USC Football Roundup: Re-hashing old ranking debates and more (5/11)

SBNation wonders what old ranking debates still irk while the internet offers up a Trojan concept helmet. Here’s the USC football roundup for May 11th.

Here’s a fun question USC football fans will no doubt have plenty of answers to: “Which old college football ranking will you stay mad about forever?”

That’s what SBNation proposed and answered on Friday, with a panel of eight writers offering their gripes.

Trojan fans can take offense to one of those complaints: The one which tries to claim Auburn was rightfully aggrieved by the outcome of the 2004 season. (The one in which a dominant USC team left no doubt by blasting Oklahoma to win the national title.)

More from Reign of Troy

Other complaints will sound right to Trojan ears, like the rolling of eyes over the idea that USC’s 2011 achievements were irrelevant, “because Reggie Bush got a ‘trash Impala’ five years prior.”

It’s a fun walk down memory lane from an overall college football perspective.

From a USC perspective, however, perhaps the best answer to the question went unmentioned: The 2008 Trojans ranking fifth going into bowl season, let alone being left out of the national title discussion, is an all-time frustration.

That team led the NCAA in scoring defense (giving up nine points per game), pass defense and pass efficiency defense. They played one bad half of football, giving up 21 points to Jacquizz Rodgers and Oregon State (a good Beaver team which finished ranked 19th). A Week 3 loss and it was all over. They were overlooked as a contender despite fielding one of the great defenses this century and despite the presence of future Top 5 NFL Draft pick Mark Sanchez.

Does that seem right to you?

Concept helmet

Every offseason, concept helmets for college football teams hit the internet. And every offseason, it seems, USC fans reject whatever new aesthetic gets proposed by the internet.

This year it’s homegrownhelmets on Instagram offering up a concept. Notably, this creative helmet designer actually implemented their ideas on physical helmet rather than sticking to just a digital design.

As far as concept helmets go, this one is different and not totally upsetting to the eyes.

Made another version of my USC concept. I’m not a USC fan but I really like the look of my USC concept in black, red, and white. #USC #southerncalifornia #trojans #usctrojans #uscfootball #trojansfootball #usctrojansfootball #fighton Comment if this helmet would look good in gold chrome! DISCLAIMER: None of these helmets are for sale or distribution. They are solely for my collection

A post shared by Home Grown Helmets (@homegrownhelmets) on Feb 15, 2016 at 4:41pm PST

For more college football concept helmets, including a horrendous UCLA design, College Spun found one for every Power 5 team.

Uchenna Nwosu signs

It’s been a big couple of weeks for Uchenna Nwosu, who was drafted in the second round, graduated on Thursday and signed a contract with the LA Chargers on Friday.

Jabari Ruffin faces felony charges

It has not been a big couple of months for former USC linebacker Jabari Ruffin, who was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats, per the LA Times.

Ruffin is alleged to have assaulted a woman, possibly his own mother, with a broom handle in March while threatening a different woman with a shotgun in April.

That’s an unfortunate turn of events for a player who saw his USC career end in less-than-ideal circumstances. Ruffin was suspended after stomping on an Alabama player in the 2016 season opener and was kicked off the team a month later for a violation of USC’s student code of conduct.

Trojan Trivia

Eleven players from USC’s 2008 squad were drafted by the NFL in 2009, including three first round picks: Mark Sanchez, Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews.