Trojan Report Card: USC 34-Notre Dame 27

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

When the Trojans sauntered in to South Bend, many pundits, including myself, thought they would leave with a fairly easy victory.

Many of these pundits, once again, including myself, were wrong.

As this report card is submitted, it is altogether appropriate to ponder what was learned.

The Trojans learned that they are not good enough to make silly mistakes late in a rivalry game against a worthy opponent.

They also learned that this years version of the fighting Irish are far too good not to take advantage of what those mistakes offer.

While any Trojan victory in South Bend is ultimately a good victory, this report card comes with a cautionary note to Pete Carroll and his coaching parents that Tommy (Trojans) have the ability to be unruly and needs a stern talking to.

With this in mind, here is this weeks Trojan report card, along with with failing grade on the importance of being a good citizen on field, which resulted in a myriad of punishments in the form of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties:

Defense:

Coaching:

For three quarters or so, Pete Carroll and Rocky Seto dialed up a good defensive game plan against what had been an explosive Irish offense led by quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate.

Then came the fourth quarter and Clausen started picking apart the soft cover two zone the Trojans defense kept running. However, that wasn't Carroll's biggest problem, his troops lack of discipline was.

Time after time in the second half, the Trojan defense either extended drives or Irish field position by committing silly personal fouls.

As the famous saying goes, one stupid personal foul mistake: shame on the player, Five stupid personal foul mistakes: shame on the coaching staff.

Grade: B-

Defensive Line:

As a whole, the defensive line came in and did what they have done all year long.

They only gave up 82 yards rushing and generally made Jimmy Clausen's life in the Notre Dame miserable by sacking him five times and hurrying him on many others.

The fact that they were able to accomplish this by rushing no more than four linemen was huge in allowing the defensive secondary the man power to cover Notre Dame's receivers, at least in the first three quarters.

However, in the fourth quarter, the pressure disappeared, and Clausen began his fourth quarter magic drawing the Irish to a last second possibility of an improbable win.

Factor in two silly after the whistle personal fouls, one on Everson Griffen, the other on Malik Jackson, both of which extended eventual touchdown drives, and the overall grade suffers.

Grade: B

Linebackers:

One question, where the hell were they?

Seriously, with the exception of Chris Galippo, whose name I heard a couple of times, the linebacker trio, so heralded as an up and coming group, simply disappeared.

I can't recall Michael Morgan's name being called at all and Malcolm Smith, coming back from an injury was only in on a few plays.

Generally, the defense played well without dynamic contributions from the linebackers but think how good they could have been with a significant contribution from the back end of the defensive front seven.

Grade: C

Defensive Backfield:

The Trojans came into this game as the only division one (sorry, I am "old school") team that hadn't given up a passing touchdown all year.

Flush that stat down the toilet.

Although the first Golden Tate touchdown, a 45-yard bomb, was covered well, the second Tate touchdown, a 15-yard slant, wasn't.

Golden Tate, with his eight receptions and 117 yards, to go along with the aforementioned two touchdowns and Robby Perris, who had nine receptions for 92 yards, kept sliding under the Trojans zone, exploiting opportunities that the Trojans so charitably offered.

However, the real problem was that the defensive backfields lack of discipline almost cost the Trojans the game.

Time after time, silly personal fouls by Taylor Mays, Josh Pinkard, and the rest of the defensive backfield breathed new life into a Notre Dame offense that damn near made them pay for it.

Overall Defense Grade: C+

Offense:

Coaching:

Sorry Jeremy Bates, I'm still not feeling you.

A marginal rushing attack needs to be focused on by Bates and his coaches in order to exploit Matt Barkley's immense talent.

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