Well, the Trojans made a statement in Lincoln against the Cornhuskers, winning 49-31 in a game that was not as close as the final score. The Trojans led 49-17 in the fourth before Sam Keller padded his stats with two late touchdown drives against USC's prevent defense. The offense, especially the running game and the offensive line looked very impressive. USC rushed for over 300 yards against a very respectable Nebraska defense, with the o-line, led by C Kris O'Dowd, opening up gaping holes for Stafon Johnson and co. to run for long gains. Many times, the backs would get five yards past the line of scrimmage before they would even be touched. Johnson looks like a legit #1 back, with C.J. Gable there to provide the spark and Chauncey Washington to punch it in around the goal line. The passing game was disappointing though, but I'd take running the ball effectively over a big passing day for John David Booty. Booty finished 19-30 for 144 yards and a couple of scores, but many of the passing plays were set up by our effective run game. And I don't think it's great having our FB, Stanley Havili, lead the team in receiving, though Patrick Turner did really struggle in his return from injury.
The defense was so-so at best, but if there were some bright spots, it was our ability to really stuff the run and force Nebraska to be one dimensional... which meant Keller throwing 55 times to try and make the score more respectable. It was also nice to see us win the turnover battle, with Terrell Thomas and Kyle Moore picking off Keller once. But it was disappointing to see Nebraska throw for over 380 yards against us, with the defense not being able to stop the short routes. Then again, we did defend against the big play, so we were better off.Sedrick Ellis looks really impressive, but I still think that he can't hold Glenn Dorsey's jock yet, no offense to Ellis.
Anyway, here are my game balls:
Offense - No obvious choice here, with Stafon really moving the ball to help us get the big lead, but I think that FB Stanley Havili deserves some props, leading the team with 3 catches and a score, as well as his 50 yard run on the first play of the game for USC which really set the tone for the game.
Defense - NT Sedrick Ellis really caused problems for the Nebraska front and was one of the few bright spots on the field, though I may have to look at the defensive stats before I make a true decision.
Special Teams - Ugh, fire Desmond Reed! Time to put C.J. Gable back there, especially since we don't have to worry about him being our #1 back with Stafon and Chauncey. But a big Fight On to Vincent Joseph for a speedy recovery. But my game ball goes to LB Malcolm Smith, who had the awareness to pick up Joseph's fumble and return it 50 yards which led to a TD drive which gave us the lead for good.
Here are some thoughts from other games:
- Florida looked really impressive today, defeating Tennessee 59-20. They look ready to enter the grunt of the SEC schedule, and that LSU game should determine who's playing in the BCS championship.
- Texas again looked sluggish in their 35-32 win over Central Florida. Colt McCoy is definitely experiencing a sophomore slump, and if they had not played TCU last week, they would be much lower in my eyes.
- The Big Ten continues to struggle in out of conference play. Wisconsin edged the Citadel 45-31 in a game that was tied 21-21 at the half. This is the second straight week where Wisconsin had problems against a weaker team, as last week they outlasted UNLV 20-13. Ohio State had a early scare, but eventually pulled away from an upstart Washington team 33-14. Michigan did show some promise, shutting out Notre Dame 38-0, but the Irish are such a mess, I would not be surprised if they were 0-7 heading into our matchup. Michigan State had problems putting away Pitt 17-13, but the Spartans are 3-0 heading into their game against Notre Dame, so they'll be 4-0 heading into next week. Penn State gave up some points to Buffalo in their win, 45-24. Florida International defeated Minnesota, which is really struggling. Iowa lost to Iowa State, who lost to a FCS team last week. And Northwestern lost to Duke(!) ending the Blue Devils 22 game losing streak. Unbelievable.
- And UCLA. Hahahahaha. Sorry, it wouldn't have been bad if they lost. But the way they lost, 44-6 to a Utah team without their starting QB and RB. Man, Olson needs to get hurt soon so Joe Cowan can be their QB again, cause he just isn't getting it done. And what happened to the Bruin defense? If Utah can do that to UCLA, what will Oregon, Cal, and Arizona State do to them
Straight up: 21-5
Against the spread:5-12-2
And so far...
Straight up: 71-10
Against the spread: 24-33-4
And finally, here's my top 25 after week 3:
- Louisiana State (3-0)
- Southern California (2-0)
- Oklahoma (3-0)
- Florida (3-0)
- West Virginia (3-0)
- Ohio State (3-0)
- Penn State (3-0)
- California (3-0)
- Rutgers (3-0)
- Wisconsin (3-0)
- Texas (3-0)
- Oregon (3-0)
- Boston College (3-0)
- South Carolina (3-0)
- Louisville (2-1)
- Texas A&M (3-0)
- Clemson (3-0)
- Missouri (3-0)
- Hawaii (3-0)
- Virginia Tech (2-1)
- Alabama (3-0)
- Nebraska (2-1)
- Georgia Tech (2-1)
- South Florida (2-0)
- Arizona State (3-0)
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