USC Football Home Opener Brought Back the Magic of the Carroll Days by Sara Kakuris

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

1st & 10:

First Take… When Ronald Jones sat out a couple practices during fall camp, Steve Sarkisian described it as homesickness.

The freshman running back from McKninney, Texas elaborated on his situation after USC’s 55-6 win over Arkansas State.

“I was just feeling a little dizzy and dazed for a couple of days, I don’t know what exactly was going on,” Jones, who had six carries for 86 yards and his first collegiate touchdown in the Trojans’ opener, said. “I guess I was just a little homesick with the food, like Whataburger and stuff like that.”

That’s right. RoJo 2.0 was homesick for food, particularly of the fried variety.

Presented with California-standard grilled chicken options, Jones did not eat enough and suffered migraines as a result.

“I just got to get me some Whataburger and some Texas BBQ up here.”

If that’s what it takes to keep Jones running the way he ran against the Red Wolves, then we’ve got some suggestions.

For starters, if Jones hasn’t hopped on the In-N-Out train there are other great options to satisfy burger cravings in Southern California. In fact, The Habit was named the best burger in America by the Huffington Post last year and is conveniently located at USC’s Campus Center.

In terms of BBQ options, just about every publication in Los Angeles has suggestions, but if that’s not authentic enough, there is at least one joint in Texas which delivers.

And Ten USC Football News Links…

LA Times: Sarkisian wants USC to move faster on offense after the Trojans ran only 64 plays on Saturday. That’s a pretty sizable drop from last year’s opener which featured 105 plays, though to be fair there were more big chunk plays this time around. LA Times: The first of a triple header, here’s the five things Lindsey Thiry thinks we learned against Arkansas State, including Cody Kessler and the Trojans proving they can take care of business. OC Register: Michael Lev’s five observations from Saturday include the lousy Pac-12 start and what it means for the Trojans. Reign of Troy: The five theme continues with our five takeaways from the victory over Arkansas State. Platooning on defense was a major highlight. USCFootball.com: Dan Weber gives his thoughts on the weekend past and the week to come. One notable stat he offers on UCLA’s win over Virginia: The Cavaliers have not won on the road since 2012. Daily News: Scott Wolf runs down the weak spots USC needs to fix before facing stiffer opposition than the Red Wolves. ESPN: Steve Bisheff also cautions getting too carried away with the Trojans’ performance, which he likens to a scrimmage. This Saturday won’t be any better. Reign of Troy: Speaking of the next game, are you ready to turn the focus towards Idaho? Sure, they’ve won just four games in the past three seasons, but there are still some interesting tidbits to note in our first look at the Vandals. Reign of Troy: Perhaps lost in the shuffle of the opening college football weekend, NFL roster cuts finalized, leaving the Trojans with 36 players on pro squads. We’ve got a look at all the Projans who made the cut. Reign of Troy: Some quick recruiting news, 4-star defensive lineman and USC target Jordan Elliot de-committed from Houston Monday night.

Stat of the Day:

Idaho have not won a game on the road since 2011.

Tweets of the Day:

I'm not sure why they are running the wildcat with Miller. Hasn't been successful yet and disrupting any type of timing with this offense — Matt Leinart (@MattLeinartQB) September 8, 2015

We could watch this incredible Braxton Miller spin move all night! #SCtop10 https://t.co/ok9bb2ONNv — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 8, 2015