Arizona Report Card
Here's the report card for the USC-Arizona game:
RESULT: NO. 3 USC 20, ARIZONA 3.
RECORD: 3-0, 1-0.
WEEK 3 GPA: 2.7.
QUARTERBACK
John David Booty managed the game adequately, especially since most of play calls were short passes, with a third of his completions five yards or less. The coaches blamed his interception on wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett slipping.
C+
RUNNING BACKS
Emmanuel Moody seized the tailback position with 130 yards a one touchdown, though the coaches want a little less spinning. Will he keep the position for the rest of the season?
B
WIDE RECEIVERS
Two of the best catches by Steve Smith were overturned by replays. Sophomore Patrick Turner moves into a starting spot if Dwayne Jarrett’s shoulder injury keeps him out.
C
OFFENSIVE LINE
There was a gaping hole on Moody’s 40-yard run but like the rest of the offense, but the pass protection was actually more consistent.
C+
DEFENSIVE LINE
Brian Cushing’s making more impact at defensive end with four tackles and a sack. And Fili Moala keeps easing the absence of nose guard Sedrick Ellis.
A-
LINEBACKERS
Another big game for Rey Maualuga with a sack and interception, his best performance of the season, and Oscar Lua got his first action since getting hurt against Arkansas.
A-
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Tested more than by Nebraska although Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama was erratic. Cornerback Terrell Thomas did have six tackles and a sack.
B-
SPECIAL TEAMS
Arizona’s 41-yard kickoff return set the tone and Mario Danelo missed his first field goal since last year’s season-opener. But Lawrence Jackson did make his best play of the season with a blocked field goal.
C+
COACHING
Stephen F. Austin got more out of itself against Arizona than Peter C. Carroll. So we’ll go with the coach’s middle initial for this week’s grade. An uninspired offensive plan and some badly used timeouts did not help matters.
C
Best grades i've ever seen you give, except for the linebackers. they played GREAT! They're the best in the nation and deserve an A+. That A- is bull. Giving the DB's a B- is bull too, defense played great. Cary Harris had a hell of a game. He's going to be a star.
Also the safties played great, watch out for Taylor Mays and Kevin Ellison these guys are killers.
Tough grading on the defense.
What more do you want? Do you want the Trojans to hold the opponent to zero yards with no scoring inorder to receive better grades? The defense gets an A across the board in my book.
2.7 GPA.
If SC is a C+ team, how can you rank them in the top 95% of Div. 1??
All that I have heard on ESPN is how great LSU's defense is, well here are the stats from Arizona's game against LSU, looks like to me that USC's defense must be pretty good and we did this at Arizona's house, while LSU had them at home. Fight ON!!
Team Stats
AZ LSU
First Downs 13 21
Rushes-Yds 21-35 38-231
Passing Yds 117 230
Sacked-Yds Lost 3-21 0-0
Return Yds 1 92
Passes 16-36-3 16-23-1
Punts 6-42.8 1-35
Fumbles-Lost 4-1 2-2
Penalties-Yds 3-14 5-32
Time Of Poss. 30:08 29:52
Wolf Dog, I give your report card a B+ ...
This defense has future NFL stars all over it. Scouts are drooling. Coach Holt deserves a shout.
A-
That wonderful freak, that wild-tazmanian-meat-eating-beast The Mauler Maualuga chewed on raw wildcat in the desert last sat. This battering ram apparently has hands, taking an interception and ramming it up Stoop's butt. This guy is going to send someone to the Urgent Care where the duck from aflac! will be waiting.
A-
This review
A+
Scott, wow, tough grading policy. I'd give the Defense a solid A for their performance. As a matter of fact, I'd move every grade up a half point.
More tough grades - I was at the game, and I think that this was a tougher environment to play in than what it appeared to be on TV. I think AZ is much improved and will go to a bowl game this year. The SC defense played extremely well - not sure how the linebackers could have played better.
The d-backs allowed less than 200 yards. That is a great game in the Pac 10. However, Harris's play was a little shaky. He plays too soft. He will get better.
Giving a Coach a C for winning by 17 on the road is terrible. On principle, it should be a B. B- for LK's predictable play calling. Are we going back to the good 'ol days of Hackett calling run, run, pass...run, run, pass?
Good grades Scott. I thought the LB's were maybe a touch better, and I wasn't impressed with the secondary, too many missed tackles.
Fumble recovery by the punt coverage team inside the 10 should boost special teams grade.
All it took to have many of the Trojan Nation to agree with Wolfie is Lane Kiffin as offensive coordinator.
PC has no confidence in Lane Kiffin. It is so obvious when you look at PC and when the offense in the field. Once Jeff Fisher and Norm Chow get fired from Ten. PC will recruit Norm Chow to come back to USC the same way he did with Nick Holt.
Wolf's secondary grade is fair. Cary Harris started getting picked on at the end of the game. He emerged as a real weak spot for me. It will be nice to get Kevin Thomas back soon. Ellison and T.Thomas continue to play well. The pressure the line and the LBs put on Tuitama was suffocating.