David Ausberry, a 6'4', 235 LBS WR, pushed away CB Lametrius Davis with one arm after catching the ball and strolled into the end zone.
Here’s some observations I had from last night’s USC vs. Hawaii opener, and the nightmare on defense, for both teams…
- USC’s offense looked mediocre when you take into account Hawaii has a terrible defense that was outsized on the line by a wide margin
- USC’s defense looked absolutely terrible, missed tackles and blown coverages galore
- Hawaii’s offense looked very good, even their 3rd string QB passed for 2 TDs, which is the only solace for USC
- USC’s offense will only get better, they’ll have 4 effective RBs with four different styles of play, and they have about 6 WRs that when healthy would start anywhere in the country
- 2 possible Heisman candidates stood out last night as well as a possible third: Matt Barkley and Ronald Johnson looked in sync and ready to go from snap 1, and Tyler looked strong and quick.
THE GRADES:
Passing Offense: B+
Couple of bad drops/deflections, couple of holding calls, but for game 1 on the road, a very good showing
Running Offense: B-
Mark Tyler waited for this opportunity for a long time. He started this year at #4 on the RB depth chart. He showed why he's now #1 after putting up 154 yards rushing and a TD in the opener.
Easy to look good running against Hawaii, should have run for 300 yards and didn’t. See Wisconsin last year. Younger Oline but so much talent
Passing Defense: D-
Perhaps deserved an F but the Off bailed them out. Young secondary looked terrible, blown coverages and hands on defenders all over. Pass rush was ok.
Running Defense: C
Line looked a little tired toward the end, but that’s what happens when your thin after injuries and key departures. Room for improvement, especially tackling
Special Teams: C
Only highlight was Ronald Johnson’s (ill-advised) spectacular return, but again against a weak defensive team. What was the 2 point conversion thing??? Yuck
Overall: C+
Not a good performance against a weak Hawaii team. Coaches should be worried. Oline really should have dominated more against a smaller but speedy D. The Defense looked the part we expected: very young and inexperienced. Pass rush will look better against normal offenses, this was a quick strike run&gun so the pressure they did put on was impressive. Tackling should get better as they did not tackle in fall ball, so all kinds of room for improvement there. And kick a point after for chr sake. That was embarrassing.
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
Coaches Gone Wild, Part I: The Hawai’ian Rainbow
Isaiah: poster boy for coaches with issues...
If you are a new coach at any level, whether it’s high school, college, or professional athletics, boy do I have a treat for you this week! With the rash of poor decisions being made by high profile coaches across the country, I have compiled four excellent examples of how not to behave as a person in such a position. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are several others out there, but these seemed to be the highest profile cases.
Each of these individuals is well versed in dealing with the media and speaking in front of large crowds. It pretty much comes with the position, because even at the high school level coaches are asked to make speeches for groups like Booster Clubs, local Rotary chapters, or Pop Warner/Little League/etc. to encourage young athletes. By the time coaches reach college and the pros, they are used to speaking in front of thousands and at times millions via broadcast. Whether they are in front of 10 media members, 100 club members, several thousand students, or on TV, coaches are asked to be a leader of their community and a positive influence in all facets of life.
This week I will present the case of each “Coach Gone Wild” starting in chronological order of events from the summer and early fall. We’ll examine exactly what they did and where they went wrong, and believe me it won’t be very difficult to find.
Brah, bathroom is that way!
07/30/09 – Hawai’i football coach Greg McMackin makes a huge blunder at the WAC media football preview for the 2009 season. Coach McMackin described how Notre Dame, their opponent and guest at the 2009 Hawai’i Bowl, had done “this little (gay slur beginning with f-) dance” at a celebration the night before. He used the term not once but three times while explaining why Notre Dame might have been so fired up to play Hawai’i in the 2008 Hawai’i Bowl. At the banquet the night before, as the Fighting Irish finished their version of a “ha’a”, an intense Polynesian war dance and chant performed by the Warrior’s before each game, Coach McMackin had his boys show up the Irish with a dramatic performance of their own. Needless to say this made quite the impression on the entire banquet, and the next day’s game was won handily by Notre Dame 49-21, giving them their first post-season victory in the past 15 years.
Not so cool Coach, not so cool
Here is Coach McMackin’s explanation of what happened and why: “What I was trying to do was be funny and it wasn’t funny,” he said, according to a recording of the conversation posted on the Idaho Statesman’s Web site (provided below, with full graphic language of original statements). “It’s not funny. Even more, it isn’t funny to me. I was trying to make a joke and it was a bad choice of words. And I really, really feel bad about it. … It was really stupid.”
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/node/20709 article –Idahostatesman.com
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1412/story/666185.html article – tri-cityherald.com
1 Comment | tags: apology, Coach, Coaches Gone Wild, college football, dance, fighting, football, gay comment, gay slur, Hawaii, NCAA, notre dame, warriors | posted in Sports