Trojans Beat Cougars, 27 – 6

A masterpiece . . . it wasn’t. But the Trojans did what they had to do, and showed some signs of improvement in beating the Washington State Cougars. But while it was a bounce back win for the Trojans who got off to a quick start, some old chinks in the armor revealed themselves yet again.

Let’s go to the grades:

Offense

QBs – Matt Barkley is back, and the difference was obvious right away for the Trojan offense. Although not at 100%, Barkley’s willingness to throw downfield resulted in two deep TD passes that helped get SC out to a 20 – 0 lead. Overall, Barkley went 13 – 22 for 247 yards. Backup Aaron Corp got a few snaps and promptly fumbled leading to Wazzu’s only score and an end to the Trojan shut out. Grade: B

RBs – The Trojans spread the wealth among RBs, with Allen Bradford making a strong impact with 6 carries for 55 yards (9.2 ypc). Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson added TD runs for the Trojans. Grade: B

WRs/TEs – Damian Williams was the star of the show with 5 receptions for 100 yards, and a spectacular hook up with Barkley for a deep TD pass. The only blemish for Williams was a fumble in the 2nd quarter that stalled a Trojan drive. The only other contribution was a nice TD catch by WR Brice Butler. Grade: B minus

OLine – This unit had another solid game. They led the way for 150+ yards rushing and only gave up one sack. OG Alex Parsons, in particular, had a nice game and is having a strong season. Holding penalties were a problem, and put SC in bad position in the 2nd quarter of the game. Grade: B minus

Defense

DLine – SC’s DLine was lights out. Wazzu could not run or pass due to a ton of pressure from the Trojan front four. The DLine accounted for 4.5 sacks, and helped SC hold Wazzu to only 85 yards rushing. Grade: A

LBs – OLB Michael Morgan had an outstanding game with 2.5 sacks. Jordan Campbell led the way with (8) tackles, and LBs Shane Horton and Chris Galippo chipped in with a combined (11) tackles. Grade: B +

DBs – CB Josh Pinkard came up with a clutch INT near the goal line, and CB Kevin Thomas had a sack. But otherwise, this group was not tested very much as Wazzu could only muster 144 yards through the air due to SC’s pressure on the QB.
Grade: B

Special Teams

Kicking/Coverage/Returns – On the positive side, SC may have found its punter. Jake Harfman averaged 46+ yards per punt. On the down side, SC missed an FG, as Jordan Longdon came up short on a 43 yarder due to messed up timing. For the second consecutive game, Damian Williams had a 25+ yard punt return. Grade: C

Coaching

With QB Barkley at the helm, the offensive coaches felt much more comfortable being aggressive in the passing plays - but may be a little too much, as SC could have run at will. Play-caller coach Bates is still searching for the elusive run/pass rhythm that can make SC’s offense go. Big negative issues are the penalties and turnovers which stopped Trojan drives in the 2nd quarter. Defensively, SC couldn’t have played much better with it’s first teamers. The 2nd/3rd team defense gave ground, but would have preserved a shutout if not for an offensive team fumble that gave Wazzu the ball back in the waning minutes of the game. Grade: B minus

Prediction Winner: Payback . . . bow down!