Checking out college football on the West Coast. This is Get Off My Pylon,
a look at the PAC twelve and more, part of the College Gridiron
Coast to Coast podcast Network. Here's your host, Matt Zimon. Welcome to
to Get Off My polar on college football podcast, part of the College Gridiron
Coast to Coast podcast Network. This is your host, Matt Zeig ding Dong,
The Wicked Grinch. The Wicked Grinch ding Dong, the Wicked Grinch is
well not dead, but his tenure at USC is over. Alex Grinch getting
fired. That's the big story of the week in PAC twelve football and our
survey of western college football in the United States. The ride is finally over.
And so you know, a lot of people have fought, and let's
just get right into this. Before we talk about the unbeaten Washington Huskies and
the ascendant Fresno State Bulldogs other stories in the West on this edition of the
Get Off My Pylon College Football Podcast. Before we get to other teams and
other games, let's let's deal with Grinch up close. One of the long
term criticisms about Lincoln Ry. I'm not here to say that it's valid or
invalid but just the idea that Lincoln Riley will never win a national championship.
Okay, it was predicated to a considerable extent, not fully, you know,
because this is more than just a Grinch thing, and we'll talk about
that in the next few minutes. But a lot of it was based on
the belief that he'll never fire Alex Grinch. They're married, they're joined at
the hip there. They're never going to let each other go. Lincoln's never
going to let his boy Alex Grinch go. A lot of USC fans and
a lot of Oklahoma fans thought he's not going to cut bait. He's not
actually gonna do that. He's not serious about winning. Well, you know,
everything has its limits, right, I mean, even the most commit
relationship, even the most committed professional workplace association. If things get to a
point where, you know, you have people just out and out laughing at
USC, and you also have scenes such as Caleb Williams sobbing behind a cover,
you know, with his parents because of this ruined season and coming back
as the Heisman Trophy winner, wanting to win a Pac twelve title, wanting
to win a national championship, wanting to make the College Football Playoff. I
mean, obviously the playoff and the national title were already done, but this
game cemented that USC is not going to be playing in the PAC twelve championship
game. So the seasons of failure, USC is going to play in the
Las Vegas Bowl, maybe the Sun Bowl. Caleb Williams did not come back
to USC this season for that, and that that was the That was the
outpouring of emotion that you know, this season is a failure. You can't
window dress it, you can't spin it any other way. And that was
the frustration of failure for Kleb Williams, who you know, technically he has
to own the failure because USC lost the game. But of course he played
a great game. It was it was, all things considered, his best
game of the year, you know, playing well against Stanford, playing well
against Nevada, who cares, But this was this was a spotlight game.
A lot of NFL executives, scouts ron hand Caleb Williams was awesome. Now,
he wasn't perfect. Committed a fumble and he also took a sack that
took USC out of field goal range, and those plays definitely mattered. But
in many ways, that underscores the point that Caleb Williams had to do things
by himself for so much of his USC tenure and he had to be perfect
in some cases for USC to win. This is yet another game in which
USC has scored at least forty two points with Caleb Williams at quarterback, and
USC didn't win. You know, lost forty three forty two to Utah a
year ago, lost forty six forty five to Tulaine in the Cotton Bowl,
and now another game in which USC scores at least forty two points and doesn't
walk off the field a winner. And so in so many ways, Alex
Grinch failed Caleb Williams. And that was part of the that was part of
the reality that Lincoln Riley had to absorb after that Washington game that by choosing
to retain Alex Grinch, Lincoln Riley, not just Alex Grinch, failed Caleb
Williams. And you know, Lincoln Riley felt the weight of that reality.
That's why he fired Alex Grinch as much as he had. He is loyal
to Alex Grinch. You know, when things reach a certain level, you
simply have to cut bait. And let's keep in mind USC It's twenty twenty
four recruiting class very little activity since the fourth of July weekend, and it
really did seem that a lot of recruits, especially on the defensive side of
the ball, across the country, but including in Southern California, they wanted
to wait. They wanted to wait to see if Alex Grinch could improve the
USC defense this year. And if not, why would you go to USC
and be coached by Alex Grinch. If you're a defensive stud no matter what
position you are on the field, why go to USC. Indeed, players
needed to see proof of concept and they did not get it. Like in
kingston Ville, Yammuasa, a decorated linebacker from Saint John Bosco, one of
those Southern California high school powerhouses. He chose Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame.
And you know, if you're a defensive star, you would play defense for
Marcus Freeman and Order Dame because he understands defense. He doesn't understand offense,
that's a different story, but he does understand defense. So if you're a
defensive star, you go to Notre Dame. If you're an offensive star,
you go to USC, or you also go to Ohio State. So like
you know, kids can put two and two together. These high school prospects
know what's up, and so the idea that Alex Grinch could could have been
retained for twenty twenty four. Like I personally think that died with the Utah
game. But then giving up forty nine points to cal that only affirmed things
even more. And then giving up fifty two to Washington the final nail in
the coffin. The Huskies got over two hundred yards rushing before contact without a
ball carrier being touched by a USC defender. It was that bad. Washington
could just pitch the ball left right, it didn't matter. Just a simple
pitch play, a simple toss to one side of the field, and USC
was nowhere close to making tackles, nowhere close to being in position to make
plays. It was that easy for Washington. You know, these were not
wildly common complicated plays. Now Lincoln Riley, he had to dial up some
complicated plays to score at times against Washington. There was a jet sweet flea
flicker, an amazing trick play. Zachariah Branch takes a jet sweet handoff,
goes to the left side. He then reverses his field. You know,
he's near the numbers, and then he reverses his field. Instead of going
toward the sideline towards the boundary, he reverses his field, cuts back inside,
and flips the ball to Caleb on a flea flicker. Washington's defense naturally
abandons receiver USC receiver Tage Washington up the left sideline, Caleb Williams has an
easy throw for a touchdown. Like Lincoln Riley went deep into his playbook to
score against Washington, Washington did not have to go that deep into its playbook
to put forty to put fifty two points on USC. So it just became
way too clear, way too obvious. It's just week after week after week
Utah cal Washington, just the humiliation, the horrible results. They piled up
way too much for Lincoln Riley to keep Alex Grinch. He had to cut
bait now rather than at the end of the season to reduce recruiting losses.
And it's interesting USC had a defensive back for the twenty twenty six class,
not twenty twenty four. But nevertheless, a twenty twenty six defensive back committed
to USC minutes minutes less than an hour minutes after Alex Grinch was fired on
Sunday afternoon. So that underscored why USC and Lincoln Riley needed to do what
they did. The idea that Lincoln Riley would never ever ever fire out ex
Scrinch, you know, it just didn't hold water because the situation had just
become plainly way too untenable. And you know, Lincoln Riley is an adult
and he's he's only forty years old. You know, he's been at this
for several years as a head coach. He's been a a coach for a
decade. You know, he's young, but but but he's had experience in
the industry. I mean, he can put two and two together. And
so you know, he finally made this decision and now we arrive at the
biggest choice of Lincoln Riley's USC career. And obviously athletic director Jen Cohen at
USC is going to collaborate with him on this. But Lincoln Riley needs to
be serious about his defensive coordinator. He needs to get a big time home
run hitter for his USC team. He can't settle for average, can't settle
for slightly above average. He needs to go get a big time guy,
and we're going to see what Lincoln Riley values. There's only one other thing
to be said. I'm not going to take you through all the ins and
outs of the defensive coordinator search. That's something we can visit at a future
point in time. But I would only say this when USC, Lincoln Riley,
and Jen Cohen interview defensive cour ordinator candidates, those defensive coordinator candidates are
almost certainly going to say, Hey, you know your strength coach Benny Wiley.
He doesn't seem to be creating tough, strong, physical players. I
don't want to work for you, Lincoln Riley if Benny Wiley is still strength
coach, and so that is the other piece of the puzzle at USC.
It's not just a Grinch problem. You know. Riley owns this problem because
he retained to Grinch. Riley also owns this problem because he has retained to
this point Benny Wiley as his strength coach despite less than great results. And
so in the process of this defensive coordinator search, it might become apparent to
Lincoln Riley that he also has to fire strength coach Benny Wiley. That,
in my view, is another thing that USC needs to do in order to
truly make over the program, in order to truly transform the toughness of this
team, which has been a soft team throughout the twenty twenty three season.
Even the one game where the defense was okay against Notre Dame, the offensive
line got absolutely blasted by Notre Dame's front seven. So in every game you've
seen at least one of the two USC lines, it's usually been the defensive
line. But in the games where the defensive line has been okay, the
offensive line has been less than great. So to some extent, USC has
been soft as tissue paper in every game this season against at least against half
decent opponents such as Arizona, such as Notre Dame, Utah now Washington.
So that is something to look for that USC can't be content just with replacing
defensive coordinators, replacing the strength coach, or at least Lincoln Riley amending the
way he practices, the way he trains his players, the way he oversees
a program that's going to need to change. Any good defensive coordinator candidate is
going to grill Lincoln Riley on those kinds of items. That is part of
the equation at USC all right now. This podcast to get off my Pilon
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football for the right value. All right, so you've dealt with the USC
coaching situation. Now let's flip it to the team that beat USC, the
Washington Huskies. And you know, Michael Pennix was supposed to feast on an
Alex Grinch defense. So, like, I don't know how much credit we
we should give him for doing what you know, any really good quarterback ought
to be doing. But I will say this that third and eighteen scramble in
the first half, third and eighteen, he rolls to his left near the
sideline, throws a dart into you know, like the receiver wasn't wide open,
but like he had a little bit of space. Nevertheless, that was
a really big time NFL throw by Michael Pennix. And you know, if
his Heisman candidacy wobbled thanks to his very poor showing against Arizona State a few
weeks ago, you know, he got that back on track. And Michael
Pennox and bow Knicks of Oregon, you could certainly make an argument that they're
one to two in the Heisman race. And you know, they Washington and
Oregon. They might have a rematch on Friday, December first in the Pac
twelve Championship game, and that could basically be not only your Pac twelve championship
game, but your Heisman Trophy championship game. It could be one versus two
in the Pac twelve and in the Heisman race. Certainly, that is the
gravitational center of the Heisman Trophy competition as it stands right now, It's gonna
be very fascinating to watch in these last few weeks of the REGULARUS season.
Washington being unbeaten gives Pennix a little bit of margin that. You know,
if the Huskies lose O's a regular season game, but then beat Oregon in
the Pactreal Championship game, you would think Pennick still has the edge over Knicks.
But ultimately, if Oregon is able to win out a vengeance lost to
Washington and finished twelve and one, you would probably have to say Bonix would
have the inside track. And there's another really interesting part of the Heisman debate.
I know it's not Western college football, but it's part of a debate
involving Western players Penix and Knicks. Marvin Harrison, the fabulous receiver for Ohio
State, he doesn't have nearly the numbers of you know, like Devonte Smith
did that at Alabama in twenty twenty when Smith won the Heisman Trophy, the
most recent wide receiver to do it. But even though he doesn't have the
numbers, he's usually the best player on the field in the games that he
plays. He doesn't have the numbers because Kyle McCord of Ohio State is not
an elite quarterback. He's a freshman who's been going through growing pains this season.
Or how State's been winning its high profile games by scores of twenty to
six and twenty four to ten. How State's been winning with its defense more
than its offense. Ohio State's opponents, you know, can't generate any offense
whatsoever. But nevertheless, Marvin Harrison is this absolute stud. But it does
bring up the point, do you have to have a certain level of statistical
production to win the Heisman or can you just be the best player on the
field with an eye test. I think most people would probably say you have
to have a certain level of statistical heft in addition to the eye test to
be a Heisman Trophy winner. But it remains to be seen, Like what
if Marvin Harrison has a great game against Michigan later this season, could he
get in the way of a Bonix or Michael Pennox Heisman win. That's going
to be a plot point worth following. The other really big story because you
know, Oregon played Cal that was an easy win for Oregon. The other
really big story in western college football. We're gonna go away from the Pac
twelve and into the Mountain West, and that's the Presno State Bulldogs beating Boise
State Boise State four and five. But that was a tough game. Like
Boise State Fresno State, they always play competitive games when they go up against
each other. Jeff Tedford, well, you got to give it up to
him. He has Fresno State now very much in position to play air Force
for the Mountain West title. Presno State and air Force both with just one
loss. So there's a chance that you know, their game in the Mountain
West Championship game in a few weeks, assuming it happens like those teams,
you know, could they both have a twelve and one season in play.
That's possible for both teams. Air Force getting the shock loss against Army,
Army took out its frustration after you know, a miserable two months. Army
entered November and played like a totally different team against air Force, but of
course that's a non conference game. Fresno State by beating unlv A couple weeks
ago and now Boise State, Fresno State has the tiebreakers over both teams in
the Mountain West standings, and so Ifresno State definitely has the inside track to
play air Force. Jeff Tedford has been great overall at Fresno State, but
he's also been great against Boise State. He's beating the Broncos twice in the
Mountain West Championship game. Did it in twenty eighteen, he did it last
year as well, and he's now beaten Boise State multiple times in the regular
season. He did it in twenty seventeen, and now he's done it again
in twenty twenty three. Jeff Tedford, you know, he knocked it out
of the park at California. You might remember in the two thousand and four
season, Mac Brown of Texas, you know, was lobbying like heck at
the end of the season, lobbying for Texas to get the Rose Bowl bid
over and against cal You know, Tedford didn't have that kind of clout in
the room in Texas, of course, had the national brand name Cal deserved
to be in that Rose Bowl against Michigan, but Mac Brown lobbied really hard
and Texas got in. It's really unfortunate because Cal had not been to the
Rose Bowl since the late nineteen fifties. It's the longest drought of any original
Pacific Eight program, you know, the Pacific Eight became the Pac ten in
nineteen seventy eight when Arizona State and Arizona joined. Of any original pac eight
program, Cal had the longest drought still does. Tedford was poised to break
that drought, but the Bowl selection process jobbed him in that twenty twenty in
that two thousand and four season. But he did a great job at CAL,
lifting the Bears to national prominence, and now he continues to crush it
in a different California based program in the valley at Fresno State. It's pretty
remarkable what Jeff Tedford has done. We look at this weekend, so USC
goes to ore in Oregon is sixteen point favorite, and frankly, I would
jump all over Oregon minus the sixteen Ducks are poised to deliver a true blood
baff to USC by like thirty thirty five. Would not be surprised to see
a really large margin there. Now Utah at Washington, that game is a
little more interesting because Washington has not played very good defense and or really you
know, really good football the last few weeks, I mean, great offense
against USC. But you know, Utah's defense is worlds apart from USC's defense.
So Utah is gonna pose a physical challenge to Washington. But the game
is in Seattle, so you got to give Washington the edge. But Utah
has the chance to punch Washington in the mouth. I know Kyle Woodingham and
that offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, they're gonna try to run the ball down Washington's
throat. They're gonna try and make this game a street fight, a physical
game. Let's see if Washington's leaky defense can tighten up enough against against Utah's
physical line play to ensure that the Huskies win that game. They will be
expected to win. But there are a lot of people who think that this
game is going to be close because Utah is playing a more physical style of
football right now than Washington is. So that is definitely going to be a
game to watch. It's always interesting in the Pac twelve, and it's also
interesting in the Mountain West like we're looking ahead to that Mountain Fresno State Air
Force Mountain West changing game. That's a mouthwatering matchup to contemplate, and of
course Washington and Oregon currently on a collision course in Las Vegas. On December
one, we'll see if anyone can knock one of those teams off course in
what could be a Pac twelve title game, which doubles as a Heisman Trophy
playoff game. Lots of interesting stories here in the Pac twelve. So that's
the latest episode of the Get Off My Pilon College Football podcast. We're part
of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. Checkout all the podcast under
the College Gridiron Coast to Coast banner. This is Matt Zenag. We'll see
you next week. Thanks for listening.