• Registration is disabled due to constant spammers. Email [email protected] and we will temporarily re-enable registration for you.

Trojan Soap Opera: The Helton Years

TrojanMan

Pink Panther
Mod Alumni
Well now I really have no idea what to expect from this team. Two dominant performances, two times getting their shit pushed in, and one solid performance.....but lost a 14 point 2nd half lead.
 

BasinBictory

OUT with the GOUT
Well, the team is still "learning how to win," in that time-worn cliché. It's a completely different team with Darnold at the helm than with Browne. Yes, Browne had to play against Bama and Stanford, but even in the blowout win against Utah State, Browne still looked hesitant, held the ball too long, stared down receivers, etc. In short, Browne looked more like the untested freshman while Darnold looks like the savvy veteran.

I'm really pleased with what I've seen so far from Darnold. He's easily the most athletic QB we've had since Sanchez, and is probably more so, maybe on a par with Palmer in terms of raw athleticism. The receivers seem to somehow magically remember how to catch when he's throwing at them, while with Browne, it's as though the ball was covered in grease when it was thrown. Likely Browne's habit of hesitating before he threw (on seemingly half or more of his passes) fucked up the timing of the receivers. And if course, when Darnold is actually completing passes to his receivers, it opens things up for the running game. I'm still very underwhelmed and disappointed by the running game, and how ordinary the OL has looked. Yes, Justin Davis had a 123-yard game. But it was a Sultan McCullough-type stat line - one very long run of 50+ yards, and then a bunch of 1- and 2- yard short gains. I want to see a drive where the USC line channels the Tailback U. teams of the past and mows down the opposing defense 4, 5, 7 yards at a time and basically imposes their will on the other team. A drive where Darnold does nothing but hand the ball off. THAT would be awesome.
 

TrojanMan

Pink Panther
Mod Alumni
Well.......things are certainly looking better. At the time of the loss to Utah it didn't feel like it mattered, because it seemed like we were heading down the toilet anyway. But now, that blown 4th quarter lead is especially painful, because it's the difference between sitting in first place in the division and having the tie breaker over everybody......and sitting mid-division, and needing to win out AND have Utah lose twice.

Either way, the team is coming along. There are some tough games coming up though, so we'll see if this recent surge is an actual improvement in the team, or more a product of the less-than-stellar opposition.
 

Bdub

Well-Known Member
Utah isn't going to win the South. They have so many injured backs that they have a WR at RB. Also using their 4th string center and both their starting LB are hurt. For a team like Utah they will never have enough depth to handle those losses. They will definitely lose to Washington and either ASU or Colorado.
 

bruin

Well-Known Member
South so trash. Wouldn't surprise me if the Bruins can sneak back in there lulz. SC back end of their schedule hard as The Piper
 

Bdub

Well-Known Member
South is bad. USC still has to play Washington as well and I don't see them winning at Washington.
 

BasinBictory

OUT with the GOUT
Would be embarrassing awesome to have Colorado win the division before us.

FTFY. :trollface:

Really though - the South is really embarrassing this year. Arizona schools are trash, Utah is banged up, Colorado looked okay but then looked disinterested (pot is a helluva drug), UCLA disappaint, and USC stumbled early against two teams that look quite beatable now.

Washington looks like they've taken over juggernaut status from Oregon and Stanford for now.
 

bruin228

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
Everyone has just been killed by injuries. Nobody's had a QB start every game except Utah and they're on their 800th string RB. ASU had to burn some guy's redshirt just to get through the UCLA game. I know SC benched their guy, but I think they've had other injury issues. Now that Liufau is back and SC has to go to Seattle, the division is there for CU considering they have all their tough games in the division at home as well as Wazzu. But I still don't trust them and feel like Shaw will revert to his old self and ruin my season again as Furd rolls up 700 yards and wins by 40.

Washington teams are murdering everybody, though, so not sure it even makes a difference.
 

Bdub

Well-Known Member
I don't trust Colorado either. You just don't usually go from awful to a great consistent team overnight. I think they stumble down the stretch against Stanford and maybe UCLA. Also Utah will likely lose to UCLA and Colorado to once again give the division title to USC. Also don't see Washington State winning out. This is a leach team after all.
 

bruin228

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
They went 7-2 in conference last year, but yeah, this is a Leach team after all. A Leach team means they lose to some FCS team and then roll through conference play. They'll lose to UDub, but I can easily see them going undefeated against ASU, Oregon State, Cal, Zona, and Colorado.
 

TrojanMan

Pink Panther
Mod Alumni
I don't trust Colorado either. You just don't usually go from awful to a great consistent team overnight. I think they stumble down the stretch against Stanford and maybe UCLA. Also Utah will likely lose to UCLA and Colorado to once again give the division title to USC. Also don't see Washington State winning out. This is a leach team after all.

Except that'd require us winning out.....including the game in Seattle.
 

TrojanMan

Pink Panther
Mod Alumni
How/why are we favored by 20 points tonight? I know we have a decade-plus win streak against Cal, but they sling the ball all over the yard and score a bunch of points, and it's not like our defense is lights out.
 

BasinBictory

OUT with the GOUT
This team is good. I've got to give it to Helton. After a nightmare start, they've been lights out for 2 months.

Just need the Utes to knock off the Buffs next week so we can get a shot at a Rose Bowl.

Agreed. I always get nervous when UCLA gets up on us. Shades of 13-9 still haunt me.

But yeah, this team looks solid. And while Sam Darnold has been a revelation on offense, it's been the defense that has powered this run. After giving up a fluky long TD pass, and then another score due to (another) patented Sam Darnold turnover deep in their own territory, the defense was lights out.

In the early going, it seemed like UCLA was playing at a higher level - just more intensity and grit - than the Trojan defense. Also, I suspect that Mora and Co. were using formations and plays that they were saving all year for USC, a la Donahue, which helped them look good early. But then, once they figured it out, they shut down the Bruin offense.

On the offensive side - Darnold has been getting all the accolades and buzz (and perhaps rightfully so), but I just love it when a team runs the ball and runs it well, as SC has been doing. I thought the loss of Justin Davis would be a huge blow to the offense, but Ronald Jones has really stepped up and become a heck of a workhorse. We're not quite Tailback U. anymore, but any time a USC back goes over 100 yards and the O-line is having their way with the opposition, it's a beautiful thing.

Amazing to think that, just a couple of months ago, we were thinking that Helton was going to be on his way out at the end of the year, probably leaving a 5-7 record in his wake and another few years of mediocrity as the new HC got adjusted. Now it looks like he's the hot new corch in town. Of course, we will have to see just how high his ceiling might be. Is he a .500 coach who just happens to have his team on a hot streak due to a hot new QB and an experienced defensive coordinator? Or is he a solid 9-win coach who occasionally can have a 11 or 12 win year?
 

bruin228

Well-Known Member
NCAA Moderator
Congrats on the win. I had some hope after the INT and the TD to make it 14-7, but in classic UCLA fashion, they shit all over that.
 

Brick

Well-Known Member
And while Sam Darnold has been a revelation on offense, it's been the defense that has powered this run.
rolling_eyes_lucille_arrested_development.gif
 
Top