- Deja vu all over again... Erik Folk booted the game-winner in Seattle last year. Now, he's crushed the Trojan faithful in the Coliseum as well. Folk is a local product from Notre Dame Sherman Oaks High School, which has really become a prep cradle of kickers. As for USC's kicking situation, is it an open competition this week? "Definitely," Lane Kiffin responded.
- As Lane Kiffin said to the team and the media after the game, USC did not finish the Huskies off. They had chances to bury UW with 4th quarter touchdowns and settled for back-to-back field goal attempts. Matt Barkley took responsibility for the missed conversions to David Ausberry and Jordan Cameron. "There has to be a time when you step up and convert that," the sophomore QB said. While he did not throw any interceptions, Barkley attributed some of his "clutch drive" struggles to fear of making a mistake.
- Allen Bradford was the obvious star of the show. He carried it 21 times for 223 yards (10.6 avg). "It was mostly cause of my offensive line," Bradford deferred credit. "Stanley opened up some big holes for me." Kennedy Pola has made such a difference for Bradford, who spent most of his USC career lost in the running back shuffle. I cannot help but wonder how much better the recent Trojan backs would have been under his tutelage.
- How do you fix tackling without tackling? "I really don't know what we can do to improve on that," Shareece Wright admitted. "I really don't." Defensively, the Trojans failed to wrap up on too many occasions. While the Huskies punished USC for 536 total yards, Oregon and others will do far worse if the problem persists.
- Two freshmen headed in two different directions. Down 17-7, Robert Woods ignited USC's comeback with a kickoff return, reminiscent of his TD at Minnesota. While Dillon Baxter was expected to provide a spark tonight, he tiptoed on his one and only run. Hopefully, he learned something watching Bradford from the sidelines. In a bloody battle like tonight, running backs need to get their shoulders going downhill, pick a hole and hit it.
- Like a Quentin Tarantino film, Steve Sarkisian's offense was derivative tonight. He has seen the Trojans struggle against zone read (Oregon) and fly sweeps (Oregon St.), so he incorporated both. Hawaii used the pistol effectively, so he sprinkled in some of that too. In summary, Lane Kiffin's worst fears of Sark having two weeks to prepare were realized.
- As I stressed in my game keys, USC's defense had to make Jake Locker one-dimensional and keep him in the pocket. They accomplished neither. The future NFL QB bounced back from his disastrous effort against Nebraska to throw for 310 yards and run for 110 more. "It all starts up front," DE Nick Perry said of containing Locker in the pocket. "Things fell apart." USC gets a crack at another mobile quarterback next week in Andrew Luck.
- "We weren't going to stop 'em. We were dead," Kiffin explained why he did not use his timeouts on Washington's final drive. Without Wes Horton, the Trojans depth was pushed past its limits tonight and they ran out of gas on the final drive.
- The Coliseum is an old building and the home and visiting locker rooms are adjacent to one another. USC's locker room was somber and silent after the game. The air filled with regret. But just next door, the Huskies were singing and celebrating a famous victory. With all those former Trojans in the other room, I'm sure they knew that their cheers were heard loud and clear. To the victor, go the spoils...
- While the defense forced only one punt the entire night, Shareece Wright put together an emphatic performance. He forced the first defensive fumble of the season by chasing down Locker and punching the ball out from behind. While the linebackers failed to deliver many physical blows, Wright punished multiple Huskies for daring to enter his air space. Here he is after the game...
University Southern California Trojans
Washington 32, USC 31
October 01, 2010 | USC Ripsit Blog
Washington 32, USC 31
10 thoughts on the Trojans first loss of 2010 plus an interview with Shareece Wright...
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