Notre Dame came into the game at 5-2, USC at 5-1, both unranked, but for some reason Notre Dame was a 9-point favorite. The Trojans dominated on offense and defense, gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return, and left some points on the field at the end of the game when they let the clock run out on the Notre Dame 2-yard line. Looking ahead, the Irish played a lot of juniors and seniors, while the Trojans were playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores. I don’t know why the Irish, trailing by 14, let the Trojans run out the last four minutes of the game without ever calling a timeout to try to get the ball back. FIGHT ON! Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Football
Rick Neuheisel is the Right Man for UCLA
We have to say it was a game that obviously got away from us in the first half. We take from it what we can learn. We put the tough loss behind us and go forward. — Rick Neuheisel, after last night’s 48-12 loss to Arizona Amazing . . . Neuheisel’s in his fourth year at UCLA. He’s playing Arizona, a program in disarray, in a critical game for Bruin bowl aspirations. The Wildcats haven’t won a game against an FBS opponent in a year, since last season’s victory over UCLA. They fired their coach last week. Doesn’t Neuheisel expect to win games like this? And after losing 48-12, in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score indicates (it was 42-7 at halftime), all he can say is “Good learning experience. Let’s move on.” I can only echo what I said four years ago: Rick Neuheisel is… Read more →
A Dream that No One Has
From today’s Cal vs. Presbyterian preview in The Daily Californian: CeeJay Harris is one of three Californians on the Presbyterian roster. He didn’t dream of playing football as a Blue Hose because that’s not a dream that anyone has . . . Read more →
Look Out for the Blue Hose
My boy texted me this afternoon that one of the starting cornerbacks for the Cal Golden Bears is in a class with him. In a masterpiece of scheduling, the Cal football team plays the Presbyterian Blue Hose this coming Saturday because apparently Bryn Mawr was unavailable. (Presbyterian College is a church-affiliated college of 1,200 students located in Clinton, S.C.) I texted back, “Tell him to look out b/c Presby is coming off a big win vs North Greenville. NORTH GREENVILLE!” Read more →
NARCh 2011 – Travel Day
LA to Houston We’re waiting at LAX for a flight to Houston when a large black man in his 20s sits down near us in the waiting area. “I could take that guy one-on-one,” my kid announces. I’m about to mention to him that not every big black dude is necessarily a basketball player when he says, “Wait a minute, isn’t that Mario Williams?” I have to admit to him that I wouldn’t recognize Mario Williams if I saw him. He pulls up a photo of Mario Williams on his iPhone. “Yeah,” I say, “that does look like him.” “And he’s waiting for a flight to Houston? That’s got to be Mario Williams.” The final clue is that the guy is decked out in Adidas gear from head to toe. A Google search for “mario williams adidas” on the iPhone reveals that Mario Williams has a sponsorship deal with Adidas.… Read more →
No Moss
The biggest lesson I’ve learned watching my kid play on sports teams over the years is that talent has a physical component and a mental component, and the mental component is far more important. Players who are physically talented can actually make a team worse if they don’t have their head in the game and they’re just doing their own thing out there. I thought of this as I was reading that the Vikings just cut Randy Moss . . . Read more →
Charlie Weis Was Bad but at Least He Never Killed a Kid
How A Notre Dame Student Died, And Why He Shouldn’t Have. Read more →
College Interview
All these years later, my son went to USC this morning, my alma mater, for a college interview, wearing a red shirt and his lucky tie bar. Around noon, he texted me: “Sitting right next to jurrell casey and nick perry in the student center. No big deal” Jurrell Casey is one of my favorite football players, not just because his last name is the same as my son’s first name. Every time we watch a game and he makes a good play, I yell “CASEY!” There are two major universities in Los Angeles but at the other one, UCLA, no one will talk to you. Literally. They won’t talk to you. It’s a government-run institution. Imagine the DMV operating a college. Or the IRS. Or the Post Office. UCLA is actually worse than any of them. At those other places, eventually you’ll get to talk to someone. You’ll take… Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-27
RT @PetrosAndMoney: Pola is the best coach ive ever been around and a better person and a dear friend…he can make great backs-p # Read more →
Hazing
My son’s a high school senior. He’s been playing in a basketball summer league with the school team. When we hear about the Dez Bryant hazing story on the car radio, he says, “We made Norman [a sophomore] put our dishes away at the San Diego tournament.” “Why him?” I ask. “He talks a lot. Pierce [a freshman] is quiet.” Read more →
Pat Haden
Patrick C. Haden, acclaimed civic and business leader and USC alumnus, will become new athletic director effective August 3, 2010. — USCTrojans.com Pat Haden — athlete, scholar, businessman. He’s a lot like me, except for the athlete part. “You’re not a businessman,” my son says. “I’m kind of a businessman.” “No you’re not,” he says. “Okay. So Pat Haden’s a lot like me, except for being an athlete and a businessman.” Read more →
So Long, Cheaters
The Trojan Family honors and respects the USC sporting careers of those persons whose actions did not compromise their athletic program or the opportunities of future USC student-athletes. Accordingly, I have instructed the senior vice president for administration to remove athletic jerseys and murals displayed in recognition of O.J. Mayo and Reggie Bush by mid-August — before the incoming class of students moves on campus –from Heritage Hall, the Galen Center, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The university will also return Mr. Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy to the Heisman Trophy Trust in August. — USC President-elect Max Nikias Read more →
The ESPYs Were Funny — 12 Years Ago
Did you see the ESPYs tonight? Me neither, but Deadspin has a video of Norm McDonald’s monologue from the 1998 ESPYs. To give you an idea: I saw Jerry Jones backstage. He said, “We’ve got to get back to what made the Cowboys great. Strippers and crack.” The camera goes to Charles Woodson and McDonald congratulates him on winning the Heisman Trophy. First defensive player to win the Heisman. That’s something they can never take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter. Read more →
BE THE HAMMER!
I’m a special teams coach. I get guys to run 60 miles an hour into each other and like it. I always tell my players: Be the hammer. Not the nail. — USC special teams coach John Baxter FIGHT ON! Read more →
The Mel Kiper Files
In five weeks in the Galapagos in 1835, Charles Darwin identified 12 separate species of finches. After watching a 90-minute documentary on the Galapagos in 2001, Mel Kiper Jr. identified 35 species of finches, ranked them on strength, quickness, and “football instincts,” and correctly predicted that a land tortoise named “Jorges” would go to Indianapolis in the sixth round. — Yoni Brenner Read more →
Saints 31, Colts 17
OK, but I’m more of a college football fan so here’s a picture of Reggie Bush at USC: Read more →
Twitter: 2010-01-16
REG-GIE! REG-GIE! REG-GIE! # RT @capricecrane: Remember: It's not over till the fat lady sings. Or until you tell her she's fat. Then it's over. Except for the running. # Read more →
Twitter: 2010-01-13
RT @ArashMarkazi: http://twitpic.com/xzktx – The Pete Carroll era is officially over. # Read more →
Alumni News
NEW YORK (AP) — From the first practice in training camp until the last game, Brian Cushing was a tackling machine for the Houston Texans. That’s exactly what the team sought when it chose the linebacker from Southern Cal 15th overall in the draft last April. What the Texans also got is The Associated Press 2009 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cushing was a runaway winner in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. Cushing received 39 votes Tuesday, easily beating Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd, who had six, and became the second Texans linebacker in four seasons to win the award. DeMeco Ryans took it in 2006. — Texans LB Cushing named top rookie – NFL News – FOX Sports on MSN Read more →
Charlie Weis: Done
I will mostly miss him because his teams were lousy and I enjoyed watching them lose. — Dashiell Bennett Read more →