
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 3rd 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.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 am
And there’s got to be a reason behind the hiring of Lane Kiffin . Can someone please tell me what it is ? If it’s not the players then it’s got to be the coaching hasn’t it ? They’d better get their s_it together for the remainder of their season .
tophatal ………………. 🙂
September 8th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Well, Lane had already served as an assistant at USC under Pete Carroll before he coached in Oakland, so I think USC was trying to keep as many things the same as possible at the program (except for maybe the 2 year bowl ban and the loss of scholarships) after Carroll left.
But I agree that the performance was less than impressive, and I dropped them from my Top 25 after Week 1.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Bob Long
He (Kiffin) could’ve served on the board of the Titanic but that doesn’t make him worthy as a captain much less his situation now. He bolted from the Vols faster than a thief in the night . And now as we all know the program under Carroll wasn’t all we were led to believe .
tophatal ………… 🙂
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Trojans Win Track Meet At Aloha Stadium…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
September 5th, 2010 at 2:05 am
My bold prediction, USC won’t be in the hunt for the BCS title … ;P