For a team that turned in a 41-14 win with highlights abound on both sides of the ball, USC may have actually inspired more excitement for its future than its present Saturday night.
The Trojans handled business against Arizona -- as they should have -- but a devastating rash of injuries raises questions about what is to come for this team.
Meanwhile, as a counter to that, breakout performances off the bench from some young players provided a highly-encouraging glimpse into the long-term potential of this roster.
As always, we break down the 10 biggest takeaways, thoughts, critiques and criticisms from the Trojans' performance.
1. Injury tally
Sheesh. There have probably been battlegrounds that have seen less people maimed across a field than what happened in the Coliseum on Saturday night. The Trojans came into their matchup with Arizona already shorthanded, missing starters Vavae Malepeai, Olaijah Griffin, Palaie Gaoteote, Greg Johnson and Christian Rector. Add to that tally: Talanoa Hufanga, Markese Stepp, Drake Jackson, Munir McClain, Abdul-Malik McClain and Stephen Carr, and the Trojans are severely wounded heading into a short week. With one less day of rest till Friday’s matchup against Colorado, USC will likely be short a whole host of key players. That’s the bad news -- the good news is that a whole crop of young Trojans got their first extended moments in the spotlight, and many of them delivered. From Kenan Christon to Kana’i Mauga (more on them later), we saw the realization of much of the talent has been hidden on the bench for most of the year. Although the injury situation is a major concern going forward for USC, the chance for the younger players to seize the moment will be interesting to watch.
2. Dynamic defense
Despite the bevy of injuries from front to back, the Trojans defense was absolutely dominant on Saturday night. Though the Arizona offense was certainly more flawed than its prior ranking suggests, the Wildcats were No. 9 nationally in yards entering the day, and the starting USC defense shut them out completely for three quarters. Despite struggling all year long to contain mobile quarterbacks, the Trojans completely stifled Khalil Tate, allowing the electric quarterback no run longer than 4 yards and a final tally of -27 yards after 6 sacks. The Trojans' pass rush was in the Wildcat backfield all night, with a season high 7 sacks overall (including 1 on backup QB Grant Gunnell), and the linebacking corps easily played its best game of the season. The even-more-untested-and-younger-than-before secondary played a great game as well, making it impossible for the Wildcats passing offense to get going no matter who was at quarterback. All around, it was the most impressive performance of the year for a defense that’s been up and down to say the least. It was the first time the Trojans put together a complete effort against both the run and the pass -- and they did it without nearly half of their regular starters.
3. The cornerback collective
The biggest area of concern coming into this game on the defensive side of the ball was the condition of the cornerback position. Olaijah Griffin and nickel Greg Johnson were both ruled out for the game, while Isaac Taylor-Stuart was listed as a game-time decision with an ankle injury. The Trojans would roll out a lineup of three true freshmen in Chris Steele, Dorian Hewett, and Max Williams -- the latter two having less than one game of experience between them. Against an Arizona offense that had been averaging 300 passing yards a game, the trio performed better than anyone could have expected. Until the Trojans put in their backups (or the backups' backups) in garbage time, the secondary helped to completely eliminate the Wildcat passing offense, holding Khalil Tate to only 47 yards until his benching in the third quarter. Taylor-Stuart ended up playing more than anticipated off the bench, and the group was excellent both in coverage and in coming up to play the run and the short passing game, shutting down the Arizona offense in every way through three quarters. As we continue to learn this season, the Trojans have enviable depth stockpiled at the corner position, and they should be set there for a long time to come.
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4. Houston, we have no problem with that performance
Team captain John Houston's redshirt senior season had been a struggle for much of the fall before Saturday night, and he was perhaps the team’s most maligned defensive player to that point. All season, Houston has been erratic at inside linebacker, missing tackles all too often and finding himself lost in coverage far too frequently. In this game, however, Houston was at his best, playing closer to the line of scrimmage for much the game than he normally has. Houston was rock solid all game, reading plays on time, blowing up screens and stuffing runs. The senior finished the game with 8 tackles, 2.5 of which were for loss, along with 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Whether that performance was a sign of positive change to come or an aberration remains to be seen, but give Houston due credit for this one.
