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Last Man Standing
By the end of the game, the USC sideline looked like a triage unit. They were running out of room on the trainer's table. During the game, the Trojans lost WR Marqise Lee, RB Justin Davis, TE Xavier Grimble and WR Darreus Rogers to injury from an offense that was already decimated. Nevertheless, USC brought an emotional intensity and effort that warmed the head coach's heart. "I'm just proud of our guys," said Ed Orgeron. "We came together as a family tonight. We came here as one; we leave here as one. One team, one heartbeat." USC QB Cody Kessler seconded the notion despite the disappointment, "This one hurt. I'm so proud of this team. Obviously it didn't go our way tonight but they fought so hard."Holding Pattern
Down 14-10 the entire second half, USC could not take advantage of consistently good field position because the Trojans racked up 11 penalties for 95 yards. In particular, the Notre Dame defensive line forced several holding calls to stall USC drives. "We killed ourselves with penalties," said Kessler. "That's the story for this offense that we need to learn from." By comparison, Notre Dame was only flagged six times for 38 yards.
Tough Running
Senior RB Silas Redd gained 112 yards on 19 carries including a touchdown. In just his second game of the season, he shouldered the load with starter Tre Madden sidelined. "I love Silas Redd," said Orgeron. "I love what he stands for...toughness. He's the kind of running back that we want at USC."
Second Half Shutout
While the USC secondary was shredded in the first half by Tommy Rees, the Trojans responded after the break by knocking the QB out of the game, and feasting on his backup. In place of Rees, Andrew Hendrix was 0/4 passing and equally ineffective as a runner. "We kept competing. We kept believing. We just kept fighting back," said Orgeron about the second half defense. Freshman S Su'a Cravens was the star of the show with 5 solo tackles, including 2 for loss, a fumble recovery and a 4th down goal line stop.
Whoa Nelly
While the rest of the wide receiving corps cannot stay on the field, Nelson Agholor is picking up as much of the slack as he can. The sophomore caught 6 passes for 89 yards, but even more, he made a huge impact on special teams. Agholor's 48-yard punt return, which setup a field goal, was the longest by a Trojan since Ronald Johnson in 2010. He finished with four punt returns for 100 yards. He was injured on the last snap of the game, but walked off the field on his own power.
One Team, One Heartbeat
The Trojans are down, but not nearly out. "We are not going to blink an eye. We're going to keep on fighting. We're going to keep on practicing," said Orgeron, who refused to even acknowledge the injuries or depth issues. "We are going to bounce back. This was game two of our season. Utah, game three, here we come." The Trojans and the Utes square off at the Coliseum on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
Here are the highlights from the rivalry slugfest:
