As I said above, Brett Hundley made the right business decision staying at UCLA. You can praise him for his loyalty but Hundley isn't risking his career for that alone. He's doing it to grow as a quarterback and a leader. Applaud him for realizing that he could improve his skill set as well as contribute to something special at UCLA.
For every Matt Leinart, Jake Locker, Matt Barkley or others who come back to get burned, there’s guys like Johnny Manziel and Vince Young who improved their stock by getting better on the field. So what does this mean for the Bruins? Let's break it down.
It's funny how rivalry week shakes out. 2007, I was at the Coliseum where UCLA got spanked by USC and Karl Dorrell's press conference sounded like a funeral of a man who would be fired soon. This year, USC changes coaches after being spanked and Jim Mora re-ups with UCLA for a longer extension.
One thing is clear. As my friend Rahshaun Haylock of Fox Sports showed in that picture above, UCLA runs the city now. It's something I thought I'd never see after 1998 and this week marks the 15th anniversary of the game that changed UCLA's fortune. The collapse against Miami.
You might remember that year as the Bruins were the first team to debut at No. 1 in the BCS. The Bruins were in the middle of a 20-game winning streak. Cade McNown was poised to be invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony and two freshman named Deshaun Foster and Freddie Mitchell (before he got hurt that year) had me excited. I had the season poster as one of my book covers.
Did I mention the Bruins had an eight-game winning streak against USC? Foster went wild that game and I remember ABC calling it "Foster's Freeze". Everything was clicking and the Bruins seemed ready for their first national title game in my lifetime.
As you enjoy my video above discussing the USC hire of Steve Sarkisian, here's some more stats to consider that I hinted at.
FBS Rank in Total Defense since 2010: 65, 102, 35, 60
Conference Rank in Total Defense since 2010: 8, 11, 4, 5
Conference Rank in Total Offense since 2010: 8, 7, 10, 2
Sarkisian will be bringing defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox with him to USC so that's a good sign that the defense will continue to be solid. Plus, Sarkisian is not afraid to go after mobile quarterbacks which is something USC desperately needs if they want to stay relevant. All they need to do is look at how UCLA waxed them twice with Brett Hundley's arm and legs.
(Sorry for the quiet here on the Report. As you may have seen from Twitter, the Daily Breeze is keeping me quite busy and I couldn't be happier. 5 stories in 5 days and more to come this week with high school playoffs. But I'm back and I'm making a bold statement to boot.)
Ed Orgeron leaving Oregon State on the shoulders of his players.
As
reports come out that USC spoke to Jack Del Rio about being their
permanent coach, my mind keeps going back to the images I saw leaving
the volleyball match I covered Saturday night.
A sea of
fans flooding the Coliseum. Interim coach Ed Orgeron hugging players and
USC personnel. Colleagues of mine struggling to get through the crowd
and just snapping pictures of a scene I have never seen at Troy.
That USC win over Stanford was perhaps the biggest game I've seen the Coliseum host since the 2008 Ohio State-USC game. It's easily the biggest win in who knows how long and considering where the Trojans were six weeks ago, it could rank up there with the biggest in school history.
Leading it all has been Orgeron, who came back to save and restore the program he helped build with Pete Carroll, the man who almost never lost in November. At this point, Coach O is the new "Mr. November" who's riding the promise and leading this Kill Bill revenge/redemption story I wrote about over at Bro Jackson.
It was a busy sports weekend for me and while the Chargers and Cowboys handled their business, it wasn't pretty seeing my UCLA Bruins get punched in the mouth. At least USC lost to Notre Dame. Here's what I was up to.
Narbonne-San Pedro has become the most competitive high school football rivalry in the LA City Section since 2008. I covered their latest chapter, a 12-11 Narbonne win, and also contributed some postgame notes (Daily Breeze)
I also covered a lil JUCO football action at El Camino College. Tough loss for the Warriors but I ran into former Dorsey HS/USC standout Stafon Johnson, who was working with the running backs. (Daily Breeze)
My UCLA Report Card: With a nod to my tutoring roots, I graded UCLA as harsh as I possibly could because they deserved it. (UCLA 24/7)
Recapping the Pac-12 was a lot of fun this week and it just shows that there's Oregon/Stanford and everybody else. After the Top 5 teams, it's a mess. (Bro Jackson)
Also I threw in a little extra today on the first BCS poll coming out Sunday. The beginning of an American past time for the last time - hating the BCS before it goes away for the college football "playoff". (Bro Jackson)
People have mentioned how USC has suffered from scholarship reductions. While that has hurt depth issues, the bigger problem isn't how deep they are. It's how unprepared the current Trojans are. It's how USC has slowly lost its luster with recruits in the area. This is according to 24/7 Sports ranking kids out of California who committed to USC
2011: 5 Top 10, 3 more in Top 20, Antuan Woods at 25 (Marqise Lee's year)
2012: 6 Top 20, Jordan Simmons at 23
2013: 3 Top 10, plus current freshman phenom Justin Davis at 21. As a non-Cali bonus, they snagged the No. 1 QB in the country.
2014 class: 1 Top 20. ZERO Five star commits. Several four stars.
The numbers declined sharply. That's where USC's problem was. Local kids didn't want to go there anymore because the program was getting toxic and as much as losing the fans hurt, losing relevance among recruits hurt. Nobody wanted to play for Kiffin similar to how local basketball talent didn't want to play for Ben Howland at UCLA after a while.
So as I did my current video on where they go from here, that's where they have to start. Re-endear themselves to the public and to the kids. Lane Kiffin's damage can be easily reversed but it might not happen this year. It's like solving pollution - you can't get rid of it right away but every step helps.
Regretfully I took a week off from making my weekly videos. Unless I get sick or crazy busy, I'll try to be better with it. Anyways, here's my thoughts on UCLA and USC.
Late kudos to UCLA for fundraising to build a new football facility. It's long overdue and it finally shows that the school is committed to building up their football program to a level it demands. One more strike to show recruits they are committed to winning them over and Jim Mora that they want him to keep building something.
As for USC, I'm still trying to burn that second half out of my mind. It's fitting they're heading to the desert because just like Walter White, I feel like that's where their failures will catch up to them. Arizona State's got something to prove and I think Will Sutton and that defense will be licking their chops to see the mediocre Trojan offense.
I finished uploading this video right before work so apologies for the late post. But USC's loss to Washington State bears a double dose of my commentary so enjoy that short video on Lane Kiffin's failures and then read my in-depth thoughts over at Bro Jackson.
That game reminded me of watching UCLA and Notre Dame in 2007. One of the worst games I've ever seen where both teams could barely score points and UCLA couldn't get touchdowns despite being inside the 5-yard line twice. That was rock-bottom for UCLA under Karl Dorrell so now it's USC's time.
Seriously. They only scored seven points at home?? Three days later I'm still smirking and hopefully Lane Kiffin doing the right thing giving Cody Kessler the starting job will be a start. But who am I kidding. I'm just waiting for Arizona State to tear them a new one on September 28 to continue the Pac-12 shellacking the Cougars started.
I have more thoughts over at UCLA 24/7 where I did my weekly notebook but safe to say there were a lot of positives to take from a great win. Looks like the Bruins are back where they left off and if that offensive line can force their will, expect to see Brett Hundley in the Heisman chatter.
There's no doubt in my mind who the more confident, best team is in Los Angeles right now. Now for a few Pac-12 notes.
As I wrote in my Bro Jackson piece, beware the underrated backfield of Keith Price/Bishop Sankey of Washington. They torched Boise State without All-American tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins so imagine what they'll do with him.
Nice to Oregon State crap the bed against Eastern Washington but props to QB Vernon Adams, who almost singlehandedly whipped the Beavers. Several of my colleagues remember him as a dual-threat QB out here at Mission Hills Alemany so I'm happy he got payback against a conference that didn't recruit him.
My biggest concern was seeing how De'Anthony Thomas would handle a bigger load, something he hasn't done since high school. Well Saturday, the Black Momba showed he could (18 carries) that he's improved running between the tackles and he can make the small runs as well as the explosive ones.
To say USC’s 2012 season was a failure is being nice.
Preseason No. 1 to unranked at season’s end due to a freefall I’ve never seen
at the House of Troy. The fall was best symbolized by Matt Barkley ending his
career with a shoulder injury at the hands of UCLA’s Anthony Barr.
Lane Kiffin deserved the lion’s share of the criticism
for his arrogance and questionable playcalling. I called his coaching into
question several times. and there’s no doubt that he’s on the hot seat this
year.
With Barkley and Robert Woods in the NFL, the big
question entering 2013 is who is USC now? The 2nd best team in Los Angeles? 3rd
best in the Pac-12 South? Will they still rely on their passing game or finally
trust their backfield?
They still have the country’s best wide receiver in
Marqise Lee and a surefire NFL prospect in Morgan Breslin, who’s switching to
linebacker after playing defensive end in 2012. They still have Silas Redd, who
Kiffin said would be a more prominent factor in the offense. But they have a few kinks to work out so let's break down what they're working with.
UCLA and USC will be opening up fall camps this week to get ready for the 2013 season. To get ready, I'm doing a two-part preview of both schools assessing strengths and weaknesses, key players to watch and my outlook this year. I'll also do a brief follow-up before the season kicks off on August 31. First up, UCLA.
UCLA's 2012 season was one to remember. It wasn't just the best season the school had since 2005, it was a renewed optimism that the program was headed in a positive direction and could stay there. What Jim Mora Jr. did last year was more than wins and losses as he created an identity and attitude that programs could build upon for years to come.
Last year, they finished 9-5 and won the Pac-12 South Division. For the first time since 1998, they had a better record than USC, who they defeated 38-28 for the first time since 2006. While they lost three straight to end the season, including twice to Stanford, there was reason to be optimistic about the road ahead.
Four Bruins were drafted, including first round selection Datone Jones and second rounder Johnathan Franklin, both to Green Bay. So what's next for Year 2 under Mora? Improvement and more of the same to get even better. High expectations as they were the media pick to win the Pac-12 South division.
"We're not where we want to be but we have a vision of where we want to be," Mora said at Pac-12 Media Day.
So raise your hands if you expected Anthony Bennett going No. 1?? Raise your hands if you expected the Pac-12 to tie for the most draft picks by conference?? Heck, raise your hands if you've not dizzy from all the trade talk.
I tried my best to focus on what I liked in the draft. No losers, just winners and good things. Except for maybe a few words on Bill Simmons trying to bring down the draft coverage like he does on the ESPN NBA crew.
Oh and Cody Zeller to Charlotte? Good luck there.
I'd also like to say I'm very happy for Allen Crabbe and Solomon Hill, having covered them close in high school. I saw Tony Snell help Kawhi Leonard beat Mater Dei in the 2009 CIF Division I-AA championship and it's funny that Riverside King now has 2 NBA players from their squad and that loaded Mater Dei team has none yet.
Also, I didn't cover this in the video but the Boston-Brooklyn trade? Either the Nets are going to be the 2003-04 Lakers or it's going to blow up spectacularly. Rajon Rondo's going to have be a miracle worker but he's got good pieces in Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace along with Marquis Daniels and Avery Bradley.
Five years after they met in the NBA Finals, the Celtics and Lakers are both pretty close to starting back at square one. Nature of the beast, I guess.
