USC vs. Nebraska Thoughts and Analysis
Here is my somewhat belated review of the USC Trojans absolutely dominating performance against the Nebraska Corhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska last Saturday. It was the first of five ABC Saturday Night Football featured games for the Trojans this season, and didn't disappoint. USC absolutely dominated in the trenches, opening up HUGE holes on offense and negating Nebraska's rushing game on defense (only giving up 50 rushing yards not including sacks for -19 yards). Just look at this hole:
Stafon Johnson has a complete body length of room on either side of him running up the gut of the defense. This would/should have been a long touchdown run but for the unaware play of Patrick turner who is at the top of the screen. It looks like he's setting a block in this frame, but he's actually just running past the Nebraska defender who ends up tackling Johnson. A few yards later he stops, turns around, and watches the man the he ran right by bring Johnson down. At least make an attempt at a block! Turner also disappointed in the passing game by dropping a couple balls that should have been caught, but I guess I'll chalk that up to him sitting the last few weeks out. Anyways, I was very impressed with Johnson's play Saturday. With the offensive line providing gaping holes we got a chance to see what the tailbacks could do in space and in the secondary...and it was good. Speaking of gaping holes...
I could score a touchdown on that play...my mom could too! Gable looked amazing as well on the 4 carries he had (for 17.3 apiece), and Washington was less than spectacular but did provide a little bit of a power game. Bradford continued to disappoint (6 carries for 4 yards), but I've come to expect that at this point. Havili continues to impress with all facets of his game...obviously his first run was amazing (breaking through traffic and outrunning defenders...as a fullback) but he also had an amazing catch where he looked more like a seasoned wide receiver going up and grabbing a high pass. McKnight provided nothing but frustration, dropping an easy pass and fumbling for the second straight week, not to mention letting a punt drop and bounce for extra yards instead of going for the easy fair catch on his one shot at fielding punts). I guess we'll have to wait a year or two for him to live up to the hype! Also I have to give some props to Kristofer O'Dowd, the true freshman center who had another amazing performance. Looks like Matt Spanos might not get his job back after getting injured!
This week Washington State is coming to the Coliseum for the first real home game. USC's secondary should get another good test, they gave up 389 yards through the air against Nebraska and Washington is 17th nationally in passing (320.7 YPG). It's time for the secondary to finally step up and lock down, this will be a good opportunity for them to prove themselves! Look for another dominating performance in both the offensive and defensive trenches as USC's PAC-10 play begins. I can only hope that Patrick Turner will start playing for real this week! The game's at 5 PM PST on ABC, tune in and enjoy!
