USC Football: Report Card Grades for the Trojans' Second Game

What changed from the first game when the Trojans made Minnesota look like gang busters and Saturday's game against the Utah Utes?

Sadly for the Trojans and their anxiety-ridden fans, not much.

For the second week in a row, USC took what should have been a fairly easy victory and turned it into another gut-wrenching affair when they finally closed the door on a pesky Ute team that was bound and determined to prosper from the assorted gifts the Trojans bestowed upon them all game long.

If Lane Kiffin and his charges are trying to prove they can win close games, they are doing a good job.

The problem is, these games shouldn't be close.

Now 2-0 against teams they were obviously more talented than, the Trojans will now once again ask themselves the same question they asked after escaping the Gophers last week.

"Why are we our own worst enemy?"

The easy answer is that when you turn the ball over three times, including twice in the red zone, close games are bound to occur.

But it goes deeper than that and the Trojans has better come up with some answers soon.

In the meantime, here are the grades for the Trojans who were led—and saved—by a tough defense who rose to the occasion on a night when USC could have very easily been 1-1.

Quarterback

For the second week in a row, Matt Barkley's numbers looked solid but when you look a bit closer, the quarterback still is not where either he nor the fans think he should be.

While going 20 for 32 with a touchdown and a very inopportune pick seems pretty good, the numbers, while solid, are somewhat misleading.

Bolstered by a solid running game—something that was lacking against the Gophers—Barkley still could not guide the Trojans to a comfortable lead when the opportunity presented itself.

And his first-half interception in the red zone against a Utah team that was reeling at the time was almost a killer.

But perhaps the most disappointing thing for Trojans fans is Barkley's inability to lead the Trojans when they need him most.

In two second halves during the 2011 season, Barkley has produced exactly seven points.

And that is not going to get it done as USC moves forward this season.

Grade: C

Running Backs

Welcome back, Marc Tyler!

Tyler, who returned from his one-game suspension for a variety of offseason mischief, had himself a big day and along the way may have rescued the Trojans offense from one-dimensionality for this season.

After bulling his way to 113 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown, Tyler looked like he hadn't missed a beat and whatever rust that may have collected on him was shaken off in a variety of solid runs.

And it was a good thing that Tyler was ready because after D.J. Morgan fumbled deep in Utah territory in the 2nd quarter, Tyler's number was pretty much the only one that was called.

Besides Morgan, who had eight carries for 23 yards, Curtis McNeal only had two carries and Dillon Baxter got one (I wonder if Kiffin will get another visit from Mr. and Mrs. Baxter this week?).

Grade: B

Receivers

Though Robert Woods came somewhat back to earth with only (only?) eight catches, he did go over 100 yards for the second straight game, although in this one he did not go for any scores.

However, tight end Xavier Grimble was both the hero and the goat in this game as the redshirt freshman snagged five passes, including one for a touchdown.

Still, he also had a costly fumble in the second half when the Trojan defense needed to catch their breath.

Instead, USC's "D" had to march right back out and face a suddenly confident Utah offense who would throw a scare into all concerned who were wearing the cardinal and gold.

Yet, it was a game that Grimble can build off of and until a viable second option in addition to Wood can be found, the Trojans will take what they can get.

Marqise Lee, thought to be that second option, only had two catches, although he did have a big gain called back on a penalty.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

The offensive unit that the Trojans had reserved their most concern over probably had the best day of any group on that side of the ball.

Going against a huge and talented Utes defensive front seven, the big men in the trenches found a way to assert themselves all game long.

Providing ample room for Trojans running backs to roll up 152 yards and keeping quarterback Matt Barkley upright for the most part, the O-line came up big in a game the Trojans would have lost without them.

The only down side was that Martin Coleman, who started to give the Trojans additional girth, hurt a shoulder and his status going forward is murky.

All in all, a great game for the beleaguered unit and one that will act as a foundation on which to build.

Grade: B

Defensive Line

For the second game in a row, the defensive line turned in a yeoman effort for the men of Troy.

Although the units stats weren't gaudy—only Nick Perry managed a sack—as a group, they influenced the Utes' game plan and affected how Utah's offensive coordinator, Norm Chow, called the game.

By stuffing the run in allowing the Utes only 82 total yards on the ground, the defensive line turned Utah into a one-dimensional team that found itself throwing 46 times against the Trojans.

Lost in the statistics as well were the multiple passes batted down by a myriad of Trojan D-linemen which had to get into the head of Ute quarterback Jordan Wynn, who eventually gave up throwing quick slants over the middle for fear that yet another big-mitted Trojan would bat it down.

Expected to be a strength of the Trojan defense in 2011, this unit did not disappoint.

Grade: B

Linebackers

With the exception of the offensive line, perhaps no other unit was a bigger question mark for the Trojans than the young linebacker corps.

Well, if this game was any indication of things to come, rest your worried minds, Trojan fans.

And the best thing of all for all concerned with the cardinal and gold, Chris Galippo, the senior leader and only known quantity of the unit, wasn't even the best player of the group in this game.

No, that distinction would fall to redshirt freshman Hayes Pullard who had a sack and led the team with eight tackles, including four of the solo variety.

Following Pullard was fellow redshirt freshman linebacker Dion Bailey who had seven with three solo and then the aforementioned Galippo who had six.

Even true freshman Lamar Dawson finally saw the field of play and registered a tackle as well.

Altogether, Trojan linebackers accounted for 26 tackles on the Utes' 71 total plays.

A solid effort to be sure.

Grade: B+

Defensive Secondary

Although the Trojans' defensive secondary didn't appear to have a good game after giving up 238 yards in the air to the Utes, if you look beyond the raw numbers, it wasn't too bad.

Typically, that kind of yardage given up would be a source of deep concern but after turning the Utes into a predominately throwing team by stuffing the run, the secondary held their own by only giving up an average of 5.2 yards on Utah's 46 passes.

Still, there were mistakes made, coverages blown and silly penalties incurred.

Because of that, the unit gets downgraded a bit but still gets by with a passing grade.

Grade: C

Special Teams

Last week, Trojan punter Kyle Negrete had himself a very good game against the Gophers and for his efforts was awarded a game ball.

This week? Not so much.

Negrete had an awful game against the Utes, averaging only 32 yards in his five attempts and this will probably motivate Lane Kiffin to give true freshman punter Kris Albarado another look in practice this week.

On the other hand, it looks like all those press clippings about true freshman place kicker Andre Heidari were dead on.

Heidari, who was passed over on a couple possible field goal tries last week, came through for the Trojans with a 47-yard kick and would have had a 51-yard field goal as well if not for a penalty.

Kick coverage wasn't too good either as the Trojans gave up an average of 28 yards per return on four tries.

Oh, and lets not forget how huge Matt Kalil's block of Utah's last-minute field goal try was to seal the game.

Grade: C

Coaching

Last week, Lane Kiffin was skewered for a number of reasons regarding his coaching against the Gophers.

Silly calls to go for two-point conversions, a pass-happy offense, odd play calling, you name it, Kiffin heard it last game.

Not this one, though.

To his credit, Kiffin came out with a solid game plan that featured establishing the run first and stuck with it, which gave his offense the opportunity to excel against a very good Utah defense.

That the offense only produced 17 points is a reflection of inopportune red-zone turnovers and not a flaw in Kiffin's offensive game plan.

On defense, Monte Kiffin dialed up blitzes as needed and his schemes took the Utes and Norm Chow out of their comfort zone.

Grade: B

Overall Grade

When the Trojans stop shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties, they will start winning games by margins that reflect how much more talented than they are than the majority of their opponents.

But until those games arrive, USC will still give their fans and coaches heartburn, and their opponents the confidence that they can win a game they have no business being in.

In this game, the Trojans squandered at least two scoring opportunities with turnovers and another one other with a silly penalty.

Defensively, USC is right on target.

Although Monte Kiffin needs his guys to garner more turnovers, they are playing very well and as a young unit, they will only get better.

Special teams guru John Baxter needs to settle his punting issues but beyond that and some sloppy coverage, this unit should be fine.

This game was only about four or five plays away from being a rout but until then, the Trojans only get a marginally passing grade.

Overall Grade: C+