USC Pounces the Washington State Cougars 27-6
Sept 26, 2009
Matt Barkley led the USC Trojans to a 27-6 victory over theWashington State Cougars Saturday night, but questions about their rating or over rating, remain utterly uncertain. Granted Barkley is still nursing a bum shoulder, but USC’s play was apparently sloppy in comparison to the standards they commonly present.
Where has this team’s discipline gone? 13 penalties in a grand total of 115 yards come on now! This isn’t the USC Trojans we have grown to follow and is not reflecting the mental focus or the physical stamina back when USC demonstrated what tight football was about. If they want a BCS invitation they best get their slop shots under foot.
Impressively, USC boasted three touchdowns in the matter of only 12 minutes in the 1st quarter. Even with his gimp shoulder, Barkley triumphed to throw consecutive passes, with a 29 yarder to Brice Butler, and the second 57 yard pass being caught by Williams.
Matt Barkley, with poise in his pocket and only 13 completions managed to pile up 247 passing yards against Washington State. He also did the right deed by protecting the football. His capabilities were apparent in last night’s game.
USC’s defense is what dominated the game and hand delivered this victory to the Trojans. They gave the Cougars very little room to breathe and allowed them to see absolutely no life at all on the field. Washington State hero, Dwight Tardy spared the Washington team losing over a shutout in the 4th quarter by scoring with 2 minutes left of play by only 2 yards.
Pressure was maintained on Washington State’s freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel. He had very few opportunities to provide any positive impact. In fact, his only productive series came at the end of the game when he put together 13-play drive to put the Cougars in the end zone. What’s more, 130 yards of his 135 yards passing came in the fourth quarter.
Considering the fact the USC Trojans (3-1 overall, 1-1 in Pac-10) devoured the Cougars last year 69-0, losing 27-6 is a step in the right direction for Washington State. Once you consider a freshman quarterback was at the helm and USC gave up 115 penalty yards, maybe a lot more work is required of the Cougar squad to compete against the USC powerhouse.
What really matters is how USC plays over the next four weeks. California, Notre Dame, Oregon State, and Oregon will provide a true test for the Barkley-led Trojans, and three of these games will be played away from the Coliseum. Trojans coach Pete Carroll has acknowledged that his team has been playing less than stellar and admits that the Trojans have a lot of work to do to sharpen their game. Only time will tell if this team will prevail in the top-25.
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