Helton has called his father “my hero”, but he also was exposed to coaches his father worked for, including Doug Dickey at Florida, Howard Schnellenberger at Miami and legendary USC coach John McKay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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“I know the pain he is going through”, Helton said.
But somehow, they were making good time.
For a kid from Bakersfield it was pretty heady stuff when Carroll and the Trojans came calling.
“We’ve played against these same guys for three years”, Townsend said.
Things looked bleak for USC in mid-October. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the league’s coaches, who acknowledge the disadvantage.
USC will enter next Saturday’s showdown with a 5-2 overall record and 5-1 Pac-12 mark under Helton, who took over after coach Steve Sarkisian had to enter rehab for an alcohol problem. “I am so proud and a little bit lost for words”.
I think there is a chance the Ducks sneak into the Fiesta Bowl as one of the hottest teams in the country, but I think there will just be too many one and two-loss prominent programs and probably a mid-major that gets a New Year’s bowl that edges them out.
As Deion Sanders would say, Green was suddenly “Big Man With Ball”.
Senior defensive end Claude Pelon then forced a fumbled in the late third quarter, again putting the Trojans up after trailing by one.
It would have been easy to just walk away and transfer in search of more stability and serenity.
“It’s been a long ride for me, a very emotional, drama-filled ride”, Kessler said.
Kessler realizes a victory could change the perception of his entire career at USC, where he produced stellar numbers and led winning teams, but never carried the controversy-plagued Trojans back to college football’s heights.
They were left for dead at various points of the season.
“The effect it has on current students at UCLA and at Southern Cal, also the alumni at both schools, I guess, for them, it’s bragging rights”, Mora said. Tailback Justin Davis echoed the public thoughts of almost every player on the USC roster when he described Helton’s smooth assumption of the top job last month after Sarkisian was sacked.
These are just a few of the many questions that we be answered on Saturday at the Coliseum.
“There’s a tremendous amount of disappointment in our locker room”, UCLA coach Jim Mora said. “Belief in the work we put in, belief in our preparation, belief in our struggles-belief that our struggles helped us to be a better team”. “We’ll lick our wounds and come back stronger than ever”. “You’re part of the family and we care about you”. “He loves us. We love him back”. But it was something that we couldn’t control. “That made us dig in and get to work”.
Helton is a 43-year-old football lifer and former quarterback from a coaching family, so he knows the factors that will go into Haden’s decision. Over that time, player and coach have developed a strong bond. And he’s been the same type of coach whether I was third string or now the starter. “It was tough walking off that field for the last time, but this was the way I wanted to do it”. “And that’s benefited me and him over the years”.
“We beat UCLA for the chips, he put us back in a situation to win a championship, what’s holding them back?” Kessler will move onto the NFL.
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One day soon, that will all get settled. But in Cody Kessler’s final home game as a USC Trojan, he was poised to lead his group of seniors to their first win over UCLA, snapping a three-game losing streak vs the Bruins with a 40-21 win.
