USC Football 2011 Schedule Analysis: Breaking Down the Trojans Game by Game
As the Trojans prepare to embark on season two of the Lane Kiffin era, a hesitant optimism permeates all manner of cardinal and gold.
Much of the optimism entering Week 2 of USC's spring practice is borne in the glow of another college football season, not because the Trojans looking good or bad.
With a depleted roster, head coach Kiffin's primary consideration is gleaning some benefit out of these early practices without losing more players to the doctor's office.
And it is upon this fragile foundation of these spring practices, when so little is truly revealed, that I will offer my first efforts this year as a "pigskin prognosticator."
For the sake of full disclosure, it should be noted that before last season began, I handicapped last year's schedule in the same slideshow format you are currently perusing.
Confident of my choices and eager to share my brilliance throughout the world, I fearlessly hit the "publish" button and moved on to the next chore on my list.
It should also be noted that my confidence level was much higher last year than this year, which would explain my smug assertion that the Trojans would go 12-1 in 2010.
In other words, you can literally take these picks with a grain of salt, and for God's sake, do not use this list as any kind of motivation for making a bet, legal or otherwise.
And if last year was any indicator, get ready for a good belly laugh as I attempt to break down USC's 2011 football schedule...
Sept 3: Minnesota
1 of 13
The 2011 USC football season opens with a rematch against a team they handled fairly easily on the road last year.
Though the Golden Gophers wear uniforms that are similar to the Trojans, beyond the uniform itself, there is little resemblance between the teams.
Sporting a 3-9 record in 2010, the Gophers are simply looking for respectability in this first year under new head coach, Jerry Kill.
With quarterback Adam Weber, quite possibly the Gophers most-talented player in 2010, gone to graduation, Minnesota will probably look to run as much as possible and take time off the clock.
And keep the score down.
Meanwhile, USC will be looking to start the year off with a bang and what better fodder to pad the 'ol resume with than the midwestern team named after a bothersome yard pest.
USC 48 Minnesota 14
Sept. 10: Utah
2 of 13
The Trojans open Pac-12 play with an early season tilt with their new division rival, Utah.
What? Rival? Are you mad? This is the first game of the Pac-12 season, and I am already calling Utah a Trojan rival?
Well, yeah.
While it is true that Utah is just now beginning to understand that they are no longer part of the Mountain West Conference, what they do understand is that this is the big time, on a national stage, facing a legendary program at an historic venue.
Which will make the the Trojans an instant rival of the Utes, even if the USC may not feel the same.
When the Trojans look at the opposing sideline, they will see a familiar face peering back at them.
Norm Chow, fresh off his latest disappointment as offensive coordinator at UCLA, now finds himself in that same capacity for the Utes.
Which means that the spread offense, so long a fixture with the Utes, will now be replaced by a more conventional pro style offense.
And this is good for the Trojans too whose futility against spread offenses is almost legendary.
So while the Utes attempt to change their offensive identity against the Trojans, look for USC to fatten up on a confused Utah offense who will wish they hadn't left their cozy spot in the MWC for this beatdown in sunny southern California.
USC 31 Utah 10
Sept. 17: Syracuse
3 of 13
With the schedule maker looking fondly upon the Trojans for their first three games (all at home), USC will now try to embark on their first road trip of the season with a three-game winning streak.
Of course, beating Syracuse is not the given it used to be as evidenced by the Oranges 8-5 record and their victory over Kansas State in something called the "Pinstripe" bowl.
For Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone, the Oranges improvement, record-wise, may not come until the latter part of the season.
But if the Orange are to threaten the Trojans, they will have to get a big game out of inexperienced quarterback Ryan Nassib, and those aren't found so far on his resume.
Though Syracuse is on the right path after years of being lost in the wilderness, they won't find the promised land in 2010, at least not in LA.
USC 44 Syracuse 20
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Sept. 24: At Arizona State
4 of 13
Rumor has it that this may finally be the Sun Devils year.
In fact, Arizona State is now a "trendy" pick, tabbed by many scribes as a dark horse candidate to win the Pac-12's southern division.
Not me though.
Despite a fearsome defense led by linebacker Vontaze Burfict, the Sun Devils have been classic under achievers throughout the years.
Now ASU head coach Dennis Erickson may be coaching to save his job.
Unfortunately for Erickson, the same questions that dogged his 2010 Sun Devils, will also follow his 2011 version.
For example, ASU quarterback Brock Osweiler inherits the starting quarterback position after the No. 2 and No. 3 quarterbacks left the team due to health concerns.
But that is really the only concern for the Sun Devils who return a bevy of starters from last year's 6-6 team.
If the Sun Devils can find a bit of early season success, then they might be able to build some momentum going into the game, which is going to be critical to spark an otherwise anemic offense.
USC 27 Arizona State 21
October 1: Arizona
5 of 13
By the time this game rolls around everyone should have a pretty good idea of how their season will go.
Fortunately for USC, this game will be their fourth home game out of the first five so the Trojans will want to take care of the home games early so they have some cushion for later on.
For Arizona, it seems like its always a case of "wait until next year."
With the Cats losing their last five games of 2010, getting off to a fast start will be imperative for coach Stoops and company and beating USC at the coliseum would be a nice feather in Arizona's hat.
However, if Arizona doesn't find some answers along the offensive line soon, they may find themselves playing "catch up" while the big uglies sort themselves out.
Still, the Trojans should be rounding into shape by this time and that will be good enough:
USC 38 Arizona 14
Oct. 13: Cal
6 of 13
It is pretty much agreed that Cal head coach Jeff Tedford is a certified genius when it comes to college football.
Except for when it comes to USC.
As brilliant as he is, Tedford just can't seem to find a way to beat the Trojans and last year's 48-7 debacle at home was one of the worst home losses in Bear history.
So what makes me think the Bears are ready to break this losing streak?
Nothing.
With the running game still in flux and a new quarterback on the horizon, the Bears will be experiencing some growing pains.
And at least for this year, the Trojans will extend Tedford's disappointing 2-8 record against the men of Troy.
USC 28 Cal 10
Oct. 29: Stanford
7 of 13
Well, it just won't be the same for Trojan fans.
And maybe that's a good thing for followers of the men of Troy.
After all, without former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh around to say something really annoying, maybe this series will continue down the one-sided path it had been going on before the arrival of Harbaugh.
However, beating the Cardinal won't be easy.
With Andrew Luck back for his senior year, Stanford will be tough again this year although they will probably experience a small drop off.
Meanwhile, the Trojans will be looking for a little revenge regardless of who is the coach.
And tonight they get it.
USC 28 Stanford 24
Nov. 5: At Colorado
8 of 13
Hoping that a change of conference will produce a winner, the Colorado Buffs welcome the Trojans to Boulder where USC could be looking at an undefeated season so far.
This game should be one that the Trojans should be able to win, especially if the same disinterested bunch from Dan Hawkins' final season show up for this game
It is hoped that Colorado will find some success in the new Pac-12, and, in doing so, the Buffs can regain some of the swagger they had not so long ago.
In the meantime, look for USC to continue its winning ways, 31-14.
Oct. 22: Notre Dame
9 of 13
I guess all good things must come to an end, but losing to Notre Dame last year left a particularly sour taste in Lane Kiffin's mouth.
After losing last year in a totally uninspired fashion, USC will look to return the favor in a game whose start time was changed to evening (which didn't please the Trojans too much) to accommodate a national audience.
It will be interesting to see who is playing quarterback for the Irish with Dane Crist the leading candidate but battling health issues.
The Irish had a nice recruiting class last year, especially on defense, and some of the youngsters will be looked upon to contribute early.
But will it be enough to please the faithful in South Bend? No.
And it won't be enough to beat the Trojans either.
USC 38 Notre Dame 17
Nov. 12: Washington
10 of 13
Riding a two-game winning streak against his former mates, Steve Sarkisian brings his dawgs back to the Coliseum where he began this winning streak two years ago.
But this time he won't have the athleticism of Jake Locker to lean on when things look bleak for his Huskies.
Say what you will about Locker, he always managed to play well against the Trojans, and they will be happy not to have to deal with him.
How good the Huskies will be is largely dependent on who Sark gets to replace Locker and how fast that guy takes over the team.
Regardless of who that person is, he will not win on this day in Los Angeles.
USC 35 Washington 17
Nov. 19: At Oregon
11 of 13
Lets see...
The way I see it, the Trojans will be 10-0 coming into this pivotal game at Eugene.
Although some may accuse me of looking at USC with rose-colored glasses when it comes to this supposed unblemished record, but I say perhaps the better question is how many losses the Ducks will have at this point.
There is no denying that Oregon has a marvelous team and are blessed with talent at the skill positions, but there is also no denying that the Ducks will have to replace 23 seniors who saw significant playing time and how that goes will answer if or how many losses Oregon has.
So the Trojans are primed and well placed to upset Oregon on its way to the conference championship game right?
Errrr...no.
This is still Eugene; those guys in the green uniforms are still really talented at the skills positions, and USC loses on a last-minute touchdown, 24-21.
Nov. 26: UCLA
12 of 13
If Rick Nueheisel plans on being the head coach at UCLA next year, he must figure out a way to beat the cross town Trojans.
Now with a new offensive coordinator, Neuheisel also needs to show something along the lines of a capable offense.
The last three years had UCLA scoring seven points a game two years in a row before they exploded for 14 points last year against USC.
Of course, if the Bruins are as bad as they have been, slick Rick may not even make to the last week in November.
Either way, UCLA suffers yet another lopsided loss to the Trojans, 35-10.
Conclusion
13 of 13
So once again, I have the mighty Trojans going 11-1.
However, I am not nearly as sure about this as I was last year, and unfortunately for both myself and the Trojans, at least last year, we fell way short of our lofty expectations.
Nonetheless, as has been pointed out by Lane Kiffin himself, the 8-5 record from 2010 is not worthy of the Trojans' recent success of the last decade and big improvements are expected.
For true Trojan fans, I suppose that deep down we just want to see improvement that will incrementally lead to national championships.
To that end, I have no doubt that Lane Kiffin will have the Trojans contending for a Pac-12 title every year.
Of course, a break, either good or bad, could turn a promising season into a nightmare and vice versa.
And 12-1 can turn into 8-5 in a heartbeat.
Given the circumstances Lane Kiffin inherited at USC, a few breaks either way should be a piece of cake for Kiffin to manage.
Besides, he doesn't have to win a NC this year anyway since the Trojans are on probation.
Trojan fans are patient.
Just as long as we win it in 2012...
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
