In our previous podcast, I made some statements in my Two Minute Rant about how USC was going to beat Washingston State. That did not happen. USC lost to WSU 30-27. This was not the shoot out I thought it was supposed to be.
- The Washington State offense is a machine. They really throw the ball around the field and have some tough running backs. They almost had 500 yards against a good USC defense. Luke Falk is an NFL quarterback and he ran his offense with very few mistakes.
- RoJo was back for USC who needed his tough running and his 86-yard touchdown run.
- Washingston State needed some big plays to pull off the upset against #5 USC and they got them. There were some Sam Darnold turnovers and other USC penalties that shot them in the foot.
- It cannot be ignored that USC was missing three starting offensive linemen. The running game looked very stagnant and uncreative. They were obviously limited by the inexperienced of true freshmen playing.
- Stephen Carr didn’t have that many big plays but is speed is noticeable.
- Sam Darnold has almost as many interceptions as he has touchdowns. That is a scary statistic. Were it not for a couple of good throws in the fourth quarter, I would be very very concerned. Instead I am very concerned.
- The USC defense had to win this game, and while they made many great plays and kept the game close for the offense, they came up short.
- Uchenna Nwosu made another great play with a pass deflection/interception that set USC up on the Washington State 3 yard line. Unfortunately USC could not punch it in; a sign of things to come.
- The Washington State receivers dropping passed kept USC in the game.
- USC’s best weapon in the second half was the WSU punter who set them up with great field position twice.