Allen Bradford goes out with a bang!

Hardly fellating…but since you brought it up, of the players mentioned above only two did not see regular playing time and was a starter (when not injured) in their time at USC…

Ausberry and Gable. Gable saw time early on but for whatever reason he lost favor…

O’Dowd hardly lived up to his potential when he was healthy. He never progressed enough to make him a top pick. When challenged this season to improve his role in the O line blocking schemes he didn’t. He was beat numerous times this season and never learned proper technique in cut blocking…something PC didn’t want to teach. You can also say the same about Butch Lewis.

Morgan, as we saw the other night was constantly out of position. he is more of a hybrid player that can play LB or the “elephant” position with some decent speed. He still has some issues.

Wright wasn’t all that this season either…the time he lost in 2008 because of injury/legal issues and all of 2009 because of academics stunted his growth as well. All that promise…wasted.

RoJo…What more can I say he was the leader of this team…

Havili was another leader and will go down in USC history as our greatest receiving FB (116? catches) He was a decent blocker but not the type of ISO FB this offense needs to run at the highest level. He is more finesse.

Agree on Smitty WRT being a Bruin killer but did he progress enough to be a force in the NFL? He struggled at times as well.

Mustain? He never had a real chance.

The fact is this outgoing senior class had a number of players who had some tremendous talent, who also played major roles but didn’t leverage it. There was a sense of entitlement that permeated this senior class. Some didn’t put all they effort they could have and it showed.

Going back to AB, we heard for years that he put all the work in and how great he was doing but we never saw him but he never made it to the field until a little bit in 2009 and then his performances in 2010….which is why I labeled him an enigma. If given more of a chance would have progressed more?

Except for Aus, we saw what the others mentioned above had to offer (including Gable early on) but did we really see that in AB?

The O line got beat numerous times by UCLA’s D line on Sat. How many runs were stopped at the LOS or slowed/stopped behind the LOS? and that is with the two true frosh you mentioned…cuts both ways

The fact that AB saved his best for last is really the story here. Kiffin had to sit him because of his lack of ball control but threw that conventional wisdom out the window in the last game to let AB have his day in the spotlight…to see what he could do.

Either way it is a great story…

I wish all of these guys luck but the focus is now the future.

I think Tex is on the mark with his assessment of Bradford’s on-field abilities. But truth is, many outstanding college backs are cut from the same mold. They play on very good teams, and they have holes to run through. When they hit the second level, they make big plays. You can win a Heisman with that formula, and many guys have (Ron Dayne comes to mind). Compared to other big backs, Bradford may not be able to create plays like an Adrian Peterson, but very few big backs can. Bradford is a faster version of Lendale White. If he can learn to hang onto the ball, he can become an good NFL player.

I am amused at all the people (llike Scott Wolf) who have never coached a game but will look at one game, and decide that a HC has been mismanaging his personnel all season. There is a perfectly rational explanation to much of the “enigma” that is Alan Bradford. And it isn’t all about Lane Kiffin trying to drive home some silly point about ball-security. It comes down to a coaching staff understanding what players do well, and just as importantly, what they don’t do well. In the case of USC’s RB’s there is no single guy who does everything better than everyone else, so choices need to be made. For example, ND’s front seven played an outstanding game against USC. If Tyler and Gable couldn’t find holes, it’s a stretch to predict that AB would have created something…since he usually doesn’t, and it’s not his strength. Furthermore, the ND game was a game that could be lost with an untimely turnover (it was), so do you put in a guy who might be more likely to fumble when you’ve got other options that are at least as good? Answer: you don’t. With coaching, there is a difference between writing about it and doing it.

The UCLA game is a whole different story. Like Tex noted, they come into the game with some young DLs, ranked 98th in rushing D, giving up almost 200yards/game. It was a classy move for Kiffin to start AB in his final game, but the reason he got all the carries had a lot more to do with the fact the situation was one where AB should excel. UCLA has good DBs…they’ve been making a lot of tackles all season… so it helps tremendously to have a guy with ABs size and speed running downhill when he hits UCLA defensive backfield. For Trojans, it was a thing of beauty. At the same time, it’s ridiculous to declare that USC would have been able to do this every game if only AB had been starting.

Off the field, I have tremendous respect and pride for who AB is, and how he has matured. AB undoubtedly lost playing time because of fumbling problems. For this, he has no one to blame but himself. And the thing is…he never did blame anyone other than himself. When Marc Tyler was named starter for the season opener, AB must have been tremendously frustrated. There are only two ways you can handle something like that, and AB chose to fight on…then, and throughout the season…which was a season where a few disgruntled players in leaderships positions would have been detrimental to the team and how the team was perceived. AB put the team first. A lot of guys don’t.

Looking forward, I hope a benefit to this season is that Bradford has been able to improve his ball-security. He may not have put up the types of season numbers that he would have liked, but he lead the team in rushing average at 7.2 yards/attempt. He has a great highlight reel for the NFL, which is always looking for big backs who hit the hole quickly. I’d expect that he will be a solid combine performer. In a time of self-centered, self-entitled athletes, Bradford has shown notable heart and attitude. He has established himself as a guy who will accept the role he is given and who will be ready to perform when called upon. And that should serve him well on draft day and at the next level. Fight On, AB!