| 2007 Game
10: USC vs. Cal
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Offense Notes Date - November 10, 2007 Location - Berkeley, Ca. Result: USC 24 - Cal 17 Note: I managed to watch the game in Germany on a 2 inch computer window using ESPN's Game Plan on-line. Compared to living overseas over 20 years ago and getting nothing at all it worked out surprisingly well. I was also able to re-watch the game on USC's official website via CSTV. If anyone is ever stuck out of the country for a game I recommend either option if you don't have a Slingbox or other means of watching the game. The only downside is that I can't manipulate the video files and clip any pictures this week. I'll add some pictures next weekend to the text below when I am finally home. For now I'll just use some YTD trend charts for information along with the usual tables and text. As many have mentioned already this game sure seemed like something right out of the 1970's with the Joe Roth tribute and throw back uniforms for Cal. Adding in the fact that USC rushed 48 times and Cal ran the ball 45 times I half expected to see the late Ricky Bell suddenly appear in the game for USC and run student body right. It might not have have been an enjoyable game for everyone but the older you are the more I suspect this game brought back some memories of distant contests in the past? Fortunately USC came away with a hard fought 24-17 win in tough conditions and managed to keep its slim Rose Bowl hopes alive for the end of the season. Away Pac-10 games have been the toughest match up for USC during the Pete Carroll era. Cal in particular has been the one program to stay with USC most years since Jeff Tedford arrived and turned the Berkeley program around. Here is a quick snapshot of how USC has done versus the Bears since 2002 for example.
There have been a lot of close games during the past six years and USC often struggles to put up either points or yards versus the Bears. This game was no different in that respect. In previous years the run game has been really shut down at times. The 2002-2004 years had this problem as well as posting the most recent loss in the series. Credit Tedford and his defense for generally holding USC in check over the years. Here is a quick look at how USC scored: How USC Scored
USC got back to its normal pattern of scoring about 21 points per game on long field drives. However USC left a touchdown on the table when Chauncey Washington fumbled on the two yard line of Cal on the opening drive of the second half. Fortunately the Trojans responded with an interception of a Nate Longshore pass at the 13 yard line. From there USC could only generate a field goal and that was it in the game for short field points. Given the weather, the venue, and the opponent I'll take the win and not bemoan the lack of points this week. Here is the updated chart on total points for the offense and the number of turnovers for each week. Six of the past seven games have now seen 27 points or less scored after the nice start to the year in the first three games.  Turnovers appear to be slightly more in check the past few games but even the couple given away in the last two games are too many. YTD the squad is up to 23 turnovers on offense over 9 games. USC has yet to have a turnover free game this season and is now at 84th in turnover margin in the country. For those interested here are some other key stats worth noting that I compile after each game for review. Key Stats Check
USC Overall Offensive Stats
Passing Game The passing game was not very effective for USC in the game. It is tough to evaluate this aspect of the game due to the weather factor. USC only threw 20 passes in the game and John David Booty was 11 of 20 for 55% completion and a mere 129 yards in the game. On the Cal side Nate Longshore was also just 13 of 29 for 199 yards. For a glance at how up and down the passing yards are for USC this season here is an updated chart for yards, completion %, YPA, and YPC after 10 games. Passing Yards & Completion % Chart  YPA / YPC Chart  3 Big Pass Plays Note: There were only three big pass plays of over 15 yards in the game for USC. Yards however is not always the best measure of how big a play is in terms of impact. When I get a chance I'll clip the pictures from the 33 yard pass to Fred Davis, the short TD pass to Stanley Havili, and the big 3rd down drive sustaining pass to Patrick Turner at the end of the game to enable USC to run out the clock.
Pass Histogram The pass histogram was particularly unimpressive this week. The weather was no doubt a big factor and USC simply decided to put the game in the hands of the offensive line and Chauncey Washington. Tough to argue with the result given the conditions. I hope however that both the passing game and running game can get untracked at the same time versus Arizona State on Thanksgiving.  Running Game The highlight of the game of course was the performance of the offensive line and in particular Chauncey Washington. When time allows I'll put up pictures of his more impressive runs in the game. For now here is the rush histogram in the game followed by the YTD trend charts for the Trojans. There were quite a few negative yardage plays in the run game for USC. Several of course were QB-Center exchange problems which are recorded as a run play. Joe McKnight and Stafon Johnson also had trouble getting untracked and each had several negative yardage plays as well. The five runs at the right of the graph are the big runs in the game which totaled 99 yards or just under half the USC rushing offense in the game. USC Rush Histogram  Big Runs As with the case for the passing game it is not always the length of the run that counts. When time allows I'll put up pictures of the two big Chauncey Washington runs, as well as the Stafon Johnson nice 3 yard TD run, and the tough first down he made to help run out the clock at the end of the game.
Offensive by Downs & Run versus Pass
As you can see above it was a very run driven game for USC in terms of balance and play selection. The same was true for Cal as well. USC did takes a couple of shots down field in the game. One pass was just overthrown a bit to Ronald Johnson early in the game and later in the second half USC did hit Patrick Turner and Fred Davis deep over the middle. Unfortunately the PT reception was called back due to holding. The good news is that USC came right back and converted a play of similar yardage to Fred Davis. Drive Sequence Instead of looking at all the different situations and stats in the game I just review the drives in the game.
USC was able to move the ball well for several drives in the game. However, there were a couple of disappointments on several drives as well. Once USC fumbled on the Cal 2 yard line after a nice long field drive to open the second half. Additionally USC only converted a field goal when they intercepted the Longshore pass on the ensuing possession. One more promising drive was snuffed out near the 40 yard line when there was a QB-Center exchange problem due to the slick ball from the rain. Too many self inflicted problems once again this week and weather induced factors as well in the game. Other Notes & Reflections: So what will we see a week from Thursday during Thanksgiving on offense from the Trojans? I honestly have no idea what to expect the way the season has gone so far. The ground game seems capable of exerting its will upon the opposition when given the chance on a consistent basis. Arizona's rush defense is ranked 17th in the country allowing just 103.4 yards per game. However much of that results from holding Stanford to -2 yards, Colorado to 32 yards, and San Jose State to 40 yards net rushing. Against more comparable Pac-10 teams the Sun Devils have allowed 190 yards to Oregon State, 146 yards to Washington, 200 yards to Oregon, and 119 yards on the ground to a wounded UCLA team playing with a fourth string QB. I would think that USC should be able to run on the Sun Devils and set up the play action passing game. On the flip side the passing game for USC has really never taken off this year with the exception of the Washington State game and the errant Stanford game which were both 300+ yard passing games. Arizona State has had mixed results in terms of pass defense. Overall they rank 50th in the country allowing 215.5 yards per game. However as is the case with rush defense the distribution is sort of bi-modal. San Jose State only passed for 75 yards, Colorado generated 172, and Washington put up just 142 yards via the air. Given the current state of USC's pass attack there is little reason to be optimistic. However against more typical Pac-10 competition the Sun Devils have allowed 324 yards to Oregon State, 369 yards to Washington State, and 275 yards to Cal all in the air. I would hope that USC could do the same. Perhaps this will finally be the game where USC can put both halves of the offense as well as the defense together for an entire game. That is something I'd be thankful for on November 22nd. |