Game Analysis: Cody Kessler evaluates USC's loss to Michigan | The Victory Podcast with Keely Eure

[@trojansc]

GREAT GAME BREAKDOWN!! Cody knows his ****!!!!

[@sefetupemose]

Thank you K.E and C.K for understanding. The fact is Michigan is a good team, make no mistake about that but the Men of Troys need to leak their wounds and bounced back with authority. It's good to happen at the beginning instead of the end, now you can adjust things now to move forward. For fun fact, Michigan was using Pete Carroll's playbook, run , run, run. But I'm still a believer our Men of Troy will rise again!!! Fight ON!!! ✌✌✌✌✌ Let's Go Uso!!!

[@jayrod1980]

Gentry: 13 tackles (led the team), 3 TFL, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble plus the fumble recovery. He was around the ball almost every stop. He’s the best LB we’ve had in a long time, give him No.55!

[@fischook1238]

I agree ! Cody Kessler did an excellent Game Analysis in today's VIctory Podcast. Well done. I have read a lot of comments from the fans and people felt Michigan's offensive line got away with holding where those penalties were not called. I do not like to blame the referee myself, but how can you miss an obvious face mask penalty or the horse collar penalty. These were very obvious to everyone. And even the hit on Makai Lemon. He was on the ground hurt. Why did the referees not review that hit ? There were obvious missed calls. I watched the game on TV. These were very obvious and I really wonder why these penalties were not called ? I felt our players played their hearts out. You guys are winners in my books. You gave it 100 %. It's great for USC to be relevant nationally again. Fight On Cody's Dog Coda. ✌

[@EGD75]

The officiating wasn’t great but it wasn’t one-sided. USC got away with a clear PI or defensive holding that was highlighted on the broadcast, there was a third down USC jumped offside early and Michigan’s QB thought it was a free play and looked deep (then scrambled) but the offsides wasn’t called and basically cost Michigan a chance to extend that drive, USC’s offensive line was holding a ton in the second half and it wasn’t being called. I thought Michigan got away with a couple horse collar tackles but if the officials had called holding tighter on Michigan then they would’ve had to call it tighter on USC and it’s difficult to see Moss surviving the second half.

[@ritamarierothberg1390]

HI KEELY! Thanks for the shoutout! Yes we live in Florida (we do not have a home in California) and we do fly to every game! We loved watching Cody when he played for SC! Rest assured many of us enjoy your podcasts & I REALLY do learn SO much from you both!!! Great meeting you Keely

[@optimagroup11]

Love the show! FightOnFreddy

[@gsands2948]

It was gut wrenching to lose the game in that fashion. So many missed calls. Despite all of that, the team would have folded in the prior years but this team kept swinging and took the lead. That showed a lot and said a lot about the team and the coaching staff. They will grow from this. Hopefully the officiating is never that bad again. Fight On

[@Conquistador4564]

Cody, overall disappointed but proud of our team's effort. Our team must learn from this loss and get ready to win on Saturday! Fight On! Angel USC'78

[@billkramer2994]

Proud #11 gets physically beaten on both lines by #18!!!

[@bartwilloughby2909]

Cody Kessler for Offensive Coordinator ✌️

[@cirecomputers]

I have several takeaways after watching Saturday's loss at Michigan. 1) O-line has been exposed as not Great...again!. Henson needs to go. 2)Lincoln Riley's play calling in the first half was pretty bad. 3)Tackling, while much improved, still needs to be better.4)Roll out Moss when the O-line can't protect him! He can't scramble and he can't run....5)Zach Branch is overrated to this point. Why doesn't he want to run back the ball???and He's partially to blame for the pick 6 6)The refs sucked,( especially in key situations) but we still should have won.- I wrote this before I saw Cody's take..... and now that I've seen his take, we agree on many points. I totally agree that we DID NOT load the box on D. WTH is Lynn thinking? On the goal line stand, the right side of our D was porous where they were Obviously going to run to. We disagree on Henson being one of the best O-line coaches in the country. This is his second year at SC and still has not fixed the O-line problem. I like Cody's answer to this problem, I'd rather he be the O-line coach over Henson.✌✌

[@lornemattner1087]

Agreed. It was the second time Branch didn't come back to get the ball and he did have a few more return ops. He also had a drop, however I don't think he's been given enough good opportunities on offense.

[@BuzzinLiteYear]

Great break down. -WR room looked 45% - Oline has to step up - hard to hate on the Defense as they carried the game but that have to tackle

[@Diegocurt73]

Love USC’s progress. They are a much better team. Michigan is a running team and a very good team but we should’ve won that game. I think we were the better team all around but remember Michigan IS A GOOD TEAM! And to travel to a hostile environment, I think we did well.

[@beckmanchilds756]

Agreed man. I’m glad most fans who know, know. We will be okay and can still end up in the championship game lol. Penn state and Michigan have much tougher schedules

[@Conquistador4564]

Question for Cody: What about utilizing Jayden Maiava in the 4th quarter to run the ball to kill clock? Maybe we should have done this against Michigan in the 4th quarter with 4 minutes left in the game. Angel USC'78

[@beckmanchilds756]

Risky.

[@asianwoof]

I'm okay if calls are missed because they were hard to see. I'm not so forgiving when it's blatant in the open. ESPN's video of the Makai Lemon hit has in its video notes: "Makai Lemon is able to walk off the field under his own power after taking a helmet-to-helmet blindside hit." That's damning of the B1G refs. As a safety issue, this group of refs should be sidelined.

[@Jleed989]

Half of those refs were former pac 12

[@jayrod1980]

Make Gentry No.55!

[@guysmithson1835]

Paige was still in stance as Howard was on his shoulder going g to moss. Really bad

[@KenWesaw-up5wf]

Michigan's d - line is elite

[@johnwhite2576]

How go you miss a delay of play call? It’s not a judgement call - isn’t their an official monitoring delay of game and a timer or beep goes off?

[@philipcooper3330]

Question, was the pick six more on Miller or was Z Branch the intended receiver at fault. He ran a three step route, but faded coming out of it allowing Will Johnson to step up and have no one in-front of him. Shouldn’t Branch step back to the ball?

[@mozizsupposes]

TWO WEEKS TO PREPARE!

[@RJ_Focused]

USC has developed a troubling pattern of slow starts. Opposing offenses are consistently able to move the ball early and often, and this approach won't hold up against teams like Penn State, Nebraska, or Notre Dame. Additionally, the receivers coach needs to address the ongoing issue with dropped passes. The run game has become too predictable, with Lincoln relying heavily on inside zone runs. We need more variety and creativity in our play-calling. Lincoln is a good play caller but he is not the best.

[@heinzbaron9129]

UM was not going to be called for anything other than an intentional dirty hit on that day. A second loss here would have effectively ended UM's season, so the refs were purposefully permitting things which in any other game would have been called. SC was not good enough to overcome the slanted play calling.

[@LVraider67]

Lincoln did it to Lake throwing him the screen out in the flat like that was criminal throw that man the ball down the seam like you've been doing the first two games. He knew he was coming off a knee injury already and then put him in that position to get hurt

[@walterclarke382]

Is USC going to face a better dline on the rest of the schedule.

[@keroflobs]

Arguably Penn state will be pretty close and notre dames defense as a whole

[@oaktreet4335]

@@keroflobs No, those teams are not same league as Michigan. Two of Mich. DLs are projected first rounders

[@keroflobs]

@@oaktreet4335 that’s why I said notre dame as a whole in terms of defense not DL. Penn States edge rushing is better than michigans but Michigan does have a better DL duo obviously. Everyone knows graham and grant are going high in the draft

[@manguy-e1q]

no

[@oomagooma1107]

What is criminal here is that Riley wasted a tremendous 2nd half Trojan Defensive comeback in Michigan by not having a better game plan…and failing to execute simple late clock management…this was not the first time…Fight On!

[@Conquistador4564]

Football is a gladiator sport, but there are rules!!! Sportsmanship is central to college football! Dirty plays and fouls do not belong in our college game!

[@Jleed989]

Name one dirty play.

[@DuckyBent]

Why not call out the name of the LB who was late to the gap (Arnold) when you called out Paige, Humphrey and Ramsey? Treat all of them the same, their big boys, and if it’s warranted, highlight it so they’ll learn from it.

[@bolotriolo]

Arnold also missed the tackle on that long run before Humphrey missed, then on 4 and goal he didn’t fill the hole. Had a rough game for sure 🙂‍↔️

[@nwedge4]

There were a lot of missed calls on both sides of the ball. The Michigan calls were more egregious, more obvious, face masking all that kind of stuff. There was a lot of little stuff missed on the USC side. Not so obvious stuff like not lining up correctly on the line of scrimmage by tackles.

[@Jleed989]

Or the “fumble” that should have been ruled an incomplete pass

[@smedleybutler8787]

They should have measured that first down. That was disheartening for the players and it cost them a touchdown. Michigan might have three defensive players chosen in the top 10

[@Trojanmom06]

I was screaming that to the tv the entire time. Game changer for sure!!

[@haroldtate1322]

roll the pocket ,will we see kyle ford in the h-back position? if macree can't go?

[@bkmason57]

Everyone now has the blueprint to beat us. Rush your 2 edge guys right past our pudgy, chonky, slow to react, slow to adjust tackles, harass MM and he throws it into the dirt or at the back of someone's knees every time like Aaron Corp, and run the ball because WE STILL REFUSE TO TACKLE. 3 missed tackles on the 63-yard run ALONE. And who calls 2 idiotic pass plays when you have a 4 point lead and the ball with 4 minutes left? WHO? Expect 2-4 more losses. We stink. This is our 16th straight year of being COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT. And LR is making A MILLION DOLLARS A MONTH TO F*CK THIS UP?!?? UNREAL. Last 2 thoughts: what happened to all the people saying we would hang 50 on every team, and can we now FINALLY agree we aren't going 12-0? Oh and as a 15.5 point fave, doesn't that ENSURE we will be upset by Alex Grinch?!??

[@bartwilloughby2909]

Referee’s are experts at controlling or changing momentum in Games .

[@stevenross3600]

Saturday was disappointing and this failure is squarely at the feet of the coaches, I do not understand how Riley and Lynn with 2 weeks to prepare could not have schemed better than what we saw against UM. The fact that there was room to do so was proven by the second half performance which is what the plan should have been from the jump! Further, clock management by Riley remains an issue. At the end of last season there were calls to replace Hennson & Wiley along with the D staff, Wiley has done what was asked this season but this is the second year that our Oline has been average to poor....how can the remains of Helton's Oline be better in year one for Riley/Hennson than the last 2 seasons? My biggest concern going into the season was the Oline, including for this game, and once they had to play against a quality Dline they fell apart! This will return against other teams this season like PSU, ND and even Wisconsin. Think it's time to find a new Oline coach. Finally the receivers continue to drop balls they should not, including Branch who should not be in the WR rotation any longer except for special plays like jet sweeps. This was against a team that could not execute the forward pass and had a young unproven Oline, load the damn box! The second half D was good, but we need that for a full game and season. Riley needs to fix clock management, Oline and play calling. Now that I got that out, I feel better.......We had that game won and the last drive Riley had blew it How in the hell can you hold them to 6yds and no first downs in the second half until the final 2 minutes, and give up 190 in the first half.....other than coaches not being prepared. Plus go up 24-20 with 4min remaining with the ball and give it away!

[@bartwilloughby2909]

LR is a Texan , if you know what that means . 😤

[@Jaime-u5m]

@@bartwilloughby2909 Help my ignorance please, what does it mean?

[@elizabethberendt9451]

Are referees penalized for not calling face masks, blindside helmet to helmet and horse collar tackles? Not okay for referees to not make these calls- this puts players in danger when players that intentionally use such tactics see that they can get away with it. These players work so hard and put themselves out there on the field; heartbreaking to not see players protected by referees.

[@Jleed989]

Calls went against Michigan too. The “fumble” should have been an incomplete forward pass.

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

@Jleed989 Not to mention an offsides that wasn't called that ended a Michigan drive. Or the several false starts that simply weren't called on USC. There were at least 4 that were blatant, the OTs jumping early to get an edge on the Michigan Edges; obvious false starts SC got away with. There was a blatant PI where Moore (I think it was Freddy Moore) was held his entire route down the field; that no call ended a drive. And then the multiple obvious holds USCs OL got away with; a few against Graham and Grant were especially obvious. I get people want to point out bad officiating when it goes against their team. But to act like Michigan got the benefit of every whistle and that SC didn't benefit too is just false.

[@smedleybutler8787]

Michigan knew they had the refs on their side.

[@atrain132]

Yeah, especially all the defensive holding from the USC secondary that weren't called, and the holding on special team punt returns.

[@nwedge4]

Finally. That’s what a Rose Bowl feels like from a big ten perspective.

[@Jleed989]

Blaming the refs is so lame

[@nwedge4]

True

[@hrpickinstuff]

Moss just kept forcing the ball to Branch all game, he must've did had 10 targets most of any WR. Moss is at his best when he spreads the ball around. Z.Branch is at best a number 3 or 4 WR, not a go to 1st option on 3rd and 8. Blame Moss for not recognizing this. He needs to get the ball to the WR with the best hands on 3rd downs. Of the fab 4 WR group ( Lane, Robinson and Lemon) have better hands. I even trust Kyle Ford, and Jay Fair on 3rd down more. Georgia has a WR like Branch a speedster his hame is Arian Smith. He is used to stretch the field deep and catches 1-2 balls a game. He is their 4th option but dangerous. Branch should be used the same way, run full speed deep routs, he's going to beat his man at least once a game. I hate the way they try and dump the ball short to him. Make him beat his man deep. Then get the ball to him.

[@redsharpiemarker]

have really mixed feelings about this game. yes, its disappointing to lose to a predictable one dimensional team that most had us winning. but usc looked ELITE in that second half during the comeback. really strange game management by riley and bad officiating, not to mention a bad pick 6 and a 63 yard run on michigan’s last drive that was very preventable. just a really weird game. if USC ends up having the season i think they can, they’ll prob look back on this game as a bit of a fluke. this game was very uncharacteristic of lincoln riley

[@haroldtate1322]

cody it was the LB number 4 who whiffed on the long 4th quarter run he was right there he whiffed.😒😒😒

[@primafacie40]

Precisely Cody: Lincoln screwed up in that last series. He doesn’t know how to put a game away. Lincoln has no killer instinct like elite coaches do. This he’s not elite

[@Jaime-u5m]

Week after week riley has mismanaged clock and called bone head plays. The weak link among the coaches has been riley in my opinion. But hey, he's got media under control. But I understand you have a future in the business Cody. The officials were human garbage, bless their hearts!

[@johnwhite2576]

Cmon Cody talent wise Michigan has an A or A plus DL -usc has a c plus oline- mongers our only oline who would start for michigan

[@nwedge4]

(Michigan Fan) Michigan played in many Rose Bowl games with the disadvantage of travel and it always felt like the refs were paid in local currency. It didn't bother me a bit to feel like like it was finally a bit of payback. When rewatching the game, there was calls that went both ways. Sometimes the refs just screw one team. It's usually the away team. Go figure. Go Blue!

[@johnwhite2576]

Cody moss is unproven as a roll out qb that’s the problem.

[@Jleed989]

Like Charles Whites phantom touchdown. 1979 I think

[@Jon.A.Scholt]

@Jleed989 If the name Charles White ever gets mentioned in front of my dad he goes apoplectic. That phantom TD cost Bo a shot at a national championship.

[@gmccray55]

Why does Lincoln Riley offense run only shotgun. There is no under the center type packages throughout the game. Just shotgun from the first play to the last play, it’s just no variation in his formational play calling.

[@kenhart5986]

The biggest factor in the loss was very poor play calling. Then come the poor OL play. Next is the very bad referring.

[@oaktreet4335]

It was overwhemingly about the poor OL play

[@DB-xp9px]

this guy spent a lot of time indirectly blaming the officials for the loss. there were egregious missed calls that went in usc's favor as well but every fan base focuses only on the ones that hurt them

[@tomanderson8251]

Fair point. There was one point in the game that I thought to myself, we should have been flagged and that makes up for the call they missed the other way. Bad officiating leaves a bad taste for whoever loses the game. You know a game is well-called when we aren’t talking about it the next day.

[@Jleed989]

How about the “fumble” that should have been ruled an incomplete pass. That lead directly to an SC touchdown

[@DB-xp9px]

@@tomanderson8251 agreed. the best we can generally hope for is that the bad/missed calls even out over time.

[@DB-xp9px]

@@Jleed989 that was a big one.....plus at least once in the 1st half usc jumped offsides. the crowd reacted and our offense thought it was a free play but no flag was thrown.

[@popeyesailorman911]

Miller Moss panicked Zachariah Branch is Overrated. Maybe instead of Dancing in Practice He should be Focus DC D’Anton Lynn should’ve used 3 DT instead of 2 DT, USC gave up way too much size & weight to UM’s OL Miller Moss is a Sitting Duck, USC won’t go too far next year “if” Miller Moss decides to come back. USC knew they’re gonna Run UM said they’re gonna Run ✌️✌️

[@fivefour5514]

Branch is good, Riley doesn’t know how to use him that’s a lethal weapon. Riley needs to change his offense

[@hrpickinstuff]

​@fivefour5514 He doesn't have good hands. So he shouldn't be your number 1 WR option.

[@fivefour5514]

@@hrpickinstuff his hands are suspect but I want them to use him as a Percy harvin use him & his speed. Usc doesn’t have a TRUE #1 receiver I think the freshman from Utah coming next year will be the #1. Kyron Hudson is not a true 1 he’s possession receiver. Duce has potential if Riley can give him the ball.

[@fivefour5514]

@@hrpickinstuff he needs to stop playing so many guys it’s not working

[@cosmicatma17]

Branch leads the team in reception and yards. Reality over narrative 🙄

[@M_GoBlue]

You are biased that's the problem just learn how to stop the run you know it's coming

[@cosmicatma17]

Clearly so are you 😂

[@tycesumerall8718]

Lot excuses you lost

[@sportbikejesus]

Classy post. OTH post game analysis is how you learn from mistakes and get better. Enjoy the rest of your season.