Well, I wanted a 49-0 win, but 42-0 will do just fine. It's great to get a shutout, even if its against a team like Stanford who is in a down year. This was USC's first shutout in two years, since we beat Washington 38-0. But it was great to see the offense do their thing in the first half, with QB John David Booty engineering four touchdown drives, and another that was cut short due to a non pass interference call. In the third quarter, both offenses stalled, but Stanford had a chance to put points up on the board, but that just ended up with their field goal being blocked and returned 71 yards by CB Terrell Thomas for USC's first non-offensive touchdown of the year. And QB Mark Sanchez scored his first collegiate touchdown on a quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter. But Stanford QB T.C. Ostrander had a much more difficult time, getting hit on almost every pass and getting cracked whenever he tucked the ball and ran with it. The Trojan defense was solid against the run, allowing only 30 yards on 30 rushes, or one yard per carry. And they actually caused turnovers today, going to either even or +1 on the year in turnover margin. The first was on a fumble on a kick return, on which the Trojans scored on the next play on a Steve Smith touchdown catch. One interception led to a turnover on downs, while the other occurred at the end of the first half. Overall, this Stanford game was the perfect remedy after last week's loss, though the Trojans start their November home stand with a dangerous Oregon team. Duck QB Dennis Dixon had some trouble passing the ball, but their running game is sure to cause problems, especially with their misdirection games. Coach Pete Carroll best leave LB Rey Maualuga and his overpursuit on the bench for this one. Now for the game balls:
Offense:
QB John David Booty continues to be accurate and efficient in the pass game, going 12-21 for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns, all of which came in the first half. He's showing great understanding of the offense and after falling behind 33-10 against Oregon State, he has really been making the right decisions out there. Just don't have him throw any more slant passes that will be batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Defense: The entire defense came up today, pitching a shutout and giving up only 30 rushing yards, but I'm giving the game ball to
CB Terrell Thomas, who returned the blocked field goal for his first career touchdown and also had a sack and interception.
Special Teams: Um, these guys also came up huge today. LB Clay Matthews forced a fumble on a kick return, which was recovered by CB Shareece Wright. And DT Sedrick Ellis blocked the field goal to keep the Cardinal off the board, which was returned by Thomas. I guess I'll let you make the decision here. The only problem I had today was the the Desmond Reed experience. Man we need someone else fielding punts out there. And no kick returns today. That doesn't happen much...
As I said before, I wanted, or had, USC (-29) winning 49-0. This was USC's first time covering the spread since the Arkansas game. Go figure...
Season-to-date:
W-L - 7-1
Against the spread: 5-2-1 (4 in a row, not bad)
And this week's top 25:
- Ohio State (10-0)
- Michigan (10-0)
- Louisville (8-0)
- Texas (8-1)
- Auburn (9-1)
- Florida (8-1)
- Notre Dame (8-1)
- California (8-1)
- Southern California (7-1)
- West Virginia (7-1)
- Arkansas (8-1)
- Boise State (9-0)
- Louisiana State (6-2)
- Rutgers (7-0)
- Wisconsin (9-1)
- Tennesse (7-2)
- Oklahoma (7-2)
- Wake Forest (8-1)
- Georgia Tech (7-2)
- Oregon (7-2)
- Texas A&M (8-2)
- Boston College (7-2)
- Hawaii (7-2)
- Virginia Tech (7-2)
- Oregon State (6-3)
Even with sloppy wins, Ohio State and Michigan are so far ahead of everyone else right now that they remain 1-2 in my poll. Louisville jumps to #3 over Texas only because they are undefeated right now. 5-9 could be in any order right now, and with USC playing Cal and ND in a couple of weeks, the order may not matter. I dropped West Virginia so far because they haven't played anyone yet. If Louisville had lost, I wouldn't have dropped them as much, because they at least have a win over a Miami team that was still feared at the time. Even with their strong win today, I still have LSU behind Arkansas and Boise. I have Arkansas ahead as they are the only undefeated team in the SEC, though that may change next week when they play Tennesse. And Boise is only ranked ahead because I can't have a two loss team ahead of an undefeated one, and I will jump Rutgers over LSU if they beat (hopefully) Louisville next week. Clemson and Tulsa drop out with losses, making way for Virginia Tech and Oregon State in my poll.
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