Musings from Arledge: A different defense, Munir McClain and a little more CFB

Another good article from Chris regarding the Trojans and football. The defense in the last decade or more has received the short end of new regulations that hold them back while offenses have been pretty much left to do as they wish. Reminds me of the attempts by sports organizations to change a games rules to encourage more scoring and excitement to garner greater crowds (revenue).

Our great new P.C. and S.J.W. spineless leader and her nose ringed athletic director are performing as expected. It can only get worse. But, the bright side is that we may (possibly) be able to watch a revamped Trojan team actually practice hard, practice suited up, actually practice tackling, and a host of other promised "wait till you see us this season" oaths that have disappeared.under the tutelage of Faith Family and Football promoter Clay Helton.

My hope is that this abbreviated season is all wins (whether it matters or not towards the playoffs) without injury to Slovis. That this season be used as a REAL (in training ) chance to improve the Trojan team and prepare them for the 2021 season and a return to their past prestige.

Fight On...in the face of it all.

 

I always enjoy these articles. I'd go a little farther with Chip Kelly at Oregon. He intentionally played aggressive defense so that if the opponent was going to score they'd likely have to do it over the top and quickly. What he feared was teams on slow drives eating up clock and leaving his offensive greyhounds on the bench. okay you just scored but now your defense is back on the field and i'm wearing you out.
You could count 10 defensive Oregon players within 10 yards of the LOS post-snap. It was very difficult to run or throw underneath against them. He dared you to beat him over the top. That crazy 62-51 shoot-out at the Coli was only close since Matt Barkley kept hitting long throws deep which he was being challenged to do. Looking at from Chip's way, it made sense.

 

Note how a great coach like Saban adjusts when the game changes. All offense now, how is he doing? Still at the top. Look no further than Pete. As pros have evolved, Pete adjusts and Seattle stays near the top.

 

Chip Hackett? LOL

 

Interesting article. Loved the first part about modern offenses and defenses. But the take on McClain is completely wrong. Why? Because the entire team has to pay the price if a player is found to be ineligible for taking improper benefits. Ever since the Bush episode, teams have all wisely taken the cautious course, which is exactly what USC is doing now.

 

Wrongly claiming unemployment benefits — if he did that — is not an NCAA violation.

 

Slovis is going to get hurt. When he does, USC's season will be over.

He is because he's going to throw the ball 45 times a game and defenses will have a reason to tee off on him. If USC was running 45 times a game and throwing it 20 times, he wouldn't get hurt and they would probably have more yards and points. And, they would be taking pressure off the defense. But, USC has visions of becoming the next Washington State. It's fool's gold. The great teams in the country still have tremendous running games.

 

And it's still prudent of USC to put McClain on hold until every possible exposure to the team is clear. Sorry, but there's still too much uncertainty in his situation.

 

Agree. That "press release" was a bit unsettling.

 

The press release was a disaster. But the press release wasn't the cause of the suspension; the suspension came first. And, again, I don't see any possibility of NCAA trouble from this -- there's no NCAA rule at issue -- and I see no danger to any student on campus should McClain be on the team while the investigation continues. Maybe there's a compelling reason to act now, but I don't see it.

 

I'm also worried about this. Let's hope there's more of a commitment to the running game this year. Stepp could be Slovis's best friend.

 

I agree that the press release is not the reason he was suspended, but IMO it's sure a contributor to why he should stay suspended. Under the circumstances it's surprisingly adversarial and it looks like they are deliberately trying to create a $#!+storm to try to deflect the blame. And yet they expect him to be reinstated. I need help understanding this situation and the way the family is handling it.

 

I still can't get an straight answer to the question, did McCain break any team or NCAA rules by not getting permission to have a part -time job. It seems like a pretty easy question to ask in a press conference - did USC know that McCain had a job.

 

Fixed it for you.