Nearly eight months after leaving Tennessee for his self-described dream job at USC, Lane Kiffin notched his first victory as the Trojans’head coach, a 49-36 road win against Hawaii.
Normally, such a scenario would lead to smiles and fist bumps and bro hugs as far as the eyes could see. As he’s proven in the past, however, Kiffin doesn’t often travel down the beaten path.
Shortly after telling ESPN on his way into the locker room at halftime that he was “embarrassed” by his team’s performance, Kiffin continued to chide his team in his postgame press conference.
“I’m very disappointed” were the first three words out of the mouth of Kiffin according to the Orange County Register. And they weren’t the last. ”Defensively we didn’t play very well, obviously,” Kiffin said. “I’m really disappointed in everything in general.”
One glance at the stat sheet would make it understandable why Kiffin couldn’t hide his disappointment. Hawaii put up 31 first downs and 588 yards of total offense, including 459 through the air, numbers that had defensive coordinator Ed Orgeron looking for answers.
“We’ve got to do a better job of tackling,” Orgeron said. “We’ve got to do a better job running to the football. We’ve got to do a better job with our assignments. … It’s all stuff we can fix.”
It wasn’t all gloom and doom on a night where the Hawaii coach lamented losing “a game we could have easily won“, however. Sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley‘s five touchdown passes tied a school record held by four other players — Rodney Peete, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart (three times) and Mark Sanchez — while wide receiver Ronald Johnson’s three touchdown catches also tied a team record.
Watched the game and was surprised at how inept the D was. Sure didn’t expect a Monte Kiffin D to look like that. Way too many missed tackles and too many penalties. The O overpowered Hawaii. USC’s rec owned the Hawaii corners who were almost non existant—good thing for USC.
I think everyone expected a lot more as USC’s players have said all fall they were out to make a statement since they have all those sanctions.
They certainly did. The O is pretty good with a lot of weapons. The D is bad and if there are a few injuries it could get worse. Hawaii avg 17 yds a completion & shredded the USC sec. Hawaii lost their #1 qb in the 3rd or it may have been closer. USC has plenty of time to fix this as they play Virginia, Minnesota & Wash St the next 3 weeks.
This game was fun to watch.
Really, though, Hawaii could have won this game. Their cornerbacks were AWFUL.
If USC plays like this again this season, then it won’t matter that they have been banned from post-season play.
USC sucks.
Defense looked sloppy… offense looked on point but against a cupcake defense. D keeps playing like this against real teams… its gonna be a looonnng season. Still, good luck and FIGHT ON!
Anyone else see any irony in Kiffen preaching about discipline? Does “leading by example” mean anything to that tool?
It’s going to be a GREAT year watching that smug little bastard get what he deserves!!!!! Feel bad for his players though. Oh yeah, did I mention that John Baxter is an asshole today?
Disappointed but not surprised.
1. You can’t lose 4 starters on a unit that wasn’t your strength last year and expect for them to be any better this year. Coverage and tackling were terrible. I expect them to get the full Monte this week.
2. Linebackers disappointed me more because of their tackling. I haven’t seen it this bad since Carroll first got to USC.
3. Anyone who doesn’t respect Hawaii’s offense is a fool. They went through 3 QBs starters last year due to injury and 2 of them returned to haunt USC last night. It was a major reason why didn’t they didn’t bite on Masoli. They returned all 4 of their top receivers and very few of USC’s opponents can put up as much fire power. They might throw out 4 and 5 receiver sets but they won’t have as much quality as Hawaii put on the field last night.
4. If you think that it was just Hawaii’s defense that made USC look good, think again. You must not have seen a game last year when Barkley, as a true freshman, showed what he was capable of in the future. Last night only reinforced that he’s ready for the big time and their young guns at WR showed that they’re capable of coming in and helping Johnson and it must be a punch in the gut for UCLA fans to see Wendell’s kid running roughshod for the Trojans. The only thing that can hurt this team’s offense is a spate of injuries because they have depth but not enough for two or three at any one position.
The Trojans have Virginia, Minnesota and Washington State for tune ups until they play their first BIG test, the Huskies. I’m sure that there are those that are frothing at the mouth at the thought of a losing record but they play their hardest games at home and some of their opponents lost some of their best weapons and that’s going to make their attacks a bit more one-sided and frankly, none of them have an offense as loaded as Hawaii. Going to be a tough year but I expect a winning season with a win coming in the “bowl” game at Pasadena.
Is this the same guy that left UT for USC if so (lol) then it is great that he is a little disappointed. I am not a UTennessee fan by no means, but they were really hurt in the aftermath of the Kiffen year!
Good post Edgy…
I think the fact that they have not been doing any tackling in practice really showed up. The D never really seemed to play with any energy and I was also suprised with the amount of penalties. I am sure Monte and Coach O will get this turned around.
Good post Edgy…
I think the fact that they have not been doing any tackling in practice really showed up. The D never really seemed to play with any energy and I was also suprised with the amount of penalties. I am sure Monte and Coach O will get this turned around.
It could have been worse guys, they could still have Leinhart! I flipped the channel back and forth between the game cocks/So. Miss and the pro teams playing. Leinhart looked absolutely a joke while on the field.
Hope they can get that D together!
Donna,
You do realize Leinart was 37-2 as a starter at USC. He was also named Sporting News College Athlete of the Decade. He won 2 National Championships and was a monster game by Vince Young away from winning 3 in 3 years. Oh and you can mix in a Heisman.
Why would we ever want this type of player on our team!!
I personally don’t care who is quarterback for USC. I personally don’t care anything about anything to do with Lane Kiffen and the USC Trojans. Hopefully they will play this sloppy all year long and will lose the majority of their games. They deserved every sanction they received and should have received worse.
“Donna,
You do realize Leinart was 37-2 as a starter at USC. He was also named Sporting News College Athlete of the Decade. He won 2 National Championships and was a monster game by Vince Young away from winning 3 in 3 years. Oh and you can mix in a Heisman.”
Oh here we go again!! Yes SLO I know all about Matt’s time at USC, BUT my comment was speaking for how he’s playing currently!!!! And I bet Arizona is ready to give his ass back to USC or anyone else who’ll take him!
But I guess you’re trying to tell us that he played that well for USC because he was better then………right? If thats the case then he should have picked another profession cause he absolutely SUCKED last night and every other pro game he has played. Maybe Reggie’s extra money was incentive enough to play as well as he did for USC!!
Donna says:
It could have been worse guys, they could still have Leinhart!
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Yeah, things could be worse for Alabama tomorrow, they could have Ingram. Seriously, you think that they’d be worse off with a Heisman trophy winner at the helm? Really? Seriously?
FYI, 2003, USC 61-32, Leinart was 21-15-220-2-0 before he gave way to Cassel. In 2005, USC 63-17, Leinart was 24-18-332-3-1 before he gave way to Booty.
Also, let’s not forget that Barkley didn’t come out for the 4th quarter when they were up 42-23 and that the game turned on a Trojan fumble deep in Hawaii’s territory. No fumble and USC grinds it out and settles for a FG and a couple of minutes off the clock.
“Yeah, things could be worse for Alabama tomorrow, they could have Ingram. Seriously, you think that they’d be worse off with a Heisman trophy winner at the helm? Really? Seriously”
Edgy,
When I made that comment it was an attempt to say that USC has gotten off to a good start in regards to how the team is coming together with all the sanctions, players bolting for other schools, firing of the (oh my bad) retirement of their AD and a new head coach.
Please refer to the comment above that I posted in response to SLO explaining my reasoning behind picking on Leinhart. Yes, yes I’m aware of all his fruitful acheivements before the adoring eyes of the trojan fans but since he has basically been a waste of space and uniform on the professional football scene! You can spout off all the stats you want, but fact remains and was the point of my original comment that you sure as hell can’t tell those are his stats by the way he is playing currently and has since entering the NFL as the NEXT GREAT QB!
While I admit he has a heisman and two championships at USC, the fact that he has gone on to the Big Arena and the BIG BUCKS and hasn’t done shit (excuse my french) tells me he wasn’t that good a QB without the rest of the USC team with him or else he sure is a great actor in the role of a champion pro player!
So now let me hit you with the same question I presented to SLO, you want us to believe he played like a champ and was the MAIN reason for USC’s success while playing for nothing in college but once he gets to the highest plato where the fortunes are made he all of a sudden couldn’t hit the damn broad side of a barn if he was standing on it???????? Yea keep up with that logic and the NCAA will be investigating his ass to see if any gifts swapped hands for his handy work at QB!!
Dammit man all the USC fans should really take a xanax because you guys have gotten so used to insults you can’t even recognize when someone is trying to say your team is off to a decent start despite their obstacles!!
@ Donna
It sucks when you are under attack for blogs that are misunderstood!!! Your damned if you do or don’t sometimes…….it’s best shut the computer off til tomorrow & a new page of blogs start & the old are forgotten.
Roll Tide—stay tough–we want you at the top of your game & undefeated on 10/2. Tell your guys to stay out of trouble as we want NO excuses. Going to get beat by the hated GATORS in your own stadium has got to be giving you nightmares—LMAO
Donna–while at the game you might want to wear a neck brace so as not to incur whiplash as you are trying to keep up with those speedy GATORS racing into your end zone over & over & over again….LMAO
Donna says:
Please refer to the comment above that I posted in response to SLO explaining my reasoning behind
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Well, the fact is that you go on and on about Matt but the fact is that when he was taken by Arizona, he was taken by a CRAPPY team, whose BEST QB the year before was 2-8 as the starter while their second best was 3-2. When Matt made most of his starts (your so-called “most of his career”), he was 4-7 while his backup, that same starter from that crappy team from the year before, was 1-4. 11 of his 17 starts where made when the team was just was crappy and even the guy that would later take his place, Kurt Warner, couldn’t win, as he was the guy who went 3-12 before Whisenhunt decided to throw Leinart, who wasn’t his QB, under the bus. As I said before on PFT, the ONLY way that Matt was going to win the job was that he had to complete 100% of his throws (he completed over 80%) and throw a TD on every drive and that didn’t happen.
I will tell you this: should they get rid of Leinart, the Hall or Skelton Era starts in Week 7 (There are 2 games that even Anderson can’t lose but they could easily start out 2-3 or 1-5, if Anderson plays down to his capabilities. Anderson may have a live arm but he also has a dead head and he’ll throw pick after pick until Whisenhunt strokes out on the field). Only a moron by the name of Ken Whisenhunt throws Anderson out there (there’s NO WAY to compare him favorably to Warner) and expects him to be a winner. The fact is that Hall AND Skelton are his guys and if they were to complete 0% of their passes and throw interceptions on every drive, he would put them ahead of Leinart. I can only guess that Matt dated one of his relatives and left them in the lurch because he’s had it in for him since he became the head coach at Arizona. Matt had two problems: he was a little immature and he was selected by a coach that was sent on his way the next year. If Green sticks around for 3 years, Leinart stays the starter and Warner is the backup and if Matt doesn’t mature, Green pulls him until he does but THEN he puts him back into the lineup. If I were a Cardinal player, I would be vary wary of Whisenhunt because he’s shown that he doesn’t have much loyalty, especially when it comes to players that he didn’t pick.
@ Blitz4848:
Man they must have some major CUSH in the sunshine state that you definately need to stop smoking..LOL!
The only way I will get whiplash is from watching all the field goals we’ll rack up after each touch down against the gators!
And the last nightmare I had was about a damn doll named “CHUCKIE”, a little advice, never go see a scary movie while under the influence of alcohol. Made me box up every stuffed animal in site…..LOL!!
Donna says:
So now let me hit you with the same question I presented to SLO, you want us to believe he played
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You know Jack, lady. He WAS the big reason for their success and he made everyone a better player because while he didn’t hit the playbook in the pros like he should, he damn sure knew it inside and out at USC and his calls were the difference between winning and losing and frankly, he wasn’t the one who cost the Trojans the win against Texas by trying to lateral when all he had to do was go down and they had an easy FG but more likely a TD that would have been the back breaker. He did all that he did at USC with tendinitis in his throwing elbow that plagued him from when he first got there and he had surgery before his final season. Yeah, what a loser, right? BTW, don’t you think that someone could AGAIN turn your argument on Ingram? Jeez.
Hawaii’s offense had all the tools to have won last night. Defense, where were the cornerbacks? Especially no. 8! His fear of playing hardnose was evident alll night long against USC receivers. False confidence! Hope USC learned a lesson. Coach, don’t be embarrassed. You played a good team!
Please – do not blame Arizona for Matt’s woes. Father time Kurt Warner had no problem elevating this team to the Superbowl after he came in and took away the starting job from Matt. He has never taken the role of being a pro quarterback serious – he’s been too busy being a party boy. Not saying that’s a bad thing but he forgot that he actually needed to earn that paycheck by studying. Being a great QB in college does not equate to being a good/great QB in the pros. Matt is not a good/great QB in the pros and his stats and lack of playing time prove that out.