Broke . . . busted . . . and disgusted. That's the only way to describe the USC Trojans as they shot themselves in the foot over and over again in Autzen Stadium on the way to a 24 - 17 loss.
The Trojans had opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on most of them that came their way.
In the biggest game of the year, the Trojans acted like a duck (especially offensively) . . . and laid an egg.
We'll name this grade session - Reality Bites . . .
Offense:
QB - Mark Sanchez faced his toughest test and had a few good moments and respectable stats - 26 - 41 for 277 yards and (2) TDs. But missed reads and (2) INTs in the second half killed SC drives to tie the game. When you are on the road, you can't turn the ball over, especially in the red zone. Grade: D+
RBs/FBs - SC had one of its lowest rushing outputs of the season at the wrong time - only 101 yards, averaging 3 yards per carry. That won't get it done. And to add insult to injury, FB Havili coughed up the ball in the red zone. Inexcusable. Grade: F
WRs/TE - Big game (finally) for the WR unit. They benefited from the extra attention the Duck defense paid to TE Fred Davis. PTurner came alive for 7 catches for 107 yards and a nice TD, plus Hazleton added 8 catches and Ausberry had a TD catch. Grade: B +
OLine - Talk about not "stepping up". This unit did nothing but hurt the Trojans - from Chilo Rachal's dumb personal foul on the opening drive after a Duck turnover to Drew Radovich's holding penalty that called back a 60 yard TD run - the mistakes were devastating. Grade: F
Defense:
DLine - Sedrick "The Beast" Ellis is putting together one of the great years in recent memory - (12) tackles with 2 TFLs and a sack is incredible activity from a nose tackle. LoJack posted another (11) tackles. The unit helped hold the best offense in the country to season lows in points, rushing and total offense. Grade: B
LBs - A mixed game for this unit. They made some mistakes reading the ball fakes the Duck spread option offense presents. But they were active with (31) tackles among the starting guys - Rivers, Maualuga and Cushing. Grade: C +
DBs - This group played a solid game. The Ducks only had 157 yards passing for under 10 yards per catch. Safeties Ellison and Mays combined for (17) tackles and (2) TFLs. Grade: B
Special Teams
Kickers/Returners - Kicker DBuehler was solid with a 30 yard FG, and he banged a couple of KOs for touchbacks. Punter Woidneck didn't have a great average (36 yards), but did have a punt downed inside the 20. The return game didn't make any big plays, but they didn't make any mistakes either. Grade: C+
Coaching - This was a huge game going into a hostile environment against a very good team. The offensive coaches nursed the offense along, but couldn't overcome key turnover mistakes with a great call or two. The defensive side did what they wanted to do - Oregon had no big plays - and were held in check points-wise. But they weren't able to force QB Dixon into any mistakes like they have in the past. Grade: C minus
Game Balls - None (SC lost . . . no soup for anyone!)
Prediction Winner - None (SC lost . . . but Payback picked the final score in reverse)
0 comments:
Post a Comment