USC Football: Grading the Trojans Week 9 Game vs. Stanford

Sometimes a great game just winds up being a disappointing loss.

So went last Saturday night's game for the Trojans against Stanford and their mighty quarterback, Andrew Luck.

Despite a magnificent effort by USC, they came up just short in a three overtime thriller against the Cardinals who came riding a 15-game winning streak.

Now you can make that 16.

But it was anything but easy for the Trojans new found nemesis from the north, and despite the "L," USC has announced in a big way that they are indeed back to big time college football.

Still, it adds another notch to the right side of the won-loss ledger, and for Lane Kiffin and his team, the challenge now is to see how they bounce back from a game that by all rights, they probably should have won.

How they got there is the subject of this slide show, and here are the grades for the individual units that gave their all in one of the Trojans most exciting games in recent memories.

Quarterback

Its not Matt Barkley's fault that the Trojans defense was facing one of the most dominant quarterbacks of the last 50 years in Stanford's Andrew Luck.

And even though it took three overtimes to get the numbers, Barkley's 28 for 45 for 284 yards and three touchdowns (against one pick) are gaudy enough to warrant a second look.

But what was Barkley's fault was the abundance of over and under throws in crucial situations when the Trojans needed a big play.

Still, Barkley did make his share of critical throws and the Trojans only remained in this game because of his contributions.

So, in the end, Barkley showed that he could lead the Trojans when it counted, but like the Trojans themselves, he came up short.

Yet, he had a game that would have been a win 98 times out of a hundred.

Just not Saturday night.

And not against Andrew Luck.

Grade: B

Running Back

Don't hang this loss on Curtis McNeal.

Though the USC running game was almost non-existent in the first half, McNeal made like former Trojan running back Anthony Davis with a second half that conjured up memories of Davis' exploits against Notre Dame in 1974.

Rushing for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, most of those coming in the second half, McNeal got the Trojans going with two big scoring runs early in the second session.

And with Marc Tyler coming out of the game for good on the games first drive, the Trojans needed the little guy to step and he did in a big way.

Yes, he coughed up the ball that ended the Trojans hopes in the third overtime, but without him, the Trojans aren't even pondering notions of the upset in the first place.

Still, that fumble does cost him an "A" for the grade but he certainly gets it for the effort.

Grade: B

Receivers

A good but not great game, by his standards, was delivered by Robert Woods who had nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

He also had a significant drop of what could have been a touchdown on the Trojans first drive; and he and Barkley seemed out of sync at times.

Marqise Lee continued to show why he and Woods might be the best receiver duo in the country with his seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown of his own.

And what can you say about tight end Randall Telfer whose five catches included a touchdown in overtime when he simply would not be denied a score.

Hell, even Kyle Prater got his name in the record book for the first time in 2011 when he caught a pass for six yards that produced a much needed first down.

Still, there were several drops and, judging by Matt Barkley's several looks of consternation, at least a handful of wrong routes run by his receivers.

Grade: B-

Offensive Line

Despite not being able to run in the first half, the Trojans offensive line continues to improve with each passing game.

In the second half, USC was able to exert its will on a good Stanford front seven by running effectively and this opened up things for the Trojans passing game.

And once again, they were able to keep Barkley from getting sacked although he was hit often, especially in the first half.

Though not perfect by any means, this unit had a good game and can use this as another "rung" on their ladder of growth.

Grade: B-

Special Teams

Oh, what could been.

If Lane Kiffin had gotten he attention of any official that mattered, perhaps kicker Andre Heidari could have saved the Trojans from all of this overtime nonsense by doing what he had already done earlier in the game.

After kicking a 50 yard field goal to end the first half scoring for the Trojans, there was nothing to say that he couldn't do it again.

Except for a bungling set of referees who either didn't see Kiffin's frantic call for a timeout or just plain can't read a clock which appeared to have a second on it anyway when Robert Woods frantically dived out of bounds.

Either way, it doesn't matter now.

As for the rest of the special teams, punter Kyle Negrete had a serviceable game and the Trojans didn't allow any touchdown returns although there was an unfortunate long punt return which led to a Stanford touchdown.

Grade: B-

Defensive Line

Earlier this week I wrote that in order for the Trojans to win this game, the defensive line would have to pressure Andrew Luck all game long.

Mission accomplished. At least as the pressure goes if not in the "win" department.

After sacking Luck twice (he had only been sacked that number of times all season long) and harassing him throughout the game, the defensive line performed admirably in that faction of the game despite playing in a base defense most of the time.

Still, they were part of a defense that gave up 430+ yards in the regular session and 186 yards on the ground for the entire game.

Grade: B

Linebackers

In the department of "what might have been," also belongs the unfortunate loss of linebacker Dion Bailey who left the game late with an injury and was replaced by true freshman Tre Madden who was immediately victimized by the savvy Luck.

Though you can't blame Madden for doing his best under trying circumstances, one has to wonder if Bailey would have made those plays if not injured.

Until his departure, Bailey had been a stabilizing force underneath breaking up passes and going over a dozen tackles.

Hayes Pullard had a good game and Chris Galippo and his replacement Lamar Dawson had a servicable game as well.

Grade: C+

Defensive Secondary

With three minutes left in the game, it appeared that Trojan cornerback Nickell Robey would be the hero.

After picking off Andrew Luck and taking the rock all the way back for a score, it seemed that the Trojans were destined to win this game and stake their claim as one of the best teams in the nation.

Someone forgot to tell that to Luck, who calmly led the Cardinal on a 2-1/2 minute touchdown drive of his own to deliver a stake to the Trojans and their fans fluttering hearts.

On that drive, safety T.J.McDonald was whistled for yet another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, keeping a floundering Cardinal drive alive and eventually resulting in that deflating tying score.

However, unlike the silly penalties McDonald incurred in USC's other loss against Arizona State, this one could hardly be avoided and McDonald should be absolved for this unlucky play.

Nonetheless, Luck torched this unit for 330 yards and despite the brave effort, they only get a slightly better than average grade.

Grade: C+

Coaching

Credit Lane Kiffin and his staff.

The improvement of the Trojans over the last three games has been remarkable and certainly the Trojans could have easily won this game.

Playing (and coaching) against a fantastic quarterback in Luck, Kiffin and his Trojans gave he and his Cardinal all they could handle and more last night.

Still, one could question why Kiffin abandoned the run in the first half and what happened to his dad Monte's run defense in the second.

Yet, with just a modicum of Luck (not the Andrew kind of course), USC could have won this game and Kiffin would have looked like a genius.

Instead, he and the men of Troy are left to lament the timeout at the end of the game that was never called.

Grade: B

Conclusion

So close and yet so far.

In a game that the Trojans could, perhaps even should have won, they are left instead pondering what might have been.

What if Kiffin were able to get the officials to give him that elusive timeout at the end of the game?

And if T.J. McDonald hadn't picked up that unfortunate penalty on the Cardinal's last drive of regulation, could they have stopped Stanford and won in regulation?

We'll never know.

But what we do know, and what 93,000 bore witness to last night, the Trojans are definitely on the upswing.

Besides, we all know why the Trojans really lost right?

It was because Lou Holtz, of all people, actually picked the Trojans to win this game.

So USC was doomed from the start.

Thanks a lot Lou.

Overall Grade: B