USC names Helton permanent coach after Trojans beat UCLA

The 43-year-old career assistant coach’s reward for that combination of success and stability is one of the most coveted jobs in the sport.

Southern California hired Clay Helton as its permanent coach on Monday, removing the interim tag after he guided the team to a division title since taking over for Steve Sarkisian.

“It’s definitely not an individual award; it’s a group award”, said McCaffrey, who learned of the honor after practice. Stanford is well aware of Adoree’ Jackson’s game-breaking versatility for USC.

The Cardinal was an ordinary 1-1 after losing at Northwestern and then struggling early against a Central Florida team that would finish 0-12.

Stanford’s Josh Garnett is the seventh-ranked offensive guard.

But otherwise little else has leaked about USC’s search, though it was clear Helton was doing his best to make a case for himself.

He expects more of the same Saturday.

The new face of arguably the nation’s most glamorous college football program is only recognizable when his face is shrouded in a baseball cap. Saturday’s battle between these perennial conference heavyweights has the potential to be a tremendous game, but I feel certain the conference seat of power will return to the North for its eighth straight year.

The sophomore has 3,035 all-purpose yards this season, breaking the league record held by one of his childhood idols, USC’s Reggie Bush. The names he passed on that list include Marcus Allen, Glyn Milburn and Reggie Bush. “I think this game does it for him”. “We felt like we had a great football team and that if we continued to play disciplined football, we’d look up at the end of the season and be very happy”.

His first game as the boss was a 41-31 loss at Notre Dame. And the idea was to contain him. Defensively, we have to limit the explosive plays. The Stanford offense is averaging 36 points per game with 437.6 yards per game.

USC played it safe, but will it be sorry? “How explosive he was”. Both teams are going to run the ball well behind assertive O-lines, creating ideal working environments for Hogan and Kessler. That style, and attitude, make the Trojans better, several players said.

“I didn’t really have a favorite team”, he said.

It’s going to be hard for USC to pinpoint which receivers to focus on. It emanates from the maternal side of his Stanford tree.

Sime might have been as famous as Carl Lewis had he not injured his groin after falling off a horse before the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Helton is also an entrenched USC recruiter. “I definitely take advantage of that knowledge”.

Thank you all for watching, and see you next year! In addition to its own victory, Stanford needs at least one to lose in order to have a crack at a playoff invitation, with No. 3 Oklahoma considered a shoo-in (though the Big 12 still doesn’t have a conference title game) and the other spot assured to the victor of the Big Ten title game between No. 4 Iowa and No. 5 Michigan State. Stanford’s defense is giving up 23.2 points per game with 376 yards per game.

Stanford won’t change much of anything at this late date. “We believe he’ll win back the national championship”.

Stanford sophomore Christian McCaffrey was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and David Shaw of the Cardinal was selected as the conference’s co-Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

“Nothing matters unless we win”, McCaffrey said. In most interviews, he tries to shy away from talking about himself and instead swings the topic to the players.

Accompanied by Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity for a Monday morning press conference, Richt said he is ready to move on, including possibly to another coaching position. Cravens said. “Most important opinion and thoughts are those from the locker room!”