It wasn't the prettiest win, but it's nice to be back in the winning column nonetheless.
Matt Barkley struggled in part due to an injury-plagued receiving corps, but his short pass to Damian Williams who took it 75 yards for a touchdown would be enough for the offense to pull out with a win. Not to mention, it's great material for a highlight reel. Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford each had quietly productive games, rushing for 78 and 67 yards respectively.
It looked as if the defense returned back to its normal form, holding the Sun Devils to 9 points. The Trojans recorded 3 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Will Harris. Seeing more interceptions by the defense is a good sign considering they've only had a total of 3 interceptions coming into this game.
From the mouth of an SEC fan (Everyday Should Be Saturday and SB Nation's Spencer Hall), a little respect for the Pac-10:
Q is for Quorum. The minimum number of people needed to seat a body of oversight, or what is lacked across the board in the SEC right now in terms of quality teams. Talent abounds, but turnover has taken a hard bite out of the coaching ranks and talent pool, leaving the SEC in a state of flux. Even Alabama and Florida, the titans of the league right now, clearly have serious issues resulting from the loss of offensive players to the draft and graduation. I am as blatant an SEC homer as exists, but this year there are other conferences putting together a more complete menu in terms of teams with depth and cohesion. That conference, for the moment, is the Pac-10. Now I'm going to hide in a bombproof bunker and wait for a while until I hear the bombshells stop landing.
The gravity of those words cannot be understated, especially when you consider that he may get banished from the South permanently for committing such words to paper/screen. People who actually watch football know what's up -- after a rough 2008, the Pac-10 is where it's at in 2009.
Except, of course, for lowly Wazzu and UCLA. Those guys are still terrible.
Matt Barkley completed 15 of 25 passes for 202 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. In light of the interceptions, he has improved tremendously since the home opener against San Jose State. And it sure is nice having Ronald Johnson back on the field, too!
Allen Bradford rushed for a career high 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sharing number 21 and being a solid, bruising back, he looked liked LenDale White. Joe McKnight rushed for 65 yards on 11 carries and left the game near the end of the 1st half due to a hand injury; it is unknown what his status for next week is at the moment. With McKnight's speed and explosiveness combined with Bradford's bull-like qualities as a running back, will this tandem be Thunder and Lighting version 2.0?
Here are some of the defense "highlights" against the Beavers. USC struggled defensively against Oregon State last year, so it should have been no surprise this year considering they returned a veteran quarterback in Sean Canfield and the notorious Jacquizz Rodgers, along with brother James. Enjoy the few clips of the defense stopping the Beavers' offense. If any other team expects to beat Oregon State, it must be done with a good offense. No matter how good a defense is, it is hard to prepare for the Beaver offense.
History repeats itself for the Golden Bears; they enter the season with lots of hype, only to fold like a bad hand in poker. Time for them to enter hibernation!
Cal's Heisman hopeful tailback, Jahvid Bust, was held to a season-low 47 rushing yards against USC. Meanwhile Joe McKnight looked the best out there, rushing for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Cal's quarterback, Kevin Riley, really outdid himself this time. Just when you thought his passing completion rate of 38.7% against Oregon could not get any worse, he sunk to a new low against the Trojans with a completion rate of 37.5%.
Such a sad way for Stafon Johnson to end his season, but his health is more important than anything, including football. The ol' Trojan saying "Fight On" takes on a whole new meaning after an event like this. Doctors expect him to recover in full, hopefully he can play football again either at USC for one more season (assuming the NCAA gives him an extra year of eligibility) or go straight to the NFL.
Here's a look at what Stafon Johnson has done so far this season. It would have been nice to make this video in January including more great highlight clips from the other 8 or 9 games, but the most important thing is a full, speedy recovery. Fight on, Stafon Johnson!
The offense got off to a strong start, but they were inconsistent and fumbled more than they should have, but on the bright side, coaches opened up the playbook and allowed Matt Barkley to complete some deep passes. However this offense, and the receiving game in particular, needs to play better. Trojan fans eagerly await the return of the fastest receiver, Ronald Johnson, who suffered a shoulder injury in the scrimmage game in August.
This defense is impressive. They almost held the Cougars to a shutout if it were not for Aaron Corp's fumble late in the game. Defensive back Marshall Jones and defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo each suffered season ending injuries in this game. Injuries are part of the game, and this is why it never hurts to have depth like USC does. Pete Carroll and coaching staff "stockpile" talent, and given the current waves of injuries, this is when the depth is tested.
Tonight we're in the Rose City (Portland, Oregon), and the #17 Ducks have come through with a 2nd half showing against the #14 Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Pac-10 is destined for a 5 and 0 finish.
Yeah we'll take Mike Riley over a Dave Wannstedt team any day. (Especially tomorrow — even with the Rodgers brothers, Jacquizz and James, out.)
For as much as shit has been talked about the Pac-10 being shitty, wow, like fuck, the Pac-10 is representing in a major fucking way!
Arizona beats BYU
Cal beats Miami
Oregon beats Oklahoma State
Kinda makes us regret not making a stink about Florida. With their soft SEC schedule. And orange-tanned Urban Meyer looks.
Why is their "one-loss-to-Ole-Miss-at-home" ass in the National Championship game?
Of course who knows, Oregon State could drop a gigantic deuce tomorrow making this post totally irrelevant and reeking of too many India Pale Ales — this Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (20% alcohol) is entirely too sweet, too strong, and too expensive.
What’s up, Trojan Fans! Welcome to the first ever TrojanWire Running Game Diary. The 901 Bar and Grill was gracious enough to let me watch the game here, since the VS channel isn’t available with the university housing cable package ($50,000 a year and I can’t even watch all the away games???).
It's a statistical dead heat and both teams are red hot: USC and Arizona will enter the Galen Center on fire. USC leads the Pac-10 with a four game winning streak, Arizona is right behind them with three consecutive wins. Both teams lost earlier in the season to #4 Kansas and #2 Memphis, but both teams have rebounded in their latest win-streaks to take down a top-10 school. USC's wins include an upset over then #4 UCLA. Arizona's includes an upset over #6, Washington State.
USC's got Mayo with 19.9 pts/G, Arizona's got Bayless with 19.9 pts/G. While Arizona has a near 4 point lead on scoring offense, USC bests Arizona's scoring defense by nearly four points. While Arizona ranks #2 in the conference in field-goal and #1 in three-point percentages, USC leads the conference on both counts defensively. Arizona's got Budinger, USC answers with Jefferson. USC shouts "Lewis!," "Hackett," and "Gibson!", Arizona screams back, "Hill!", "McClellan!" and "Wise!". It seems for every question raised by one team, the other has an answer. But the real question will be answered tonight.
Bot teams come in to the Galen Center red-hot, but only one team will leave with the victory.
Steve Megargee, sports writer for Rivals.com, has compiled a list of what he figures to be the best 15 games of the season. Three USC games make the cut: Nebraska, Cal and UCLA. Inside, we'll go further in depth into these three match-ups giving you the juicy details. We'll tell you what's up, who's who, and what to look out for...
(0)
![usc-vs-ucla[1].gif](http://www.trojanwire.com/usc-vs-ucla%5B1%5D.gif)
