You really need to go for it when playing the No. 1 team in the nation and in one area I did not get that sense tonight: Playcalling.
And one drive offered two examples: With USC trailing 43-32, the Trojans had a third-and-5 at the Oregon 40. They tried an ill-fated run with fullback Stanley Havili that lost 4 yards. On fourth-and-9, Matt Barkley threw a 4-yard pass to tight end Jordan Cameron.
That’s not the daring type of calls that win big games.
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Who cares about playcalling. What about execution? The team in white executed all night, both sides of the ball & in special teams (big punt return, TD saving tackle by the kicker). That is why they won, they executed better. Trojans depleted all of their energy too quickly in the early part of 2nd half, I think Lane’s approach was pretty good, he tried to put together some sustained drives. Sure the Havili pitch was a bit questionable, but if he isnt met in the backfield, who knows – what if execution was sound & they pop something big, would you praise the call? hell no. Bottom line, Oregon is legit – anyone who says otherwise is mistaken, and regardless of the final score, SC made it a good ball game. Tired of all of the armchair QB’s who think they could call a better game – save it.
wolf….you seem to be saying the trOJies were too scared to try to win…or that Kiff lost the game…Ouch!!! no matter, the Cadre cleaned up!!!!
SC is just not very good. Accept it, it is going to get worse over the next few years. At least you have basketball, academics–LOL.
mg…….I think SC is good, just not great. Could be good to great on offense, but terrible to average on defense. If SC doesn’t pack it in emotionally, they could win the rest of their games. At Oregon State is maybe the only loss they should have. Arizona will be tough, but I believe they are overrated. My prediction at the beginning of the year could still hold up. I predicted the only losses to be:
Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State
I said they would lose a game they should win (Washington) and win a game they should lose. Stanford should have been that win, but now will need to beat Oregon State.
How about fourth and one taking no chance and punt was returned by Oregon deep into SC territory past the line of scrimmage. No fake punt or anything clever except one double reverse with Barkley throwing to a covered receiver that play fooled no one. Barkley needed to roll out more and run once or twice to keep the defense off balance. Some of the play calling reminded me of the Paul Hackett days when needing a certain gain for a 1st down would throw before the marker coming up short even with the completion.
Agree completely. The only way SC was going to stay in the game was to score every time it had the ball. I sense of urgency was needed on every 3rd down play. You cannot tell me sending Havili, Tyler or Bradford on a left tackle run was a better percentage play for 3 to 4 yards.
@mg’slobotomist: usc still has basketball and academics? Good one! I’m still on the floor laughing, especially with regards to the academics part of your comment.
Mr. Ltive, look it up. Only Stanford is ahead of USC in GPA/SAT. Fucla sux. My dog got accepted to Fucla.