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Coming Out of Retirement to Say...

#FreeBruce!  Down with ESPN!  

Video: SI's HS Player of the Week Profile on J-Serra's George Farmer

Don't think I really have to speak much on George.  He's been hyped for years now as one of the best receiver prospects to come out of Southern California in some time.  He and Robert Woods dominated at the HS level at J-Serra and many think he's a lock to come to SC.  The thing I took away from the video above is how focused and mature George appears for a high schooler.  He also talks and sounds a lot like Kobe.

Fayetteville Eye Clinic Offering Free Laser Surgery to SEC Officials

Here's the link: http://goo.gl/9f8D

Someone should do the same for Pac-10 refs. It appears they're unable to see blatant holding calls against SC d-linemen and clock-operators failing at their jobs in crucial moments of the game.

Video: Urban Meyer Dropping a Load During Mississippi State Game

No explanation necessary.

USC Commitment: Edison High School's Charles Burks Commits to USC

Charles is a undersized DE who most likely will play LB or FB at the next level. Here are some quotes from his recruitment story over at Scout.com:

“Tonight I got home from football practice and Coach O called me and told me that he and Coach Kiffin talked, and that the entire staff wanted to grant me a scholarship, regardless of if I graduate early or not.“I was all fired up and told him that I want to be a Trojan.”

Burks, who also had offers from Stanford, Duke and San Diego State among others, picked USC because of the coaching staff and the chance to stay local.

“I fell in love with the coaching staff,” he said. “They are all just great people and really good coaches. I love the way that they run things.

I like this pick-up because my theory on recruiting is you get the best results when you pit your elite 5 & 4 star players with tough/hungry 3-star players in each class to create a competitive environment.  Charles is the perfect example of a player who might not have the ideal size or elite talent but will overachieve through his work-ethic and attitude. Having players like that make the team better.  This brings me back to the old days when we recruited overachievers like Mike Patterson, Ryan Kalil, Fili Moala, Josh Pinkard, etc.

Recruiting: Cody Kessler Recruiting Hard for USC

From Rivals.com:

Playing in the Army game will be the major focus of Kessler's week in San Antonio but he also plans to recruit other top prospects to USC. Fellow Army invitees De'Anthony Thomas and Victor Blackwell, two other USC commits, have already discussed which recruits they should go after.

Target No. 1 will be five-star outside linebacker and Alabama commit Brent Calloway. Gardena (Calif.) Serra five-star wide receiver George Farmer is also high on the wish list - that's if he's not already committed to the Trojans.

"What we're going to do, we've already talked about it, we're going to start recruiting guys that we want," Kessler said. "Brent Calloway is one of my really good friends. We went down there last year for the combine, we met, and he stayed with us and we talk all the time.

"I'll text him once a week and just say, 'SC.' I've been trying to get him to come. We talk a lot. He's from Alabama so it's hard for him to change his mind but hopefully once we get down there and hang out again we can change his mind."

That would be a big-time pull.  Hope Cody can make it happen.

USC Commitment: 2012 Athlete Jaydon Mickens (Dorsey HS) Commits to USC

Here are some quotes from 247 Sports:

Mickens talked about a few of the reasons the Trojans received his commitment so early in the recruiting process.

"They've had a lot great players come out of there and they have a drive to be the best, and I want to go there and try to be the best," Mickens said.

USC had two verbal commits for the 2012 class before Mickens committed in Arik Armstead and Jordan Payton. Mickens says he knows Payton and a few of the 2011 USC commits.

"I know DeAnthony Thomas, Marcus Martin and Antwaun Woods," said Mickens. "Jordan wasn't at the game, but the other guys were and when they found out I committed, they treated me like family and embraced me."

Nice to see us grab a local kid early.  Welcome Jaydon!

Thoughts On the Loss...

Here are some random thoughts:

• I can agree with Lane's decision not to call time-outs at the end of the game.  For one, our defense wasn't stopping anything so calling time-outs only gives UW more possessions to set-up for a chip-shot FG.  Better to play the odds by reducing the number of plays to set up for a longer field-goal where ST can possibly make a block or hope for a miss.
  
  
• Something has to change with our safeties.  I said before the Virginia game that we'd get into trouble in coverage with the T.J. and Jawanza; that was put into full display when we got burned for the long TD pass after Jawanza bit on the crossing route.  This has happened over and over all season.  We have two strong safeties as our last line of defense.
  
  
• Our linebackers are truly confused and it is scary.  I've seen countless plays where our linebackers will try to inexplicably fill gaps rather than contain the edges on outside plays.  Sark did a great job running a bunch of misdirection plays to exploit this.  This is a very disturbing trend.
  
  
• Sad to see Allen Bradford's game go to waste; AB ran the ball beautifully yesterday.  His combination of patience, power, and quickness was something to watch.   

To close, Stanford is going to be a tough game to watch.  Harbaugh's game-plan is simple: run the ball down our throats off-tackle and then call play-action when our defense tries to cheat the run game.  It's not going to be pretty.

One Added Thought on UNC...

Let's not forget that the NCAA was in heavy discussion about adding a TV ban on top of the other penalties SC received. That is an important thing to remember when thinking about the UNC case. If SC can get 30-scholarships docked, 2-year bowl ban, PLUS a near-TV ban for not knowing what benefits Reggie and his parents received 100+ miles away from campus, then what are they going to say about UNC who hired an assistant coach with a long history of questionable agent/player dealings and also failed to monitor players like Marvin Austin who openly bragged about trips and other luxuries over social networking sites?

Will UNC Get the Death Penalty?

Yahoo Sports just released the results of their 4-month investigation into John Blake and the UNC football program.  Here is an excerpt:

But three sources said documents show the relationship between Wichard and Blake also extended into the financial realm several times over the past three years. Those instances included:

• At least six wire transfers from Wichard’s private bank – The First National Bank of Long Island – to Blake.
• A $45,000 personal loan to Blake from The First National Bank of Long Island.
• A Pro Tect Management credit card issued in Blake’s name.

When you get into benefits that players received, this stuff is FAR worse than the USC allegations.  If UNC gets anything less than the death penalty and the appeals get shot down, SC better fight this in the courts.

Quote of the Day: "My Name is Cliff Harris and I'm Here to Lock Shit Down"

From last week:

Two years ago, a lanky 17-year-old from Fresno, Calif., stood up and addressed his teammates for the first time.

"My name is Cliff Harris, and I'm here to lock shit down," the newest addition to the Oregon secondary said. Harris then immediately returned to his seat without uttering another word.

Classic quote.  Outside of Vontaze Burfict, I still contend that Cliff Harris was our biggest loss from the '09 class - even more so than Manti Te'o.  Many had Cliff along with T.J. McDonald and Rolando Jefferson coming down to SC but T.J. was the only one that qualified academically.

Good to see Cliff becoming one of the elite cornerbacks in the conference.  Kid has 1st round talent written all over him if he bulks up a bit.  His change of direction and fluid hips are lockdown material.

Video: Rolando McClain Body-Slam

Forgot to post this gem earlier in the week.