USC Football Travels To No. 18 Arizona
November 07, 2010 | Football
Nov. 7, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format
| Game Coverage | ||
 Live Audio | Gameday Central | |
| TV: ABC | Radio: 710 ESPN Radio (KSPN-AM) | |
USC plays 3 of its final 4 games of 2010 on the road, beginning with a visit to No. 18 Arizona. The Trojans had won 7 in a row over the Wildcats before losing at home last year, but Troy has won its past 4 in Tucson. USC is coming off a wild 1-point home win over Arizona State, a game that featured numerous big plays on special teams.
Head coach Lane Kiffin's 2010 offense, which has scored at least 30 points each of the past 7 games, continues in the national Top 25 in every statistical category. QB Matt Barkley ranks in the USC career passing and total offense Top 10 charts. Most of his passes have been caught by multi-threat WRs Ronald Johnson, who is among USC's career Top 15 receivers and is on pace to set the school career punt return average record, and Freshman All-American candidate Robert Woods, one of the nation's best all-purpose runners who already has established USC season kickoff return marks in 2010. The Trojan ground attack is powered by physical TBs Marc Tyler and Allen Bradford, plus versatile FB Stanley Havili. The USC defense, which has made some big plays in recent weeks, includes CB Shareece Wright, S T.J. McDonald, DT Jurrell Casey and LBs Malcolm Smith and Devon Kennard. A sampling of USC's huge special teams plays in last week's game: a blocked PAT and punt, a defensive PAT, a game-winning field goal, a 2-point conversion pass. The Trojans are ineligible for post-season play because of NCAA penalty.
Arizona is smarting from a 25-point loss at No. 10 Stanford last Saturday, only its second defeat of 2010. Coach Mike Stoops' Wildcats are strong on both sides of the ball. The UA offense is in the nation's Top 20 in total offense and passing offense, while their defense is in the Top 20 in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense, as well as sacks. Super-accurate (71.8%) QB Nick Foles, high on the Arizona career charts for passing yards and TDs, directs the Pac-10's top passing offense. Dangerous WR Juron Criner heads the conference (and is Top 15 nationally) in receiving yards and receptions. The two-pronged ground game is led by RBs Keola Antolin and Nic Grigsby, who is sixth on UA's career rushing list and second in career rushing TDs. LB Paul Vassallo is the top tackler on a unit that tops the Pac-10 in rushing and scoring defense, while DE Ricky Elmore is the league's sack leader.
The game will be shown live regionally on ABC-TV.
