USC has to clean up sloppy play


By
 in ,
For Trojan fans, it’s going to be easy to look forward to ASU this weekend — but they shouldn’t let last Saturday’s game against Oregon State out of the rearview mirror just yet. The contest against the Beavers was the ugliest 35-10 win I’ve ever seen. Some of us will point to the 7:30 p.m. […]

USC has room to improve this year


By
 in ,
The college football season follows a predictable pattern each year. Early on, a number of teams have standout performances, with each squad making their case for elite status. Then injuries, upsets and conference play start, and the season begins to fall into focus. This generally happens at the end of September, when almost everything crystalizes. […]

Saturday could be a turning point


By
 1 Comment/in ,
Enough about Boston College already. As one of the sports editors of this newspaper, I’ve read the phrase, “Coming off a 37-31 loss to unranked Boston College, the 18th-ranked Trojan football team is focused on preparing for Oregon State” countless times over the past two weeks, and I’ve been guilty of inserting it into other […]

Kiffin still causing trouble for USC


By
 1 Comment/in ,
After suffering through an agonizing upset at the hands of Boston College — the pain of which was extended by a long bye week — not much could’ve further soured the Trojan faithful’s collective mood leading up to this Saturday’s tilt with Oregon State. If we could just put our heads down and shake off […]

Water polo will overcome losses


By
 in ,
Something very unusual happened this weekend in the world of USC sports. While the football team’s loss to Boston College last week is still hard for me to wrap my head around — even after the bye week — what happened three days ago was almost just as interesting. The men’s water polo team lost. […]

Kessler not just a game manager


By
 1 Comment/in ,
The Pac-12 is no stranger to talented quarterbacks this year — Oregon signal caller Marcus Mariota sits atop ESPN’s 2014 Heisman Watch rankings as the favorite to win college football’s most prestigious individual award, with UCLA’s Brett Hundley still (somewhat) in the mix. Then there are the old hands: Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly and Oregon […]

Trojans helped by strong recruiting


By
 in ,
This was a much-needed bye week for the Trojans, a chance to regroup. Not just from the devastating loss to the Boston College Eagles, but from a whirlwind first month of the college football season. The debut season for coach Steve Sarkisian and Co. has been chaotic to say the least. From fake stories of […]

Trojan athletes will shine over bye


By
 in ,
What a whirlwind it’s been so far for USC’s 2014-15 football team. A player (and captain nonetheless) sprained his ankles and lied about the cause before another player quit the team, alleging head coach Steve Sarkisian was racist. USC’s athletic director was fined for trotting down to the sidelines at Stanford, and then Boston College […]

Florida State still enabling Winston


By
 1 Comment/in ,
Well, we finally figured out what it takes to get suspended from the Florida State football team. Jameis Winston, the No. 1 Seminoles’ Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, will not suit up for the first half of the team’s battle with No. 22 Clemson this Saturday. Winston was suspended following reports that he yelled obscenities at fellow […]

USC’s offensive scheme is outdated


By
 in ,
When I watched Boston College quarterback Tyler Murphy essentially seal the victory against USC this past weekend with his 66-yard touchdown run to cap off 191 yards individually and 452 yards rushing as a team, the feeling I had was somewhere between disappointment and genuine adoration. It was painful and beautiful at the same time. […]