Tag: USC

USC QB coach Luke Huard visits notable recruit Friday night

If Julian Lewis bolts for Indiana or Colorado, getting Husan Longstreet to flip from Texas A&M could prove to be very crucial for USC.

On Friday evening, Jarrett Perez of 247Sports reported that USC football quarterbacks coach Luke Huard was in attendance at Corona Centennial High School, checking out five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet.

Per On3 Consensus’s rankings, Longstreet is the number 23 overall player in the Class of 2025. He is also the number four quarterback and the number two player in the state of California.

Longstreet is currently committed to Texas A&M. Over the past few weeks, however, rumors have begun to fly that he could potentially flip his commitment to USC.

The Trojans have had five-star 2025 quarterback Julian Lewis committed since last year. However, Lewis has taken numerous visits to other schools even after committing to USC, and the general vibe is that there is a good chance he winds up elsewhere.

USC’s quarterback situation for next year is still very much up in the air. The Trojans have just two quarterbacks on their 2024 roster who have thrown a pass at the FBS level: Miller Moss and Jayden Maiava. However, there is a good chance that at least one of the two will transfer this offseason, if not both.

While it will depend on how the last three games go with Maiava replacing Moss as the starter, it is likely that USC will be looking for at least one quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason. While the odds of a true freshman coming in and winning the starting job right away are slim, it is certainly not an impossible scenario given USC’s current status at the position.

College football’s early signing period for high school recruits begins on December 4, less than three weeks away.

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USC celebrates proud football history while trying to restore on-field success

The irony is lost on no one: USC is celebrating its 1972 team and its 1970s-era heritage, including John Robinson, at a time when on-field results aren’t good.

Traditionally, USC football does not wear alternate uniforms. However, the Trojans announced that they will be making an exception this week—and for a very good reason. For USC’s homecoming game against Nebraska Saturday, the Trojans will wear 1970s-themed throwback uniforms. You can take a closer look at them here.

The uniforms will be a fighting tribute to legendary USC head coach John Robinson, who passed away on Monday. Robinson coached the Trojans from 1976-1982 and again from 1993-1997. He led USC to four Rose Bowl victories and the 1978 national championship.

In addition to the uniforms, Connor Morrissette of 247Sports reported on Friday that the Trojans will also have throwback field painting for Saturday’s game. Per Morrissette, “the endzones will be marked with gold paint, cardinal lettering and a cardinal and white diamond pattern, as well as a gold interlock painted at the 50-yard line.”

The irony cannot be ignored or missed: USC football is celebrating its rich history and the era which delivered so many of its best teams and greatest moments, all while the 2024 team is struggling to live up to that standard. The greatest tribute USC can create is to thump Nebraska and reawaken the echoes of glories past.

Kickoff between USC and Nebraska is set for 1 p.m. local time in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.

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USC announces tunnel captain for homecoming game

Adoree Jackson will be USC’s tunnel captain for the Nebraska game. USC hopes the game’s outcome matches all the festivities surrounding the event.

On Friday, USC announced its tunnel captain for Saturday’s homecoming game against Nebraska. Serving in the role will be none other than former USC All-America cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. He played at USC from 2014-2016. As a junior in 2016, he became the second Trojan to win the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back.

Jackson also saw action on offense and special teams during his time in Cardinal and Gold. In fact, he is the Trojans’ all-time leader in both kickoff return yards and punt return touchdowns.

One of Jackson’s most memorable moments at USC came during the 2014 Holiday Bowl against Nebraska, when he returned a kickoff 98 yards for the game’s first touchdown. The Trojans would go on to win the game 45-42.

Jackson was selected 18th in the 2017 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans. He spent the first four seasons of his professional career there, before signing with the New York Giants in 2021, where he has been since.

Kickoff between USC and Nebraska is set for 1 p.m. local time in Los Angeles on Saturday.

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One fan base will be very angry about USC-Nebraska, regardless of who wins

The USC-Nebraska matchup is a must-win game for both teams. Fans are showing frustration toward both Lincoln Riley and Matt Rhule.

USC football has a big matchup this weekend against Big Ten foe Nebraska. The matchup contains an intriguing twist. Both Lincoln Riley, head coach for the Trojans, and Matt Rhule, head coach for the Cornhuskers, could very likely be under a lot of fire with a loss on Saturday.

The Trojans have clearly had a lot of problems this season with a 4-5 record after being ranked as high as No. 11 in the AP Poll this season, while Nebraska is sitting at 5-4 and is on a three-game losing streak.

Heading into the matchup, Nebraska fans are feeling reasonably frustrated with Rhule, but they are optimistic about handling the Trojans.

Evan Bredeson of Cornhuskers Wire put it this way:

“Nebraska fans are very nervous. Matt Rhule overachieved going 5-7 with last year‘s team and people were expecting the program to take the next step in year two. That hasn’t really happened and frustration is now starting to build and for the first time since he’s gotten here, he’s feeling the heat. With all that being said I think fans are optimistic about this Saturday’s game due to the change in offensive coordinator, but also due to the dysfunction within the USC program. From the outside, looking in, it looks like Lincoln Riley is really struggling and Husker fans think now is the perfect time to meet.”

This weekend will be very telling about the Trojans. With a new quarterback, a head coach in hot water, and future commits falling left and right, the game against Nebraska feels like a must-win.

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Cornhuskers Wire offers insight on Nebraska’s new offensive play-caller

A Nebraska analyst explains why the Huskers and Matt Rhule had to change offensive play-callers before playing USC. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.

Earlier this week, Nebraska football announced that it will make a major offensive change ahead of the matchup with USC on Saturday. Former Houston and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, who recently joined the Cornhuskers as an offensive consultant, will take over the team’s offensive play calling for the remainder of the season.

Holgorsen replaces Marcus Satterfield, who had served as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator since the start of the 2023 season. Satterfield will now solely serve as the team’s tight ends coach.

Following the announcement, Evan Bredeson of Cornhuskers Wire offered some perspective on the move.

“Matt Rhule had to make a change. I don’t know that any of us thought he would do something this drastic, especially considering how loyal he is to the guys on his staff. The fact that he made the change though is welcomed news. The offense had been regressing the last two years under Marcus Satterfield. Quarterback Dylan Raiola is playing worse now than he did at the start of the season, and if a staff change wasn’t made at the top of the offense, the chances of him hitting the portal was possible.

“With Holgorsen, I expect to see shorter passes designed to get the quarterback into rhythm early. Nebraska’s passing game had evolved to screen pass or deep shot. Nothing really in between. I also think we’ll see a lot more of the tight ends being involved in the passing game. Dana is known to have an affinity for using tight ends and the huskers actually have some depth at that position group and have not been utilizing it in any effective way this season.

“And they will run the football. Even though DH is an Air Raid guy, all of his top offenses always had a very good running game. Matt Rhule has said over and over again since arriving in Lincoln that he wants to be able to run the football consistently with power. The offense has simply not delivered on that front.”

USC takes on Nebraska at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time this Saturday.

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With Carol Folt’s retirement, Lincoln Riley is the last man standing at USC

The athletic director, the chief of staff, a key board figure, and now the president. The people on stage with Lincoln Riley in 2021 will all be gone next year.

Three years ago, when Lincoln Riley made the stunning decision to leave Oklahoma for USC, he mentioned the Trojans’ strong administrative alignment as one of the biggest factors that motivated him to do so. Three years later, he might be starting to question that decision a little.

One of the biggest X-factors in USC’s wooing of Riley was chief of staff Brandon Sosna. However, Sosna left for a front office job in the NFL before Riley even coached his first game in Cardinal and Gold.

USC certainly does not hire Riley without athletic director Mike Bohn. Under Bohn’s leadership, USC’s athletic department went from being a scandal-driven laughingstock to one of the premier operations in the country. However, Bohn resigned after Riley’s first season amidst reports of inappropriate conduct.

One of the speakers at Riley’s introductory press conference was USC Board of Trustees President Rick Caruso. However, Caruso resigned just a few months later to pursue a campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles.

And of course, spearheading the entire operation was USC President Carol Folt. While Bohn and Sosna may have done most of the dirty work, ultimately it was Folt who had to sign off on Riley’s nine-figure contract. Just last week, Folt announced her plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

At Riley’s introductory press conference in November of 2021, the head coach posed for a photo with Folt, Bohn, Sosna, and Caruso. Now, Riley will be the only one of the five still at USC next year.

Is this the end of the world? Not at all. Ultimately, Riley’s job is to coach the football team. It is not as though he is spending multiple hours with the president and athletic director on a daily basis.

But given that Riley was promised strong administrative alignment when he signed on, the fact that the four biggest people responsible for hiring him will be gone less than four years later is not exactly a great sign.

It is too soon to know what this will mean for Riley’s long-term future, but if he does not feel he has the support of the new administration, he could potentially decide to jump ship for the NFL sooner rather than later.

After all, there is a very good chance Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears will need a new head coach this offseason. Just saying . . .

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USC men’s basketball needs to quit playing with its food

USC is going to get burned one of these days if it keeps playing with fire. The Trojans have to set the bar higher and not let inferior teams hang around.

For the second consecutive game, USC men’s basketball narrowly scraped by an inferior opponent. On Wednesday night, the Trojans held off UT Arlington 98-95 to improve to 3-0 on the 2024-2025 season. This comes less than a week after the USC struggled against Idaho State, prevailing by a score of 75-69 in a game which was neck and neck with two minutes left.

The good news for the Trojans is that they continue to win games. But given the level of competition, their play is not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence right now.

Plain and simple, Idaho State and UT Arlington are teams the Trojans should be blowing out. (Maybe not by the same margin that the women’s team destroyed Cal State Northridge, but they should still be winning handily.) The fact that these games have been as close as they have is definitely a cause for concern.

Right now, the Trojans are playing with their food. If they continue to do so, they will eventually choke.

USC still has five more games against mid-major opponents. If the Trojans continue to play like they have in the past two, losing at least one of them feels inevitable, and that will put a dent in their March Madness aspirations.

Given the difficulty of playing a Big Ten schedule, it is crucial that the Trojans beat the teams they are supposed to in these early-season buy games if they want to be a serious NCAA Tournament contender. If USC continues to mess around as it ha the past two games, that will not happen.

We saw this under Andy Enfield. The Trojans could get by on sheer talent at times, but that was not sustainable. Eric Musselman has to get his players to defend a lot better than they have. Winning can’t lead to overconfidence; these close shaves must translate into more urgency and greater attention to detail.

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A look back at Nebraska’s last visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum

The USC-Nebraska game played in 2006 marked a Trojan quarterback’s home debut. Jayden Maiava makes his first home start for USC, 18 years later.

On Saturday, USC will host Nebraska at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This will mark the first meeting between the Trojans and the Cornhuskers as Big Ten opponents. USC and Nebraska have met just five times prior, with the Trojans holding a record of 4-0-1 in those games.

Nebraska has visited the Coliseum just twice. The most recent of those visits came in September of 2006.

The days leading into the game were turbulent ones at USC. The week prior, the Trojans had gone into the heart of SEC country and opened the season with a 50-14 throttling of Arkansas. Head coach Pete Carroll’s team returned home to the Coliseum for their first home games of the post-Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush era. Both Leinart and Bush’s jerseys were officially retired prior to the game against the Cornhuskers.

During the lead-up to the game, however, reports began to surface that Bush had received improper benefits from an agent during his time at USC. As we all know, this would eventually lead to a mutli-year NCAA investigation that resulted in USC receiving incredibly harsh sanctions that would hold the program down for the better part of a decade.

As for the game itself, it was not particularly close. Although Nebraska scored first on an early field goal, the Trojans then went on a 21-0 run to largely put the game out of reach by the third quarter. When the clock hit zero, Pete Carroll’s team had a 28-10 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

The star of the show was Leinart’s replacement, new starting quarterback John David Booty. Making his second college start—and first in the Coliseum—Booty completed 25 of 36 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns. Star wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett was also superb, catching 11 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns.

Ironically enough, this Saturday’s matchup will also feature a USC quarterback making his first start in the Coliseum. The Trojans are hoping that Jayden Maiava can channel a little Booty magic of yesteryear and lead the team to a victory over Nebraska.

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USC women’s basketball officially signs five-star guard

USC is jazzed up about Jazzy Davidson. The Trojans have now signed the No. 2 overall player in the Class of 2025. This is a home run.

On Wednesday, USC women’s basketball officially announced the signing of five-star guard Jazzy Davidson.

Hailing from Clackamas, Oregon, Davidson is the No. 2 overall player and the No. 1 guard in the class of 2025, per On3’s rankings. She committed to USC in September.

As a junior at Clackamas High School last year, Davidson was a semifinalist for the 2023-24 Naismith Trophy High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year award.

“Jazzy, in my opinion, is the jewel of this class,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement. “She is an elite level player in every aspect. She can score, create, defend—a true modern, pro-style player. She has a work ethic and competitiveness that will impact our program immediately. But from that first conversation I also knew that Jazzy the person was someone I wanted in our program. She is truly as humble and likeable as she is talented. We got a special one, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Gottlieb’s 2024-2025 Trojans currently sit at 3-0 and are ranked No. 3 in the country.

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It’s still very early, but USC women’s basketball looks like a force to be reckoned with

If you were worried about USC women’s basketball after the Ole Miss game, these last two games at home have shown how potent the Trojans can become.

In case you didn’t hear, USC women’s basketball won Tuesday night.

Actually, won is a a massive understatement. USC women’s basketball completely and utterly dominated the lifeless corpse of Cal State Northridge, which had the misfortune of being the Women of Troy’s opponent.

USC led 30-6 after one quarter. At halftime, it was 60-13. Through three quarters, it was 97-20. When the final buzzer sounded, the Trojans had a historic 124-39 victory, and the visitors from Northridge could mercifully go home.

USC’s 124 points scored were a new program record. It was also the Trojans’ second consecutive victory by a margin of 55+ points.

Sure, those games came against Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge, but any time a team wins by 55 and then 85 points, it raises eyebrows.

It is still only three games into the season. The No. 3 Trojans still have nonconference showdowns with No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 2 UConn, plus a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule, which features seven games against top-25 opponents.

But if early results are any indication, the Women of Troy are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.

The ugly opener against Ole Miss was the floor for this team. It will play good defense even when it plays bad offense and can stay in games in which it commits turnovers and endures a rough slog at the offensive end. USC will be competitive even when it plays poorly. These last two games against Cal Poly and especially Northridge offer a glimpse of where this team’s ceiling can be. The defense is the constant, but we have seen the offense improve. Notably, Talia von Oelhoffen was finally able to score in double figures. Getting her going really raises this team’s ceiling and raises the bar for what this team can become.

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