USC-Arizona Report Card
Here's the grades for the victory in Tucson.
RESULT: No. 7 USC 17, Arizona 10
RECORD: 6-1, 4-1
WEEK 7 GPA: C
QUARTERBACK
Mark Sanchez is fumbling more than Joe McKnight lately.
D+
RUNNING BACKS
Was there anything Stafon Johnson was not asked to do?
B-
WIDE RECEIVERS
Some drops hurt but then Sanchez missed open guys too.
C+
OFFENSIVE LINE
Butch Lewis reasserted himself as the starting right tackle.
C
DEFENSIVE LINE
Clay Matthews and Fili Moala made the game-saving tackles.
B+
LINEBACKERS
Did a lot of the grunt work that limited Arizona to 10 points.
B+
SECONDARY
Did they stop Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama or did he stop himself?
C+
SPECIAL TEAMS
A shanked punt. A missed field goal. A punt returned from end zone.
D-
COACHING
Run on third-and-7 but pass on first down when you need to run out the clock.
F
Right on as always Scott. Just like last week you are punishing with certain grades because the opposing team didn't look great. C+ for the secondary is an example of this. The opposing offense often looks bad because of the little things the defense does, like covering the receivers or pressure the QB.
Scott, you always seem to say the other team lost the game rather than give credit to the USC defense for causing those mistakes.
I give you an "F" for these grades.
You want to embrace a run out the clock mentality when there were more than 5 minutes left ? Are you a relative of Chuck Knox ? Do you think there is a 3 minute gap between plays ? The number one priority at that point is to make first downs as best you can. You critize a run on third and seven. Isn't the defense thinking pass in that situation so you may surprise them there. It didn't work out but you didn't figure to lose 2 yards on that run and you did know you could go for it on 4th and anything close. Notice you didn't criticize the run call to McKnight on a passing down when it set up the first touchdown ? Typical after the fact 20/20 hindsight criticisms by you. You are reaching as usual. Scott, maybe it is time in your career for you to move on and try something other than the Trojans...you are finding it hard to be balanced in your coverage and evaluations
QB- the grade may be correct, but the fumble wasn't Mark's fault. He got hit from behind and didn't see the guy. Now his decision making is a cause for concern. He always seems to be going for the "big play".
RB- WHAT? Stafon was great!!! The block on the CB enabled Mark to throw that TD.
WR- it's not the WRs fault if Mark misses them
OL- grade is too low. SC needs to stick to the run.
DL- constant pressure on Tuitama
LB- Cush blanketed the TE
Secondary- WHAT? SC took away Tuitama's weapons in Thomas and the TE.
Coaching- some of the play calling was bad, but again I think Mark makes some bad decisions that doens't have to do with the coaching.
It's obvious Scott's been on the the USC beat too long (12+ years)and is jaded. Maybe next year the DN will assign Tony Jackson or Brian Dohn to cover SC.
Any grade below an A on defense lacks credibility.
They held a team averaging 400+ yards offense and 40+ points a game to 188 and 10?
My grades would be:
DL: A+
LB: A
DB: A+
Coaching: A+ (defense only)
You can now continue your rant about the offense. At least there you have credibility.
Of course, I know it kills you to have to give Pete credit for anything, and the defense is really his baby.
Sarkiffian deserves an F-
Sanchez is regressing. Bring back Norm Chow.
3rd and 2 is a passing down with an empty backfield where 3rd and 7 is a running down? Maybe Sark has dislexyia? If you are going to pass on 3rd and 2, how about leaving the running backs in and going with play action? At least make the defense think you might run.
What ever happened to Student Body Right on 3rd and short?
While the "O" did not put up its best numbers, lets give some credit, where credit is due. We are all bitching and complaining about the likes of "Wolfeee" and others in the media glorifying and kissing the a** of the SEC. Well here's a thought, Arizona is lot stronger than what they are receiving credit for.
Did we all expect a route, a blow out or big a** number up on the scoreboard from the Trojan "O". Yep (with the exception of Lawyer John who predicted a close scoring game). So while the Trojans only put up 17 (and gave away 10), the Arizona "D" did really good job of keeping the Trojans out of the end zone (that and some suspect play calling by Sarks also hurt).
And lets really give it up for the Trojan "D". Prior to this game, Arizona's lowest "O" output was 24. So for the Trojan "D" to put a clamp down on them, is a tribute to how strong, determined and outstanding this "D" really is. By the way, if you go out to the UofA football website, the headline reads "Trojans dominate in the second half".
Apparently Wolfeee and the rest of the media dogs cannot take notice of this. They only want to recognize Florida who put unquestionable numbers against a lowly pathetic team like UK. That's why when you see Wolfeee's grades, top 25 ranking and criticism of the Trojans, you have just sit back and think about all of junior high news stories that he writes, and how he has his mommy hang on them refrigerator door, each and every week that he brings it home to her.
Fight On!
"Special Teams" F-
Coaching F-
Yeah, what about student body right or left, they don't run it enough