USC Football: Week One Results Show Path to Victories over Notre Dame and UCLA

The two most important 2010 football games for the University of Southern California Trojans (No. 16*) will be those against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 31*) and the UCLA Bruins, especially since USC’s only “bowl” game will be the last game of the season in the Rose Bowl against UCLA.

So, how will USC do when it plays Notre Dame on November 27 and UCLA on December 4 after the below week one results?

• USC (away game) beat the Hawaii Warriors 49-36.
• Notre Dame (home game) beat the Purdue Boilermakers 23-12.
• UCLA (away game) lost to the Kansas State Wildcats 31-22.

First games are often difficult but very telling.  Strengths and weaknesses are revealed that are not seen in practice.  Success depends on how a team and its coaches respond each week to improve.

USC has the best potential to take the week one lessons and get better each game on the way to victories over Notre Dame and UCLA.

Here are the key reasons:

• Hawaii exposed most of USC's weaknesses providing the visibility and motivation to fix them.
• USC has the best overall coaching staff who will identify and implement solutions for weak areas.
• USC's lack of tackling in practice showed on the field; this has to get fixed.
• USC has the better athletes and a lack of experience in the weak areas offers the most potential for improvement.
• USC's athletes are motivated due to NCAA sanctions punishing them even though they were in high school when past violations occurred.

USC learned:

• The defense has a lot of work to do and making it simpler will help due to inexperience.
• The  offense (Matt Barkley, Ronald Johnson, Marc Tyler, offensive line) is well balanced and better than expected, and Barkley emerged as a leader.
• Special teams looked good and should continue to improve with a special teams coach.
• Too many dumb penalties (11 for 100 yards) especially on defense that led to Hawaii scores.
• Tackling was embarrassing. Was it a lack of tackling in practice or carry over from 2009?
• The defensive line that was supposed to be the strong point of the team was not effective.
• Hawaii’s offense exploited USC’s inexperience in the back seven especially in the middle.
• Little wasted energy (or penalties) on showboating was an improvement over past years.

Notre Dame learned:

• Good defense and special teams.
• Running game better than expected and used 10 more times than passing.
• Well disciplined for first game with only two penalties and one turnover.
• The Purdue win was earned at the line of scrimmage.
• Purdue did not expose many of Notre Dame's weak areas and it may take other games for Notre Dame to identify them although the schedule still has some weaker teams.

UCLA learned:

• Quarterback Kevin Prince may not be a strong enough for the Pac-10 and receivers dropped too many passes.
• The pistol offense did boost the run game.
• Inability to sustain drives going 3-for-13 on third downs due to unreliable passing game.
• The defense and special teams helped in five of the Bruins’ scoring drive.
•  The defense looked slow against the Kansas State tailbacks, and tackled poorly.
• Penalties led to touchdowns, and too many turnovers.

Attending the the USC vs. Virginia Cavaliers game on September 11 at the Los Angeles Coliseum should be interesting to witness the start of improvements to the USC defense and further gauge the path to victory. 

UCLA plays the Stanford Cardinal (No. 25*) at the Rose Bowl, and that will be a big test for its defense (and offense). 

Notre Dame plays the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium.  Michigan is a little better than Purdue so this game may expose some Notre Dame weak areas. 

Each college football season is a journey with every game an important destination. 

For USC, victories over Notre Dame and UCLA are necessary to consider the football season a success.  This is even more important in 2010.

Looking forward to the ride!  Let’s hope it is not too much of a roller coaster but it will be bumpy.

*AP Week One Poll