USC Football: Grading the Trojans Game Against Colorado

If there was ever a time for a young Trojan football team to experience a letdown, Friday evening was it.

Coming off of a emotional loss to a very good Stanford team and a quick turnaround to meet a fired-up, albeit injury-depleted Colorado, this game appeared to be a ripe candidate for a classic "look ahead" to next week's opponent, Washington.

Except that USC was having none of it.

Despite playing in chilly conditions and facing a Buffalo team sporting their newly minted black helmets (broken out for the first time in this game), the Trojans relied on superior talent to see them through this one-sided affair.

Not that it was perfect, mind you.

It was far from that, and although USC was never in danger of losing this game which wound up 42-17 for the Trojans, there are still things the Trojans need to work on if they are to be successful next week when they host the Washington Huskies and old friend, Steve Sarkisian.

Where can the Trojans improve?

Read on as we take a look at the Trojans report card for the Colorado game.

Quarterback

How could you not give Matt Barkley an "A" after he set a USC single-game record for most touchdowns with six?

But it comes with reservations.

In addition to the usual variety of missed (and dropped) passes, Barkley threw a truly ugly interception in the Trojans' last series of the first half, although it was later revealed that Marqise Lee ran the wrong route on that play.

And let's not forget that USC was playing against a Colorado secondary that was in way over their heads due to a landslide of injuries and suspensions.

Still, there are those touchdowns to consider and Barkley had not one, but two 100-yard receivers as  Robert Woods and Marqise Lee both had nice games courtesy of the big right arm of their junior quarterback.

Altogether, he went 25-for-39 for 318 yards.

Come to think of it, that reservation isn't so big after all.

Grade: A

Running Backs

Considering that the running game wasn't the focal point of the Trojans offense, USC had a very nice game from that component.

In rushing for the 243 yards and averaging an eye-popping 7.4 yards per attempt, Lane Kiffin was very democratic in sharing the 33 totes of the rock.

Because of their coach's desire to spread the wealth carry-wise, Curtis McNeal, D.J. Morgan and true freshman Amir Carlisle all had nice games.

It did come at a price, though.

McNeal had to come out of the game with a bruised hip and thigh after a hard hit early in the third quarter.

His status for next week is uncertain.

McNeal's injury gave both Carlisle, who went for 90 yards on 10 carries, along with a pair of receptions (including a touchdown), and Morgan, who rushed for 56 yards of his own, a chance to show what they could do.

But, in what will be a recurring theme in appraising the Trojans offense for this game, the quality of their opponents' defense must also be considered.

Grade: B+

Receivers

In a game that most expected the Trojans' terrific receiver duo of Robert Woods and Marqise Lee to dominate, the speedy pair obliged.

Woods and Lee evenly split 18 receptions and both went over the century mark for total yards and just to keep with the sharing theme, each had two touchdowns.

Yet, there were blemishes, even for these two remarkable pass catchers.

Lee dropped a sure touchdown (he atoned for that gaffe a couple of plays later), and Woods had a couple of drops of his own.

And unlike the past couple of games when double-digit receivers caught Barkley's darts, once you remove the tailbacks out of the equation, only five players registered receptions.

And don't make me repeat that worn mantra about the quality of Colorado's defensive backfield.

Oops.

Very good, but not quite worthy of an "A."

Grade: B

Offensive Line

Unlike the Colorado secondary, the Buffalo defensive interior had some talent in their rotation when they took the field Friday night.

And because of that, USC gave up its fifth sack of the season. Quarterback Barkley felt pressure on several occasions, including his second touchdown to Robert Woods, where he had to improvise after being flushed out of the pocket.

Nonetheless, this is a young unit that seems to be improving by the week.

True freshman guard/tackle, Aundrey Walker, saw extensive playing time in the Trojans "jumbo" package and along with left tackle Matt Kalil's usual domination, the unit had a good showing overall.

And no matter how you slice it, a running game that averaged almost 7-1/2 yards per pop is nothing to sneeze at.

Grade: B

Defensive Line

This unit's slow progression toward being a defensive force continues to be just that. Slow.

Against a marginally talented Buffs offense, the defensive line was part of an overall effort that resulted in giving up almost 400 yards in this game.

The D-line did find its way delivering some pressure on Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen, but they also gave up 134 yards on the ground at an alarming 5.4 yards per carry clip.

With two truly talented offenses on the horizon in Washington and Oregon, the interior line will need to be find some consistency quickly.

Grade: C+

Linebackers

The Trojans unveiled their new "all freshman" linebacker unit against Colorado with mixed results.

Lamar Dawson and Tre Madden, both true freshmen, joined redshirt frosh Hayes Pullard as the starters, and immediately they were exploited underneath on Colorado's first drive, which culminated in a quick touchdown.

The group would settle down after that but not until they joined the defensive line in giving up a chunk of yards on the ground and some underneath stuff in the passing game where running back Rodney Stewart torched them upon occasion.

Chris Galippo came on in the fourth series to have a good game, but both Dawson and Madden missed some tackles as freshmen are wont to do.

Grade: C+

Secondary

The secondary did a fantastic job against Paul Richardson, Colorado's best receiver.

Except for one thing. Richardson clearly wasn't 100 percent for this game.

Colorado's best offensive player, Richardson had been out for four games with a bad knee and last night he showed he wasn't ready yet to be the dominant player he was before the injury.

So how did the Trojans handle the Buffs' healthy players in the passing game?

Not very well, I'm afraid.

Michigan transfer Tony Clemons pretty much had his way with the secondary as he went for over 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Still, considering USC played the first half without their starters at safety, it could have been much worse.

Grade: B

Special Teams

You would think that with three blocked kicks (two field goals and a PAT), the Trojans would earn an automatic "A."

And you are right, that is what they will get from me.

However, there is a word of caution that goes along with the grade.

While USC had a great game in most facets of this part of the game, they were by no means perfect.

Blocked kicks, made points after, good punting and kick coverage aside, the Trojans return game has been abysmal recently.

In this game, the kickoff returners averaged 12.3 yards and Robert Woods returned two punts for a measly three yards.

And it hasn't just been an isolated occurrence.

Over the last three games, the Trojans have averaged only 16.9 yards per kickoff return.

I guess every unit has a flaw, and for USC, this has been theirs lately.

Grade: A

Coaching

This game could have easily been a trap game except for two things.

One, Lane Kiffin would not allow that and two, neither would the Colorado Buffaloes.

Kiffin had a nice game plan, although some might wonder why he abandoned the running game in the first half.

Perhaps it was because he had a dearth of running backs, but both Amir Carlisle and D.J. Morgan acquitted themselves nicely in the second half, and kudos to the coach for going to them in the second session.

Of course, it just have been that Coach "K" saw the deficiencies in Colorado's secondary and turned his passing game loose.

In any event, it worked to the tune of 42 points, so no complaints there.

For Monte Kiffin's defense, it still has a way to go, but considering they were down both starting safeties and began the game with three baby linebackers, there were excuses to be offered.

Still, it is a work in progress that better find a destination soon.

Grade: B

Conclusion

The Trojans owe the schedule maker a big thanks for this breather before the back-to-backs against Washington and Oregon.

Beyond records for touchdown passes in a game such as Matt Barkley accrued, this contest was difficult to gauge in terms of the Trojans' improvement.

To be certain, this kind of game won't win in Eugene, but the Trojans have a little payback to attend to first at the Coliseum against their old friend, Steve Sarkisian and his Huskies.

With the exception of Rhett Ellison getting dinged up in this game, the Trojans appeared to emerge fairly healthy and they will need to build on this game to take care of the "Dawgs" this Saturday.

While this game was entertaining, there were still some blemishes that need to be addressed, and we must never forget that this Colorado team was woefully over-matched.

Overall Grade: B-