Did Pete Carroll’s assistants leaving for new jobs have an impact on the team?

Don James: I didn’t think so but maybe it’s true.  Pete Carroll is the defensive coordinator.  The offense hasn’t changed, the coaches have changed.  Maybe with them coming in from Denver, they had a difficult time with it.  They weren’t very dynamic.  They don’t like to run the ball.  They will very seldom run the ball twice in a row.  They’re a great offensive team when it’s going.  This is the first time the quarterback and the receivers (they lost their best receiver) didn’t get it going.  They didn’t have other people to come in there.  I think that probably made a difference, a combination of things.  Not a good year.

Frank Kush: USC has the talent, but they just don’t have their act together offensively or defensively.  It seems like one of those internal problems where the coaches don’t know who to play.  We’ve got the same problem here at Arizona State.  We’ve gone through three quarterbacks and we still don’t know what we want to do.  It’s unfortunate because it’s affecting the team in general, psychologically in my opinion and certainly offensively here at Arizona State.

John Ralston: I feel the same way, I think Stanford is the best team in the Pac-10.

John Cooper: I was talking to the Ohio State coaches and they still think USC was the best team they’ve played all year for what it’s worth.

Robinson: I think a number of things worked against them.  They’ve had a change in the coaching staff and that got them off a little bit.  Their overall squad isn’t as fast as it used to be.  You don’t get a sense of that speed.  You look at some of these teams and say “Wow, they’re fast” and you just don’t say that about USC this year.  They’re good, they’re physical and all that, but that never happened.  They got caught up early too in the quarterback thing.  They were going with the freshman starter and than he got hurt.  It seemed like it used up all their attention and the rest of the team didn’t come along.  They didn’t do well.  You’ve got to have some perspective.  They’ve been champions seven year in a row in the Pac-10 and contending to be national champions so this is an aberration in that regard.  I don’t think there is dissension or discontentment.  They just aren’t doing it.  John Ralston made the point that Stanford is really good.  Maybe the rest of the Pac10 has come up and is not afraid of them.

Jim Harbaugh is a guy who says, “I’m not afraid of you, I’m going to kick your ass,” and he did.

And then there’s Oregon.  No one wants to play Oregon.  They’re like Georgia Tech.  You just don’t want to play those guys that are crazy.  They run all over the damn place and you don’t know where the ball is.  A lot of things have conspired against USC, but there’s no falling off the mountain.  They may have slipped down from the top, but they’ve got their hiking boots on and they’ll get their ass back up there.

Terry Donahue: I think one of the things to me that has been the most interesting about USC over the last couple of years is that they have kind of moved away from the really hard, physical running game USC traditionally has always had.  It was one of those things they always had.  They would pound on you with good backs and really good offensive linemen.  It doesn’t seem like that philosophy is ingrained at USC any longer.  It seems that they’ve gotten away from that and it seems to me they’ve become so reliant on the quarterback position to play.  They’ve had Heisman Trophy winners and first round picks at quarterback and they’ve been really good in the past.  But still in terms of leading with the run and countering with the pass, I think they do more of the opposite now.  When you have a young quarterback who makes a few mistakes things can blow up on you.

Ralston: Stanford’s red-shirt freshman quarterback has come on strong.   A guy who is a red-shirt freshman playing with the varsity you would expect not to be very good, but he’ll keep Stanford up there as long as he’s there.  We keep talking about their running back but their quarterback is as good as anybody.

It has been that kind of November.

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	Legends Poll
November 16, 2009 – Week 11

Just barely.

The Tide received nine first-place votes to Florida’s eight ….

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	Legends Poll
October 19, 2009 – Week 7

Bill Mallory – Parity is spreading. More teams are stepping up.

Don Nehlen – Nobody can really explain it. Florida, Texas and Alabama are on top. Everybody else is at a lower level.

Fisher DeBerry – Parity that the average fan doesn’t see.

John Ralston – Underdogs are getting more motivated every week.

2. Most pleasant surprise team this past weekend?

Bill Mallory – Oregon really stepped up and played lights out against Cal.

Don Nehlen – South Florida looked awfully good in completely demolishing Florida State, especially with a freshman quarterback.

Fisher DeBerry – Oregon was a big surprise to me.

John Ralston – Mississippi State could have won that game with LSU. They are really improved

3. Most disappointing team this past weekend?

Bill Mallory – Penn State. I thought they would be the best team in the Big Ten this year.

Don Nehlen – Florida State. A yo-yo team.

Fisher DeBerry – Ole Miss. It looks like they were overrated big time.

John Ralston – Cal. Oregon stopped Best. Cal couldn’t run at all.

4. Who do you like better right now – USC or Cal? (The two play this weekend)

Bill Mallory – USC – the quarterback is improving.

Don Nehlen – I’m going out on a limb. I’ll take Cal.

Fisher DeBerry – USC, no question.

5. Who do you like better – Penn State or Ohio State?

Bill Mallory – Ohio State – their defense is real good and Pryor is getting better.

Don Nehlen – Ohio State – they’re better up front.

Fisher DeBerry – Ohio State – although neither has beaten any great competition.

6. Is VA Tech the class of the ACC?

Bill Mallory – yes, they just locked their jaws and took Miami apart.

Don Nehlen – it looks like it. The rest of the league looks mediocre or poor.

Fisher DeBerry – no question.

7. What do you make of the job Brian Kelly is doing at Cincinnati?

Bill Mallory – he’s a good football coach. He’s gotten some good athletes there; they’re a big strong physical team.

Don Nehlen – he’s doing a great job – especially in recruiting.

8. Who do you like to win Miami vs Oklahoma?

Bill Mallory – Oklahoma. They’re playing pretty well, even with the new quarterback.

Don Nehlen – Oklahoma should win if Miami’s injured players are not back; otherwise it’s a real tussle.

And Then?

“Everybody else is on a lower level,” former West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen said.

Another wild weekend brought a shakeup Sunday in the second Legends Poll of the fall. Boise State cracked the top five, Cal tumbled 18 spots…

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	Legends Poll
September 28, 2009 – Week 4

Click here to view > Ex-SJSU coach Ralston tried for NU job