USC Football: Report Card Grades for USC vs. ASU

All of USC's brave talk leading up to their first road test turned out to be just that.

Talk.

After winning their first three games at home, the Trojans took their unblemished record and No. 23 ranking to Tempe and in one game, found out just how far they are removed from the greatness that characterized USC football in the not-so-distant past.

In what can only be described as a complete team meltdown, the Trojans handed the Sun Devils every opportunity to make a close a game a blowout and unfortunately for them, ASU obliged.

What's worse, it didn't have to be like this.

Take away the silly penalties, four turnovers and missed chances in the red zone, the Trojans could have very easily won this game.

Of course, as any cynic will tell you, if frogs had wings they wouldn't bump their butts on their lily pads too.

But they do, and now USC knows just how far away they are from where they want to be.

And while they ponder their shortcomings, let's see how bad USC's report card was for this abysmal game.

Quarterback

Yes, Matt Barkley had a horrible game. No doubt about it.

It was an ominous sign that Barkley overthrew an open Robert Woods and then under-threw a wide open Randall Telfer in the early going of the first half.

But that was nothing compared to what was to come.

Missing that ASU linebacker Vontaze Burfict had filled his passing lane, Barkley tossed his nemesis a gift interception which Burfict greedily accepted and thus snuffed out a prime Trojan scoring opportunity.

But that wasn't all.

Three other times Barkley led the Trojans inside the red zone and all they had to show for it was a trio of Andre Heidari field goals.

Missed opportunities that a team can't afford to give up on the road against a good defense.

Mix in another fumble by Barkley in the red zone and yet another late interception and it is easy to see why this may have been Barkley's worst game ever in a Trojans uniform.

Grade: D-

Running Backs

Sometimes statistics can be misleading.

If you look at the Trojans 175 yards rushing in this game, you might be tempted to say the running attack was solid against the Sun Devils.

And you would only be half right.

Because while the Trojans, particularly Marc Tyler, were good in the second half, they were horrible in the first.

In what has become a disturbing trend for USC, the running game in opening halves for the Trojans this year has been terrible.

This turns the Trojans into a one-dimensional team and hurts Barkley in the effort he offers to keep defenses honest with play action passes.

Tyler did find his way in the second session and produced solid numbers for the game, but his second-half fumble, like all other USC turnovers in this game, was a killer.

Meanwhile, prepare to say goodbye to Dillon Baxter who found what little in the way of leftover carries taken by true freshman, Amir Carlisle.

Grade: C+

Receivers

The wide receivers had a pretty good game led by—who else—Robert Woods' eight catches for 131 yards.

Marqise Lee, who has turned into the legitimate No. 2 receiver opposite Woods, also had a decent game with four receptions and a touchdown.

Mix in three catches each by Brice Butler and Brandon Carswell and a case could be made that this portion of the receiving corps did pretty well.

But "portion of the receiving corps" is the operational phrase when giving out a grade for the receivers because the tight ends were nowhere to be found.

The line for that group?

Zero catches.

As in none, zilch, zip, nada.

That can't be good and for USC, it certainly wasn't.

Grade: C

Offensive Line

Oddly enough, the single biggest concern for the Trojans offense in 2011, the line, was probably the best unit in this game.

Though the O-line still can't open holes for the running game early, they have found a way to do that in the second halves of games and they continued to do that in this one.

Left guard Marcus Martin seems to have found a home next to Matt Kalil and slowly they are rounding into form.

Not to say that they were perfect, of course.

Barkley was pressured and sacked a couple of times and there is still that issue of a lack of a running game early on.

But in this game they were the least of the Trojans' problems.

Grade: B-

Defensive Line

You had to know it was going to be a long night for this unit when ASU running back Cameron Marshall, gimpy ankle and all, went for 70 yards and a score barely two minutes into the contest.

For the game, the defensive line gave up 169 yards rushing to ASU, double their season average.

And then there was the pass rush.

Actually, more to the point, there was no pass rush.

Unable to get to ASU quarterback Brock Osweiler, who had been sacked six times the week before, the D-line gave Osweiler far too much time to operate, which exposed the weak link in the Trojans defense, that being the secondary.

With little in the way of pressure to hinder him, Osweiler torched USC for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Grade: D

Linebackers

Contributing to the overall futility of the Trojans defense were the linebackers who were often missing in action against the Sun Devils.

Providing neither run support nor able to take away the short over the middle stuff, USC's linebacker unit rarely provided any highlights in this game.

Because freshman middle linebacker Lamar Dawson was unavailable due to a sprained ankle, Chris Galippo had to play far too much in the hot desert night.

Dion Bailey had a couple of nice plays, but did anyone see Hayes Pullard?

Grade: D+

Defensive Secondary

Where shall we start?

How about with safety T.J. McDonald who did his best to include the word "overrated" in any description one might offer for his play Saturday night?

When he wasn't giving up far too much room to receivers in Monte Kiffin's "Tampa 2" defense, he was committing stupid penalties to push the Trojans further into a hole that they were incapable of climbing out of.

Three times McDonald was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, each at very inopportune points in the game.

But he wasn't alone.

Nickell Robey, usually the most reliable Trojan cornerback on the field, had a miserable game.

Too short to cover ASU's taller receivers, Robey was forced to balance the scales by committing pass interference.

Unfortunately for he and the Trojans, he rarely got away with it, as evidenced by the penalties he accrued.

Grade: D

Special Teams

By far the best group the Trojans had to offer against the Sun Devils, USC's special teams played well in all facets Saturday evening.

Place kicker Andre Heidari connected on all three of his field goal attempts and routinely offered unreturnable kickoffs.

Punter Kyle Negrete averaged 47.5 yards on his two punts and Nickell Robey had a nice punt return.

Robert Woods also had a nice kickoff return but was unable to elude ASU's kicker, who made a touchdown-saving tackle, which was further problematic when the Trojans fumbled later in that offensive series.

Grade: B+

Coaching

For the Kiffins (father and son), this was a troubling game on both sides of the ball.

To be fair to Lane, his players' lack of ball security pretty much compromised any consistent hopes for a solid offensive game plan.

The younger Kiffin also made some nice adjustments at halftime to give the Trojans a chance before Barkley and his crew sabotaged any realistic hope for success.

However, Monte and his defensive crew did not fare so well and a lot of that must be laid at the feet of the elder Kiffin.

Granted, Trojan defensive penalties hurt the overall game plan but last time I checked, keeping your players from committing silly fouls is part of the responsibility of the coaching staff.

And with T.J. McDonald playing thirty yards deep, there was far too much middle distance real estate available for a smart quarterback like Brock Osweiler.

Grade: D

Conclusion

This kind of game can set a path of destruction for a young team still trying to craft an identity.

Confidence shaken, the Trojans will now have to return to the drawing board to see where they stand in 2011.

The challenge for the coaching staff will be to let the Trojans know that in reality, they were only a few plays away from winning this game.

Remove the four turnovers and come up with a couple of scores in the red zone and USC could have very easily extended their 11-year mastery of the Sun Devils.

USC still has a chance to make this a special season, but they are going to have to grow quickly and they are going to have to find a way to win on the road.

Do that and 2011 can still be salvaged.

If not, well, its going to be a very, very long season.

Overall Grade: D-