Deep breath Trojan fans, it will be OK. We are 1-1 after a disappointing trip to Palo Alto, but let’s dissect that disappointment a little bit further. It seems there is a dark cloud hanging over the program, when really things aren’t so bad. Sure, there are lots of things to improve upon but, we are OK.
As Trojan fans we are inherently spoiled. We come to expect perfection from our men in Cardinal and Gold. Year over year we get a fresh crop of 5-star athletes who are expected to have that broadcaster favorite “immediate impact”. The truth is most of our youth has made an immediate impact. It is us as a fan base who are overlooking the necessary growth required for young players and teams to be successful. It is us who are checking the scores at the end of the contest and writing off our entire team and staff and their season long goals. It’s a narrow view of a team who has played 2 games, and one of those against a top 10 team. Let’s put a few stats below, and then make sense of why we came out behind in this game.
Source: espn.com
On the ground, we rush 114 to their 159. The highly touted Bryce Love had his successes against us but if you remove the 59-yard run he had, he averaged 3.6 yards per carry over the other 21 attempts. That is a tremendous effort by our run defense who came under fire after the UNLV game.
In the air and even with a damaged hand for JT, we out throw them 218 to 183, but we do throw 2 bad interceptions late in the game. These growing pains will continue throughout the year, it’s just part of having JT under center. He did again find 6 receivers capable of catching the ball and Tyler Vaughns played a very nice game. Defensively our secondary held talented receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside to only four receptions.
The clear theme here is that defense was not our issue. Heck we held them to 4/13 third down conversions! The offense was not a major issue either. The problem is our current inability to convert these drives into touchdowns. We had 5 drives of over 40 yards, but most of those stalled out and we couldn’t find success in the redzone. See our driving graphic below.
Source: cbssports.com
Enough dwelling on this one and over analyzing the game. We lost to a good program and need to move on. Down in Texas, the Longhorns are licking their chops, spare ribs, and brisket trays ready to give us their best game. The key is simple, finish our drives. Take field goals where we must, but always take the points in the redzone instead of gambling on a fade or pass into a short field. I want to see a methodic and relentless offensive approach to this game. A big win in a hostile environment will do wonders for our fans and players confidence. Right now, every goal remains in front of us. Here is to keeping it that way and BEATING THE LONGHORNS. I cannot wait to watch it live in Austin. If you will be in attendance, please reach out!
FIGHT ON
The Late Game 
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