Well, there was no upset for the ages this time. But it wasn't an easy early for the Trojans as Stanford showed plenty of fight once again. All is right, however, with the universe as the Trojans turned loose its three talented running backs on the Cardinal and never looked back.
Let's grade this puppy:
Offense
QB - Mark Sanchez had a quiet, but efficient game throwing for only 136 yards. He had (2) TDs, though, and most importantly (0) INTs. The start was rough for Sanchez, as Stanford anticipated SC's desire to expose their weak CBs. But again, Sanchez made no big mistakes. Grade: B
RBs/FB - A stellar night for the Law Firm of Gable, Johnson and McKnight. We wrote in the preview that if the RBs could get past Stanford's usual five man defensive front, there'd be plenty of running room. And there was. CJ Gable ran with speed and determination for 86 yards on 14 carries with some big plays. Stafon Johnson led the team with 115 yards on 8.2 yards per carry and (2) TDs, while Joe McKnight gashed the Cardinal for 72 yards on 9 carries. FB Stan Havili chipped in with a couple of receptions, including a 50 yard TD catch and run. Grade: A
WRs/TE - Not a lot of opportunities for this unit, as Sanchez only threw the ball (17) times. Damian Williams led the way with (4) receptions and a TD catch, and Patrick Turner snagged three balls. Grade: B
OLine - After a rocky start in the first quarter handling the rush of Stanford's un-balanced DLine, the OLine got its footing when SC turned to the running game on the very first possession of the 2nd quarter. They opened holes that lead to 282 yards rushing on 6.6 ypc, but also gave up (3) sacks in the game. Grade: B
Defense
DLine - After getting no penetration vs. the Run or Pass game of Stanford in the first half, this unit finally got it together in the 2nd half and hassled the Cardinal QBs into several incompletions. The unit (led by Fili Moala and Clay Matthews) finished with 4.5 TFLs and a sack, but Stanford's RBs & QBs rumbled for good yardage in the first half. Grade: C minus
LBs - Similar to the Dline, the LBs could not scrape outside fast enough to stop the Cardinal sweep and stretch running plays in the first half. But in the second half, they did a much better job. Rey Maualuga led the team with 9 tackles, and one TFL. OLBs Kaluka Maiava and Brian Cushing combined for 13 tackles, with Cushing snagging an INT. Grade: C +
DBs - The Trojan DBs were not tested much at all, but CB Josh Pinkard had a nice game with 8 tackles, one TFL and a pass break-up. Safety Will Harris also contributed 8 tackles. Grade: B
Special Teams - FINALLY . . . CJ Gable took a kickoff to da house!!! And Ronald Johnson almost had as well on a 75 yard return. The Trojans racked up 230 yards in returns for the game.
Punter Greg Woidneck had his best game of the year averaging 42.5 per punt, and nailing two inside the 20 yard line. Kicker David Buehler also had (4) touchbacks on kickoffs, and hit his only FG of the game. Grade: A
Coaching - Offensively, the coaches plan to expose the weak Stanford pass defense didn't go so well. And after three empty possessions in the first quarter, SC leaned on the run game beginning in the 2nd quarter and steamrolled the Cardinal defense.
SC's defense, or lack thereof in the first half, may have been the most surprising thing about the game. SC knew that Stanford could only run the ball . . . and yet the Cardinal still ran the ball down SC's front 7's throat in the first two quarters. The bulky Cardinal RBs (and even the QBs) actually ran to the outside for over 100 yards in the first half, resulting in three long scoring drives. Adjustments were made, though, and by the second half the defense began to get more pressure on the Stanford QBs, and get the Cardinal offense off the field on third down plays. Grade: C
Game Balls:
Offense - RB Stafon Johnson
Defense - CB Josh Pinkard
Special Teams - CJ Gable
Prediction Winner: DMoody chalks up another win!
No comments:
Post a Comment