The game: A homecoming crowd of 70K. Former great Football player John Jackson led the run out of the tunnel and was in good enough shape not to trampled underneath their hooves. The 7:45 PM start meant a late night, even with setting the clock back. Arizona is the last years Colorado. A lot better than thought initially. In fact they remained the key speed bump to a division title. USC played the first half with utter domination. 21-6 in first downs, 306 to 94 yards, held QB Tate to 57 yards (pass and run). It turned a lot darker in the second half when Arizona did some different things. A new entrant to USC hall of fame included Traveler who put in a workhorse like day after all those USC TDs.
Key play: A lot to choose from, but the interception that occurred where only USC player Ajene Harris was on the same page with Tate's pass , and intercepted it, to set up a subsequent TD and put the game thankfully out of reach.
Offense:. Coach Helton is now 24-9 (.727) overall, 19-5 (.792) in conference. And now has 2 wins after a morale crashing ND game. Word is that Helton did not pour it in on the players, but instead let them have more fun and relax. But he was far from relaxed after the torrent of penalties from quarter 2 onwards and got a personal foul for complaining. Really? USC had 13 plays greater than 20 yards (7 passing, 5 running, and 1 other 98 yard TD called back because of penalty). USC had a run oriented attack (for Time of Possession purposes) with 52 runs and 26 passes. USC had nearly the same # of yards running and passing in each half: Run 159-172, Pass 147-164. Arizona was Run 57-177, Pass 37-109. For UA young QB Tate was confused in the first half but UA used some misdirection plays and Different blocking schemes along with more comfort level for Tate in 2H.
QB: Grade: B+. Darnold threw an interception trying to get to past 3 defenders in the end zone which stopped a score, He threw 3 bad passes and had 2 passes dropped. He was high on most of the missed passes. But mostly he had a good day (77% completion-311 yards-15.5 yards per catch). He passed for 2 TDs and ran more than usual (4 times) keeping with the ground game scheme .
Running Game: Grade: A. It was obvious that Arizona has trouble with the run and that USC wanted to keep Tate on the sidelines. The first USC drive had 7 straight runs and an 8th on a Darnold QB sneak on 4th and 1 that missed the First Down by inches on the UA 17 yard line. Jones had 27 carries, 194 yards, 3 TDS , a 7.2 ypr and 7 first downs. But cedric Ware had his best game as a Trojan with Malepeia out-14 carries, 122 yards, a TD , a 8.7 ypr and 6 first downs. Offensive player of the game IMO was RoJo.
Receiving Game: Grade: B+. Passes were completed to 10 receivers- 12 to WR, 3 to TE, and 5 to RB. Many passes were of the "move the chains" variety and less bombs away types-41 to Deontay Burnett and 33 to Rojo who once was regarded as a poor receiver but got 3 rec.. The receivers collectively made 14 first downs. 3 FDs each for Vaughns ( a go to guy) and Pittman in their 3 receptions.
Oline: Grade: B+. They helped USC to 600 plus yards for the second straight game . Only 1 sack (5 yards) and 4 tackles for loss, and 5 sustained scoring drives of 50 or more yards (one ending in the end zone interception). USC averaged 6.4 yards per carry and held the time of possession for 34 minutes. Young players were mixed in with the vets and played well all game though Voorhees was hit with multiple penalties.
Defense: Grade: B-. QB Tate was the P12 offensive player if the week 4 times running- a first. Not this week. But USC did slow Tate ( 307 yards) , make him pass (45% completion, 2 int), and won the turnover margin (3 to 1). But it almost didn’t work due to an old problem (see Miscellaneous). USC used multiple blitz packages and had 5 sacks, equal to the amount allowed by Arizona in the prior 8 games. That rattled Tate. Though they defended Khalil well in 1H, they seemed a step slow in the 2H (The Kraken is loose!) and gave up big runs by Tate.
Special Teams- Grade C+. McGrath kicked short on KO's and later was replaced on KO by Punter Budrovich who had 3 successive KO touchbacks. McGrath did continue to kick EPs but no FGs were tried and he was reported to perhaps have some minor injury. Velus Jones had 3 near 30 yard KO returns and seems just ready to bust one all the way. This group outperformed Arizona but still has room to improve.
Miscellaneous- We know the PAC12 refs are bad but this group set an all time low standard. After the first quarter no pretense of fairness. Here's by quarter numbers…Q1 (USC 2-20 yards, UA 2-17 yards). Q2 (USC 4-34 yards, UA zero). Q3 (USC 6-49 yards, UA zero). Q4 (USC 2-20 yards, UA 1-15 yards). Total (USC 14-123 yards, UA 3-32 yards). The USC penalties called back a 98 yard run and 37 more yards in wiped out plays. And more in other calls. USC caused and scooped up a fumble for a TD (Pickup 6). Nope it was called a fumble back at point of occurrence, but no explanation why it wasn't returnable as a TD. Then a USC defender was tailing a receiver with no contact. Tate threw a short ball that hit the USC players arm from behind. A PI was called why? The ball was uncatchable. A good play on 3rd down to bring up a punting play was negated by a "Celebration" where the defenders made congratulating gestures to each other. An on the sidelines USC announcer said that one play was not called a penalty by the ref nearest to it but a ref close to him who couldn’t see the play any better than him called it a penalty from the other side of the field. Yow. The P12 head of reffing needs to watch that game and send out a memo.
Bottom line - Games don’t always impress, but that was also seen in several star teams on Saturday. as in losses by Ohio State, Penn State and the game by Alabama (scary good on D, shrug worthy on O-"Kiffin where are you"?) and Georgia. USC is on track for the P12 South division trying to win the conference overall It would be their first in a decade if they do. Colorado plays tough there and a sub 50 temp and rain is predicted. But my fearless forecast is : USC 35 Colorado 20.
Key play: A lot to choose from, but the interception that occurred where only USC player Ajene Harris was on the same page with Tate's pass , and intercepted it, to set up a subsequent TD and put the game thankfully out of reach.
Offense:. Coach Helton is now 24-9 (.727) overall, 19-5 (.792) in conference. And now has 2 wins after a morale crashing ND game. Word is that Helton did not pour it in on the players, but instead let them have more fun and relax. But he was far from relaxed after the torrent of penalties from quarter 2 onwards and got a personal foul for complaining. Really? USC had 13 plays greater than 20 yards (7 passing, 5 running, and 1 other 98 yard TD called back because of penalty). USC had a run oriented attack (for Time of Possession purposes) with 52 runs and 26 passes. USC had nearly the same # of yards running and passing in each half: Run 159-172, Pass 147-164. Arizona was Run 57-177, Pass 37-109. For UA young QB Tate was confused in the first half but UA used some misdirection plays and Different blocking schemes along with more comfort level for Tate in 2H.
QB: Grade: B+. Darnold threw an interception trying to get to past 3 defenders in the end zone which stopped a score, He threw 3 bad passes and had 2 passes dropped. He was high on most of the missed passes. But mostly he had a good day (77% completion-311 yards-15.5 yards per catch). He passed for 2 TDs and ran more than usual (4 times) keeping with the ground game scheme .
Running Game: Grade: A. It was obvious that Arizona has trouble with the run and that USC wanted to keep Tate on the sidelines. The first USC drive had 7 straight runs and an 8th on a Darnold QB sneak on 4th and 1 that missed the First Down by inches on the UA 17 yard line. Jones had 27 carries, 194 yards, 3 TDS , a 7.2 ypr and 7 first downs. But cedric Ware had his best game as a Trojan with Malepeia out-14 carries, 122 yards, a TD , a 8.7 ypr and 6 first downs. Offensive player of the game IMO was RoJo.
Receiving Game: Grade: B+. Passes were completed to 10 receivers- 12 to WR, 3 to TE, and 5 to RB. Many passes were of the "move the chains" variety and less bombs away types-41 to Deontay Burnett and 33 to Rojo who once was regarded as a poor receiver but got 3 rec.. The receivers collectively made 14 first downs. 3 FDs each for Vaughns ( a go to guy) and Pittman in their 3 receptions.
Oline: Grade: B+. They helped USC to 600 plus yards for the second straight game . Only 1 sack (5 yards) and 4 tackles for loss, and 5 sustained scoring drives of 50 or more yards (one ending in the end zone interception). USC averaged 6.4 yards per carry and held the time of possession for 34 minutes. Young players were mixed in with the vets and played well all game though Voorhees was hit with multiple penalties.
Defense: Grade: B-. QB Tate was the P12 offensive player if the week 4 times running- a first. Not this week. But USC did slow Tate ( 307 yards) , make him pass (45% completion, 2 int), and won the turnover margin (3 to 1). But it almost didn’t work due to an old problem (see Miscellaneous). USC used multiple blitz packages and had 5 sacks, equal to the amount allowed by Arizona in the prior 8 games. That rattled Tate. Though they defended Khalil well in 1H, they seemed a step slow in the 2H (The Kraken is loose!) and gave up big runs by Tate.
Special Teams- Grade C+. McGrath kicked short on KO's and later was replaced on KO by Punter Budrovich who had 3 successive KO touchbacks. McGrath did continue to kick EPs but no FGs were tried and he was reported to perhaps have some minor injury. Velus Jones had 3 near 30 yard KO returns and seems just ready to bust one all the way. This group outperformed Arizona but still has room to improve.
Miscellaneous- We know the PAC12 refs are bad but this group set an all time low standard. After the first quarter no pretense of fairness. Here's by quarter numbers…Q1 (USC 2-20 yards, UA 2-17 yards). Q2 (USC 4-34 yards, UA zero). Q3 (USC 6-49 yards, UA zero). Q4 (USC 2-20 yards, UA 1-15 yards). Total (USC 14-123 yards, UA 3-32 yards). The USC penalties called back a 98 yard run and 37 more yards in wiped out plays. And more in other calls. USC caused and scooped up a fumble for a TD (Pickup 6). Nope it was called a fumble back at point of occurrence, but no explanation why it wasn't returnable as a TD. Then a USC defender was tailing a receiver with no contact. Tate threw a short ball that hit the USC players arm from behind. A PI was called why? The ball was uncatchable. A good play on 3rd down to bring up a punting play was negated by a "Celebration" where the defenders made congratulating gestures to each other. An on the sidelines USC announcer said that one play was not called a penalty by the ref nearest to it but a ref close to him who couldn’t see the play any better than him called it a penalty from the other side of the field. Yow. The P12 head of reffing needs to watch that game and send out a memo.
Bottom line - Games don’t always impress, but that was also seen in several star teams on Saturday. as in losses by Ohio State, Penn State and the game by Alabama (scary good on D, shrug worthy on O-"Kiffin where are you"?) and Georgia. USC is on track for the P12 South division trying to win the conference overall It would be their first in a decade if they do. Colorado plays tough there and a sub 50 temp and rain is predicted. But my fearless forecast is : USC 35 Colorado 20.
