Mik Dietlin, Author at SuperWest Sports

Dietlin: Towel-Waving No Substitute for Trojan Defense
USC's energy and motivation must improve for the No. 6 team to defeat better opponents

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USC’s defense hasn’t been progressing as fast as it must to win the Pac-12 Championship and make the College Football Playoff.

College Football Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: It’s Time to Stop Doubting USC’s Defense
Without their defense's toughness and tenacity, the Trojans could be staring at 2-2

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With four interceptions against Oregon State, USC has 14 for the year and continues to lead the nation in turnover/takeaway ratio.

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Dietlin: Beavers Won’t Slay the Dragon this Season
The Trojans will struggle a bit at Reser, perhaps more than last week, but they'll be alright

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Both USC and OSU are well-balanced offensively, and both have pretty good athleticism on defense with play-makers that can cause problems.

College Football Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Trojans Finding New Ways to Dominate and Win
USC was more methodical than explosive in controlling the first half against Fresno State

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There are obvious blemishes the USC coaches will have to clear up on defense, but the Trojans appear ready to step into elite status.

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Dietlin: That Chip on Haener’s Shoulder Can’t Beat SC
There's nothing Fresno State can do to keep the Trojan offense from lighting up the Coliseum

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here are many cities across America that classify as “pass-through towns.” This means, to put it nicely, they aren’t vacation

College Football Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: USC’s Explosive Offense Hiding its Defensive Flaws
But at the rate it's improving, that shouldn't keep the Trojans out of the Pac-12 Title game

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“USC football deserves a Top 10 ranking. But the defense is not Top 10,” says Mik Dietlin. “It probably doesn’t crack the Top 25.”

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Luck Returning as QB couldn’t Help the Tree vs USC
This Stanford team has few strengths and more question marks than the Riddler's wardrobe

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An awful lot of improvement in a short period of time has to occur if Stanford is to challenge for a Conference title in 2022.

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Dietlin: New and Improved 2022 Trojans Off and Running
USC handled Rice the way championship teams are supposed to handle weaker teams

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USC football handled Rice the way championship teams are supposed to handle weaker teams, by kicking the crap out of them.

College Football Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Once-Tough Rice No Match for Lincoln Riley’s USC
The 1954 Cotton Bowl Owls might have made it interesting, but this 2022 team has no chance

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ith a 9-2 overall record, and a No. 6 ranking in the final AP Poll, the 1953 Rice Owls fielded

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Dietlin: 2022 Trojans Greatest Experiment in CFB History
Lincoln Riley's vision for a perennial title contender is better than Christmas for football fans

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Lincoln Riley and his USC staff have thoroughly disassembled and reassembled a 2021 roster that was nothing short of embarrassing.

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Dietlin: Trojans not Exempt from Recruiting Anxiety
No commitment is secure when another school is willing and able to offer more NIL money

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USC’s NIL business venture with Stay Doubted and its subsidiary BLVD LLC. will be the genesis of a future national NIL blueprint.

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Dietlin: Pac-12 Likely Doomed Without L.A. Gravy-Train
Despite its recent mediocrity on the field, USC was holding the Pac-12 Conference together

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USC and UCLA snatched the only available parachutes off the Pac-12’s nose-diving jet airliner, landing safely in Big Ten country.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Title Game Rule Change Welcome, but Not Enough
The Pac-12 still doesn't block, tackle, or coach as well as other Power 5 conferences

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Right now, just two Pac-12 head guys qualify as legitimate top 25 coaches: Lincoln Riley and Kyle Whittingham. Clearly, that’s not enough.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Only Two HC Candidates are Worthy of USC

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These are the only two head coach candidates that unarguably will turn the Trojans into perennial national championship contenders.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Toughness There, But Spark Lacking for USC

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USC plays the same game, getting the same outcome week after week. The difference between winning and losing depends on the opponent.

Pac-12 Football

Mik Dietlin’s Pac-12 ‘State of the Union’ Address

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adies and gentlemen…Commissioner George Kliavkoff…Deputy Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich…Senior Associate Commissioner of Sports Management Teresa Gould… Head of Football Operations Merton

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: USC Drowning in Dark Fun Worthy of Poe

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Dietlin: The USC Underachievers are 3-3 midway through the 2021 season, courtesy of another Coliseum throttling, this time from Utah.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Pac-12 Networks Nightmare Worse than SC’s

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s you may know, every week our senior football writers at superwestsports.com pick the winners of all the conference games.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Five Really Different USC Coach Candidates

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Mik Dietlin’s USC Head Coach Search Leader Board, a Top Five list that is sure to keep Trojan fans in their seats.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Disinfect USC of All Traces of Clay Helton

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USC needs freshman QB Jaxson Dart to regain total health and re-energize the program the way he already has proven he can.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Change Fortuitous for Energized Trojans

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USC QB Jaxson Dart displayed a resolute doggedness in calling out receivers for breaking off routes, functioning superbly through pain.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Helton is a ‘Good Guy,’ but Be Glad He’s Gone

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Beneath his golly-shucks exterior, former USC head coach Clay Helton is a far more complicated individual than people imagine.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Torture and the Freak Show Return for USC

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The hope USC fans had for this season evaporated as the disgruntled Coliseum crowd emptied the stadium during Stanford’s 42-28 win.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Even in victory, Clay Helton seems misguided

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Clay Helton seemed intent on padding the score against San Jose State with the game already in hand, potentially risking key players.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Informal Alliance as Foolish as it is Toothless

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The Alliance between the Pac-12, Big Ten, and ACC is well-intentioned, but the informal agreement has left many unimpressed.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Preseason Angst the Norm for SC Fans, Media

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The Trojans should go 12-0 in 2021, then 13-0 after dispatching Oregon or UW for the Pac-12 championship, but most USC fans don’t believe it.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Why Covid Can’t Keep Us Away from CFB

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With Covid still looming, no one knows how this college football season will play out. No scientist or doctor can tell us what lies ahead.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Whatever Changes, Grandpa ESPN Still Wins

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Anytime an upheaval shakes the foundations of college athletics, we look first to see first how it affects television revenue.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: ASU May Need Magick to Avoid NCAA Iceberg
Right now, the iceberg is of unknown size, and nobody knows for sure if Arizona State is sinking

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The ASU football program is under investigation for a number of transgressions, including hosting recruits during the recruiting dead period.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Is Reggie Bush Still the Judas of College Football?
The former USC running back's new plea for clemency coincided with the start of NIL

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Dietlin: Former USC star Reggie Bush’s latest plea for clemency, timed to coincide with the start of the NIL Era, still rings hollow.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: 12-Team CFP More Proof the World has Gone Crazy
And "The Cat" just keeps getting more and more lives at the helm of iconic USC football

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USC coach Clay Helton received another lifeline courtesy of the 12-team College Football Playoff model now under consideration.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: A Russian Hacker, USF, and Why the Irish are Postseason Losers
Notre Dame's decades-long self-imposed bowl ban remains a conundrum

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Damn you Domers! I understand the aversion to my “experiment” covering your beloved team, but can’t we just all get

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: The Greatness of ‘The Four Horsemen’ is Long Gone for Notre Dame
And for what it's worth, the Fighting Irish beat lowly Duke last Saturday

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While the ND defense is senior heavy and stout, the offense lacks a proven commodity at receiver, and has depth issues at running back.

Pac-12 Football

What happens when a rogue USC writer decides to cover Notre Dame?
No one knows for sure, but our Mik Dietlin is determined to give it a try

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The Notre Dame/USC rivalry goes back almost 100 years, fittingly fox trotting to life during the Roaring 20’s.

Pac-12 Football Pac-12 Mailbag Column

Dietlin Mailbag: The Fate of ‘The Cat,’ USC’s Oregon Problem & NCAA Hypocrisy
Our featured columnist addresses questions on the Trojans & all of college sports

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In his first mailbag answer column, our Mik Dietlin holds nothing back, addressing questions in his uniquely offbeat and irreverent voice.

Pac-12 Conference Business Pac-12 Football

The Football Gods are Angry, but Pac-12 did Right Thing
Calls for 'courage' in the face of a coronavirus pandemic are irresponsible and insane

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To callously state that the sole motive for the Pac-12 postponing football was to avoid an avalanche of lawsuits is short-sighted.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: We Know CFB will Happen & We Know it Shouldn’t
Our failed response to the upswing in COVID-19 cases makes playing sports this fall untenable

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he most laughable thing in this suddenly not-so-wide world of sports doesn’t take place on any court, field, ice rink,

Pac-12 Football

2020 Preseason All-SportsPac12 Football Team
Our choices for the Pac-12's best football players as selected by our three senior writers

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Our Senior Writers have selected the inaugural All-SportsPac12 team based on their collective votes on their all-region teams.

Pac-12 Football

2020 SportsPac12 California All-Region Team
Mik Dietlin's choices for the best Pac-12 football players in the Golden State as the region's top candidates for our SportsPac12 All-Conference Team

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Our Senior Writers have selected their SportsPac12 All-Region teams and will soon vote on our inaugural All-SportsPac12 Football Team.

OSU Beavers Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Despite Dismal Helmet Decal, OSU Football on Rise
Two key stats tell the story of the turnaround under former OSU quarterback Jonathan Smith

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There are positive signs behind a few of the numbers that speak volumes for the future of OSU football. Confidence is as high as it’s been in Corvallis in a long time.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: To My Little Brother & Reggie Bush—Sorry, not Sorry
Many mistakes in life can be forgiven without an apology; what Reggie Bush did to USC cannot

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Reggie Bush still owes the Trojans an apology for single-handedly squeezing the life out of the USC football program.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: Graham Harrell Key to USC’s Future
The OC will likely leave at the end of his contract unless he's made head coach

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USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell will likely leave at the end of his contract unless he’s made head coach.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: What JT Daniels Loses in the Portal
Given the message his decision sends, he's probably better off leaving

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“All human evil comes from a single cause, man’s inability to sit still in a room.” —Blaise Pascal M y publisher

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: How I’m Coping Without Live Sports
Everything from reruns on the Olympic channel to inspiring backyard porch speeches

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It’s led to hours of reflection. No, that reflection hasn’t been on my back inside a therapist’s office.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: Hires Show Trojans Fighting Back
USC's new assistants might just avert a potential nightmare season

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The latest and last addition to the revamped coaching staff is Vic So’oto, a 32 year old rising defensive line coach.

Pac-12 Football

Dietlin: Costello’s Exit Troubling for Tree
The transfer portal hasn't been kind to the Cardinal, but David Shaw isn't to blame

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When lives hang in the balance, self-preservation mode kicks in, escorting life as we knew it to the curb.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: On USC’s Use and Abuse of Tradition
Canceling FCS opponent contracts won't solve the Trojans' football problems

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USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn has been in Los Angeles only a few months and already he has outworked his predecessor.

Pac-12 Football USC Trojans

Dietlin: USC’s New DC, a Bus, and ‘The Cat’
Clay Helton has been masterful at swapping out assistants to save his job

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Todd Orlando was hired as the new defensive coordinator, snared away from Texas Tech.