This wasn't supposed to happen. The grave was dug, the only question was whether Stanford would walk into it, or be thrown in.
Instead, it was the Trojans who were pushin' up daisies on this night.
How could this happen!? Well, it was the old story - overconfidence, injuries to key players and a some lack of playmaking made for an upset special.
Let's get this grading over with!!!
Offense:
QB - It was a terrible night for Booty. Although a broken finger and mistakes by WRs were a detriment to his performance, he's still the captain of the ship, and the ship sank. And it was mostly due to his (4) INTs in the second half. Grade: F
RBs - The Trojans were limited, but CWashington and HDennis ran okay averaging 4.0 ypc
for nearly 120 yards combined. But they couldn't break into the second level very often for very big gainers. Stafon Johnson was really missed. Grade: C +
WRs/TE - When you look at PTurner's catch total - nine - you'd think he had a big game. But the opposite was true . . . he had a couple of big drops, including a 3rd down drive killer in the first quarter and a drop on the last drive that could have helped SC win the game at the end. Once again, TE Fred Davis was dominating - 5 rec. for 152 yards, including a 60 yard TD catch and run. But even he also had a costly fumble after a 20 yard catch. VHazelton chipped in with four recpetions, but is far from being a weapon at this point. DAusberry is nowhere to be found. And RoJo finally got deep for a 47 yard TD. Grade: C minus
OLine - Well, this beat up unit had a rough day. Spanos and Herberer did not have banner days as replacements, and the line got beat by Stanford blitzes for four sacks. Now it was mostly because SC became one dimensional in the 4th quarter with the pass, but the OLine was only average in run blocking as well. Grade: C minus
Defense:
DLine - Sedrick "the Beast" Ellis had three more sacks to add to his All American resume. The rest of the DLine combined for 13 tackles which was good. But none of that came in the clutch.
Grade: B
LBs - Rey Maualuga turned in another good game, leading the Trojans in tackles with 10, including a sack. KRivers and KMaiava had solid games with 6 and 5 tackles, respectively.
Grade: B
DBs - A good performance, until the last 5 minutes of the game when it counted. How you let a team pass for a first down on 4th and 20 I'll never know. And it was SC's best - Terrell Thomas - who got beat in coverage. And then came the fade pass over MMcCurtis for the winner . . . disgusting. The funny thing is that this unit broke up a season high (8) passes, and TMays even had an INT. But again, none of this occurred when the Trojans really needed it.
Grade: C minus
Special Teams
Kickers/Returners - DBuehler missed a PAT . . . and wouldn't you know that its the game margin of victory for Stanford. Returners - no impact. Grade: D
Coaching: The offensive gameplan again tried to force the passing game, in my opinion, to disastrous results. The struggles of Booty coming into the game should have led them to run right over a team that was ranked just about last in every defensive rushing category. Instead, the game was put into Booty's hands, and it failed. Not having key players with speed was a big problem, but teams have worn Stanford down by just pounding them . . . SC decided not to do it. The coaches flat out took Stanford for granted. On defense, the team played well. But the staff has to be concerned about the players not putting the game away when they had the chance to. They've got to challenge some seniors to make plays to keep this kind of debacle from happening again. Grade: D
Game Balls: None - there were some good individual performances by FDavis and RMaualuga. But game balls after a game like this just can't be given out.
Prediction winner: Congrats D-Train . . . you were the closest in this stinker.
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