Things aren't going well in Troy, folks.
After Alabama scrubbed Southern California opening week in Dallas, Trojan defensive tackle Stevie Tu’ikolovatu told the Los Angeles Daily News his team was undergoing more serious preparation for its Week 3 matchup with the Stanford Cardinal than it did the Tide:
“This is our redemption game. The players are taking this game a lot more serious, knowing we are beatable. It was a big stage (against) Alabama. Maybe some of our guys mindsets weren’t there.”
Stanford topped USC in the Coliseum, 27-10. The loss dropped USC coach Clay Helton to 1-2 in his first three games as head coach and 7-6 overall including his two interim stints.
Worse yet, rumors swirled over the weekend that USC freshman offensive lineman E.J. Price left the program because he punched Helton. In what may be rock bottom for the program, Helton was forced to deny the rumors during his weekly press conference. Not before noting he found this all to be funny, however.
From nfl.com:
"I'm a big social media guy, but I got told today about E.J. Price hitting me, which is funny. I wouldn't be here. I'd be dead, one," Helton said during a press conference on Tuesday. "Maybe it'd make my face look better. I know a lot of times when a man doesn't show up on the field, there are questions. I talked to E.J. a couple days ago. E.J. has some personal family issues, a lot of homesickness and missing family really bad. With us sitting down and visiting, really felt mutually it was important to go find a school closer to home where he can deal with his family."
The Trojans head to Salt Lake City Saturday to play the Utah Utes, which should be an adventure. They still have to play Oregon, at Washington, "at" UCLA, and Notre Dame, too.
Consider the odds of Helton coaching in 2017 as "not good." Backchannel feelers have probably already reached out to Tom Herman's agent.
