USC Trojans Football

If you don't know Rick Reilly (he's kind of a big deal), he is the guy that used to write those one page columns on the last page of every Sports Illustrated. He is no longer with SI and is now at ESPN where he recently wrote a piece about Matt Barkley. You can click here to check it out. Not your typical frosh [ESPN]

(Photo by Icon Sports Media) For four out of seven weeks of this NFL season, a USC rookie has won the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week award. Mark Sanchez won the award three times and Clay Mattews won in week 6. This week Brian Cushing is nominated. Cushing had 10 tackles, one sack and an interception last week vs. the Bills. Houston defeated Buffalo 31-10. To vote for Brian Cushing click here. Week 8 nominees for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week [nfl.com]

Watch the video before you scoff at the headline. Totally cool, totally under control, the former-USC basketball coach is totally unfazed by the swamp donkey that is trying to blindside him with a food court chair. Well done Mr. Floyd. Tim Floyd: The Tom Cable Antithesis [Herm's Perm]

(Photo via kimkardashian.com) Reggie Bush’s girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, dressed up as Jasmine from Aladdin for Halloween. TrojanWire approves. (Photo via kimkardashian.com) More photos after the jump...

While watching the Trojans lose control of a football game for the first time in the Pete Carroll era and reflecting on the last 9 quarters of football USC has played, the beginning of Buffalo Springfield’s song “For What It’s Worth” started playing in my head “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear, there’s a man with a gun over there telling me I have go to beware…” The Trojan nation will remember where they were Halloween night 2009 for many... years to come after watching a true horror movie being played out in Auzten Stadium as Oregon dominated the Trojans 47-20 and literally beat them up as the Trojans suffered quite a few injuries on the defensive side of the ball. For the first time in his SC tenure, Coach Carroll seemed to doubt his own game plan of stopping Oregon’s run offense because of a few early completions to the Oregon slot receiver early and chaos ensued. Oregon proved they are one of the best teams in the country and Head Coach Chip Kelly has done a masterful job of getting his team to rebound from an early loss against Boise State. It is easy to beat up on the Trojans right now and quite frankly some of it is deserved. However, if they can pull it together they still have an easy shot at another top 10 season, a potential BCS at-large bow bid and the chance to carry quite a bit of momentum into next season with a very young team. Even faint hope remains for the Rose Bowl. We will learn a lot about the Trojans from the coaching staff down in terms of how they rebound from this type of loss over the next few weeks. The invincibility factor of the SC jersey is no longer going to give them a mental edge in 2009. After the jump is a quick analysis of the keys to the game from Friday's Skinny and an injury report more>>

(Photo by Icon Sports Media) Win or Lose, TrojanWire will always provide pictures of Song Girls to perv on every Monday. The tradition continues, have a great week! (Photo by Icon Sports Media)

The Trojans got destroyed by the Ducks 47-20. The defense looked terrible. This is the worst loss in more than a decade. Oregon was the better team on Saturday. Shit happens. You learn the most from your failures and the Trojans will be getting their learn on after watching that game tape. Hopefully after tasting what defeat and embarrassment feel like, the players will never want to know those feelings again. The real test of character is how your bounce back, because even Superman got his... ass kicked. But Superman picked himself up off that diner floor, wiped the blood off his face, restored his powers in the fortress of solitude, went on to defeat General Zod, Ursa and Non and even got some payback on the hillbilly in the diner. more>>

Sign up with BetUS... they've got our game. Straight Bet $75 to win $68.18 USC (-3.5) over Oregon It's Halloween and we're betting Trojania. Fuck.. the.. ducks.

(Photo by Icon Sports Media) Nothing has been easy this season for the Trojans. It seems like every week they face another tough test on the road. This week it is the Oregon Ducks (6-1, 4-0) and their terrible uniforms. Saturday’s contest will be the fourth road game against a ranked opponent. Also increasing the degree of difficulty is the Trojans must play in Autzen stadium. Even though it only seats 54,000, it is one of the loudest stadiums in the country. And it’s Halloween, so fans... will be extra lubricated and extra spooky. To make matters worse, the past few years, the Pacific Northwest has not been friendly place to visit for the Trojans. USC has lost three straight years in the state of Oregon and we all can’t forget what happened to the Trojans when they traveled to Washington earlier this season. The weather conditions in Eugen should be dark, cold and gloomy. At kickoff the weather report is predicting 57 degrees with a 60% chance of precipitation. So to recap, a ranked opponent playing their best football of the year, in a hostile environment, with a possibility for rain, in a high-stakes game, with tens of thousands of students dressed in costumes and extra inebriated, in a part of the of the country that the Trojans have not played well in recent years…. Does it scare you? It shouldn’t. It should fire you up. Saturday night is the perfect opportunity to for the Trojans to come together and show the haters and doubters in the country that even though we have a freshman QB, a defense that has struggled the past two games against potent offenses and are banged up with injuries, when it comes time to strapping on the pads the Trojans always come to play in big games. How does Coach Carroll fare against ranked opponents? Pete has played 38 ranked opponents since 2001. USC is 34-4 in those games. Let’s make it 35-4. More Thoughts of the Day and Halloween costume ideas after the jump (if you dare)… more>>

The Trojans have survived tough road environments this year at Ohio State, Cal and Notre Dame. However, the biggest test of the year will be Saturday night at the toughest place to play in the Pac-10, Auzten Stadium, where the Trojans will battle the 10th ranked Oregon Ducks. The Trojans will have to survive a real house of hunts with a raucous Halloween night crowd, rain and wind in the 1st half and an Oregon team that is operating at the top of its game. The fourth ranked Trojans have... not left the state of Oregon with a victory since 2005 and will have to play together and disciplined in all phases of the game to for them to leave with a victory. 5 things to keep track of plus the obvious: 1- USC’s Defensive Line vs. Oregon’s Offensive Line: Oregon’s offensive line is fairly inexperienced and has yet to play a top tier defensive line. The Trojans must get penetration early and break-up Oregon’s offensive rhythm. The key to stopping any spread attack is linebackers being able to stay home and cause havoc on the short passing game and mis-directional running plays. The emergence of the spread offense has led defensive coaches to really focus on it in the offseason and will see if that hard work pays off on Saturday. 2- Force Oregon into obvious passing situations: The Oregon offense is very potent when they are running the ball 2/3 of the time and not forced into throwing situations longer than 10 yards. Oregon only averages 157 yards passing a game. The hurry up aspect of Oregon’s offense is based on a solid running game where they like to hand it off or throw a pass behind the line of scrimmage 85% of the time. Oregon prefers to throw the ball less than 20 times and Masoli is a weak mid to deep thrower under pressure. Evidence of that was clear in USC’s 44-10 victory over Oregon in the Coliseum last year. Oregon tailback LaMichael James might be the second best back in the conference behind Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rogers. He is a great cut-back runner and has the ability to make a big gain at the blink of an eye. Containing James will be the key to forcing Oregon into 3rd and long situations. (More of what to look for after the jump) more>>

(Photo by Icon Sports Media) Jeff Fellenzer, a professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, sat down with Matt Barkley for a very candid Q & A session. Here is a link to that interview and two excerpts Fellenzer: Have you experienced any special moments when your older teammates really showed faith in you as a leader? Barkley: At Ohio State, right before we got the ball back for that fourth-quarter drive, [linebacker] Chris Galippo and [safety] Taylor Mays each came... up to me at different times, saying, 'We're gonna get the ball back for you. We believe in you.' That was confirmation for me right there, getting all the guys in the mind-set that it doesn't matter who we are or what age we are, hey, we can do this. But I'll remember those two guys coming up and saying that stuff. That was pretty cool. Fellenzer: What stands out among the things you've learned so far from Pete Carroll? Barkley: I love everything he says and I try to apply everything, and even try to echo him in interviews . . . just because they're the right things to say. [Laugh] We have three rules: 'Be early' -- it can apply to everything, to class, to outside settings, but especially for football. It shows respect. 'Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses,' from Coach [John] Wooden. These all can apply off the field, too. 'Protect the team.' It's simple, but it goes a long way. Also 'protect the ball' is a huge part of the philosophy. It's made me change for the better, just being mindful that if we have control of the ball, obviously they don't . . . and they can't score. That's been a huge thing. Competing is another central theme of the program. I've always been a competitor, but just to hear that reinforced every day, and to have the defense hearing it, too, so they're competing right back . . . it's making me a better player. Being even-keeled, not underestimating your opponents, treating them the same every week. I love all that stuff he says. There is no goal that USC's Matt Barkley won't pursue [LAT] more>>

Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews: "All the superstars went to USC. We're just a bunch of guys working together, all on the same page, all playing for each other." Besides the tired "underdog story" for a football program that has 384 different Nike uniform combinations, this is coming from the younger brother of a USC walk-on (Clay Matthews). Who Are These Guys? [SI.com]

Why is a 45-year old responding to comments made by a 19-year old freshman? Why does a grown man still go by Chip? The answer to one of these questions after the jump.