
(Photo by Icon Sports Media)
Here is a quick run down on some injured Trojans.
The Good News:
Fullback Stanley Havili practiced yesterday and is expected to start on Saturday. Havili injured his shoulder vs. Notre Dame last month.
Defensive end Everson Griffen got some work in yesterday and said that he will play on Saturday. Griffen missed the ASU game because of turf toe.
Tight end Anthony McCoy is close to returning to practice. He did some light rehab work yesterday and is going to try to practice on Tuesday or Wednesday. He is anxious to get back on the field.
The Bad News:
Our all world receiver, Damian Williams, has a boot on his ankle after injuring it against ASU. Williams leads the team in catches with 45, receiving years with 688 and five TDs. He is also the most clutch player on the team, delivering big plays (two punt returns for TDs) when the team needs them most. If Williams can’t play, look for Brice Butler to start opposite Ronald Johnson. Travon Patterson and Jordan Cameron will fill in at the third receiver spot.
Ankle sprains keeps Williams on sideline [ocregister]
Dispatch from Howard Jones [uscripsit]
The Trojans have survived tough road environments this year at Ohio State, Cal and Notre Dame. However, the biggest test of the year will be Saturday night at the toughest place to play in the Pac-10, Auzten Stadium, where the Trojans will battle the 10th ranked Oregon Ducks.
The Trojans will have to survive a real house of hunts with a raucous Halloween night crowd, rain and wind in the 1st half and an Oregon team that is operating at the top of its game.
The fourth ranked Trojans have not left the state of Oregon with a victory since 2005 and will have to play together and disciplined in all phases of the game to for them to leave with a victory.
5 things to keep track of plus the obvious:
1- USC’s Defensive Line vs. Oregon’s Offensive Line: Oregon’s offensive line is fairly inexperienced and has yet to play a top tier defensive line. The Trojans must get penetration early and break-up Oregon’s offensive rhythm. The key to stopping any spread attack is linebackers being able to stay home and cause havoc on the short passing game and mis-directional running plays.
The emergence of the spread offense has led defensive coaches to really focus on it in the offseason and will see if that hard work pays off on Saturday.
2- Force Oregon into obvious passing situations: The Oregon offense is very potent when they are running the ball 2/3 of the time and not forced into throwing situations longer than 10 yards. Oregon only averages 157 yards passing a game. The hurry up aspect of Oregon’s offense is based on a solid running game where they like to hand it off or throw a pass behind the line of scrimmage 85% of the time.
Oregon prefers to throw the ball less than 20 times and Masoli is a weak mid to deep thrower under pressure. Evidence of that was clear in USC’s 44-10 victory over Oregon in the Coliseum last year.
Oregon tailback LaMichael James might be the second best back in the conference behind Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rogers. He is a great cut-back runner and has the ability to make a big gain at the blink of an eye. Containing James will be the key to forcing Oregon into 3rd and long situations.
(More of what to look for after the jump)
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller The big one is in Eugene but every game matters. Three teams are chilling at home. 1. Matt Barkley thinks Autzen Stadium is going to be a barrel of monkeys: Matt Barkley told the LA Times that he's looks forward to playing in Autzen Stadium -- "the energy is going to be awesome and... more »