USC Football: Report Card for the Trojans' First Game Against Minnesota

Well, all those good feelings the USC Trojans and their fans had about this 2011 version of the Men of Troy lasted all of about one half.

In a game the Trojans should have won easily against an inferior opponent, nothing came easy in a 19-17 win.

For USC, so sure of their return to prominence, it is now back to the drawing board.

All facets of the game—defense, offense, coaching, you name it—must now be reevaluated.

Despite a record-setting performance from wide receiver Robert Woods, the Trojans found a way to return to the mediocrity of 2010.

How bad was it?

Botched center snaps, a maddeningly proclivity to commit penalties at the most inopportune moments, failures to stop the Gophers on 3rd and 4th-and-long—the Trojans ran the gamut of mistakes much to the chagrin of Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff.

This slideshow will look at the comedy of errors that was the Minnesota game.

So hold your nose, here is the Trojans' report card for their first game.

Quarterback

On the surface, it looks good. After all, Matt Barkley was 34-of-45 for 304 yards and three touchdowns. A good day's work by any measure.

Or was it?

Most of Barkley's throws were short and to the point—the point being wide receiver Robert Woods, who had a record-setting day.

Unable to lead the Trojans to a score in the second half when USC needed it most, what should be an easy "A" grade for him was mitigated by the circumstances of how the game ended.

To be fair, the Trojans were decidedly a one-dimensional team in this game, which put a lot of pressure on both Barkley and the receivers.

Still, Matt Barkley will need to come up big in the second half of close games, and in this one, he didn't.

Grade: B

Running Backs

There is no "gray area" when it came to the Trojans' running game against Minnesota.

It was abysmal.

However, it should be noted that in order for running backs to be effective, they have to have holes to run through.

For the most part, those holes were nonexistent.

D.J. Morgan had some nice moments for USC, and his 70 yards rushing represented the vast majority of USC's efforts on the ground.

Curtis McNeal broke a couple, but overall, with a 2.3 yards per carry average, the running backs were found lacking.

By the way, did anyone see if Dillon Baxter suited up for the game? Seriously, Baxter's name was called once.

Once.

When you are being stonewalled at every turn on the ground, wouldn't a guy like Baxter come in handy?

Just checking.

Grade: C

Receivers

Thank God for Robert Woods.

On a day when the Trojans couldn't get out of their own way, Woods cleared the way in the first half for the points that would eventually be the margin of victory.

When all was said and done, Woods went for a Trojan-record 17 receptions for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

By any measure, this was a special day for Woods, and without it, USC would be 0-1.

Marqise Lee also had a nice debut with five receptions for 32 yards, and Brice Butler had three receptions, as did Rhett Ellison.

On the minus side, tight end Xavier Grimble dropped a 30-yard pass from Matt Barkley that would have had the Trojans knocking on Minnesota's door in the second half.

With Woods, the receiver corps get a nice grade.

Without him they were only average.

Grade: A

Offensive Line

This game, overall, was a tale of two halves, but for the offensive line it was a story of two very different levels of effectiveness when it came to blocking.

On one hand, the O-line didn't allow Matt Barkley to be sacked, but it should be noted that in 2010, the Gophers were the worst in the nation when it came to sacks—and it doesn't appear they are much better in that department this year.

The offensive game plan also called for quick drops and throws to take pressure off so the revamped line didn't have to hold their blocks for any length of time.

However, when it came to springing Trojan running backs, they left much to be desired. As mentioned before, the Trojans' rushing game averaged a paltry 2.3 yards per carry.

And this was against a very average Minnesota defensive line.

When taken in its entirety, the offensive line has a long way to go, which should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the Trojans.

At the end of the day, USC's offensive line, the one unit that had the most concerns attached to it, did nothing to alleviate that angst.

Grade: C-

Defensive Line

Overall, the defensive line didn't have a bad game.

Though Gophers quarterback MarQueis Gray was knocked out of the game midway through the second half, when he was in there, he didn't hurt USC too bad, which is a significant improvement over recent efforts when the Trojans have played against running quarterbacks.

And not to be discounted was the sack and a half the D-line also was credited with, which really should have been 2.5, but Da'Jon Harris was robbed of his sack by the stat official.

Though the Trojans allowed 111 yards rushing, they did hold the Gophers to 3.3 yards per try, and that isn't too bad either.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Another unit that didn't have a bad game, but that was mostly due to the efforts of middle linebacker Chris Galippo.

Galippo, who has shrugged off a nagging shoulder injury to return to the starting lineup, was a defensive stalwart for the Trojans with 1.5 sacks and several hard hits.

The youngsters who surrounded Galippo also did well, but made some mistakes—not the least of which was Dion Bailey's personal foul at a most unfortunate time of the game.

This was a game that will go a long way toward the unit's growth, and it wasn't too shabby of an effort for the initial game of the season.

Grade: B-

Defensive Backs

Last year, the Trojans were simply horrible when it came to pass defense.

This year, they may not be much better if the Minnesota game was any indication.

Considering that Gopher quarterback MarQueis Gray was not considered much of a passer and he was relieved by a true freshman, the Trojans' defensive secondary has a long way to go to shed their image as a weak link in the defense.

After giving up 192 yards on 14-of-24 passes, Nickell Robey, T.J. McDonald and company will have to go back to the drawing board to fine tune their game before a real potent passing attack exposes them.

On the plus side, Torin Harris did come up with a late interception to seal the win.

Grade: C

Special Teams

For God's sake coaches Kiffin and Baxter, please stop going for two points after touchdowns!

With two more failed attempts in the Minnesota game, the Trojans came damn close to paying a hefty price for the trickery.

If the Gophers would have driven the length of the field on that last try instead of throwing the pick, guess what—a field goal would have beat the Trojans.

So let's give the two-point try a rest, huh guys?

Otherwise, the special teams weren't too bad, and a nice surprise was punter Kyle Negrete, who put four punts inside the Gophers' 20-yard line.

Grade: C

Coaching

When Lane Kiffin said after the game that the Trojans only had two effective players (Barkley and Woods) on offense, I hope he was counting himself as a large part of the problem.

Kiffin had a brilliant game plan for the first half offensively, but seemed unable to make adjustments after Minnesota coach Jerry Kill changed his defensive game plan for the second half.

Time after time Kiffin returned to the short-yardage passing game only to have it stuffed by the outclassed, yet effective Gophers.

Perhaps Kiffin felt handcuffed by the Trojans' offensive line deficiencies, but his inability to match Kill strategically almost cost USC the game.

Meanwhile, Monte Kiffin did a nice job overall with the defense considering the distraction of secondary coach Willie Mack Garza's sudden departure.

Grade: D+

Overall Game

Make no mistake about it, this was a horrible game for the Trojans.

Though individual units played well in some instances, the last time I checked, this is a team game and, overall, this game was about as bad as it gets.

The only blessing for USC is it wasn't a loss—but it was damn close.

The good news is the Trojans can learn from this and, for their sake, hopefully get better.

Because if they don't, this is going to be a very long season for the cardinal and gold.

Overall Grade: C-