Trojans Win Track Meet At Aloha Stadium

David Ausberry, a 6'4', 235 LBS WR, pushed away CB Lametrius Davis with one arm after catching the ball and strolled into the end zone.

Here’s some observations I had from last night’s USC vs. Hawaii opener, and the nightmare on defense, for both teams…

• USC’s offense looked mediocre when you take into account Hawaii has a terrible defense that was outsized on the line by a wide margin
• USC’s defense looked absolutely terrible, missed tackles and blown coverages galore
• Hawaii’s offense looked very good, even their 3^rd string QB passed for 2 TDs, which is the only solace for USC
• USC’s offense will only get better, they’ll have 4 effective RBs with four different styles of play, and they have about 6 WRs that when healthy would start anywhere in the country
• 2 possible Heisman candidates stood out last night as well as a possible third: Matt Barkley and Ronald Johnson looked in sync and ready to go from snap 1, and Tyler looked strong and quick.

THE GRADES:

Passing Offense: B+

Couple of bad drops/deflections, couple of holding calls, but for game 1 on the road, a very good showing

Running Offense: B-

Mark Tyler waited for this opportunity for a long time. He started this year at #4 on the RB depth chart. He showed why he's now #1 after putting up 154 yards rushing and a TD in the opener.

Easy to look good running against Hawaii, should have run for 300 yards and didn’t.  See Wisconsin last year.  Younger Oline but so much talent

Passing Defense: D-

Perhaps deserved an F but the Off bailed them out.  Young secondary looked terrible, blown coverages and hands on defenders all over.  Pass rush was ok.

Running Defense: C

Line looked a little tired toward the end, but that’s what happens when your thin after injuries and key departures.  Room for improvement, especially tackling

Special Teams: C

Only highlight was Ronald Johnson’s (ill-advised) spectacular return, but again against a weak defensive team.  What was the 2 point conversion thing???  Yuck

Overall: C+

Not a good performance against a weak Hawaii team.  Coaches should be worried.  Oline really should have dominated more against a smaller but speedy D.  The Defense looked the part we expected: very young and inexperienced.  Pass rush will look better against normal offenses, this was a quick strike run&gun so the pressure they did put on was impressive.  Tackling should get better as they did not tackle in fall ball, so all kinds of room for improvement there.  And kick a point after for chr sake.  That was embarrassing.