Tag: bear alexander

USC target, No. 1 2024 recruit Dylan Raiola commits to Georgia

.@UGAWire gets Dylan Raiola, we got Bear Alexander. Fair trade? That’s a question we can all discuss. #USC

USC got Bear Alexander from Georgia. The Trojans, however, lost out on a big recruitment to Georgia. Fair trade? That’s for you to decide, but the news is confirmed: Dylan Raiola, an elite quarterback who was the top available recruit in the Class of 2024, has committed to Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.

UGA Wire has more on the story with Raiola:

“He chose Georgia over Nebraska, Oregon and USC.

“A former Ohio State commitment, Raiola last visited UGA in March and plans to do so again in June. It was his sixth visit to UGA.  Georgia was also the first program to offer Raiola back in June of 2021.

“Raiola has strong ties to Georgia via former Bulldog quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is Raiola’s godfather.

“Raiola’s father, Dominic, is a former Nebraska center who spent several years of his NFL career playing alongside Stafford for the Detroit Lions.”

Let’s examine this development and look at its larger significance in college football, with USC being part of the picture:

USC football brings distinct SEC flavor into 2023

#USC’s increased SEC flavor on its 2023 roster is impossible to ignore.

During the first few months of the 2020 pandemic, when we had no idea if there would be any college football played in the autumn of that same year, we created a series, “USC and the SEC,” in which we looked back at various intersections between the Trojans and the Southeastern Conference on the gridiron.

We recalled the 1978 USC win over Alabama, for instance:

“There was a fascinating symmetry between the 1977 and 1978 Alabama-USC games,” we noted. “In 1977, Alabama snapped a 15-game USC winning streak. In 1978, USC broke Alabama’s 13-game winning binge. In both instances, one team was ranked No. 7, the other team No. 1. In both instances, the No. 7 team beat the No. 1 team. In both instances, the road team won. In both instances, the winner of the game entered the bowl season ranked No. 3, then won its bowl game, and finished No. 2 in the final Associated Press writers’ poll.”

As USC enters the 2023 college football season, there is a noticeable SEC flavor in Los Angeles. Lincoln Riley knows he has needed higher-quality players to compete for the biggest prizes in the sport. Let’s consider the ways in which USC has “SEC-ified” itself:

Trojans Wire joins USC YouTube show to discuss 2023 NFL draft, the portal, and more

We joined @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan to review the #NFLDraft and evaluate more #USC successes in the transfer portal at the @VoiceOfCFB.

There is so much to discuss this week in the world of USC football. Life will become a lot more quiet and calm in June and July, before August camp and the ramp-up to the regular season, which starts in late August against San Jose State. Right now, though, the first days of May provide an intersection between the NFL draft and the transfer portal. USC is in the thick of these storylines, so there is a need to make sense of everything which has happened over the past several days.

We joined Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya on their new USC show, Trojan Conquest Live, at The Voice of College Football. We have plenty of NFL draft analysis and a fresh look at the transfer portal and the Trojans’ new additions, Emmanuel Pregnon and Bear Alexander.

Trojan Conquest Live airs every Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific. Subscribe to, like, and share the USC channel at The Voice of College Football.

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The optimistic view of Bear Alexander and what he will do for USC football

Is Bear Alexander guaranteed to be a star at #USC? No … but there’s a strong case to make for why he’ll be special.

USC fans should definitely be excited about Bear Alexander and what the Georgia transfer can do for the Trojans. Georgia had big plans for him this season, so it’s not as though the Bulldogs were happy to let him go, thinking they had the rest of their defensive roster filled out. No, it’s not like that. Our partners at UGA Wire will tell you that.

USC is getting a player with a lot of upside, but that obviously invites the question: Will that upside translate into realized potential? Will these positive possibilities be fulfilled, or will they be squandered?

The optimistic view for USC and Bear Alexander rests on one core pillar: Shaun Nua.

USC’s defensive line coach knows how to develop elite talent. He turned Aidan Hutchinson into the 2021 Heisman Trophy runner-up at Michigan, behind Bryce Young of Alabama. When Nua gets a chance to work with a top-flight prospect, he has shown he can deliver the goods.

It’s not just Alex Grinch who is coaching the Bear; it’s Shaun Nua. That might be the detail here which unlocks Bear Alexander’s potential.

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Bear market: Trojans Wire discusses Bear Alexander on national YouTube show

We care about the Bear. We talked to @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB about Bear Alexander, the big story at #USC.

There is so much to say and write about Bear Alexander, partly because it’s the offseason, but partly because he really does raise a lot of fresh questions about USC’s 2023 defense.

“If Bear Alexander really is as good as his reputation suggests, and if this Kirby Smart-coached freshman can hit his stride with USC as a sophomore under Alex Grinch, the Trojans will receive an upgrade at the very position where they needed help,” we wrote. “Their run defense will get better. Their toughness and size up front will become more pronounced. Other defensive linemen will benefit from the attention offensive linemen have to pay to the Bear. The domino effect could be notable in its scope and scale.”

If you want a detailed Bear Alexander discussion, we talked about him for a good half-hour with our friend Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football on our weekly USC show. We also addressed other topics, including the transfer portal.

Subscribe to, like, and share Mark’s USC channel at The Voice of College Football.

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Does Bear Alexander give USC a championship defense?

On their Sunday show at the @VoiceOfCFB, @TrojanConquests and @LBCTrojan discussed the big story: Bear Alexander to #USC.

Bear Alexander gives USC one of its most important transfer portal acquisitions of the Lincoln Riley era. Caleb Williams is obviously the most important transfer in recent USC history. Only time will tell if Bear Alexander will be talked about on the same level and in the same tones. USC fans certainly hope he will be. If so, this means USC will have taken a significant step forward on defense, elevating itself to a Pac-12 championship standard and, very possibly, the College Football Playoff in 2023.

If Bear Alexander really is as good as his reputation suggests, and if this Kirby Smart-coached freshman can hit his stride with USC as a sophomore under Alex Grinch, the Trojans will receive an upgrade at the very position where they needed help. Their run defense will get better. Their toughness and size up front will become more pronounced. Other defensive linemen will benefit from the attention offensive linemen have to pay to the Bear. The domino effect could be notable in its scope and scale.

At The Voice of College Football, co-hosts Tim Prangley and Rick Anaya discuss the acquisition of Bear Alexander on their show, Trojan Conquest Live, which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific. Subscribe to, like, and share the USC channel at The Voice of College Football.

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USC’s run of elite recruiting has one superstar left to go: Bronny James

Isaiah Collier, No. 1 MBB recruit. Juju Watkins, No. 1 WBB recruit. Bear Alexander, No. 1 portal prospect. Can #USC land Bronny now?

It has been a remarkable college sports cycle for USC athletics in its revenue sports. The Trojans put both basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament and reached a New Year’s Six bowl in football, something done by only two other schools in this cycle: Alabama and Tennessee.

USC recruited the top-ranked prospects in men’s and women’s basketball, landing Isaiah Collier and JuJu Watkins. It retained Boogie Ellis for one more season. It just landed the top-ranked (spring) transfer portal prospect, Bear Alexander. We’re waiting to see if the Trojans can close the door and land Bronny James, who — though not the No. 1 prospect on the board — would carry value beyond recruiting rankings. Bronny choosing USC would make Trojan basketball much more of a destination program for other recruits. USC becoming “the place to be” for basketball, not just football, is exactly how Andy Enfield can build the Trojans into a Final Four-level program, a team which can expect to contend for college basketball’s biggest prizes. Let’s say more about this below:

Twitter reacts: Georgia DL Bear Alexander commits to USC

How did CFB Twitter react after UGA’s Bear Alexander transferred to USC?

Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Bear Alexander is intending to transfer to the USC Trojans. Alexander’s departure is a blow to defensive line depth for Georgia football.

As a true freshman, Bear Alexander recorded nine total tackles and two sacks. Alexander’s strong performance in the national championship game against TCU gave fans and coaches a look at his potential.

The former four-star recruit should have a larger role with the Trojans. Alexander is expected to make a difference for USC’s troublesome defense. Last season, the Trojans finished No. 94 in scoring defense; they allowed an average of 29.2 points per game. Alexander leaves Georgia, which had the nation’s fifth-ranked scoring defense. In 2022, the Bulldogs allowed an average of 14.3 points per game.

For perspective, Georgia has allowed more than 29 points just three times over the past two seasons. The Bulldogs have five shutouts over the same period of time.

Here’s how college football Twitter reacted at Bear Alexander transferred from Georgia to USC:

USC moves to No. 3 in On3 transfer portal rankings for 2023

Another year, another offseason with Lincoln Riley pulling in a top-three transfer portal class. #USC

The USC Trojans won Sunday night by landing a massive transfer portal upgrade in Georgia defensive lineman Bear Alexander. After the frustrating season defensively for USC, getting a player of Alexander’s caliber is a huge get and a welcomed addition for DC Alex Grinch.

As a result, USC moved to No. 3 in the transfer portal rankings, per On3, and they remain behind the Colorado Buffaloes and UCLA Bruins.

The defense was the biggest issue in the first year with Lincoln Riley running the show, and that has become the main focus this offseason, especially with College Football Playoff hopes surrounding the team.

Arkansas and Wisconsin are behind USC, and the hire of Luke Fickell has worked wonders fore the Badgers.

Nonetheless, the Trojans have done a great job in the transfer portal: Oklahoma State LB Mason Cobb and Arizona WR Dorian Singer are a couple of other players who made their way to Southern California this offseason.

With Bear Alexander, the trojans add another formidable defensive piece, which is exactly what they needed.

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Bear Alexander boosts USC but puts more pressure on Alex Grinch to deliver

Alex Grinch didn’t have Bear Alexander in 2022. He gained the talent upgrade he needs in order to prove his worth to Lincoln Riley.

The Alex Grinch conversation just became a lot more interesting. We wrote the following after the Cotton Bowl about Alex Grinch at USC:

“You can be an Alex Grinch pessimist and skeptic. You can want Alex Grinch to be fired. You can have the most negative, unfavorable impression of Grinch and give him the least charitable evaluation and still agree on one point: USC did not have a lot of high-end studs on defense this season.”

We later added that “Alex Grinch certainly deserves a ton of blame for what happened in the Cotton Bowl and throughout the 2022 season, but personnel was undeniably lacking.”

Grinch didn’t coach well, but he didn’t have defensive linemen as good as Bear Alexander.

Now that the talent has been upgraded at USC, Alex Grinch has fewer excuses. Let’s explore more about this below: