TrojanNYC.com

Brian Baucham Commits to USC

From Scout.com:

“I wasn’t even planning to take a visit to USC,” said Baucham. “But I thought I’d go for a visit because I owed it to myself to take the trip. Then right when I got there, I was up in the coaches office and Pete Carroll just came out and offered me. So today before I left, I committed.”

Baucham said he had no idea that USC would be offering him and he took the weekend to soak it in, but by the time he was done visiting, his dream of playing for the Trojans was coming true.

“I was pretty set on Washington State but then I went to USC and their coaching staff was great plus the chance to stay close to home played in,” said Baucham. “I grew up watching USC and I always rooted for them. I never actually imagined playing for them I always imagined playing against them. Its pretty much going to be the best situation for me.”

Don't know anything about Brian, so can't really comment on him.  He is currently rated a 3-star on Rivals and 2-star on Scout.  My guess is SC offered him based on losing Vincent Joseph to poor grades and Mozique McCurtis to law school last week.  Rivals has him listed at 5-11 170lbs and running a 4.4 40, so you know he has the size and speed to at least compete at the next level.  Also, based on this highlight video, he looks pretty athletic and talented.  Looking at PC's track record in finding quality-but-less-than-hyped CB's (e.g. Terrell Thomas, Eric Wright, Josh Pinkard, etc.), you have to be intrigued by SC offering a relatively unknown player.  A possible sleeper?

Vincent Joseph Off Team

From Scottie Wolf:

USC players Vincent Joseph and Alfred Rowe were academically disqualified following the completion of the fall semester and are no longer enrolled in school, according to sources.

Joseph, a cornerback, and Rowe, a fullback, are sophomores and were also teammates at Poly High. They were eligible for the Rose Bowl because grades were not officially posted at that time.

Too bad cause both players were solid contributors on special teams.  Best of luck to both of them; hopefully they can work hard and get readmitted.

Edit:  Alfred Rowe took care of his academic issues and is enrolled in school. 

TNYC Nebraska Review

Here are my thoughts on last night's game:

• Positive - O-Line Play
  

• I think there's a consensus agreement that the biggest positive from last night's game was the play of the O-Line.  They were in sync the entire night and opened up giant holes.  I, like many, am wowed by Kristofer O'Dowd's play. 

• Negative - Special Teams
  

• As I mentioned back in my Fall Scrimmage report, I don't feel comfortable with Vincent Joseph returning kicks.  I'm not basing this entirely on his fumble, I personally think he makes bad decisions and always tries to break it instead of going with his blockers. 

Also, not having enough players on the extra point was flat out embarrassing and Joe McKnight nearly had the ball bounce off his leg after misjudging a punt.  Also, how in the world do you kick-off to start both halves?

• Player of the Game - Stafon Johnson

• For two games in a row, I'm giving the POG to Stafon.  Again, he showed great vision in picking the right holes and ran hard - plain and simple running.  The spin move off the broken play was outstanding.  If there's any knock against Stafon it's his lack of breakaway speed, but you really can't complain about his performance at this point. 
  

• Play of the Game - Sedrick Ellis Knocking Brett Byford on His Butt

• Watching Big Sed explode off the snap and knock Byford on his rear-end was easily the play of the game for me.  Sedrick was absolutely unstoppable and was held blatantly on a couple plays.  He's easily been the star of the defense IMO. 

• Game-ball - Steve Sarkisian

• The offensive calls last night were beautiful.  All the misdirection plays and decoys had Nebraska confused the entire night.  I think I remember letting out a nice sigh at the relief of knowing that Lane Kiffin is all but a distant memory. 
  

• Final Thoughts... - Gaining Momentum/Patrick Turner's Lackluster Game

• You can feel the momentum building.  With the first big test out of the way, I think the team will hit their stride this coming Saturday against Washington State at the Coliseum.  I fully expect a big win this week. 

• Don't give up on PT just yet; let's remember that this is his 1st game of the season.  With that said, my expectations for him this season aren't as high as some.  He's talented, but I don't think he'll ever live up to the hype he received as the #1 HS receiver in the nation.  You might say it's ludicrous to say such a thing based on scant proof, but there's just something missing in his game... 

So a very impressive game overall.  I'm looking forward to reading humorous pre-game/post-game quotes from Bill Doba this week...

TNYC Fall Scrimmage Report

Watched the scrimmage today and these are the things that jumped out at me:

• Best Player:  Stafon Johnson
  
  • I was going to say a tie between Stafon and Chauncey, but I really liked the way Stafon hit the holes.  When Stafon scored his 2nd TD, you saw a little bit of everything:  setting up a block, nice cut/burst, and great vision.  Credit to C.J. Gable for his performance last season, but in my mind, Stafon is clearly the #2 tailback. 

• Biggest Surprise:  Brandon Carswell
  
  • Ran very nice routes and showed great hands on a few catches. 

• Biggest Disappointment:  Patrick Turner, Fred Davis, and JDB
  
  • Patrick Turner was nonexistent the entire scrimmage.  I saw him suited up and on the field, but I don't recall him being in any play. 
  • Fred Davis dropped a few balls that hit him square in the chest.  To me that's disappointing considering he's an All-American candidate and starting senior. 
  • I know Coach Carroll praised JDB's performance and his stats look good on paper, but his incompletions were all balls that could have been intercepted.  He had one pass where he nearly the WR/TE in the back.  He rushed another pass to Anthony McCoy.  He forced a throw on a post route to David Ausberry that would have been intercepted by an above-average CB.  Am I saying JDB is a bad QB?  No, but I still think he's an average QB when pass protection is anything less than par.

• Play of the Game:  Allen Bradford's 30 Yard Run
  • Yeah, I know Stafon's run where he sped down the sideline and cutback to the middle was exciting, and I also know Vidal's TD catch where he had to readjust and make a leaping grab was great as well, but none of them came against the 1st team defense.  The way Allen made Rey miss in the backfield and then turned it up a gear and sped past Kevin Ellison for a 30 yard gain was outstanding. 

• Overlooked Play of the Game:  Taylor Mays closing the gap on Allen Bradford
  
  • I've seen no mention of this play.  Allen took the handoff going left and made a great cut in the opposite direction that literally opened up an entire side of the field.  As he sped past the outside DE/LB, Taylor Mays came racing in, cut the angle, and took Allen down.  I think Allen gained less than 10 yards on that play, but it should have been a 15+ yard run.

• Most Embarrassing Play of the Game:  Ronald Johnson's Kick Return
  • So RoJo hesitates and drops the ball but luckily it doesn't get away from him.  He then runs laterally and shows nice burst up the middle and towards the sideline.  All that stood before RoJo and the end zone was Joe Houston and Thomas Williams (same team).  Instead of racing away from Joe by continuing up the sideline, he decides to cut back towards the middle of the field, which confuses Thomas Williams causing him to run right by Joe and he ends up being tackled.  If you didn't know already, Joe Houston is a KICKER. 

• Straight Beastin':  Sedrick Ellis
  
  • Did his usual job of clogging the middle, but what really impressed me was his ability to run down Allen Bradford and prevent him from turning up field.  You could see the two jawing at each other from the several run-ins.

• Other Random Thoughts:
  • Desmond Reed should be the punt returner.
  • I'm not sold on Vincent Joseph being the kick returner.  Yes, he averaged 20+ yards on his returns, but he also made several bad decisions (e.g. choosing to try and leap frog Cary Harris and nearly coughing up the ball in the process). 
  • Shareece Wright would have had the hit of the day, if he was allowed to hit the QB. 
  • At the moment, I think Josh Pinkard deserves to start over Taylor Mays.  He showed great coverage one-on-one. 

Overall, I came away impressed with the team.  I don't think we'll be as dominant as some people are claiming, but we are definitely NC caliber.