolfe much better. How do you not convert 3rd and 1 on two critical drives by plowing into the middle. Need to get that fixed.