2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Oregon Writers
For the second time in three weeks, the USC Trojans will have a chance to upset a Top Five team.
In fact, three weeks ago, the Trojans came painfully close to upsetting the Stanford Cardinal before fumbling the game away in triple-overtime.
Last week, in a highly anticipated matchup, the Oregon Ducks accomplished precisely what the Trojans were unable to do two weeks earlier. They handed Stanford its first loss.
Stanford was plagued by dropped passes and a slippery field (that seemingly only affected the home team), but Oregon undoubtedly earned the crucial victory.
The Ducks continued their season-long ground assault with more than 200 yards to go with three touchdowns. Oregon also got to Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck three times and was able to force five turnovers. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Washington Writers
Led by former USC assistant Steve Sarkisian, the Washington Huskies are headed to L.A., where they hope to take down the Trojans for the third consecutive time.
This year’s Huskies have already ensured their bowl eligibility with a record of 6-3.
Despite having lost quarterback Jake Locker to the NFL, the Huskies have thrived under first-year starter Keith Price. He’s thrown for 25 touchdowns, while completing nearly 67 percent of his passes.
Although Washington has lost to three highly ranked schools (Nebraska, Stanford, and Oregon), it has taken care of business against its six other, less talented opponents.
Most recently, however, Washington’s normally high-achieving offense was shut down by the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks sacked Keith Price six times and held him to a season-low 143 passing yards. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Colorado Writer Jon Woods
Following an emotional triple-overtime loss at the hands of the Stanford Cardinal, the USC Trojans look to bounce back in a big way, as they head to Boulder, Colorado for a Friday night meeting with the Colorado Buffaloes.
Against Stanford, the Trojans proved that they can compete with one of the nation’s very best teams. The contest was so close that if any of a few plays and calls had gone differently, USC would have been victorious.
Although Curtis McNeal’s fumble in triple overtime ultimately cost his team the game, the Trojans would not have even made it to triple-OT if not for the 21-year-old running back’s two third-quarter touchdown runs.
The team is understandably proud of its effort last Saturday, but the Trojans hope Friday’s game does not become one of those infamous trap games. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Stanford Writers
One week after posting its biggest win in the Lane Kiffin era, USC will be asked to one-up its performance against Stanford, the No. 4 team in the nation according to the latest Associated Press ranking.
The mighty Cardinal come to town with a flawless 7-0 record. In fact, they are dominating opponents, winning each game by an average of 36 points.
Most recently, the Cardinal defeated a Top 25 opponent, the Washington Huskies, by a whopping 44 points (65-21 final).
Stanford was able to contain the Huskies’ impressive passing attack, holding quarterback Keith Price to just 1 touchdown–significantly less than his average of 3.5 touchdown passes per game.
For their part, the Cardinal offense really came to play, and ironically, it was not Heisman candidate quarterback Andrew Luck who did most of the damage. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Notre Dame Writers
In the latest chapter of one of the greatest rivalries in college football, the USC Trojans will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this Saturday in South Bend, Indiana.
Neither USC nor Notre Dame is ranked in the Top 25, but that fact has done very little to diminish the immense excitement leading up to the game.
Both teams are playing well heading into the rivalry game.
The Irish have won four straight games, including their latest victory, nearly two weeks ago, over Air Force by a score of 59-33. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Rees threw four first half touchdowns, giving his team a 42-16 halftime lead, which they would not relinquish.
Last Thursday, The Trojans defeated the Cal Golden Bears 30-9. Although Cal outgained the Trojans 329 yards to 313, USC was able to force five turnovers en route to the win. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Cal Golden Bears Writer
Twelve days after USC defeated the Arizona Wildcats 48-41, it will take on the California Golden Bears in a nationally televised game Thursday night.
In two consecutive weeks, Cal’s defense has struggled on the road.
Most recently, the Bears surrendered more than 350 rushing yards to the Oregon Ducks. In a game in which the Bears led 15-14 at the half, the Ducks shut them out in the second half to earn a 43-15 win.
In the Trojans’ last contest, Matt Barkley set a school-record for passing yards with 468. For his part, receiver Robert Woods nabbed 14 catches for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for USC, it would need every bit of those 48 points, because its secondary was atrocious, allowing Nick Foles to throw for 425 passing yards and four touchdowns. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Utah And ASU Writers
After defeating the Arizona Wildcats in a high-scoring affair last Saturday, the Trojans won’t be playing this week.
In the win over the Wildcats, Matt Barkley passed for a school-record 468 yards, but the Trojan secondary was burned for 425 yards. Like Barkley, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles threw for four touchdowns.
Because the Trojans are off, I’ve decided to go behind enemy lines twice this week in the hopes of covering both sides of the upcoming ASU-Utah match up.
The Trojans have played both of these Pac-12 South schools this season. In fact, both games were very close until the Sun Devils exploded for 22 unanswered points to close out their win in Tempe.
On Saturday, the Utes (2-2, 0-2 conference) will have to play without their starting quarterback Jordan Wynn, who injured his left shoulder in last week’s loss to the Washington Huskies.
The Sun Devils come into the game with a 4-1 record (2-0 in conference), but they have only won four of their last 17 road games, dating back to 2008. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Arizona Writers
The Arizona Wildcats (1-3) will meet the USC Trojans (3-1) at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Quarterback Nick Foles leads a potent passing attack for the Wildcats, but the team has struggled to get their running game going. In addition, the Arizona defense has proved incapable of stopping the run in their last three games, which they’ve lost to Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Oregon, respectively. All three of those most recent opponents are in the Associated Press Top 10.
The Trojans are also hungry for a victory, as they return home. After fighting back to take a 22-21 lead midway through the third quarter at Arizona State, the Trojans surrendered 22 unanswered points and fell to the Sun Devils 44-23 last Saturday.
The Trojans outgained the Sun Devils in terms of yardage, but turned the ball over at inopportune times. Three of USC’s turnovers came inside the Sun Devils’ 25-yard line; the fourth turnover, a Matt Barkley interception, resulted in an Arizona State defensive touchdown. The Trojans committed four turnovers last week and were unable to force any takeaways.
In a losing effort, RB Marc Tyler had a huge day on the ground, rushing for 149 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Arizona State Writers
USC will face the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, Arizona following three consecutive weeks of home cooking for the Trojans.
After a couple of narrow victories, the Trojans were finally able to assert their dominance against the Syracuse Orange last week, defeating them 38-17.
Arizona State, on the other hand, comes into Saturday’s Pac-12 home-opener following a bitter loss. Last week’s three-point loss to the Fighting Illini knocked the Sun Devils out of the Top 25 and reminded ASU of their inability to win close games last year.
To find out what we can expect from the Devils, let’s talk to the guys who know Arizona State football the best. Read more >>
2011 USC Football Behind Enemy Lines
Q&A With Syracuse Writers
The still unbeaten USC Trojans host the Syracuse Orange, who are also 2-0, on Saturday evening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
As with last week’s Utah-USC matchup, both teams come into the game with something to prove. Syracuse narrowly beat the FCS-level Rhode Island Rams, escaping with a seven-point victory.
Although the Trojans faced tougher competition in the form of the Utes, they, too, needed some late-game heroics in order to grab the win.
In 2010, the Orange traveled to Washington to take on the Huskies for their second game of the year. The Orange hung close for the first half, only trailing 13-10, but Jake Locker erupted for three more passing touchdowns after halftime. Syracuse fell to the Huskies, 41-20.
This time, Syracuse will bring a very experienced offense into the Coliseum. Junior quarterback Ryan Nassib is back with a senior running back and a couple upperclassmen filling the starting receiver slots. Their defense, however, has struggled to fill the void left by two standout linebackers, who graduated last spring. Read more >>