Today marked the beginning of Pac-10 play for the 3-0 USC Trojans. While the opponent, Washington State, does not intimidate USC, it is important for the Trojans to begin conference play with a solid performance. The opponents from here on will only get tougher, so the Trojans need some momentum going into future games.
First Quarter
- Trojans defense looked pitiful on the game's opening drive. The Cougars ran 9 plays for 80 yards and scored in an efficient 3 minutes and 27 seconds. WSU quarterback Jeff Tuel made plays with his arm going 3-for-5 for 19 yards. But, perhaps more concerning, Tuel made plays with his legs. Tuel ran twice for 27 yards, the second run of which went 23 yards on a third down. The touchdown came on a wide receiver reverse pass from Jeffrey Solomon to Jared Karstetter. Although Trojan fans should hope that the defense would be discipline enough to not get fooled on trick plays like that, the play prior to that was a little more alarming in my opinion. On that particular play, Tuel dropped back and threw a deep ball intended for wide receiver Marquess Wilson, who beat Shareece Wright off the line and got behind safety T.J. McDonald. Luckily, Wilson was unable to hall in the pass, but USC should not allow receivers to get behind the secondary so easily.
- The Trojans response was quick and straightforward: a 59-yard rush by Stanley Havili. The senior fullback took a stretch handoff left and cutback right. He then made several moves to shake Cougar defenders downfield, and just like that, the game was tied.
- The defense rebounded from the Cougars first drive nicely by scoring its first defensive touchdown of the season. After a quick three step drop, Tuel fired the ball to the left sideline, but cornerback Nickell Robey jumped in front of the pass, picked it off, and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Last week, I talked about how Robey was maturing as a player (he's only a freshman), and he followed up that performance with a nice start in this game. It was good to see the defense score, something that has been lacking in recent seasons.
- USC's second drive started with another big play by, yet again, Stanley Havili. Matt Barkley, who had what seemed like hours in the pocket, fired a bullet to Havili on the run who broke into the open field and ran for a 58-yard gain. USC's speed has overwhelmed the Cougars; receivers are getting great separation and simply outrunning the defense; backs are sprinting through holes and open space and making defenders miss. Barkley completed the drive by throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Robert Woods. Midway through the first quarter, the Trojans have ran four (4) plays for 135 yards and have scored more points (21) than they did in four quarters at home versus Virginia (17). This is the kind of quick start that I have longed for the Trojans to show.
- WSU, who seemed like it had great momentum after its initial drive, has since sputtered and returned to its usual anemic state. Tuel cannot seem to throw an accurate pass; he overthrows receivers deep, bounces passes to receivers in the flat, and makes receivers over the middle stretch/reach for passes. When Tuel has been on target, receivers struggle hauling in the catches cleanly.
- USC special teams does its best Beamer Ball impersonation by blocking WSU's punt attempt on the Cougars' third drive. However, on the ensuing play, Barkley returns the favor by throwing an interception in the end zone. The pass, intended for Ronald Johnson in the back of the end zone, was severely under-thrown.
- I think, and have always thought, Shareece Wright is extremely overrated. He has struggled with injuries throughout his career, yet during spring ball every season, the media and fans jump all over him with praise. He might be USC's best corner, but if he is, the Trojans have major problems in the secondary. Wright has yet to prove himself as a legitimate corner at the college level. During the first quarter, Tuel completed numerous passes to receivers being "covered" by Wright. The senior corner was also beat several times over the top, but luckily for him, Tuel did not deliver catchable passes to those receivers. Despite all this, the Fox Sports announcers have stuck to their initial claim that Wright is a shutdown corner on an island. Am I missing something? Did Wright lead the NCAA in interceptions or pass deflections one season that I simply am not aware of? Do offensive coordinators game plan around him? If I were calling plays, I would attack Wright and make him step up before I looked elsewhere.
Second Quarter
- Trojans looked to establish the run with Marc Tyler, who gained a first down after two carries. Barkley then through a duck to Ausberry that should have been picked off. Two plays later, Barkley through a ball over the middle that was begging to be picked off, and, in fact, was picked off. Barkley has looked terrible thus far. If you take out the 58-yard pass to Havili, who gained most of those yards after the catch, Barkley is 1-of-4 for 11 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. In other words, he has completed one pass to USC players and two passes to WSU players.
- WSU took advantage of Barkley's second pick and pulled to within one score after Tuel threw a floater to Karstetter in the corner of the end zone. It was Karstetter's second touchdown catch of the game. USC blocked the point-after attempt to keep its lead at eight points, 21-13. Regardless, the first half has been an inconsistent showing for the Trojans. The first seven minutes were somewhat impressive, while the rest of the time has been extremely disappointing.
- The two teams traded turnovers midway through the second quarter. USC tried to run the ball more to take pressure off Barkley. Allen Bradford ran the ball up the middle for a decent gain before coughing up the football. A couple of plays later, Tuel threw a deep pass right into the lap of Robey, who already had a pick six earlier in the half.
- USC closed out the first half with a touchdown scoring drive, a T.J. McDonald interception, and a Joe Houston missed field goal. Although they would have loved to cash in on that field goal (we need a new kicker), that series of events gives the Trojans some momentum heading into the break.
Third Quarter
- USC executed very nicely on its first drive of the second half. Barkley completed passes to Ronald Johnson and Brandon Carswell, both of whom gained considerable yards after the catches. Barkley then completed a short pass to Brice Butler over the middle after a nice pump fake to give the Trojans an early score. Mitch Mustain ran the ball in for a successful two point conversion, and the Trojans are now 2-for-7 on those attempts so far this season.
- At the 10:30 mark in the third quarter, Wright, again out of position while defending a pass, got away with a ridiculous pass interference no-call.
- USC's second drive resulted in another touchdown to make the score 43-13. Ronald Johnson finally got on the board by catching a 7-yard pass from Barkley, who increased his passing touchdown count to three on the day. In the third quarter the Trojans scored on one drive that spanned 4 plays for 93 yards and another drive that went 12 plays for 98 yards. Very encouraging.
- Mustain entered the game with 40 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. At this point I changed the channel because there were plenty of other great games in progress, including UCLA's surprising performance against Texas, Arkansas' upset bid over top-ranked Alabama, and another installment of the Stanford-Notre Dame rivalry.
Fourth Quarter
- It was a relatively uneventful final quarter, from what I could tell by looking at the box score. Mustain threw his first touchdown pass of the season to Havili. And the defense allowed a sympathy field goal that brought the Cougars with 34 points. Final score: USC 50, WSU 16.
Final Breakdown
While it might be tempting to take a pessimistic view of the defense because it allowed 16 points to a sad Cougars offense, I will look to remain positive. I thought the defense played really fairly well today. The rush defense has been solid all season and it continued against WSU by only allowing 69 yards on 26 rushes (2.7 yards per carry). If anything, the pass defense needs a bit of help. I think the USC secondary is overrated (especially Shareece Wright) and I think they need to send more blitz packages to get some pressure on the quarterback in order to take pressure off of the corners and safeties. That being said, the secondary intercepted three passes today and returned one for a score, which is always great.
The offense got off a very fast start and then halted to a stop just as quickly. In the first half, Barkley looked downright awful. His final numbers (16-of-25, 290 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT) were padded a bit after Lane Kiffin decided to keep it simple for the second-year quarterback by calling short passes that gave receivers/backs the ball in open space.
Today's player of the game was Stanley Havili. The star fullback burned the Cougars defense as a rusher and as a receiver. He ran 4 times for 80 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 5 passes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown. A great all-around performance by Havili, who is one of the team's most dangerous and versatile weapons.
The running back corps looked very nice, as well. Along with Havili's 80 yards, Bradford rushed 7 times for 84 yards, Baxter ran 15 times for 76 yards, and Marc Tyler added 6 carries for 31 yards. As a team, the Trojans ran 39 times for 283 yards, which comes out to 7.3 yards per carry. Very impressive. The running game is clearly USC's strength through its first four games.
Ultimately, it was a good tuneup for the Trojans. The team played well in every facet of the game for most of the game (remember special teams even added a blocked punt). Hopefully this performance will carry into the tougher part of Pac-10 play, which begins next week at home against the Huskies. I will watch the game live from the Coliseum, so my weekly breakdown will be a bit delayed.
While it might be tempting to take a pessimistic view of the defense because it allowed 16 points to a sad Cougars offense, I will look to remain positive. I thought the defense played really fairly well today. The rush defense has been solid all season and it continued against WSU by only allowing 69 yards on 26 rushes (2.7 yards per carry). If anything, the pass defense needs a bit of help. I think the USC secondary is overrated (especially Shareece Wright) and I think they need to send more blitz packages to get some pressure on the quarterback in order to take pressure off of the corners and safeties. That being said, the secondary intercepted three passes today and returned one for a score, which is always great.
The offense got off a very fast start and then halted to a stop just as quickly. In the first half, Barkley looked downright awful. His final numbers (16-of-25, 290 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT) were padded a bit after Lane Kiffin decided to keep it simple for the second-year quarterback by calling short passes that gave receivers/backs the ball in open space.
Today's player of the game was Stanley Havili. The star fullback burned the Cougars defense as a rusher and as a receiver. He ran 4 times for 80 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 5 passes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown. A great all-around performance by Havili, who is one of the team's most dangerous and versatile weapons.
The running back corps looked very nice, as well. Along with Havili's 80 yards, Bradford rushed 7 times for 84 yards, Baxter ran 15 times for 76 yards, and Marc Tyler added 6 carries for 31 yards. As a team, the Trojans ran 39 times for 283 yards, which comes out to 7.3 yards per carry. Very impressive. The running game is clearly USC's strength through its first four games.
Ultimately, it was a good tuneup for the Trojans. The team played well in every facet of the game for most of the game (remember special teams even added a blocked punt). Hopefully this performance will carry into the tougher part of Pac-10 play, which begins next week at home against the Huskies. I will watch the game live from the Coliseum, so my weekly breakdown will be a bit delayed.
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