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Read It and WeepThe Trojans were thoroughly dominated by the defending national champions, leading to some historically ugly stats. USC suffered its worst loss since falling to Notre Dame, 51-0, in 1966. It was the first time the Trojans failed to score a touchdown in a game since 1997. And, Alabama outgained USC, 465-194, including a stretch in the middle of the game when the Tide accounted for 313 yards compared to 2 for the Trojans. "We played a very good team tonight that lived up to its potential, and we didn't play up to ours," said head coach Clay Helton. "We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves."
Losing the Line
The root of USC's problems came on the offensive line, which was tasked with stopping an impressive Alabama front-seven. The Tide's relentless assault on the line of scrimmage proved too much for the Trojans who "missed assignments" and suffered "physical beats" in one-on-one mismatches, according to Helton. The head coach wants to build USC's offense around a power running attack, but the Trojans were only able to manage 64 rush yards on 30 attempts. "We've got to get better running the ball," Helton stated frankly.
QB Buffet
Five quarterbacks played in the game, including both of USC's debutants, Max Browne and Sam Darnold. "Both kids did a good job for their opening ballgame," said Helton. "I never saw any fear in their eyes. I saw poise. I saw competitiveness." Browne completed 14 of 29 passes for 101 yards, while Darnold was 4/8 for 29 yards passing. Without having to over-commit to stop the run, the Alabama secondary had plenty of bodies to smother USC's talented receiving corps. "Alabama has a great defense," said senior WR Darreus Rogers, who had a team-high 45 yards receiving. "I had to work hard every play to make sure I was gassed up and not tired out there. It was kinda hard. I just tried to do my best and make my plays."
First Quarter D
On the positive side, USC's defense came out of the gates flying, smothering Alabama in the first quarter, which the Trojans won, 3-0. "I thought they did a tremendous job of really making it a close game there for a quarter and a half," said Helton about his defense. "They were really doing a nice job stopping the run." The Trojans were led by sophomores Porter Gustin and Cameron Smith, who had nine tackles apiece. "We did our assignments. We were crisp. We were tackling and we ran to the ball," said Smith. "I thought the first half looked great."
Work There Too
Late in the first half and throughout the second, the defense started to wilt. "All of the sudden, we had a couple runs break and a blown coverage on third down with the pressure. That turned the game and turned the momentum in a hurry," said Helton. Alabama OC Lane Kiffin directed a balanced attack, which ran for 242 yards and passed for 223 more. "They had some big plays and they executed on our mistakes," said Smith. "We hurt ourselves more than they pounded on us."
Just Getting Started
USC suffered its first season-opening loss since 1997. And while it was not pretty, the Trojans have at least 11 games to go and every prize is still in front of them. "One game doesn't make or break our season," said Helton. "Whether we won or lost, it's not our ultimate goal. Our goal is to win a Pac-12 championship." The defending Pac-12 South champions have a crucial contest next Saturday, home to Utah State (click here for tickets), before beginning the conference quest. The USC veterans know what it takes to bounce back, so they preached to the whole team that the Trojans simply need to "come back next week and fight harder," said Rogers.
