The Desert Game

It was the game they needed. It was the game we all needed. After the beating in South Bend, Clay Helton and company faced a really tough week of pressure from the media and fans. It was one of those games that you didn’t know what team would show up. Helton, likely coaching for his job in Tempe, seemed locked in. The Trojans delivered in a big way and kept the lead spot in the Pac12 South. Ronald Jones headlined the night after cutting loose on two runs over 60 yards apiece. By the way, no other running back has done that in a single game wearing the Cardinal and Gold since Reggie Bush.

As the name of this blog suggests, it was a late one. USC has now become the favorite team for Pac 12 after dark action and we’ll have that slot again this week against Arizona. Arizona presents a unique challenge. They have just broken into the top 25 and are on a four game winning streak. At 6-2, they sit second in the Pac12 South and would love to knock us off.

Arizona operates behind an extremely mobile quarterback in Khalil Tate. He won’t look much different than the Notre Dame QB. Tate has repeatedly rushed for over 100 yards in the last four games and has racked up many more yards than that even. Passing the football he boasts a 68% completion rate on the year. Porter Gustin has been ruled out already which will make things tougher for USC. We will have to be very sharp on outside containment to stay in this one.

Defensively, the Wildcats have allowed over 30 points regularly so we should expect a high scoring affair on Saturday. So how does USC come away with the win? Control the clock. We can’t afford to leave our defense out there for long drives. So, Tee Martin and Helton need to chew up clock, and be methodical with our offensive drives. Having Stephen Carr back will be great if he can get some touches. Knowing U of A can put points on the board, we can’t miss opportunities to score points. In this game, I would favor taking the field goal over going for it on 4^th down.

With just about 24 hours to kick off of the Late Game, it’s time we say FIGHT ON and BEAT THE WILDCATS.