The Showdown . . . USC Faces Oregon

Well, it doesn't get any bigger than this . . . at least right now. The Trojans travel to Autzen Insane Asylum to face a hot Oregon Ducks team.

The season hangs in the balance for USC who is fighting to stay in the BCS bowl picture - and a loss at this point would be devastating to SC's BCS rankings. Oregon already choked a game away to CAL and is fighting to maintain its lofty BCS rating (#5). A perennial "also ran"in the national/conference picture, Oregon knows its season is on the line as well. A win over SC would make Oregon legit around the country.

Let's break this puppy down:

Oregon Ducks:

Offense - This offense is humming with the number one rushing game in the country. QB Dixon is finally taking care of the ball, as the team leads the conference in turnover margin. Dixon is also passing efficiently, completing 69% of his passes with 16 TDs and only 3 INTs. Offensively, the team has lost a couple of WRs and even a key RB in the last two weeks, but they keep putting up points. RB Jonathan "Snoop" Stewart is having the AA year everyone expected, leading the Pac 10 in rushing with almost 1,000 yards in seven games. WR Jaison Williams will be the go to guy downfield.

Defense - Although this unit is middle of the road in all of the main defensive categories, they get really stingy in the red zone. They have given up the fewest TDs when opponents get inside their 20 yard line in the Pac 10. So they bend, but don't break. Safeties Matthew Harper and Patrick Chung lead a defense that is not really strong in the front seven, but again locks down when they have to.

Special Teams - Kicker Matt Evenson is solid on FGs making 9 of 12. Kick returns are handled by Snoop Stewart who averaging 30 yards per return and leads the conference.

USC Trojans:

Offense - It doesn't get any bigger for QB Mark Sanchez who will probably start his 3rd game of the season. COMPOSURE and NO TURNOVERS will be Sanchez's buzz words as he is known for getting a little too hyped up which will only feed the animals at Autzen stadium. The running game will be key as "running to set up the pass" should be the order of the day. OG Chilo Rachal comes back to help, and a set RB rotation of CWashington, SJohnson and JMcKnight will have to be super productive. TE Fred "The Truth" Davis will again have to put on his cape and be Superman for the passing game. Hopefully, the WRs can help out by hanging onto 3rd down passes which will keep drives alive.

Defense - Oregon's unstoppable running game meets the immovable force in SC's run defense now ranked 3rd in the country. The key for SC is the DEs (LoJack, KMoore and EGriffen) - they must stay outside and contain the spread option running of QB Dixon . . . let the LBs and DTs handle the inside running of Stewart. The Safeties (KEllison and TMays) will also have to be sharp because the passing game of the Ducks is surprisingly efficient on short and intermediate routes.

Special Teams - this unit could be a difference maker for SC if the Trojan offense stalls. Good field position is a must, so the return game must be on point: NO MISTAKES, MR. McKNIGHT.

FG kicker DBuehler can also keep SC scoring if Oregon's defense continues its great red zone play.

Prediction Time:

This one is tough, but . . .

USC - 24

Oregon - 17

USC Mauls the Irish, 38 - 0

When asked when he knew the Trojans had control of the game defensively, Trojan safety Taylor Mays replied, "Right after the first series, Weis didn't try to do anything." Maybe that was because Weis knew his Notre Dame team couldn't do anything.

In a game that represented a last gasp of pride, the Irish collapsed under their own ineptitude, while the Trojans searched for and found an offensive identity in South Bend this past Saturday.

Let's go to the grades:

Offense:

QB - Mark Sanchez looked much better in his second start, with solid reads and no turnovers. The inexperience showed in a few of his plays (throwing behind receivers and wreckless care of the ball) that better teams would capitalize on. But the end result was 21 - 38, 235 yards with 4TDs. We'll take that all day. Grade: B+

RBs/FBs - No one cracked 100 yards, but Chauncey Washington, Joe McKnight and the return of Stafon Johnson highlighted a strong running game . . . piling up 230 yards on the ground. McKnight busted a 50 yard TD behind great OLine blocking, and Allen Bradford made an excellent catch and run play to score a TD. FB Havili was effective in short yardage running plays and catching the ball. The only downer was a fumble by veteran Herschel Dennis.

Grade: B+

WRs/TE - TE Fred "The Truth" Davis continues to be the primetime playmaker in the passing game. The one-handed, twisting TD catch was spectacular. PTurner and DAusberry were solid, and VHazelton's 50 yard score was proof positive that he's a playmaker in waiting, although though ND's DBs looked like high schoolers chasing after him. Grade: B

OLine - Terrific game for the OLine, as the reserves Butch Lewis and Tiny Malu really stepped up. They blocked well enough to garner about 230 yards on the ground, and kept the pressure off of rookie QB Mark Sanchez for the majority of the game. Grade: B+

Defense:

DLine - This sounds like a broken record, but the DLine unit is balling. (3) sacks by DLinemen and limiting ND to just 45 yards rushing (only 80 yards when you exclude the loss yardage due to sacks), is a good day's work. Sed "The Beast" Ellis terrorized the ND backfield for 1.5 sacks, and DE Kyle Moore tied for the lead in team tackles with (6). Grade: A minus

LBs - Solid effort here. Good to see LB Luther Brown run the field and make (6) tackles, while BCushing looked pretty mobile in his first game back from injury. Even Mad Dog Mualuga shook a hip pointer to make two sacks, and Kaluka Maiava chipped in with five tackles. Grade: B

DBs - This unit wasn't challenged much in the passing game, but got an All American performance from safety Kevin Ellison - who had five tackles, and INT and (2) pass breakups. CB Cary Harris also forced a fumble. Grade: B

Special Teams - A solid game of kicking, coverage and returns. No major mistakes by the return guys, and DBuehler hit his only attempt of the game - a 30 yarder at the end of the first half. Grade: B

Coaching - ND is a super weak team, but the Trojan offense did look like they established once and for all what they do well . . . run the ball. After three frustrating possessions to start the game, SC hit the running game hard and worked short and intermediate passes off the play action. That's the formula for success with this 2007 Trojan offense. The defense had no trouble with the country's worst offensive team. A scheme was hardly necessary against a team that basically mailed it in early. Grade: B+

Game Balls:

Offensive: QB Mark Sanchez

Defensive: Safety Kevin Ellison

Special Teams: Kicker David Buehler

Prediction Winner: Two in a row for Payback (by one point over Big Rob)

USC and Notre Dame Square Off in South Bend

It's Notre Dame week, people!

It ain't the matchup we hoped for . . . an undefeated Trojan team facing off against a winless Irish team, but that's the way it goes. But at least this ND team has been so bad this year that Charlie Weis is actually LOSING weight.

Anyway, SC is slowly trying to regain strength after some debillitating injuries, while the Irish are making a QB switch. The only real guarantee is that the Notre Dame stadium grass will be high.

Here's the breakdown:

Notre Dame

Offense - Could they be any worse? Ranked 111th in total offense (dead last in the nation in rushing) the Irish have been hilarious to watch . . . sometimes having trouble even snapping the ball to the QB. The OLine is horrific, giving up 23 sacks in the last 4 games. The Irish have asked QB Evan Sharpley to stem the tide, as he has actually improved since taking seven sacks himself in ND's first game of the year in about two quarters of work. We will probably see Jimmy Clausen play, however. The running backs are pedestrian to subpar, and with no weapons or experience at WR, the TE John Carlson qualifies as ND's best offensive weapon (22 rec. with 1 TD)

Defense - the ND defense ain't much better than the offense. The best player on the DLine is Trevor Laws, but as a unit they can't stop the run, nor do they get pressure on the QB. One of the more overrated players of our generation, safety Tom Zbikowski, leads a defensive unit that ranks 93rd in total defense.

Special Teams - the FG kicker, Walker, doesn't make anything over 30 yards, and the return game is average. Freshmen Armando Allen and Golden Tate return kicks, and Zbikowski handles the punt returns.

USC

Offense - it looks as if QB Mark Sanchez will get his second start behind an OLine that is trying to incorporate reserve LT Butch Lewis and RG Tiny Malu. This unit should still be able to run the ball with CWashington and JMcKnight against a very weak ND run defense. The WRs just have to come through in this game - Patrick Turner where are you?! TE Fred Davis is a "go to" player vs. the slow ND linebackers.

Defense - ND is tailor-made for the Trojan defense. The team ranks 5th vs. the run, and the DLine should have no problems putting pressure on the ND Oline and QB. ND will probably go to the short passing game (like everybody else) because SC should shut down the poor Irish running game. Even with Mad Dog Mualuga out or playing very sparingly, MLBs TWilliams and LBrown should be able to handle things. One key is for returning LB BCushing to lock down the Irish TE on passing routes.

Special Teams - the return game finally got a jolt from JMcKnight. But he'll have to be smarter on punts than he was vs. Arizona in a hostile environment like ND stadium. Look for kick returner RoJo to get loose this game. DBuehler has been solid this year, but the high grass will be a different surface for him to get used to.

Prediction Time:

USC - 31

ND - 6

Trojans Outlast 'Zona, 20 - 13

Before the season started, no one would have predicted that the most important game of the year would be Arizona. But it was. SC had to win no matter what, and they finally got some clutch offensive and defensive plays when they needed them. It wasn't pretty, but pretty went out the window a long time ago.

Let's get to the grades:

Offense -

QB - Much like the backup QB for Stanford, Mark Sanchez survived the first three quarters to make a few good plays in the all important 4 quarter. His stats, 19 - 31 for 130+ yards, 1TD and 2 INTs, weren't really the issue. SC needed a win, and he contributed. Grade: C+

RB/FB - CWashington had a terrific first quarter TD run, but not too much else, and JMcKnight contributed a 50+ yard run in the 4th quarter. It was hit and miss, even in short yardage situations, with no real rhythm established. Grade: C+

WR/TE - Fred "The Truth" Davis is the most reliable playmaker in the passing game, and he proved it again with the game winning TD catch. The WRs continue to feel there way around with no marked impact on the game. Grade: C

OLine - Dang . . . this unit is beat up. Even the indestructible one . . . Sam Baker . . . limped out of the ball game. But they did not play badly. Certainly they didn't dominate for the run game (140+ yards rushing), but they kept Sanchez upright and did a serviceable job with 3 and 4 reserves in the game at the same time. Grade: C+

Defense -

DLine - Good game. They allowed only 22 yards of rushing in 16 carries. DE Kyle Moore may have had the biggest play when he knocked down an Arizona pass at the line of scrimmage on a 3rd down play with SC only leading 17 - 13 in the 4th quarter. DE Everson Griffen also had his first sack of the year. Grade: B+

LB - Another solid game for the LBs. Mad Dog Maualuga got hurt, but Luther Brown did a good job filling in. Keith Rivers and Thomas Williams were all over the field. Grade: B

DBs - This unit did a nice job against a team that came in with an all out passing game attack. 'Zona got about 230 yards in the air, but only for 7 yards per completion. CB TThomas and S KEllison were extremely active. Ellison had 9 tackles with a forced fumble. Grade: B

Special Teams: Nothing to write home about, but PR Joe McKnight provided the spark that lifted the Trojans out of the doldrums with a 50+ yard punt return right when SC needed it the most in the 4th quarter. The Trojans took the lead on the next play. Grade: C+

Coaching: Challenging day for the offensive coaches as they were dealing with backup players at important positions on OLine and at QB. The playcalling gave QB Sanchez some interesting choices and he clearly missed some reads before the snap and in his progressions, but the coaches returned to the running game in the 4Q that set up the win. On defense, SC bottled up the Wildcats with the tried and true formula of stopping the run first, and turning the 'Cats into a a one dimensional team. Grade: B minus

Game Balls:

Offense - TE Fred Davis

Defense - S Kevin Ellison

Special Teams - PR Joe McKnight

Prediction Winner: Payback (by one point over RickyBobby)

The Wildcats Come to Town

Alright . . . let's get on with the rest of the season. Its game number six, but its really Game One A.S. (after Stanford), and the Trojans need to get back to playing good football in all facets of the game.

There's some intrigue to this one as Trojan QB Mark Sanchez will step in for an injured J.D. Booty. And Arizona comes in a little down about their season, but they may have played their best game of the year vs. Wazzu last week as they beat the Cougars 48 - 20. So one team is coming off a devastating defeat, and the other their best victory . . . who will impose their will on the game?

Arizona

Offense: The great offensive experiment in the desert may slowly be paying dividends. Arizona has gone to a passing offense behind QB Willie Tuitama, and at least his stats are better than in previous seasons. He's got 15 TDs vs. 7 INTs, while completing 61% of his passes. 'Zona is also leaning on its true freshmen to produce: RB Nicholas Grigsby had a breakout game of 186 yards rushing and TE Rob Gronkowski caught 5 balls for 115 yards and a TD last week. Veteran WR Mike Thomas has been the main beneficiary of 'Zona's new wide open attack - he has 38 receptions and 6TDs.

Defense: This unit is not as good as they thought it would be. Once an upper-echeleon unit in the Pac 10, the 'Zona defense is now middle of the road or worse in every defensive category. And they haven't played great offensive teams. LB Spencer Larsen and DB Antoine Cason lead the defensive unit for the Cats.

Special Teams: Antoine Cason is a dangerous punt returner with one return of 70 yards for a score. The kicking game is strong for Arizona - the punter is the best in the Pac 10, and the FG kicker is solid making 10 - 13 FG attempts.

USC

Offense: QB Mark Sanchez saddles up as a first time starter this Saturday. He's talented, but shouldn't be made to carry the load vs. Arizona. Distributing the ball in the short passing game, and running the ball will most likely be the gameplan for the Trojans this weekend. The OLine with two backups and a couple of walking wounded will have to "man up" and protect the new QB, as well as open holes in the running game. TE Fred Davis is playing like an All American, so he should see his share of opportunities.

Defense: The unit has played very good ball all year (except for the infamous 4Q vs. Stanford) and will need to turn in another one vs. Arizona's passing game. The DLine can be disruptive by getting their hands in the passing lanes and not giving QB Tuitama enough time to look downfield. The Safeties and LBs will need to make the 'Zona WRs pay for crossing the middle, and will have to keep an eye on the TE. The CBs will be tested on the outside all game long. Terrell Thomas will have to take Cats WR Mike Thomas out of the game.

Special Teams - The word "special" doesn't apply to this unit. A contribution has to made from the return game sooner or later. A big return or TD would really help the Trojan offense and team spirits right about now.

Prediction Time:

USC - 27

Zona - 13

Trojans Up-Ended by the Farm, 24 - 23

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.

Stanford Prepares to Meet Maker

Does this look like a man who knows what he's doing?

No coach in recent history made as much of a splash as Jim Harbaugh did when he attacked the Big Dog of the Pac 10 conference (USC) as soon as he was hired. Speculating on Pete Carroll's future and announcing that his program was "afraid of no man" was not a great way to win friends and influence people as the new kid in town.

But now the trash talk has stopped . . . the season started, and Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal limp into the Coliseum to face the Trojans losers of their last (3) games - all by 38 pts. or more. Harbaugh is Mr. Humble now, with nothing but good things to say about the Trojans . . . too bad that won't stop SC from throwing Harbaugh to the lions on this coming Saturday. Let's break this feeding down . . .

Stanford

Offense: The Cardinal come in without starting QB T.C. Ostrander who suffered a seizure a few days ago. That means Tavita Pritchard steps into the role only having thrown (3) passes in his career. Known as a good athlete, Pritchard may have to do all the running himself as the Cardinal rushing offense ranks 9th in the Pac 10 averaging only 116 ypg behind RB Anthony Kimble and a few others. The WRs are the strength of the team with Mark Bradford, Evan Moore and deep threat Richard Sherman . . . but will QB Pritchard be able to find them?

Defense: Simply put, the Stanford defense can't stop the run. They rank last in the conference giving up nearly 200 ypg. They will be missing their best DLineman in Ekom Udofia who is injured. LB Bo McNally is the leader of the unit with team highs in tackles and INTs. He will be very busy on Saturday.

Special Teams: The FG kicker missed two FGs in Stanford's loss to ASU last week, and is a little shaky. The return game for Stanford is average.

USC

Offense: After a subpar game last week, SC's players and coaches will be paying serious attention to detail in this game. Thanks to (16) penalties last week, SC ranks last in the category in the Pac 10, so mistakes must be limited. SC's offense will be able to run or pass vs. the Cardinal, so we'll see a little of everything. QB Booty just needs to get his timing and touch back and limit the turnovers. The WRs also need to run sharp routes. The running game will be interesting to watch as Stafon Johnson probably will not play, Gable is out for the year, plus Chauncey Washington has a sore shoulder. So ABradford, HDennis and JMcKnight should get the majority of carries in this game behind an OLine that will have new starters at center (MSpanos) and right guard (ZHerberer).

Defense: It will be time for SC's defense to pin their ears back and tee off on the Cardinal offense who shouldn't be able to do anything. Stanford's offense ranks last in first downs (and that was behind the starting QB!), now they face the best defense in the Trojans with a backup QB . . . it will be ugly. Look for SC's DLine and LBs to have a big game and force some turnovers.

Special Teams: Watch for new kick returner Ronald Johnson to break one in this game. And Joe McKnight should get some opportunities to return punts once the game is out of hand . . . which should be by the second quarter.

Prediction Time:

USC - 52

Stanford - 3

Escape from Seattle . . . SC wins 27 - 24

It doesn't get any more frustrating than SC's performance against Washington . . . actually it does . . . SC could have lost.

But it was just one of those days where everything that could go wrong seemingly did. Turnovers, penalties, bad execution, and questionable play-calling all played a part in this sub-par performance by the Trojans.

SC definitely brought its "D" game, especially offensively, to Seattle . . . so they'll be some tough love given out to some units of the team in this grade breakdown:

Offense:

QB - Well, JD Booty probably had the worst film session he's had since he's been at SC, the day after the game. The missed "reads", interceptions, and lack of proper touch on his throws were killers. He started off well, and then went downhill as the game progressed and finished completing only 54% of his passes with 2 INTs. Grade: D

RB/FB - Another very good performance. Both Stafon Johnson and Chauncey Washington finished with over 100 yards rushing. They broke tackles and got to the second level of the defense consistently. FB Stanley Havili had his first sub-par game, dropping a pass that would have been a TD. Grade: B +

WRs/TEs - The game started strong here. WR Patrick Turner is definitely hitting stride with 6 catches and a TD in the game. But 5 of those catches came in the first half. And any kind of downfield chemistry between Booty and the other WRs (Hazleton and Ausberry) is just elusive right now. TE Fred Davis was a terrific weapon once again. Grade: C minus

OLine - Another strong performance despite losing two key OLinemen (O'Dowd and Rachal) on the same play no less. They helped produce another 200 yard plus rushing game, and QB Booty was only sacked once, and that was on a naked bootleg. Grade: B +

Defense:

DLine - Good game. We said in our preview that SC's DLine had to keep contain on UW's QB and the DLine played their lanes well for the most part, and shut down UW's overall run game (only 100 yards). They only had one sack, but you aren't going to get a bunch vs. a guy like Locker, so give the DLine credit for having (3) tackles for loss in the game. Grade: B

LBs - Rey Maualuga had his best game with 10 tackles, and the unit as a whole held Locker down pretty well. In our preview we said to play QB Locker "like a running back", and the LBs did a nice job holding him to 50 yards on 2.8 per carry, when he was averaging 90 yards per game and over 6 yards per carry coming into the game. Thomas "Hit Man" Williams also had a nice INT on UW's first drive. Grade: B +

DBs - Despite not giving up anything (Locker was 13- 28 with an INT and only 90 yards passing) this unit had too many pass interference and late hit penalties that kept UW drives alive. Grade: C

Special Teams

Kickers - David Buehler was 2 for 3 on FGs and kicked the ball well on kickoffs. SC's punter had a punt blocked, though, after a high snap by Will Collins.

Returners/Coverage - The returners could have done more vs. a weak UW special teams unit. RoJo was a surprise kickoff return starter after Gable was scratched due to injury. He did okay, along with Desmond Reed on punts. The coverage units were solid, with Terrell Thomas making a huge play stripping the ball away and making the recovery on a UW punt return.

Grade: C minus

Coaching - Interesting deal here:

I thought the gameplan on offense and defense was good. The "in game" adjustments were bad, at least offensively. SC saw some opportunities downfield in the passing game, but when the players showed they couldn't execute thoe plays consistently, the offensive coaches should have gone back to the bread and butter Run Game which was working.

Defensively, the gameplan worked. UW's offense didn't get anything on SC's defense, that they weren't given by SC's offensive turnovers and a bad special teams play. But SC's defensive players were a little over-zealous in some cases, resulting in penalties. The defensive coaches may have pumped them up a little too much to get in good hits on the running QB, etc. Grade: C minus

Game balls:

* Offense - RB Stafon Johnson

* Defense - LB Rey Maualuga

* Special Teams - CB Terrell Thomas

Prediction Winner - B-Dub (Guessed the opponents scored correctly)

Post your game observations in "Comments" link below . . .