Thank God For Defense: USC's Offense Struggles Against Arizona State

Talk about an ugly win. 

A win is a win though, right? In College Football every week counts. Every game and every win is huge.

Especially when you have a good team, like USC; who's expected to bounce back from the biggest loss they've had in years and have a good  game against an unranked opponent like Arizona State.

Should be an easy win, Just a little something to boost the team's confidence, right?

If you were expecting that, like I was, you were seriously let down.

The Trojans didn't look like they bounced back at all, they—at least the offense—looked like they stayed in the Oregon locker room all week digesting the whoopin' that the Ducks laid.

For example: How about the amount of penalties? USC gave up nine penalties for over 95 yards. I've been told that a lack of discipline is usually to blame for giving up free yards, but 98? That's just sloppy.

But that's nothing compared to what is perhaps one of the two worst stats in this game.

The Trojans only snapped the pigskin three  times on the Sun-Devils side of the field.

Yeah, OUCH. The offense just couldn't get anything going.

Without question, Matt Barkley had his worst game of the year.  He completed just seven passes for 112 yards.

But, Trojan fans should be thankful.

His freshman jitters decided to manifest here and now on the small screen, as opposed to his cool demeanor in the big games, in the big amphitheaters.

I guess he truly is Pete Carroll's protege. Ha ha.

On an offensive good note, USC continuously used their pro-caliber running backs to keep the play clock rolling. Between McKnight and Bradford they ran for 146 yards on 29 carries. It ate up a lot of clock when they needed it, and kept the defense off the field.

The biggest play on offense came early in the third quarter. A  short pass to Damian Williams, turned a quick reception into a 75 yard touchdown.

Like I said, tonight we are all grateful for defense.

That brings us to the greatest stat of the game: 

USC's defense caused four turnovers; three interceptions and one fumble. USC safety Will Harris had two of those picks, including one he ran back 55 yards for the touchdown.

The play was so good, it forced the Sun-Devils coach to bench starting quarterback Danny Sullivan for freshmen Brock Osweiler. Harris gets the game ball from me.

Overall Trojans D did a good job. They were constantly backed up against their own end zone.

They were able to not only stop ASU, but several times they were able to drive them backwards putting them outside scoring distance.

The only reason I didn't give the defense more praise was because of the lack of capitalizing on the ball. I didn't count, but several times the Arizona offense threw passes that could have easily been picked off. Neither ASU quarterback was accurate and I definitely felt USC's defense missed opportunities for more turnovers. 

Second worst stat: Fewest points scored in a USC win since 1998. It's a win but, boy, it was an ugly one.