Southern California hired Clay Helton as its permanent coach, removing the interim tag after he guided the team to a division title since taking over for Steve Sarkisian.
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Clay Helton addresses the media at press conference to announce his hiring as the Southern California Trojans permanent head coach at John McKay Center. He had been an assistant at USC since 2010, working as the offensive coordinator under Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian. Two years later, Sarkisian began the 2015 season with a preseason top 10 ranking and a No. 1 recruiting class before being fired for multiple alcohol-related incidents. With a current record of 5-2 this season, he more than deserves a crack at the official head coaching job for the rejuvenated team.
Well, now Helton is head coach after guiding the Trojans to five wins in seven games and a Pac-12 South title after replacing Sarkisian in October.
If you only looked at the reaction of the players, you would think that the team just won the Pac-12 Championship or the Rose Bowl.
This ignores the fact that the three men who coached the Trojans to their last seven national championships were not mistaken as big-name coaches when hired.
Before conference championship games made them more commonplace, Bowden’s teams played in a couple of same-season rematches.
New head coach Clay Helton happily accepts the challenge of leading Trojan Football to future victories. The Ducks won the game 48-28. “I know Justin has a great plan, and I like where these kids are at, especially with the confidence they gained last week”.
The move and the timing were surprising, but not a total shock.
USC’s decision to promote from within had some NFL implications with regards to Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Safe to say he won’t be called for any new jobs this season. You just try to find in all these phases something that can be successful again, but also realizing they may change things that worked last time.
For USC, it was a game the Trojans, then ranked No. 6, would need, even that early in the season, to keep hopes up for a potential berth in the college football playoff.
Stanford pretty much knows they have no shot of sneaking back into the playoff picture after they suffered their second loss a few weeks ago, but I don’t expect that to make them any less motivated to take the Pac-12 crown.
Smith’s point: Holding McCaffrey to 94 rushing yards and 3.5 yards a carry created openings for quarterback Kevin Hogan to have a big game.
“Choosing a coach is an inexact science”, Haden’s statement read in part. “He’s done a really good job of that all year, whether he’s had the ball or he hasn’t had the ball”. Only three more can get to six wins. They are efficient and explosive in the passing game. Oh and yes, we have one more final prediction for the season.
McCaffrey needs 216 all-purpose yards Saturday to break the NCAA record of 3,250, set in 1988 by Oklahoma State star Barry Sanders. “We love him and we want him back”. Garrett had 10 catches for 216 yards in the win, and he now leads the country with 1,451 yards receiving for the season.
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EXTRA POINTS: Warren’s 91-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the fourth longest in Texas school history… McCaffrey’s per-game average of 252.9 leads the nation by more than 50 yards a game.
