The Regular Season Games

Trojan fans, the regular season has drawn to a close. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the past three months of games before taking a look ahead toward the Pac-12 rematch against Stanford.

In my season preview, Schedule Breakdown and Season Prediction, I predicted that USC would finish 10-2. While I was correct in that prediction, I did not predict that one of our losses would come to Washington State. I also did not predict that our game against Stanford early in the year, would be some of the best football we played all year. I also predicted that we would play three strong quarters but come up short in South Bend. Well we all know that we didn’t do anything well on that trip. As for the rankings, I predicted we would finish the year between #5-#8. Sitting at #10 currently, a Pac-12 Championship win probably elevates us a couple slots into that range, but it’s not worth much as the Playoff is out of reach. It would take true chaos theory to put us in the top 4 and as I’ve mentioned before, that is a place we do not belong this season.

In taking a looking at how our units performed against the rest of the country, USC fared ok statistically. Offensively we are #10 in total yards gained. Defensively we struggled in certain areas but also lead the nation with 41 sacks on the year. It’s only right to recognize the play of Uchenna Nwosu as he has been a huge part of getting pressure on the quarterbacks.

Let’s address the Clay Helton discussion. In two seasons now as our head coach, Clay is 10-3 and 10-2 respectively. He has a shot to win our first conference title since the inception of the Pac-12 Championship game in 2011. Helton is unbeaten in the Coliseum through two seasons and no other coach in USC history has won 10 games in each of their first two years. Remember, Pete Carroll went 6-6 his first year. Have we been perfect on the field? No. Could we use better discipline and play calling? Yes. Should we be talking about firing Clay Helton because we are winning ugly? Absolutely Not.

Looking ahead to Stanford tomorrow night we will have a challenge on our hands. In what is basically a home game for the Cardinal, USC will have to shut down the long arm of the Stanford quarterback. We are playing with a lot of different starters than when we faced them in September so expect a different game. Per usual, we will need to establish the run early and then cut away at their defense with quick and precise passes. This game will be won or lost by the play of our secondary and our ability to contest the deep ball, without racking up interference penalties. I think our team rises to the occasion, wins a narrow one by 3-6 points and gets the nod toward the Fiesta Bowl.

FIGHT ON

P.S. Stay tuned for a post season piece on the Coliseum and its significance in sports history.