USC survives Minnesota, 19-17.

Matt Barkley will do all he can to will USC to win but what about the defense?!

What we learned:

· Matt Barkley is an accomplished Pac-12 passer, right behind Stanford’s Andrew Luck; if not in the top 5 of pocket passers in the nation.

· Barkley and sophomore wide receiver Robert Woods make a good tandem. Woods hauled in 17 catches (becoming the only wide receiver for USC to have 17 catches in a single game, breaking former player Johnnie Morton’s record of 15 catches) for 177 yards with three TD’s, and Barkley threw for 304 yards on the day, carving up Minnesota’s defense.

· The Men of Troy’s defense looks more stout and aggressive than the previous year; they still have to work on miss tackles.

· USC Sophomore Cornerback Torrin Harris needs to play the ball better in the air; he is usually caught not knowing where the ball is. He redeemed himself with a late interception to seal the game.

· Redshirt Freshman DJ Morgan made the best of his opportunity with senior running back Marc Tyler being suspended for the first game, showing speed, power, balance and vision. Morgan will have a bright future if he keeps up his production and true grit.

· Penalties made this game closer than what the score indicated, The Trojans could have put up more points if it wasn’t for costly penalties that put them in many third and long positions.

Going Forward: 

· USC’s offense is still a work in progress and is far from being refined. At times it looked methodical with the bubble screens to Woods. Barkley will have to spread the ball around to junior Brice Butler, true freshman Marquise Lee, true freshman George Farmer and Kyle Prater (if he can stay healthy). And there has to be a more balanced approach as far as run vs. the pass.

· The defense will be tested when they host Utah (Sept. 10), @Arizona State (Sept. 24), at home against Stanford (Oct. 29) and @Oregon (Nov. 19).

· The schedule does not led up for USC as they play back-to-back away games @Cal (Oct. 13) and @Notre Dame (Oct. 22) and then have a home game against the Cardinal. This will probably be the toughest stretch the Men of Troy will face all year and it will give the pundits and fans a barometer of progress from last season, especially on defense. It’s realistic to say that USC probably could match their win total of eight games from last season. It’s all about how the defense holds up.

· I’m eager to see how Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin deals with various the offensives run in college and how he deals with the spread-option attack which will a be equivalent to playing Russian roulette when they go to Autzen Stadium. If Kiffin is smart, his team will watch the LSU-Oregon game and break it down from every facet to see how LSU halted the express train AKA The Oregon Ducks. But stopping the Ducks, is it an issue of athleticism and discipline??

Matt Deringer weighs in on Minnesota-USC

TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis is the nicest place you can watch a game this side of Stanford Stadium. ... Robert Woods' kick return for a touchdown after Minnesota went ahead 14-13 in the third quarter reversed momentum, and was the Play of the Game. ... Woods, a track star in high school, is going to be a superstar in college. ... Matt Barkley, a superstar in high school, isn't shining too bright for me in college. ... Lane Kiffin needs to quit going for two when he deems the "matchups" favor it; John McKay did OK kicking extra points; Pete Carroll only went on the most successful run in school history adding extra points; going for two, and coming up short (like USC did again Saturday) is eventually going to cost the Trojans a game. It's stupid and unnecessary. Or compensating for a lack for insecurity and unnecessary. Either way, it's unnecessary. ... Jurrell Casey could win the Nagurski Award if he came back for his senior year, which I don't think he will. ... Casey's still one of - if not the best - defensive tackles in the nation right now. ... Minnesota lost in part because Tim Brewester insisted on running at the strength of the Trojans' team, Casey and the other defensive tackles. Jim Harbaugh and Chip Kelly won't make the same mistake. ... USC's receivers and running backs are as good as any in the nation. ... USC's secondary will get by at Washington State and at home versus Jake Locker and Washington. But the pass rush needs to step up if the Trojans are going to have a chance against Stanford and Oregon and Notre Dame. ... I want to see more of Allen Bradford, Dillon Baxter and Robert Woods. ... It was good to see Ed Orgeron chew out Hebron Fangupo after a personal foul turned what would have been 3rd-and-long into a first down. If I had one criticism of Pete Carroll the last five years, it's that he missed a Bad Cop. ... OK, if I had one more criticism of Pete Carroll the last five years, it's that USC's special teams were mediocre at best. New coach John Baxter, however, is changing that. ... Imperfections aside, USC football was a lot more fun with Carroll running the show. ... USC needs to win its appeal - what the new uptight attitude around campus and practice is about, I think - to have the scholarship restrictions cut from 30 over three years to 15. The Trojans need players, period, and miss the depth they've enjoyed in recent years. Linebacker (like 2008) and offensive line (like 2005) aren't what they used to be. ... If the Trojans don't stomp Washington State, they've got problems bigger than only having 67 scholarship players or going through the motions until the season starts in earnest. ...

Can USC Stop the Hemorrhaging?

It is still baffling to me how USC’s defense went down in flames last Saturday in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Stanford handed the Trojans an emphatic beatdown, putting up 55 points on USC. And if fiendish Jim Harbaugh had more time, he would have instructed his team to punch in more touchdowns. Pete Carroll never imagined that his team would give up the most points in school history, not in his tenure, I bet. Carroll’s track record has been nothing short of brilliant: seven Pac-10 titles, six BCS bowl victories, seven BCS bowl appearances, 63 consecutive games of 20 points, two national championships and the list goes on. What has happened to this team that used to be a juggernaut on offense and played sound defense? Through the first five games, the defense gave up an average of 8.6 points per game. It started with the Notre Dame game where they gave up 26 points, and they stopped an Irish team that was coming back for the win. The following week saw them thwart an Oregon State team that has given them headaches in the last couple of years, beating them in 2006 and 2008. Then the Halloween game in Autzen Stadium: this scenario could not get any worse. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli unleashed a monster game against the defense, racking up 164 yards rushing and true freshman running back Lamichael James upped Masoli, adding 183 yards on the ground with one touchdown. The Ducks cruised to a 47-20 win. It was embarrassing to see a defense get picked apart like they did. They looked defeated and were outplayed the entire game. Arizona State was next and this game ended up being a close contest, 14-9. The defense played notably better, making better tackles and their angles of pursuit were more precise. However, the Sun Devils are 92nd in total offense. Hardly an offensive juggernaut, compared to Oregon who is 32nd in total offense and 6th in rushing offense. The city of Los Angeles rested easy after this game and had confidence in Carroll and his staff that what happened against the Ducks would not happen again. But it did. Last Saturday, the Cardinal team undressed the USC on their home field. Senior running back Toby Gerhart racked up 178 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns, and true freshman quarterback Andrew Luck (who is going to be a star when he comes out) ran for 61 yards for good measure. There wasn’t anything that Stanford did that USC has not seen: North-South running by Gerhart which opened up play-action passes and precise throws by Luck. There was no spread-option attack that Oregon runs, nothing of the sorts. Probably the best facet of the game for Stanford was the play of the offensive line; they mauled and pushed back the Trojans’ defensive line and negated the linebackers. Luck had time to throw, and Gerhart had seems to run through. Basic football, nothing else. But the blame does not rest solely on the defense’s shoulders. On offense, Matt Barkley threw 3 interceptions and fumbled; these turnovers were converted into points, 28 points. I’m not going to be overly critical of Barkley because for a true freshman he has done well. He needs to improve and do better at taking what the defense gives him. Injuries have hit USC hard this year similar to Oklahoma: Anthony McCoy, Stanli Havli, David Ausberry, Allen Braford, Damien Williams and the defense has their own share of set backs. A young quarterback needs his safety valves in times when things are not going well. Barkley has a good rapport with Williams (who did not play due to injury) and McCoy (who returned from injury but pulled in one catch for seven yards). The good news was sophomore Brice Butler stepped up with six catches for 96 yards and one touchdown. This was a bright spot for this offense. Even with Butler’s performance, Joe McKnight might have out-shined him with 146 yards on the ground, an outstanding 8.9 yard per carry average. Simply, brilliant by McKnight. Carroll has raised expectations since he started in 2001. And we are finally seeing that it is hard to maintain that level of success: he has given us a rich piece of chocolate cake with a delectable layer of frosting, but now our piece of cake is devoid of frosting and does not wash down smoothly. We have been spoiled with the reloading of players, but this year we see a noticeable drop off. Also, losing your coaching staff adds to this problem as well. The loss of Norm Chow, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, Nick Holt and many others behind the scenes we do not know about. Carroll needs a veteran assistant to help him on gameday to see things he might miss and to give him a hand. He is doing too much. Tuesday’s practice saw Carroll talking about shaking things up and utilizing other players: “this week, there will be a number of players moving around and playing with the first-team to get a chance to showcase their talents.” The bye week has come at the right time for the players to heal, and for Carroll and his staff to assess new players that can contribute. The open competition will make everyone accountable for doing the best at their respective positions. It cannot get any worse for The Men of Troy. When you hit rock-bottom you can only go up. And if there is anyone I would want guiding my ship through the perilous waters, it is Pete Carroll.

USC Pulls Ahead of the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe

With 106,033 (an attendance record) screaming fans in the Horseshoe, this was unlike any place that true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley has played. Scrimmages and practice could not have prepared Barkley for Saturday’s night game in the hostile environment of Buckeye Nation. Even though he wasn’t spectacular nor was McKnight, they both worked in tandem to push USC ahead of Ohio State. Public perception has been that Ohio State cannot hang with the big boys: they have lost miserably to the likes of Florida, LSU, and USC. The last time Ohio State beat USC it was in the 1974 Rose Bowl. And this loss by Ohio State marks the sixth time they lost to a top 5 ranked team. One must remember though, if there was any time to hit The Men of Troy in the mouth and take a win, this was the time. Pete Carroll brought his boys into Columbus with a new offensive and defensive coordinator, a true freshman quarterback, and also lost one of his down-field threats Ronald Johnson to a broken collarbone. From the onset, this was a highly contested game where the defenses hung tough. On the third play of the first quarter, Terrelle Pryor threw an interception that was run back 51 yards by linebacker Chris Galippo. Stafon Johnson finished off this drive, scoring six points on a two yard run in the endzone. It was evident that Ohio State was not going to be intimidated like they have in previous years. Pryor came back with a pass to Sanzenbacher for 58 yards and that set up a 2 yard run by Daniel Herron for six points. The Buckeyes went 6 plays gaining 72 yards that took three minutes and thirty-one seconds off the clock. The game stood tied at 7-7 for the rest of the first quarter, both defenses playing good sound football. The beginning of the second quarter found The Buckeyes on fourth and goal on USC’S one yard line, and Tressel elected to go for the field goal instead of punching it in for 6 points. I cannot blame Tressel because it is always good to get points on the board; it’s better to get some points than none. Holding a 10-7 lead, the Buckeyes and Trojans would trade back and forth with unsuccessful drives. With Ohio State being up 15-10 in the fourth quarter at the 7:29 mark, it seemed improbable that USC would come back for the win. With USC backed up on their 10 yard line because of a sack by Devon Torrence on Barkley and then a delay of game, no one saw what was going to happen next. On third and 9, Barkley hits McKnight who shuttles off a 21 yard gain. This would cap off a 14 play, 86 yard drive that lasted six minutes and ten seconds. The touchdown was scored by Stafon Johnson bouncing the run to the outside for six points and the two point conversion pass was made by McKnight to seal the win. In this drive, Barkley went 3/5 for 55 yards and McKnight had four rushes for 23 yards. The Trojans got on top 18-15 with a minute and five seconds left. On the last play of the game, fourth and ten, Pryor heaves up a pass with three Trojan defenders around one Buckeye receiver. The ball was batted down and the game ended for the Buckeyes. No one can find fault with the phenomenal job that Ohio State’s defense did in this game. The only problem was the offense could not score when needed in USC’s territory. But credit the young linebackers for USC by playing a solid game and the rest of the defense as well. Pryor did not look like Vince Young, in the 2005 National Championship game, where he made the Trojans defenders look like they had concrete in their cleats. Carroll’s defense did not let him run circles around them and contained him in the pocket forcing him to beat them with his arm. McKnight ended the night with 60 yards on 16 carries, averaging 3.8 yards per carry, nothing jaw-dropping at all. And Barkley went 15/31 for 195 yards with one touchdown and one interception. These stats are not going to be noted as the highest passing totals, by any stretch, but what will remain in everyone’s mind is the control and poise by the true freshman Barkley. And on the flipside of things, McKnight gained good, tough yards on the ground. Pryor finished the night 11/25 with 177 yards and one interception. He showed moxie and a will to win, and no one can find fault with this kid. He came to play. At the end of the night, Ohio State had 265 total yards and the Men of Troy had 313 yards. The Buckeyes can take a moral victory away from this game, but I know the players and staff wish it was a victory on the field. If anything, I know this does not go a long way in changing perception of the Big Ten and Ohio State but this was a start, especially since they stayed in the game until the final seven minutes of the game. This close call might serve Pete Carroll and his team well. This will cause the Trojans to take every team seriously and not look ahead to big matchups. Maybe this year they will not have that let down game they seem to have every year where they lose to the likes of Stanford, UCLA or Oregon State. The only real offensive powerhouse they need to look out for is Cal and those two teams meet on October 3rd.