Click here for the recap and final stats.
Click here the post-game press conference.
Click here for the Rapid Reaction.
"Starts with Me"
USC head coach Steve Sarkisian did not bring any players with him to the post-game press conference. He was making a statement that the accountability for this disappointing loss begins and ends with him. "We were a little out of character tonight, and that starts with me," he said. "I have to figure out why that happened." The Trojans came into the game as an offensive juggernaut, ranking fifth in the nation in scoring offense. Tonight, they mustered only 12 points, 34.8 below their season average.Out of Sync
Where did this offensive performance come from? The answers were not immediately clear after the game. "We were just out of sorts. Sometimes in football, that happens. We weren't there tonight," said Sarkisian. Led by QB Cody Kessler, the passing game looked unstoppable in the first month of the season, but the Huskies' defense, ranked first in the Pac-12, dropped two safeties deep into coverage, taking away the explosive plays. USC countered by churning out yards on the ground, 190 on 39 carries (4.9 ypc), but ultimately, the Trojans could not execute to sustain long drives without positive field position. "We tried to lean on the run a little more, and it was effective," said the head coach. "But the hard part was that we weren't getting yards in chunks."
Max Protect
Early in the game, USC lost captain C Max Tuerk to a knee injury. "When we lost Max, that made it a little bit difficult. You lose your senior center who has been a fantastic player. They got a little pressure on Cody, and Cody didn't seem as comfortable in the pocket as we've seen him," said Sarkisian about Kessler who was 16/29 for 156 yards and two interceptions. The offensive line also struggled to protect him, yielding five sacks. "We had too many mistakes in the pass game, that can't happen," said Toa Lobendahn who took over for Tuerk at center. "We had a couple rhythms in the run game, but we didn't finish and settled for field goals in the red zone. We can't have that, and we're going to fix it this week."
Flip-Flop
After the Stanford loss, all the ire was directed at the defense. Tonight, the defense was solid, stiffening in the red zone to keep the Trojans in the game. In the fourth quarter, they fed off a suddenly energized crowd to force a huge three-and-out, but the offense punted the ball right back. "Normally, we ride that momentum wave," said Sarkisian about his offense feeding off his defense. Freshman LB Cameron Smith led the way with 12 tackles, while DE Greg Townsend Jr. made six tackles, including 1.5 for loss. "We just try to do our job and rally our team up," said Townsend. "We were trying to get hyped and take the momentum our way."
The Message
After the game, Sarkisian hammered two points home to his team. First, "This is a long season. There's a lot of football to be played. We're going to live by our mantra, 'Fight on!'" And second, "Like I told the team, we can't get caught looking at the scoreboard. We can't get caught looking at the end result. We need to focus on tomorrow and what we need to do to get better tomorrow." The long term goals are still out there if the Trojans can improve their short term focus on the next opponent.
Here Come the Irish
USC should have no problem getting up for a rivalry road game against Notre Dame. The Trojans have proven to be resilient under Sarkisian, 5-0 after losses, but the Fighting Irish pose many challenges in South Bend. USC will go into this week with a bad taste in its mouth. "It's going to take a lot longer. It's going to take until we play Notre Dame and go and get that W because we can't take another loss like that," said Lobendahn about getting over this loss. As for his first game at Notre Dame Stadium, "I'm excited. It's going to be a good one."
Here is the SnappyTV video recap from the loss:
