USC: What Did We Learn

Undone said:
I know your history on this board and your posts are really solid. Like, you're upper 10th percentile, easily.

I was churning out random stats to kind of underscore the randomness of doing that.

Totally agree that:
  • We had the lead early in the 4th quarter.
  • If our defense has really taken over the game at that point and shut them down, we win.

I'm just not sure that this was the punchline of the game, though. Maybe it was. For me the punchline was probably Raiola getting hurt.you’re thinking of somebody else. I haven’t been
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Surely you’re thinking of somebody else I haven’t been consistently posting in like 5 years.
 
Nebhawk said:
He could have kept the ball on a couple of read options.
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Just like Raiola typically does...right?

Need to run the same playbook with the backup, they said.

Emmett Johnson with 165 yards but the commentary is "We didn't target our wideouts much at all."



Usa Network Television GIF by Temptation Island
 
ZRod said:
It's not semantics. You just continually talk out your balloon knot, and then try to squirm out of it when someone calls your crap. This pass defensive is the 2nd best in the country. USC's passing offense is the best in the country. We held them to 135 yards, no passing TDs, and 39% completion. That's the complete opposite of poor. We took away the thing they do better than anyone else and made them have to adapt.

The defense as a whole has some obvious deficiency, but it's more than adequate to keep us in any game. They haven't given up more than 30 points to anyone all season. This team is close to being payoff caliber in large part because of the defense. The offensive line has cripple us though.
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They had at least 5 drops, and at least 2 other balls just out of reach. Our pass defense was adequate, but not overwhelming. They had as much to do with our pass defense as we did. The QB for USC was off the whole game. Our Dbs hold on nearly every pass play, and get away with it a lot. This won't happen against better teams, because this will get called more tightly. We are a good pass defense, but not elite. We are not elite in any phase of the game currently.
 
I thought Dylan played a really good game until he got hurt. I thought the O-line played very well and interior O-line is one of the best in the conference, They really controlled a lot of the game. I was proud of how our receivers blocked on the perimeter. EJ played great.

I think we have an elite secondary and going forward, we should commit more to pressure and putting down 4 at the line to help with the run. Nebraska has a few holes but I do believe a lot of their current woes will get fixed with experience. The D-line rotation is an issue, and the lack of fundamental development there is evident. Guys need to use their hands much better and stay parallel to the line and not be stunting in and out of gaps. Just playing head up with 4 down lineman would help. That position and its coach need to be evaluated going into the offseason because there isn't a ton of traction in recruiting either.
 
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Could use a guy or 2 like Bullock and JoJo Doman, for run support, leadership and toughness. Definitely miss Ty Robinson and Nash inside. But, those players were all vets and older.

For what we do have on defense, it wasn't too bad. USC struggled passing. And it's the 3rd week in a row the Blackshirts have allowed only 6 or 7 points going into half-time.
 
The offensive staff needs to figure their ish out.

This obviously isn’t the air raid but is this Holgorsen’s offense or not? Over the season I’ve heard broadcasters comment how he is learning this offense (meaning it’s probably Satterfields) or did I misunderstand this?
 
Nebhawk said:
They had at least 5 drops, and at least 2 other balls just out of reach. Our pass defense was adequate, but not overwhelming. They had as much to do with our pass defense as we did. The QB for USC was off the whole game. Our Dbs hold on nearly every pass play, and get away with it a lot. This won't happen against better teams, because this will get called more tightly. We are a good pass defense, but not elite. We are not elite in any phase of the game currently.
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That's literally the best WR corp that we will see all year, and probably one of the best in the country. They actually got away with couple OPIs too. We dropped passes and had some out of reach as well, it's college football, they aren't perfect, that's how the game works. Being #2 in the country seems elite to me. Guess I don't know ball though.
 
Cutting through a lot of the noise. We need elite lineman. We do that and we are much more competitive and win games like this. I was glad to see EJ run the ball well and we got the ball out quick mostly.

I think we played USC’s pass game effectively. My instinct tells me Riley thought he could get plays through the air and didn’t want to slow the game down with the run which would play into our hands. But he adjusted and went to the run when we showed we could not stop it.

Rhule needs to earn his keep and get some D Lineman and Edge wreckers out of the portal. Continue to build the lines.

I really liked the Blackout, plays into the Blackshirts tradition well and we need some elite defenders in Lincoln. DBs played well, get out the Lockdown U shirts. Love how EJ is running but we’re missing those huge TFLs and sacks. Not throwing the bones out there and we gotta get back to nasty front 7 play,
 
Undone said:
Just like Raiola typically does...right?

Need to run the same playbook with the backup, they said.

Emmett Johnson with 165 yards but the commentary is "We didn't target our wideouts much at all."



Usa Network Television GIF by Temptation Island
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ZRod said:
That's literally the best WR corp that we will see all year, and probably one of the best in the country. They actually got away with couple OPIs too. We dropped passes and had some out of reach as well, it's college football, they aren't perfect, that's how the game works. Being #2 in the country seems elite to me. Guess in don't know ball though.
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Stats are stats. Wins are wins and losses are losses, that's the final stat everyone looks at first.
 
I'm a longtime Toronto Blue Jays fan too so I got kicked in the junk twice today. If there is a positive besides EJ, they didn't look outclassed by USC. This wasn't Bill Callahan cowering to USC athletes trying not to lose by too many points. This was two basically evenly matched teams. Hope DR and Pritchett are okay as this team can beat UCLA, Penn State, and Iowa.
 
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