Results tagged “usctrojans”

Let me channel my inner Vic the Brick. "Trojan fans! One word: UY!" In a Saturday where all of the excitement was contained to the margins (Southern Miss-Houston; Miami (FL)-Wake Forest; Cal-Arizona State; Rutgers-UConn), all eyes were on USC and Oregon. And in the spotlight, the Trojan defense withered.

Saturday is big. It’s really big. Everyone seems to know it. ESPN’s College GameDay is going to be there. Oregon’s newest bastardized uniform creation (carbon fiber helmets and “steel” pants) will be there. A capacity crowd at Autzen Stadium will be there.

Sports Ed. note: With USC taking a week off, our guest writer Zack Jerome takes a look at this supposed rivalry.

Pittsburgh Pirates defeat LA Dodgers 11-1. On their second try to try and clinch the NL West, the Dodgers failed miserably. Only today they had no shot whatsoever. Three baserunning mistakes that led to three outs in the first two innings will not get it done. But then again having a spring training lineup won't help things either. Just to make sure the score was somewhat respectable, Chin-Lung Hu hit a sac fly in the ninth inning with one out to score Orlando Hudson. However a couple of positives come out of this: Vin Scully will now be calling the Dodgers clinch, and the Dodgers will do it in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park. Sweet!

According to Shelley Smith of ESPN, Trojans senior running back and Dorsey High standout Stafon Johnson was rushed to the hospital after a weightlifting accident where the bar fell on his throat. Smith is reporting that Johnson was coughing blood and bleeding from the nose. Ben Malcolmson's USC Ripsit blog confirms that this accident occurred while he was bench pressing with a spotter when the bar slipped from his right hand. Johnson is undergoing throat surgery. Supposedly he was pressing 275 pounds when the accident occurred.

People have been asking me all week what I thought of Saturday’s game between USC and the Washington State Cougars. I guess they expected me to eviscerate the Trojans and expect them to lose two games in a row just because I accurately predicted they would lose to the Huskies. How silly. Of course the Trojans are going to cream the Cougars.

Washington Nationals defeat LA Dodgers 5-4. Chad Billingsley made his first start in since September 13, and he didn’t look to shabby. In fact in five innings he had a no-hitter going. But in the sixth inning, his usual trouble inning, he walked two and then gave up his first hit to Ryan Zimmerman. Unfortunately that hit was a homer that screamed its way out into the Dodgers bullpen. After the Nationals took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, shortstop Christian Guzman committed two errors to allow the Dodgers to tie the game. With a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth, Pete Orr hit a sac fly to Andre Ethier in right field who muffed the ball which is inconsequential since the runner was going to score anyhow. Thanks to the Rockies losing, the Dodgers REAL magic number is reduced to six.

The third-ranked USC Trojans passing game completely let them down as they got outplayed down the stretch in their 16-13 loss against the Washington Huskies.

The USC Trojans have a lot to prove. True they did defeat a tough Ohio State team last week 18-15, but who was impressed by their offense? The offense looked stale and stymied by a Buckeye defense that gave up 186 rushing yards to Navy on September 5. After an early interception by linebacker Chris Galippo taken to Ohio State’s three-yard line, it took the Trojan offense four tries to get into the end zone.

This morning ESPN.com posted a chart containing some very telling team-by-team statistics that certainly confirm a belief many West coast college football fans have had for years: the SEC is in the “cupcake” business when it comes to out of conference opponents. The chart is essentially a simple listing of nonconference games versus ranked opponents. Bear in mind the vast difference between a team ranked 25th and a team ranked 5th.

ESPN's Shelley Smith reported that Matt Barkley has been named starting quarterback for the USC Trojans. Trojans head coach Pete Carroll confirmed the news on Twitter. Barkley, 2007 Gatorade national player of the year, graduated early from Mater Dei so he could participate in spring practice. With presumed heir to the job unior Aaron Corp out since August 11 with a cracked fibula, the chatter has been louder in recent weeks of Barkley to be the first true freshman starter during Carroll's tenure since 2001. While this confirms him to the starter in USC's opener against San Jose State, this by no mean gives Barkley job security past that game as is Carroll's modus operandi.

USC announced on their website that Kevin O'Neill was hired as their Men's Basketball Coach. An assistant coach and special assistant to the GM for the Memphis Grizzlies this past season, most people here in Pac-10 Land will know O'Neill from being the interim coach in 2008 for the Arizona Wildcats while head coach Lute Olsen took a leave of absence. And contrary to what CNBC's Darren Rovell said, USC football coach Pete Carroll did not break the news.

As of 1 pm this afternoon, Tim Floyd resigned as USC men's basketball coach according to Floyd's home state's Clarion Ledger. In his one-paragraph resignation later to USC athletic director Mike Garrett he writes, "Unfortunately, I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal." Perhaps this wane in enthusiasm stems from him allegedly giving $1,000 to a person close to OJ Mayo during Mayo's recruiting process? More on this later.

Contrary to rumors last night, Tim Floyd will stay on as head coach of the USC Trojans basketball team. Last night word was leaked that Floyd might be headed to the University of Arizona. With an 85-50 record over four seasons, Floyd led the Trojans to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances making it to the Sweet Sixteen in 2007. AP Photo/Jeff Lewis

LA Lakers defeat Milwaukee Bucks 104-98. The Lakers played another awful half of basketball but came back with effort in the second half to close out their seven game road trip with a win. They got stops on defense in the fourth quarter, but the Bucks made a late burst to come within three points with less than a minute remaining. Kobe Bryant scored 30 points while Pau Gasol had 15 points and Lamar Odom had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers have seven games remaining with road games at Sacramento and Portland - both teams they have troubles with on the road.

LA Lakers defeat San Antonio Spurs 102-95. The Lakers started out strong in the first quarter shooting 64%, but the mileage from the road trip started to show in the second half. What was once an 18 point lead dwindled away to just two points with two minutes left in the game. But the Lakers withstood everything the Spurs threw at them giving them a crucial road win. The Lakers have yet to lose to the same opponent twice, and the win gives them their 20th Pacific Division title. They are the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot, and with the Spurs now 8 1/2 games out of first place look to have firm control of the best record in the West.

Isn't this a great Christmas card? Ned Colletti, Frank McCourt, Manny Ramirez and Scott Boras. Aaaah. AP Photo/Morry Gash.

Late night radio isn't typically where you'll find an energetic sportstalker -- much less one who would easily reference Brett Favre's retirement to the ‘80s movie “Can’t Buy Me Love.” ESPN radio host Jason Smith does that five nights a week (Sunday through Thursday.) Heard locally on 710AM, from 10:00 at night to 2:00, All Night with Jason Smith is high quality radio at an hour where most station's broadcast as though their audience is half-dead.

LA Lakers defeat Phoenix Suns 132-106. No tacos for the Lakers faithful, but they sure did get a show. Every Laker scored and six were in double figures. After scoring 70 points in the first half there was a brief scare that the Suns would come back. But the Lakers took care of that quickly and ran away with this laugher. With the Cleveland Cavaliers losing to the Houston Rockets, the Lakers now lead by two games in the loss column not counting the tie breaker.

Arizona State Sun Devils defeat UCLA Bruins 74-67. UCLA couldn't get it done down the stretch which allowed the Sun Devils to sweep the season series. The Bruins fell behind by as much as 12 points in the first half before using their defense to tie the game by halftime. While the game was close throughout the second half with the Bruins maintaining a slight lead throughout, the Bruins just collapsed. Alfred Aboya got hit with a technical foul after making contact with the ball before Sun Devil Rihard Kuksiks inbounded the ball with the Bruins down by only two. Arizona State made both free throws and Jeff Pendergraph threw down a dunk to ice the game.

LA Lakers defeat Toronto Raptors 115-107. It took three quarters but the Lakers defense finally thawed out and showed up to get the stops against the Raptors. Kobe Bryant scored 36 points far less than the 61 he scored Monday night in Madison Square Garden. Pau Gasol showed his consistency playing center with a 31 point, 15 rebound effort after his 31-14 game Monday night. A little alarming is the fact that Gasol played all but 3:30 of the game while Kobe played for 37:33. With the game tonight against the Boston Celtics, hopefully they don't have a lethargic performance.

UCLA Bruins defeat California Golden Bears 81-66. A 20-4 run to start the second half was all it took for the Bruins to dispatch Cal. The Bruins three-point shooting returned to form while Cal just fumbled along in the second half coughing up the ball. The Bruins are now tied for first place in the Pac-10 with the Washington Huskies who lost to Arizona.

LA Lakers defeat Washington Wizards 117-97. The game was never in doubt from the opening tip off. When the crowd starts hanging on every action of Sun Yue on the court, you know the Lakers have coasted. Andrew Bynum led all scorers with 23 points while six other Lakers scored in double digits.

USC Trojans defeat #15(Coach)/#16(AP) Arizona State Sun Devils 61-49. Defense wins games, and that was more than evident in this game. USC's Daniel Hackett held ASU standout James Harden to only four points scored on free throws, much lower than his 23.1 points per game average. Harden missed all eight field goal attempts. USC started slow scoring only 19 points in the first half, but they made up for it in the second half with 42 points.

After many "sleepless nights", Mark Sanchez officially declared himself eligible for the NFL draft this spring. "It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to this university," he said in a teary news conference at Heritage Hall this morning. In his only year as a starter, he racked up a 65.8% completion percentage for 3,207 yards, 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. According to the draft gurus, Sanchez should be a first round pick.

San Jose Sharks defeat LA Kings 3-2 (SO). The Kings really brought their A-game at the Staples Center against the best team in the league. They took an early 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Sharks naturally came back to tie things up in the second period. However the Kings stayed with it and kept the Sharks scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Kings get a point for the overtime loss, and they are really showing the promise of good things to come in the future.

The Trojans are leading the Bruins 21-7 at the half. Surprisingly the Bruins drew first blood taking a 7-0 lead, but the Trojans got back on track and scored three unanswered touchdowns. However penalties and two missed field goals are what is keeping UCLA in the game. Follow my liveblog.

Final

That's right. According to Joe Schad at the Evil Four-Letter, USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will take over the head coaching job at the University of Washington. Sark will have his work cut out for him taking over a program that has gone winless so far this season. Fortunately he'll have a healthy quarterback Jake Locker back.

LA Lakers defeat Philadelphia 76ers 114-102. This time there was no last second put back. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol made sure of that scoring all of the Lakers points in the last five minutes of the game. Bryant scored 32 points and Gasol got 22 as they staved off a come back from the 76ers. Former Clipper Elton Brand had an awful shooting game scoring only three points. He was so awful 76ers coach Mo Cheeks sat him down for the fourth quarter. The bright spot for the 76ers was Andre Miller who always seems to play his best game against the Lakers. He led the 76ers with 26 points.