Arizona Football: Winners And Losers From Game vs. USC Trojans

You know your schedule has been tough when playing the Trojans in the Coliseum is the easiest part of your four game stretch.

After consecutive weeks against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Stanford Cardinal and Oregon Ducks, the Wildcats went into L.A. to face a very good and underappreciated USC Trojans team.

It was all Trojans early on, but the game was close to the end, finishing with a USC victory 48-41.

Winner: Nick Foles

Foles had arguably his worst performance of the season, and he still passed for over 400 yards on the day.

Against the Trojans, Foles passed for 425 yards completing 41-of-53 passes with four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Even with poor protection upfront at points in the game, Foles was able to find open receivers throughout.

An astound 12 receivers caught passes and four different receivers had a touchdown and Foles was able to find the open receiver all day.

Loser: Arizona’s Secondary

The Wildcats gave up 468 yards through the air, and allowed quarterback Matt Barkley to complete 32-of-39 passes.

What amazes me is that it is well known that Robert Woods (USC receiver) is one of the top receivers in the entire country, yet he was still able to put up monster yardage.

Against the Wildcats, Woods caught 14 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

The only saving grace is that after playing Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon and USC, the Wildcats won’t face another team with a better passing attack then they have already seen.

Winner: Arizona’s Run Defense

Before you look at the numbers, keep in mind that the Wildcats were going up against the USC Trojans (the team with more HOF running backs then any other school).

Arizona held the Trojans to only 114 yards on the ground, and held the Trojans led running back to just 35 yards on 11 carries.

Besides a 44-yard run by Curtis McNeal, the Wildcats shut down the run game.

Loser: Alex Zendejas

How is this guy still kicking?

I really don’t get it.

Today against the Trojans, one kick was just plain missed and another was blocked as the Wildcats only converted on three of their five extra points.

No team in the Pac-12 has a kicking problem more serious than the Wildcats, and it’s time to start looking for another solution.

Winner: Ka'Deem Carey

The Wildcats are loaded at receiver with Dan Buckner, David Douglas and Juron Criner, but it was Ka’Deem Carey (technically a receiver) who made the biggest splash.

Carey brought in three passes for 45 yards with a touchdown receiving.

Add that to his 12 rushes for 28 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and you see how big of an impact he really was.