SCliff Notes: Trojan Family Matches Pat Haden’s Donation and More USC Football News

Can’t get enough of the USC Trojans? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

Awesome Is As Awesome Does… Amid the weeds of controversy which have continued to pop up throughout this young 2014 USC football season, something awesome has bloomed.

Back when USC beat Stanford, a brief outburst of national outrage targeted Trojan athletic director Pat Haden, who was caught by ESPN cameras in a heated discussion with the referees following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Steve Sarkisian.

The Pac-12 reprimanded and fined Haden for his actions (namely for leaving the press box and confronting the referees). Haden turned around and agreed to pay up, but requested that the $25,000 go to Children’s Hospital LA for autism research in honor of his grandson, who is autistic.

The conference insisted the money go through the normal channels instead.

To his credit, Haden still made the promised donation to CHLA, but the Trojan family stepped up as well, promoting a drive to match an additional $25,000 for the cause.

As of 10:00 p.m. Wednesday night, the drive was successful, raising $25,293 for autism research.

Again, that’s awesome. (H/T Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com)

Click here to learn more and to donate to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ autism research.

In Other News…

• Jordan Moore interviewed Haden for the monthly “State of Troy” feature. Topics include his health concerns (he’s feeling better), his take on the football team (he’s hopeful) and the Coliseum upgrades (they’re g). (Ripsit Blog)
• Also from Jordan Moore, Wednesday’s practice notes include a discussion of the extra conditioning work USC’s front seven is doing to keep at the top of their game through four quarters despite the lack of depth. (Ripsit Blog)
• Wednesday we learned that Lamar Dawson, who’s return from last season’s knee injury has been slow, could end up redshirting this season. Michael Lev has more. (OC Register)
• Scott Wolf briefly pointed out another injury concern for USC as Khaliel Rodgers sat out Wednesday after hurting his knee again. (LA Daily News)
• Lev also reported on the Trojans preparations for Oregon State’s dangerous passing offense, which could suit USC as they get a reprieve from facing another dual-threat quarterback this week. (OC Register)
• Garry Paskwietz took a look at USC’s focus on Oregon State this week following a bye week which was all about getting refreshed. (ESPN)
• Steve Bisheff meanwhile examined the Trojans’ long and complicated history with rival coach Mike Riley. (ESPN)
• Ted Miller tackled another long and complicated history for the USC as the Trojans prepare to honor new Hall of Fame inductee Pete Carroll, who unfortunately won’t be present at the Coliseum this weekend. (ESPN)
• For some video analysis, Michael Felder and Adam Kramer discussed USC’s potential for a bounce-back game against the Beavers. (Bleacher Report)
• Steven Slivka also pointed out the importance of coming out swinging this weekend in order to right the ship at USC. (Conquest Chronicles)
• For a different perspective, Kevin Hampton wonders how much Oregon State will attempt to establish the run in light of USC’s troubles against Boston College on the ground. (Corvallis Gazette-Times)
• In recruiting news, Sanjay Kirpalani previews 5-star quarterback Shea Patterson’s upcoming USC visit this weekend and examines his potential fit for the Trojans.

Stat of the Day:

Since his coming out party against Oregon State in 2013, Buck Allen has eclipsed 100 all-purpose yards in all but one game (Stanford in 2013) of the nine games USC has played. In that same period, he also scored at least one touchdown in all but one game (Stanford in 2014).

Tweets of the Day: