Tag: USC Football

Amos Talalele, Gino Quinones hit the portal as USC loses O-line depth

Two portal departures on the USC offensive line will force the Trojans to go into the portal. Josh Henson has not developed this OL room as well as he could have.

USC football is watching its offensive line depth get reduced. Two linemen have hit the transfer portal in the past 20 hours. First it was Amos Talalele who declared his intent to transfer. Then Gino Quinones announced that he would enter the portal. USC has promptly lost interior offensive line depth, making the team’s situation entering 2025 a lot more precarious. Offensive line coach Josh Henson did not do a good job over the course of the full season. The line did improve in the second half of the season, but by that point, the Trojans had already lost three games, falling to Michigan and Minnesota before mid-October due to critical offensive line breakdowns.

There are two big components to these stories: First, USC will need to go to the portal for offensive line depth. Second, Lincoln Riley faces fresh questions and tensions connected to the decision to either retain or fire Josh Henson. Riley has to ask himself if this offensive line situation is good enough to retain Henson, who has struggled the past two years and did not put Miller Moss or Jayden Maiava in the best possible position to succeed in 2024. USC has lacked an elite offensive line. Riley has to be ruthlessly honest and make sure that if he does retain Henson, he will get the very best from his offensive line in a crucial 2025 season.

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Former USC football players vent their frustrations after Notre Dame loss

You can imagine how upset former USC football greats were after the end of the Notre Dame game and this failed regular season under Lincoln Riley.

On Saturday, the USC Trojans ended their 2024 regular season with a 49-35 loss to the rival Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Following the defeat, some former USC football players took to social media to offer their thoughts. Here is what some of them had to say:

Matt Leinart

“Finish 6-6 and just really have no clue what we are? Who we are? There’s no identity. We have good players. Need to recruit harder. As frustrated as anyone. Want to see USC back to being a contender. Don’t think we are close at the moment.”

Sean Salisbury (In response to Leinart)

“Physicality and nastiness has absolutely got to get better. We will always have perimeter. Players. USC will always be at their best when they physically kick the shit out of the opponent (a)T the Line of scrimmage. Matt you are correct, no identity and we are too finesse. So damn frustrating”

Matt Barkley

“This is not USC football”

Rey Maualuga

“Whoever allowed [Mason Cobb] to wear #13 especially after Caleb winning the heisman is craaazy!!! Disrespectful! Shouldn’t be worn again moving foward after it getting retired today! 😤 #isaidwhatisaid #fighton”

Jake Olson

“Lincoln has reached that point of the game where he is calling plays like a 13 year old on xbox”

*

With the loss, USC finished the 2024 regular season at 6-6. The Trojans will now wait to find out their bowl game destination.

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USC continued to find new ways to lose football games in 2024

USC was consistent in 2024 — consistent at finding different ways of allowing close games to slip away from its grasp.

Not much has gone according to plan for the 2024 USC football team. However, there is one thing that this year’s Trojans have actually been quite good at.

The 2024 USC Trojans are quite good at finding new ways to lose football games.

There was allowing a two-minute drill touchdown to a Michigan team with a running back at QB. There was the clock mismanagement at the end of regulation against Penn State and subsequently falling in overtime. There having a field goal that would have iced the game against Maryland blocked and the Terrapins instead driving down for the game-winning touchdown. There was the horrendous play calling on the goal line against Washington with a chance to take a late lead.

Saturday, there was throwing two pick sixes of 99 yards or more.

No, that is not a typo. With the Trojans trailing archrival Notre Dame by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jayden Maiava was driving USC down the field for a potential tying score. However, a bad decision by Maiava led to his pass being picked off by Notre Dame’s Christian Gray, who ran it back 99 yards to give the Irish a 14-point lead.

With the Trojans in desperation mode, USC got the ball back, and Maiava drove them down the field once again. But the quarterback was pressured and forced into heaving up a bad throw, which was intercepted in the end zone by noted Trojan killer Xavier Watts. Sure enough, Watts ran the ball back more than 100 yards, icing a Notre Dame win and sending the Irish to the College Football Playoff.

For the Trojans, it was more of the same. Just when it was starting to look like USC might finally come through in a big moment, they found a new excruciating way to lose a football game.

The number of different ways that USC found to lose winnable games this season truly was remarkable. In an extremely disappointing season, you at least have to give the Trojans credit for that.

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Prominent college football analyst picks USC to upset Notre Dame

Josh Pate is calling his shot. The college football podcaster with a strong national following is picking USC to upset Notre Dame.

USC football is a 7.5-point underdog to Notre Dame on Saturday. But not everyone is picking the Irish to win. On his show earlier this week, national college football analyst Josh Pate of CBS Sports picked the Trojans to upset their archrivals. Here is what he had to say about the matchup.

“That vibe Auburn had last week [in their upset of Texas A&M], I think USC’s gonna end up having,” Pate said. “They find a way.

“I think USC’s gonna win the game outright. Give me Lincoln Riley to have his play calling game of the year. Give me USC to have their game of the year.”

With a win, Notre Dame will essentially lock up a spot in the College Football Playoff. USC, meanwhile, is hoping to play spoiler and but the Irish’s postseason status in jeopardy.

Kickoff of college football’s greatest intersectional rivalry is set for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on CBS.

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USC announces tunnel captain for Notre Dame game

Caleb Williams, having played on Thursday, will be able to visit USC on Saturday for the Notre Dame game. He will lead the Trojans out of the tunnel.

USC football recently announced that Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams will serve as the team’s tunnel captain for Saturday’s game against Notre Dame.

After starting his college career at Oklahoma, Williams followed Lincoln Riley to USC following the 2021 season. With the Trojans in 2022, Williams passed for 4,537 yards and 42 touchdowns. He also rushed for 382 yards and 10 scores en route to becoming USC’s eight Heisman Trophy winner.

After an up-and-down 2023 campaign with the Trojans, Williams declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, where the Chicago Bears selected him first overall. Williams is currently in the midst of his rookie season in Chicago.

With the Bears having played on Thursday, it will give Williams the opportunity to return to the Coliseum for the first time since leaving USC. The Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday, giving Caleb Williams reason to smile as he heads to LA to reunite with some former USC teammates.

It is rather fitting that Williams will make his return with the Trojans hosting Notre Dame. The last time the Irish came to the Coliseum in 2022, Williams had one of the best performances of his college career, accounting for four total touchdowns in a 38-27 USC victory and essentially locking up the Heisman Trophy.

Kickoff between USC and Notre Dame is set for 12:30 p.m. local time in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.

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Leonard Williams has Seahawks in position to compete for NFC West title

Leonard Williams is no longer being coached by Pete Carroll in Seattle, but he is making a difference for the Seahawks, who lead the NFC West.

Pete Carroll may no longer be their head coach, but the USC Trojans are continuing to steal the spotlight with the Seattle Seahawks. On Sunday afternoon in a key NFC West battle against the Arizona Cardinals, former USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams had a career day. Williams had six tackles. three tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, and a pass defended, helping lead Seattle to a 16-6 win in a defensive slugfest.

USC fans are well used to seeing Williams as a dominant force on the defensive line. After being named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2012, Williams earned first team All-America honors for the Trojans in both 2013 and 2014. He had at least six sacks in all three of his seasons in Cardinal and Gold.

The New York Jets selected Williams with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. After spending the first four and a half years of his pro career with New York, he was traded midway through the 2019 season to New York’s other team, the Giants. Williams remained with the Giants until midway through the 2023 season when he was traded once again, this time to Seattle.

In his nearly 10-year NFL career, Williams has tallied 276 tackles, 48.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, and an interception. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2016.

Seattle’s win over Arizona puts the Seahawks in first place in the NFC West, due to a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cardinals. The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams both lost on Sunday. The Seahawks have as good a chance as anyone to win the NFC West, and Williams is at the forefront of that effort.

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One stat illustrates how frustrating 2024 has been for USC football

The 2024 USC football season has been, in some ways, a statistical outlier, but the reality of wins and losses is the one statistic which matters most.

It has certainly been a frustrating season for the USC football program. The Trojans currently sit at 6-5, nowhere near playoff contention and barely bowl eligible. It is not as though USC is getting blown out, though. All five of the team’s losses have come by seven points or fewer.

Earlier this week, prominent college football analyst Josh Pate shared a remarkable stat with regard to the Trojans.

“6 FBS teams have led in every 4th quarter this season,” Pate wrote on Twitter. “USC is one of them…

“USC has 5 losses.
The other five teams have 5 losses combined.”

This statistic reveals exactly the kind of season it has been for USC.

On paper, there is no logical way that the Trojans should have been able to lose as many games in heartbreaking fashion as they have. Unfortunately for USC, however, football games are not played on paper.

On the bright side, this bodes well for USC’s future success, as it suggests that the Trojans are not nearly as bad as their record indicates.

In the moment, that doesn’t make things hurt any less.

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USC has a chance to knock Notre Dame out of the College Football Playoff

USC ruined UCLA’s season by denying the Bruins a bowl bid. Now the Trojans can ruin Notre Dame’s season. It’s a chance to go 2 for 2.

On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff committee released its latest set of rankings. Obviously, 6-5 USC was nowhere to be found in the top 25. To make matters worse for USC fans, Trojan archrival Notre Dame currently sits as the No. 5 team in the country. Obviously, the thought of the hated Fighting Irish going to the playoff while the Trojans spend December at a low-tier bowl does not sit well with USC football fans. However, the Trojans do have an incredible opportunity in front of them this weekend.

With Notre Dame not a member of a conference, Saturday marks the final game of the season for the Irish. Should they win at the Coliseum, Notre Dame would be pretty much a lock to not only make the playoff, but also host a first round game.

Hence, the Trojans have an opportunity to play spoiler here. If USC were able to upset Notre Dame, it would certainly prevent their archrivals from hosting a playoff game, and potentially knock them out of the field altogether.

It has certainly been a frustrating season for USC. But if the Trojans could upset their hated foes from South Bend and knock them out of national title contention, it would go a long way towards alleviating the pain.

It should be noted that USC had similar opportunities to spoil Notre Dame’s BCS/playoff hopes in both 2012 and 2018. Both times, however, the Trojans came up short, falling 22-13 and 24-17, respectively, and allowing the Irish to advance to the postseason.

Could the third time playing spoiler be the charm?

Kickoff between USC and Notre Dame is set for 12:30 p.m. local time on Saturday on CBS.

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One thing USC football fans can be thankful for in 2024

A lot of things went wrong for USC in 2024, but beating the UCLA Bruins is one thing that went right.

2024 has certainly not been the most fun year for USC football fans. The Trojans currently sit at 6-5 and have been completely out of the College Football Playoff race for over a month. With all five losses coming by seven points or fewer, it has certainly been a season full of frustration.

However, there is still one thing that USC fans can be thankful for in 2024.

When the Trojans defeated crosstown foe UCLA at the Rose Bowl this past Saturday night, it accomplished two things. Number one, it clinched bowl eligibility for USC. Number two, and perhaps just as importantly, it ensured that UCLA will NOT be going to a bowl game this winter.

Obviously, going to the Sun Bowl or Las Vegas Bowl is not the conclusion to the season that USC fans were hoping for. However, getting to play one additional game—and the extra practices that come along with it—will be an invaluable experience for the program’s younger players.

Perhaps just even sweeter for USC fans, however, Saturday’s victory handed UCLA their seventh loss of the season, ensuring that the Bruins will not be playing football in December.

There is something spitefully sweet about knowing that you were the very reason that someone you hate did not get what they want. While it is not like UCLA had any shot to go to the playoff, USC fans can hold their heads high knowing that the Trojans are the reason the Bruins’ season will conclude after this week.

To quote Kevin Malone from The Office, “It’s just nice to win one.” In a season as frustrating as 2024, USC fans should be thankful for every victory, even one as minor as this.

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Notre Dame DC Al Golden shares thoughts on USC rivalry

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden offered a memorable reference to the significance of USC versus Notre Dame.

On Saturday, USC football hosts Notre Dame at the Los Angeles Coliseum in a rivalry game with massive implications. Should the Irish win, they would all but certainly clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. If the Trojans were to pull off the upset, however, they could spoil the Irish’s season and potentially knock them out of the field. Earlier this week, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden was asked about his team’s level of intensity heading into the matchup.

“There’s nothing that needs to be said,” Golden said. “If you’re watching Godfather 2 and Hyman Roth is talking to Michael Corleone, you know what’s on in the background—it’s Notre Dame and USC. That’s all we got to say.”

Saturday will mark the 95th meeting between the Trojans and the Fighting Irish. The series dates all the way back to 1926, with USC holding a 38-51-5 record against their archrivals from the Midwest.

In recent years, however, the rivalry has been fairly lopsided. USC is just 1-5 against Notre Dame since 2017. The Trojans are hoping that 2924 will be the year their fortunes change.

Kickoff between USC and Notre Dane is set for 12:30 p.m. local time in LA on Saturday from the Coliseum.

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