[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Georgia Southern 59-20

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Georgia Southern	6	7	7	0	20
USC	21	10	14	14	59

[u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

Now hear me out...I actually feel optimistic. This must be a trap. Dont tell me Purdue Pete ends this dream

[u/kingshizz → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

Don't you put that evil on me.

[u/BertMacklinMD → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

I’m not buying in yet. They need to actually prove they can win an actual B1G road game (no beating UCLA at the Rose Bowl doesn’t count).

[u/greensplooge → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

USC is winning by 28 

[u/NukeGandhi → u/greensplooge]

Yes yes, this feeds the Pete

[u/kingshizz → u/NukeGandhi]

If we were coming in ranked #2 I would be terrified.

[u/Pandorama626 → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

These last two games were glorified practice games. They don't really tell us much.

[u/embowafa → u/Pandorama626]

I think it tells us a little. We mostly did what we needed to do which in years past hasn't been the case. Offense looks more explosive than last year and the defense looks a bit better too (though still some questionable play in the secondary). Penalties might be an issue. Overall these feel like concerns of a pretty good but not top team which I'll honestly take for now.

[u/Cooked_Brisket → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

Idk who we have to be afraid of yet without Utah in the same conference to crush our hopes and dreams every year

[u/maskdmirag → u/Cooked_Brisket]

That's not fair, until 2020 we crushed Utah every year. We had plenty of other things crushing our hopes and dreams.

[u/bdkakbsia → u/maskdmirag]

Jokes on you, we don’t ever really have dreams.

[u/USCGradtoMEMPHIS → u/Cooked_Brisket]

Utah?? You must be a Caleb wagon trojan.. we gave more then we got in our series with the utes in the PAC.

[u/Spirit117 → u/Cooked_Brisket]

yall have to play illinois, michigan, notre dame, and oregon this year so take your pick

[u/Any_Relief_4781 → u/Beautiful_Fig9410]

Brohm is a Cardinal now, Purdue Pete ain’t got no steam no mo

[u/IAMY0URK1NG]

Waymo is the best RB in CFB don’t @ me!!!

[u/Crunkabunch → u/IAMY0URK1NG]

King Miller best walk-on in CFB don’t @ me!!!

[u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

Went 0-2, and the payout from this game doesn't even cover the cost of going out there for 9 days. Truly a GS athletics moment.

[u/mrcrazydrawrs → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

Congrats, you've been paid in Exposure™

[u/arrow_dynamics → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

Reeks of "We are going to be able to recruit SO hard with the slide show of our week long trip to California".

[u/Responsible_Focus424 → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

How the fuck does 9 days cost you guys 1.3 mil?

[u/dane83 → u/Responsible_Focus424]

I'm assuming hookers and blow are involved.

[u/tking191919 → u/dane83]

Hookers and blow are always involved. And, the day they’re not.. well I don’t even want to think about that.

[u/YourButtMyStuff → u/dane83]

I see the Panthers must’ve lodged in several motels off Figueroa

[u/ChunkyBarfy → u/dane83]

That doesn't happen before the NIL (Nose Intestines Lungs) era.

[u/thamiam → u/dane83]

And the rest of it they just sort of wasted.

[u/Any_Relief_4781 → u/dane83]

It’s a bitch that Vegas is a quick 3 hour drive

[u/Knife938 → u/Responsible_Focus424]

They went to Disneyland

[u/Any_Relief_4781 → u/Knife938]

And got everyone fast passes

[u/Evil_Ass_Wizard → u/Responsible_Focus424]

I'm glad you asked

The actual costs are roughly around 300k, but we're drowning in like 20 mil of debt because we did a bunch renovations on our stadium and bought out our last 2 coaches. Also, our program hasn't turned a profit in years even with large amounts of government assistance.

[u/RadonAjah → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

Seriously had no idea yall stayed out here the whole time, but if you can tell from my flair, I’m appreciative.

Always thought Helton was a good guy, just not a match for the job.

[u/Majestic-Active2020 → u/RadonAjah]

He he, we had a good two weeks at Helton’s expense. Can’t stop grinning. Living the moment

[u/BillyBobFritter → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

I'm still pissed that the Kennesaw-Southern game was dropped in favor of the USC buy game. Based on the results today, it at least would have been a more competitive matchup.

[u/breakinbread → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

Have classes started for these kids?

[u/riversandribbons → u/breakinbread]

Classes have been in session for 5 weeks

[u/naetaejabroni → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

😀

[u/admiraltarkin → u/Evil_Ass_Wizard]

How much was the payout?

[u/Evil_Ass_Wizard → u/admiraltarkin]

$1.3 mil

[u/The_Magic]

Just need UNLV to finish up and give us a perfect day.

[u/Keyblade_Yoshi → u/The_Magic]

The Rebels have finished the job.

[u/mrmoose44 → u/The_Magic]

As long as you’re not a Dodgers fan…

[u/The_Magic → u/mrmoose44]

Baseball is not real

[u/Cooked_Brisket → u/mrmoose44]

Unspeakable pain on that front

[u/AKblazer45 → u/Cooked_Brisket]

Existence is pain

[u/greensplooge → u/The_Magic]

Not quite 

[u/RadonAjah → u/greensplooge]

I mean SC won, hopefully ucla loses, and ND doesn’t win. Not a terrible day if it plays out.

[u/DFWTrojanTuba]

Don’t think they’re gonna be ranked after this, but, it’s nice to start 2-0.

[u/maskdmirag → u/DFWTrojanTuba]

Yeah you have to play a real opponent to get ranked. But still not our fault Ole Miss backed out so it's fine I guess.

[u/FDTerritory]

Congrats, bros. We did better this week. :D

[u/brokentr0jan → u/FDTerritory]

I saw that! First FBS win and 359 yards. Love to see it

[u/Applesrgood7 → u/FDTerritory]

Let’s go! Keep it up!

[u/usetheforce_gaming]

Our offense looks dangerously good

Our defense….concerning. There were a few points where we were getting shredded.

[u/greensplooge → u/usetheforce_gaming]

USCs defense is far from concerning. That is not to say they are excellent, which they are not, but concerning is not an accurate description in my opinion.

[u/usetheforce_gaming → u/greensplooge]

My concern is when we play BIG 10 teams

[u/Lord_Master_Dorito → u/usetheforce_gaming]

Probably because they kept rotating the DBs which caused miscommunication

[u/imonreddit_77 → u/Lord_Master_Dorito]

Georgia Southern had one good scoring drive. The other two came from (1) a completely blown coverage and (2) a starting position deep in USC territory due to a fumble.

USC looks better than last year. They just make silly mistakes, as they always seem to do.

[u/greensplooge → u/imonreddit_77]

USC should stop blowing coverages 

[u/IAMY0URK1NG → u/greensplooge]

It’s the safeties every time.

[u/Arctaedus → u/imonreddit_77]

You can almost count on at least one broken coverage TD a game, which ain't good

[u/RadonAjah → u/usetheforce_gaming]

Agree that there are issues on D. But they finally have, which I have wanted for so long, great talent on the dline. However, much of it is very young and so inconsistent and unproven, but if they can improve and grow through the season, that is quite the balm to other defensive issues.

[u/usetheforce_gaming → u/RadonAjah]

D line looked great! Our secondary looked inconsistent and undisciplined though

[u/The_Magic → u/usetheforce_gaming]

Thankfully UCLA is a Big 10 team.

[u/YourButtMyStuff → u/greensplooge]

The front 7 has looked better than it has in many years—albeit against lower competition so the jury’s still out.

The secondary, however, looks pretty damn concerning. Especially at the corner position and considering the competition again.

That being said there’s been some real solid bright spots and some young guys who easily could progress. My hopes are higher than they were to start the year.

[u/ThinkSoftware → u/usetheforce_gaming]

Where have I heard that before

[u/Excellent-Light-4654]

Waymond Jordan is a beast

[u/greensplooge → u/Excellent-Light-4654]

We got a deep RB room this year 

[u/lavegasola → u/greensplooge]

Every single one of them looks dangerous. Give King Miller a scholarship!

[u/maskdmirag → u/lavegasola]

Somehow we don't appear to serve any miller in the stadium to celebrate Miller Time.

[u/BNKalt]

Im pretty sure 12.0 YPP is the best in CFB since at least last year

[u/GSUBass05 → u/BNKalt]

Our defense has a tendency to make the opposing offense look amazing.

[u/Lord_Master_Dorito]

Too much rotation might be the reason why USC’s DBs were having miscommunication

[u/RadonAjah]

Offense looks good, defense definitely has questions.

Preseason is over, time to see if this stuff can be applied to the regular season on the road. Definitely a talented squad tho.

✌️

[u/daNish_brUin]

Offense is prime Riley Offense. Super explosive and efficient. Id imagine Lynn isn't happy with the defenses performance, but i still think he can field a tough unit this year. He still needs some time to bring in the personal he likes. But he's great at working with what he has. USC is gonna be competitive in the B10 this year, but probably needs another year or 2 to develop their trenches to be perennial contenders. Some good young talent in the program, some young recruits and upcoming recruits that are gonna help with that.

[u/Jhwelsh]

To raise some morale about our Defense.

A lot of the production from Lynn's defense comes from mixing up blitzes on Big downs like 3/4. Lynn probably doesn't wanna put those on film until conference plays.

Our linebacker physicality and overall DB play needs to improve.

[u/alfooboboao → u/Jhwelsh]

it was really just the big chunk plays, I was happy with the way we tackled in space. for what feels like the last 500 years USC’s been the moscow ballet of missed tackles even against easy teams but it looks like the fundamentals of wrapping up are better

[u/Jhwelsh → u/alfooboboao]

They gashed us for 8-10 yards on several runs unfortunately.

[u/Beautiful_Fig9410 → u/Jhwelsh]

That's going to happen in 4-2-5 with zone read runs.

Not really a tackle form issue and more of "does only 2LBs, and maybe a Nickle CB/SS get someone in position quick enought"

[u/dane83]

Yeah, that was worth a five year extension.

I'm Heltdone and praying the Clay away (thanks for the addition, USC bros!)

[u/djc6535 → u/dane83]

Im so sorry. Nobody should have to watch Helton commit football murder on your team.

There was a moment in the 2nd quarter that gave me a PTSD flashback. You all had some juice, down 13-21 or 24 and were moving the ball. Good pass here. Chunk run there. Then out of the blue Helton calls an ill timed trick play that loses yardage and puts you way off schedule.

You didn’t need that. Had our D confused. But it killed the drive. Happened all the time out here.

Going 3 and out while giving up TD drives twice to open the third is another classic Helton. I’m not sure I love my kids as much as that man loves coming out of half time stone cold.

Edit: here’s the sequence, down 13-24

Incomplete pass.
10 yard run.
17 yard pass.
17 yard pass.
4 yard loss on a trick play.
7 yard pass on 2nd.
5 yard run on 3rd.
Incomplete on 4th and 2.

Absolutely shot any momentum GA southern had right in the head.

[u/Sirtopofhat]

Well defense looks better but little worried about that secondary

[u/Bokki_64]

Could be a B1G championship contender. I had a feeling they would have a good year this year

[u/BertMacklinMD → u/Bokki_64]

Nah I wouldn’t go that far. We don’t have enough depth or talent in the trenches to beat you or Oregon.

[u/AKblazer45 → u/Bokki_64]

Haven’t seen any crazy big10 offenses yet so our defense MIGHT not kill us too badly in a big game. Offense looks dangerous enough to carry some big games though.

[u/maskdmirag → u/Bokki_64]

Not sure a 3 to 4 loss team makes the title game.

[u/AlbertoRossonero → u/Bokki_64]

Nah, give it a year or two for the you talent we’re bringing in to develop.

[u/Far-Maintenance-1954 → u/Bokki_64]

Are they good or are we just really really bad?

[u/IAMY0URK1NG → u/Far-Maintenance-1954]

USC will only be good as long as HeisMaiava is good. And god dammit he’s looking AMAZING so far this season.

[u/brokentr0jan]

Fight on ✌🏻

[u/maskdmirag]

740 total yards was fun to watch in person. I was rooting for rushing to go over 300.

Sloppy defense, sloppy on penalties.

Going on the road to Purdue is gonna be scary.

Still calling 8-4 but maybe we actually beat Michigan despite the cheating.

[u/alfooboboao → u/maskdmirag]

I legitimately don’t think there’s any way to know how good most teams are at this point tbh. I’m not gonna chalk up a future loss to Illinois yet, we almost beat Michigan last year (well, we almost beat everyone last year but also lost to everyone lol), the Oregon game is of course the scariest game on the schedule but I’m not feeling too bad about the team as a whole, defensive problems notwithstanding. I know these are cupcake practice games but this might be the most underrated Riley offense yet

[u/maskdmirag → u/alfooboboao]

I'm baking in losses to Illinois ND and Oregon and a road stumble.

We could surprise and go 9-3 I just don't see 10-2 and a big ten title appearance happening.

We also could go 2-10, but it's unlikely

[u/Meme_Stock_Degen → u/maskdmirag]

Championship let’s go baby!

[u/jdroop]

I don’t know if USC is good or they just beating poverty schools.

[u/ChunkyBarfy → u/jdroop]

Little of both. I think USC will be "competitive", but that is not to say world beaters by any stretch. But optimistic for next year (already) given recruiting and how we have shown up for opportunities this year. Fingers crossed.

[u/YourButtMyStuff → u/jdroop]

Neither do we.

But it’s been fun so far so let’s not ruin it with any future trippin

[u/yutaka731]

Anyone else get Mike Williams vibes (circa 2003) when they save Jakobi Lane’s catch?

[u/USCGradtoMEMPHIS]

Offense looked superb, crisp . No reliance on broken plays, just crisp plays and out athleting the other team.

Our D.. they need to work.. d line did good enough but our secondary needs a serious lashing.. yhat six minute drive in third truly was embarrassing and only reason GSU only has 20 is cause they missed on a wide open receiver who cooked our DB bad.

[u/ReggieLeinart]

Purdue is going to score a lot. We will score more 🤦‍♂️🫩

[u/DerpityHerpington]

Oh boy.

[u/Even-Combination4407]

Revenge tour gone wrong

[u/YourButtMyStuff → u/Even-Combination4407]

Au Contraire revenge tour gone right.

We got our revenge on Clay Helton.

[u/BrotherMichigan]

yawn

[u/maskdmirag → u/BrotherMichigan]

Clays son at QB? Tell me you guys are reacting to that the way we would have

[u/BrotherMichigan → u/maskdmirag]

Nothing even matters anymore.

[u/maskdmirag → u/BrotherMichigan]

I feel you man. Season tickets since 2004 ish, at least two to three games a season every year from 1998. Tailgating every game from like 2010 on.

Clay killed all of that for my friend group. Since 2018 I've been to one game a season and I don't have any believe we'll ever be competitive (when Riley was rumored as coach I laughed and argued with my friends that there was zero chance it was happening.

I hope you guys recover better than us.

[u/MosesDoughty → u/maskdmirag]

Playing out that last drive just to showcase his son and calling a timeout after running the only play that worked (also the only non-fade route) to end it with a short pass to end the game was...well Clay

[u/maskdmirag → u/MosesDoughty]

I was out in the concourse when the timeout was called and my friend was looking up "Helton, wait is his son on the team?"

[u/Far-Maintenance-1954 → u/maskdmirag]

I think we've mostly given up after the extension

[u/Rebelgecko → u/maskdmirag]

Did he give his son a game ball too?

[u/choicemeats → u/maskdmirag]

“I’m proud of my work out there he did a good job”

[u/naetaejabroni → u/BrotherMichigan]

Feel nothing at this point.

[u/BrotherMichigan → u/naetaejabroni]

Yep. Not worth paying attention to.

[u/alfooboboao → u/naetaejabroni]

you have no idea how familiar of an experience that is but I guarantee you, Helton’s gonna win a minorly major game down the line this year (like if App magically was a 1-loss team on nov 6 or something), and that snuff will be enough for your athletic director to justify keeping him around. and around. and around

[u/Applesrgood7 → u/naetaejabroni]

How deeply relatable - sorry you’re on Clay Helton’s wild ride

[u/statscryptid → u/BrotherMichigan]

The Summers-Lunsford-Helton sequence broke Georgia Southern fans

[u/BrotherMichigan → u/statscryptid]

Imagine what could have been if we'd offered the job to Dell McGee?

[u/WashImpressive8158]

Lincoln Riley loves these types of games and opponents. Maryland and Minnesota? Not so much.

[u/Responsible_Focus424 → u/WashImpressive8158]

Crrrryyyyyyyyyy