USC coaching search stock watch: Dave Aranda keeps rising

Here’s a look astatine however immoderate imaginable candidates for the USC caput shot manager presumption fared this past weekend:

Stock up

Dave Aranda, Baylor

Aranda’s emergence passim this coaching hunt has been steady, but it deed a caller highest this play arsenic Aranda led the Bears to an upset triumph implicit previously-undefeated Oklahoma. The 27-14 triumph was the benignant of gritty show that makes Aranda specified an enticing candidate. The Bears held Oklahoma to 260 full yards, a fig surpassed by Baylor’s 296 rushing yards connected the evening. Baylor had 2 turnovers and 7 penalties, but won the clip of possession conflict and held Oklahoma 2-for-9 connected third-down conversion attempts. The triumph was a large bounce-back show for the Bears aft an embarrassing nonaccomplishment to TCU the erstwhile week. Though he’s lone successful his 2nd twelvemonth arsenic a caput coach, Aranda is proving helium has the quality to pb a squad done the ups-and-downs of a season.

Stock steady

Matt Campbell, Iowa State

The Cyclones’ on-again, off-again play continued connected Saturday with a 41-38 nonaccomplishment to a Texas Tech squad that is playing nether an interim caput coach. It’s not a large look for Campbell, whose Iowa State tenure is littered with these kinds of losses. But Iowa State is simply a programme with a ceiling, and adjacent a nonaccomplishment similar this shouldn’t impact his banal successful the coaching marketplace should helium determine to permission Ames.

Luke Fickell, Cincinnati

Fickell’s Bearcats enactment up different double-digit triumph implicit the weekend, this clip implicit South Florida. It was the 4th consecutive crippled wherever Cincinnati seemed to person a harder clip than indispensable to bushed an inferior opponent, but the Bearcats stayed undefeated and successful the playoff hunt. But the effect doesn’t alteration the cardinal questions surrounding Fickell’s candidacy. (Will helium permission Cincinnati? Will helium permission the Midwest for California?).

Stock down

James Franklin, Penn State

The Nittany Lions mislaid their 4th crippled successful 5 attempts connected Saturday, this clip to Michigan, to further propulsion their 5-0 commencement to the play further into a memory. It’s been a unsmooth month-and-a-half for Franklin, with occupation rumors flying astir and his squad seeming to conflict successful airy of the whispers. Over the past 2 seasons, Penn State is present 10-9, a acold outcry from the Lions’ 11-2 grounds successful 2019.