USC's 19-17 win over Minnesota on Saturday featured a pair of school records in the passing game, but as the Trojans head into week two against Utah, they are still searching for consistency in the run game.
When asked why the team was held scoreless in the second half, coach Lane Kiffin was not shy in spotlighting the up-and-down performance from his tailbacks and offensive line in week one.
"I am obviously disappointed with how our offense played in the second half," Kiffin said. "The running game was just okay today. It wasn't anything to rave about overall. You've got four guys on the offensive line playing a position they've never played in college football, so I guess it could be worse."
On top of the revamped offensive line, the Trojans were without redshirt senior and 2010 leading rusher Marc Tyler, who was serving a suspension for off-field misconduct. In his absence, the Trojan backfield was led by redshirt freshman D.J. Morgan (photo by Jon SooHoo), who finished with 70 yards on 18 carries in his USC debut, and redshirt junior Curtis McNeal, pitching in with six carries for 33 yards.
Despite a strong fall camp, sophomore Dillon Baxter's only touch of the game came on a three-yard screen play in the fourth quarter because as Kiffin explained, "His part of the package didn't present itself."
Despite a strong fall camp, sophomore Dillon Baxter's only touch of the game came on a three-yard screen play in the fourth quarter because as Kiffin explained, "His part of the package didn't present itself."
While Morgan had several strong runs in the first half, he admitted that mental and physical adjustments need to be made in practice this week before the Utes come to town.
"It's easy to get frustrated when things aren't going well, but when I was called to go in the game I tried to ignore that frustration," Morgan said. "My mindset is to try to score when I get the ball, but when that doesn't happen you can't get upset because that's football. I had some nerves because it was my first game, but I just want to improve on everything, whether it's my technique or overall approach."
McNeal's biggest contribution came on a 27-yard run midway through the fourth quarter on a 2nd and long situation, but even he suggested that the running back corps won't be shored up until Tyler returns.
"I think the current running back situation will only get better when [Marc Tyler] returns," McNeal said. "I have no clue why we struggled, but for now we can only do what we can do. We didn't have that many chances, but we picked up all of the blitzes and our quarterback didn't get sacked. I would give us an A for our first game."
Running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu wasn't as generous with his assessment, but also showed no signs of concern following Morgan and McNeal's combined 103-yard performance on 24 carries.
"It was good to get that one under our belts, but I'd give us a B-minus," Polamalu said. "For us, it doesn't matter if the offense is run heavy or pass heavy, we are going to have to play through that. Our philosophy here is to protect the ball and to protect the quarterback no matter what."
USC's next opponent, Utah, had the best run defense in the Mountain West Conference in 2010 as opponents averaged just over three yards per carry.
