Here are the grades for the no-job-on-the-line loss to UCLA.
RESULT: No. 18 UCLA 38, No. 21 USC 28
RECORD: 7-4, 5-4
WEEK 11 GRADE: D+
QUARTERBACK
Yet another time Matt Barkley fails to lead USC to a comeback victory.
F
RUNNING BACKS
At least Curtis McNeal (163 yards) plays with passion. And he did not lose a yard.
B+
WIDE RECEIVERS
Why are there still so many miscommunications between Barkley and top receivers?
C+
OFFENSIVE LINE
UCLA kept unit under duress but allowed only one sack.
C+
DEFENSIVE LINE
Morgan Breslin’s got 11.5 sacks but no one stopped Johnathan Franklin.
C-
LINEBACKERS
Is it there fault USC stuck in Cover 2 defense on third downs?
D+
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Undone by UCLA QB Brett Hundley and passive defensive coverages.
D+
SPECIAL TEAMS
Blocked punt. Blocked field goal. Missed extra point. Missed field goal.
F
COACHING
No fire. No enthusiasm. Just another post-game promise to “get it fixed.’’
F
Scott how many times this season did USC open up the game with a bubble screen or short pass like the one picked off against UCLA? Everyone and their mother knows that pass is coming and all they have to do is have the corner jump the route. Which is what kept happening all year long. Can you ask Kiffin why he kept doing this.
Really to plan all week to open with that play? Like everybody doesn’t knows he wants to go to Lee and he throws a horrible pass into triple coverage? Somebody else had to be open!
The defense is atrocious. Play calling has been bizarre all year. The 4th down fullback pass in the flat to a freshman who’s never been thrown to is inexplicable. Lee lining up in the backfield?!?! Robert Woods and McNeal deserve better. Kiffs slumped shoulders and eye rolling when things go bad is tough to watch.
Barkley does what he’s told, how many audibles did he call in his career ? He threw into coverage as a senior at MD and he continued it right up until the end.
Barkley threw jump balls into coverage in last year’s Oregon game,
he got away with it and was hailed a hero and a heisman favorite
just proves you can’t get lucky forever
I love hearing Trojans whine.
Scott, I think you graded the OL a little low. Except for that, pretty much on the money. But bad coaching underlies almost all the problems.