ESPN

It was a spirited, full-pads practice session for the Trojans on Thursday and one that featured a nice performance from the offense. This was welcome news to USC coach Lane Kiffin, particularly after the defense had dominated a practice earlier in the week.

“The offense did a lot better today,” Kiffin said. “It was good to see them bounce back that way after what happened on Tuesday. They came out today with a much better mindset.”

The solid play was spread around through many players but one area that really stood out was the run game. With Silas Redd out for spring with injury and Tre Madden limited in contact, the tailback work has fallen to the trio of D.J. Morgan, Buck Allen and Justin Davis, and they responded on Thursday.

It was Davis who got things going with a pair of long touchdown runs in a team drill. The smooth freshman, who has provided multiple promising moments in his brief time at USC, took both runs to the left side and showed a combination of speed and moves to get to the end zone.

Morgan followed in the next drill with a 10-yard touchdown run, showing a quick burst through the line. A few plays later, Morgan took a handoff and went down in a pile after a short gain. When he came up, he was limping a little and did not return.

Allen took his turn as the lead runner at the end of the day when the Trojans were in goal-line situations. The chatter between the offense and defense had reached a crescendo as time was running out in practice and both sides were eager for victory. With the ball at the five-yard line, Allen was able to punch in two touchdowns, including the final play of the day to signal a win for the offense. Davis also had a short touchdown run in the goal-line drill.

“I thought D.J. Morgan was having a very good day before he went down,” Kiffin said. “Justin Davis had a great day.”

It was also a good day at the quarterback spot, Max Wittek looked much better than he did on Tuesday, while Max Browne had his best practice as a Trojan.

Wittek got things going early with a deep touchdown pass to De’Von Flournoy against solid coverage from Ryan Henderson.

In a red-zone drill, Browne hit Nelson Agholor as Torin Harris went for the ball and missed, so Agholor was able to go in for the 20-yard score. Browne also hit a pair of short touchdowns to Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick. The highlight throw of the day for Browne came when he hit Farmer on a 55-yard completion. It was yet another sign of the accurate touch that Browne has shown on the deep ball so far, and of the fact that Farmer is continuing to make plays as well.

“George has stayed healthy and he’s doing well,” Kiffin said. “We need him to make the hard plays, to be physical, and he’s doing that. It’s been great to see.”

O-line adjusting to coaching changes
One of the primary areas of emphasis for the Trojans this year will be to get more physical, and that starts with the line. To that end, Kiffin has put two coaches on the offensive line, adding Mike Summers and keeping James Cregg, who had been the line coach for the past three years, as his assistant. There was some curiosity as to how the arrangement would work but, through the first three weeks, Kiffin is pleased with what he sees.

“Mike Summers has done a really good job of coming in and capturing the group,” Kiffin said. “It’s worked out like we had hoped with the two of them in combination, that’s why we put two coaches at such an important position.”

Injury report
Xavier Grimble will miss the remainder of spring with a chest fracture. There was no update on Morgan after practice. Jordan Simmons missed practice after getting sick earlier in the afternoon.

Defensive highlights
* Ryan Henderson had multiple solid tackles on the day coming up from his corner position. Two of them were on Agholor, including one at the end of the day when emotions were high and his big hit brought a huge roar from the defensive sideline.

* Anthony Brown also had a solid tackle for no gain from the corner spot.

* Josh Shaw read a screen pass from Cody Kessler to Agholor and he was able to bat the ball down.

* J.R. Tavai recorded a sack of Browne.

* Leonard Williams tracked Davis along the line of scrimmage for no gain.

Notables in attendance
Naijiel Hale, David Sills, Steven Mitchell, Nico Falah and several members of the Chaminade Eagles program.

Quotebook
“It was a slow adjustment at first for me because things are so different at this level. There were little things I could get away with in high school, some bad habits, but you need to pay attention to those techniques here. I’m getting those little things down right now. The good thing is that I get a first chance to learn everything now in spring and then I will get another camp in the fall. That will really help me learn the playbook. I’m not sure about redshirting, I’ll just work hard every day and see what happens.” -- Justin Davis

The Trojans put an emphasis on the offensive line during the Thursday full-pads practice, and coach Lane Kiffin liked what he saw.

“I thought the offensive line responded well today,” Kiffin said. “We had some issues on Tuesday with fumbled snaps and false starts, but the players came out today with good energy along the line of scrimmage.”

Kiffin also noted the continued strong play of quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Max Browne, who have been forced to take extra snaps this week as the only two available players at the position.

“I thought both the quarterbacks did some good things today," Kiffin said. "Cody [Kessler] is really doing a great job and really comes alive in those team settings. Max [Browne] is moving around probably better than we thought this early from pocket movements and getting out of trouble for a tall, young guy."

Kessler hit Nelson Agholor against coverage from Morgan Breslin and the play went for a long gain. Browne had his best practice of spring and it included a pair of touchdown passes to Darreus Rogers. There was also a nice sequence for Browne where he had a pass attempt broken up by Leon McQuay III but he came right back on the next play for a nice completion to Buck Allen.

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
It was a breakout day for Rogers. The first touchdown from Browne came on a short throw that he caught and put a spin move to get away from Ryan Dillard for a 20-yard score. The second touchdown was the highlight play of the day on a 40-yard pass reception at the goal line. He also had an impressive play with a sideline catch where it took multiple defenders to bring him down.

“Darreus Rogers had an unbelievable day,” said Kiffin.

Bucking the trend
Buck Allen hasn’t made a ton of noise during his USC career so far, but he’s quietly put together a pair of strong practices in a row. Allen finished the practice off right, first with a 4-yard TD run and then with a 20-yard touchdown dash off the left side on the final play of the day.

Injury update
Marqise Lee and Max Wittek continued to sit out practice with the knee injuries they suffered last weekend, and Kiffin said both will wait until the first Tuesday practice after spring break (March 27) to get back on the field. Silas Redd and Chad Wheeler both left the Thursday practice with knee injuries, while George Farmer had a shoulder injury. There was no word on the status of those three. Kevon Seymour sat out with an ankle injury and is day to day.

MVP
Xavier Grimble was named the MVP of the day with Rogers a close second. Kiffin gave a lot of praise to Grimble as a guy who is on his way to becoming a potentially great player. Grimble wasn’t even supposed to practice due to a rib injury but he went out and performed well, most notably in a blocking drill against the safeties.

Other highlight plays

Anthony Sarao and Lamar Dawson both had pass deflections. Dawson also added a big hit on Justin Davis. Kiffin said Dawson has put together five great practices in a row after changing his body in the off-season.

Sarao, Devon Kennard and Charles Burks each had a sack.

Leonard Williams had a pass deflection.

Notables in attendance
Nico Falah, Damien Mama, Rey Maualuga and several players from Upland HS including safety Jeff Farrar, QB Tyler Hilinski and incoming ninth-grade receiver Nathan Telfer (no relation to TE Randall).

Quotebook
“The competition between Xavier Grimble and Randall Telfer is good, no issues between the two of them. It’s kind of like how it was with Robert (Woods) and Marqise. They are really close, and they just push each other. They are almost exactly the same size, Randall is five pounds heavier and tests better.” -- Lane Kiffin

“This has probably been my best day here, but obviously still making a few mental errors. We slowed it down today and didn't install that much, so I was able to go out there and play. I felt like today I was the most comfortable and I think it showed in our offense as a whole." -- Max Browne

It’s easy to notice the upbeat style of play through the first two days of USC spring ball, and it was evident on Thursday with a team drill that featured some explosive plays from the offense.

The team drill started off strong for the defense, as the offense was backed up near its own goal line on the south end of Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field, and the defense had some stops, led by the interior front with Antwaun Woods, George Uko and Leonard Williams.

After the offense switched to the north end of the field, however, things began to change. Max Wittek hit Nelson Agholor for a short gain, and Agholor showed his burst of speed to outrun the secondary and make it a long gain. With the ball placed again deep in the offense's end, Silas Redd took a handoff and went 85 yards down the left sideline before being driven out at the 10-yard line by Kevon Seymour.

(Read full post)

With two spring practice sessions in the books for the Trojans, it’s time to take a quick look at how a team depth chart might look if it were released today.

Quarterback
Max Wittek (6-foot-4, 235 pounds, RS So.) OR Cody Kessler (6-1, 215, RS So.) OR Max Browne (6-5, 215, Fr.)

Kessler opened up spring camp with a big performance on Tuesday, but Wittek has certainly had his moments, and even the young freshman, Browne, has caught USC coach Lane Kiffin’s eye, making this battle too close to call. And that’s the way it could stay throughout the spring, as Kiffin revealed he’s in no hurry to name a starter.

Tailback
Silas Redd (5-10, 200, Sr.); D.J. Morgan (5-10, 190, RS. Jr.) OR Tre Madden (6-1, 220, RS So.) OR Javorious Allen (6-1, 210, RS So.) OR Justin Davis (6-1, 215, Fr.)

With a full season under his belt at USC, Redd looks comfortable and focused as the starter. Morgan showcased a couple of big plays this week, while Madden looked much sharper than you might imagine a year removed from his knee injury. Davis, meanwhile, has been perhaps the hit of the early-entrant group so far, making the most of his limited carries in practice.

Fullback
Soma Vainuku (6-0, 250, RS. So.); Jahleel Pinner (5-11, 225, So.)

Two of the team's hardest workers, Vainuku and Pinner alternated as the team’s primary fullbacks. It remains to be seen, however, if they’ll take on a bigger role in the offense.

(Read full post)

USC receiver Marqise Lee was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, conference representatives announced Monday.

In a vote of the conference's head coaches, Lee was chosen as the top offensive player. He also was the only sophomore in the conference unanimously selected to the Pac-12 first team this season, during which he totaled 112 catches, 1,680 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns.

One other Trojan, senior center Khaled Holmes, was selected as a first-teamer. Receiver Robert Woods, defensive end Morgan Breslin, cornerback Nickell Robey and safety T.J. McDonald were all second-team honorees, as was Lee as a return specialist.

Thirteen USC players earned honorable mention, with quarterback Matt Barkley, running back Silas Redd, tight end Xavier Grimble and offensive linemen Max Tuerk and John Martinez leading the way on offense.

Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Arizona's Matt Scott, two quarterbacks who beat Barkley this season, were named the Pac-12's first- and second-team signal-callers, respectively.

Barkley will leave USC having never been a first-team all-conference performer, which is remarkable considering the conference records he owns for all-time passing yards and touchdowns.

USC defensive linemen Leonard Williams, George Uko and Wes Horton and linebackers Dion Bailey and Hayes Pullard received honorable mention.

Williams also was named the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year, after recording a 7.5-sack, two-fumble-recovery season.

Kicker Andre Heidari, punter Kyle Negrete and reserve linebacker Tony Burnett rounded out USC's honorable-mention recipients on special teams.

One of the key areas for USC in its upcoming game with UCLA is the ability of the Trojans to stop the Bruins’ run game.

UCLA runs a no-huddle, spread offense featuring senior tailback Johnathan Franklin, who is among the nation’s leading rushers, and redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley, who has been very efficient this season. The ability to successfully run the football has been a big part of why the Bruins are 8-2 in the first year under coach Jim Mora. UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone is a familiar name for USC fans -- he was at the controls of the Arizona State offense in 2011 when the Sun Devils beat the Trojans in Tempe.

So far in 2012, the Trojans are giving up 3.9 yards per rush, while the Bruins are averaging 4.7 yards per rush with 45 attempts per game. USC has seen varying results against the run in recent weeks against teams who use a spread offense. The Trojans held Arizona State to just 71 rushing yards last week but gave up 321 yards on the ground two weeks ago to Oregon running back Kenjon Barner.

Here are three important ways the USC defense is built to perform in this game:

Stopping Franklin: The all-time leading rusher in UCLA history is also the nation’s No. 6 leading rusher with 1,270 yards. It will be critical for the USC defense to be aggressive and make early contact. The Trojans are No. 4 in the nation in tackles for loss, and that stat will be important to watch as USC hopes to limit the number of open-field runs for Franklin.

The Hundley factor: USC senior safety T.J. McDonald could play a major role here to help contain the young Bruins signal-caller. Hundley isn’t afraid to run the football -- he has 111 rush attempts -- and he has six touchdowns on the ground this year. He is a very steady player and hasn’t been rattled a lot this season but this game will be a step up on every level. Look for Monte Kiffin to use McDonald in different ways to confuse Hundley as much as possible.

Inexperience on the line: The Bruins start three freshmen on the offensive line, and you can be sure the Trojans’ defensive line will be looking to take advantage of that. USC is coming off one of its best D-line performances of the year, and Ed Orgeron’s group is getting production from multiple players right now. Senior end Wes Horton has battled back from an early-season injury to be playing at a high level, while Morgan Breslin and Leonard Williams have been very effective as well.

LOS ANGELES -- USC Trojans freshman defensive tackle Leonard Williams has not been suspended by the Pac-12 for the punch he threw against Colorado that earned him an ejection, and it appears unlikely he'll receive any punishment from the conference office.

Trojans coach Lane Kiffin said after Tuesday's practice that he wasn't "allowed" to address Williams' situation.

"I think that's confidential," Kiffin said.

Previously, Kiffin had said he expected to hear back from the conference office Monday about a possible punishment for Williams. USC had not heard anything as of Tuesday afternoon, a school spokesperson said.

No news is typically good news as far as suspensions go, although there remains the possibility that Williams could be suspended for all or part of Saturday's game at Arizona.

"There's no set time on when the conference would announce any public reprimands or suspensions," Pac-12 spokesperson Dave Hirsch wrote in an e-mail Monday afternoon.

But each of the last two USC-related Pac-12 reprimands or suspensions were announced on a Monday or Tuesday.

Safety T.J. McDonald was suspended on a Monday for a half after the loss to Stanford last year. Quarterback Matt Barkley was publicly reprimanded on a Tuesday for comments made the previous week about Vontaze Burfict leading up to the Trojans' eventual loss to Arizona State.

Williams is expected to start at defensive tackle for the Trojans in Tucson this weekend. He told teammates that he punched a Colorado player in the facemask because he was first spit on in a second-quarter pile-up.

LOS ANGELES -- USC Trojans coach Lane Kiffin addressed the media in his normal day-after game conference call Sunday night, talking about his team's 50-6 win over Colorado and briefly looking ahead at the remaining five regular-season games.

Here are notes and quotes from the call:

Injury updates

Defensive end Devon Kennard (torn pec) will sit out the rest of the season and redshirt, Kiffin said.
Kennard will be a redshirt senior in 2013. He tore his pec in a July weight-lifting accident and previously said he had hopes of returning in November for a final NFL trial run.

Kiffin also provided updates on two other players, cornerback Brian Baucham and defensive tackle Cody Temple. Both players are out for the 2012 season, Baucham with a unspecified issue and Temple with an ankle injury.

Left tackle Aundrey Walker, who appeared to suffer a neck injury in the third quarter of Saturday's game, was released from the hospital Sunday after spending the night there.

Kiffin said Walker was back in meetings with the team Sunday. "Things seemed to be very positive," Kiffin said. "That's about all I'd be allowed to say."

Special-teams trickery

So the holder wearing No. 35 who took off running on the two-point play after USC's second touchdown in the first quarter?

That wasn't Kyle Negrete, USC's punter, who normally wears No. 35. That was Cody Kessler, third-string quarterback and recent new holder. Kiffin had Kessler sport No. 35 for the first half of Saturday's game -- presumably to run the fake kick -- and then switch back to No. 6 for the second half, when he came in the game in garbage time at quarterback and completed the first throws of his college career.

It's a legal move, but an ethically dubious one. Kessler was listed as the ballcarrier on the play in the postgame statistics, but he was not announced as such in the press box or over the PA.

It also opens the floodgates for many more potential shenanigans. If Kiffin tried that against Colorado, what might he try against Oregon? So much is suddenly in play.

Sunday, Kiffin deflected a question about who was the holder in the first half, saying, "I'd really rather not get into that at this time for certain reasons."

(Read full post)

LOS ANGELES -- Here are notes and quotes from the USC Trojans' 50-6 smashing of Colorado on Saturday at the Coliseum that won't make it into our other coverage from the day.

The best of the records

Tee Martin, USC's first-year receivers coach, remembers it vividly.

It was Halloween 1998, Tennessee's national championship season, and his Volunteers were taking on South Carolina on the road.

As the quarterback, he completed his first 23 passes on the day in a 49-14 win, finishing 23-of-24 for a 95.8 completion percentage. The national championship win takes precedence in his pantheon of collegiate memories, he said Saturday, but that performance might well be second.

So it's not crazy to assume that Matt Barkley's completion percentage in Saturday's win was actually the best record he set on the day. In a magnificent performance against a horrific defense, Barkley completed 19 of his 20 attempts for 98 yards and six touchdowns. He tied his own record for scoring throws in a game and set a new school and conference record for them in a career, breaking Matt Leinart's mark of 99.

And he did it all in about 35 minutes, coming out before the third quarter was even half over. And the only incompletion came on a dropped pass by Curtis McNeal, too -- on an on-the-money throw.

Barkley's 95 percent completion rate set a USC and Pac-12 record and came just short -- by .8 percent -- of Martin's all-time NCAA record set that day in Columbia. Martin knew what was going on in the second half and half-expected Trojans coach Lane Kiffin to send Barkley back in to challenge for the record.

Barkley used the word "special" at least five times discussing his record-setting day in the postgame press conference, but he used a different word talking about his accuracy.

"To have a nearly perfect game in that sense was something cool," Barkley said.

Similarly, Kiffin seemed to expect most of the records Barkley and receiver Robert Woods set against the Buffaloes. But he didn't expect his quarterback to complete 19 of 20 passes.

"I think we really felt that this was gonna happen," Kiffin said. "I don't know if I could have predicted a 95 percent completion percentage, but I really felt we were going to throw the ball really well."

The turnovers

Nickell Robey and Jawanza Starling bowed their heads in shame recalling the incident.
Starling messed up a for-sure interception -- and likely pick six -- late in the second quarter when he overran a Jordan Webb pass intended for Tony Jones that was thrown more closely to him. Starling reacted violently to the mistake and still groaned when asked about it afterward.

He simply got too excited.

"I hate to admit it," Starling said, "but, yes."

Said Robey, who was nowhere near the play but saw it all happen: "Don't remind me. It made me mad. I told him, 'Bro, you just ran through the ball. You would've been gone.'"

Here's the crazy thing, though: That would have been the Trojans' seventh turnover of the night. The fact that they were lamenting that says a lot about the progress Monte Kiffin's unit has made over the past year-plus.

"We want more," said linebacker Tony Burnett, who had one of the three interceptions. "If we can get six turnovers against these teams coming up, it's gonna look really good for us."

First-time interceptions

Three Trojans made the first interceptions of their major-college careers Saturday -- well, two, but Drew McAllister's previous picks were so long ago that they barely count.

Burnett's and safety Gerald Bowman's were both legitimate, though. In a crafty third-quarter play, Burnett snatched the ball out of the hands of Colorado's Nelson Spruce and returned it 55 yards, with only the opposing quarterback preventing him from scoring. Bowman later picked off Webb just short of the end zone and returned it 19 yards.

"It fell right into my lap," Burnett said of his play. "While he was bringing his hands down, I slapped at it, the ball popped in the air and I grabbed it. Then I turned around and I was like, 'Whoa, I got the ball.'"

USC is now averaging almost three times as many interceptions this season as last, with 14 through seven games compared to nine in 12 games.

Still with the penalties

USC had set a goal to limit its penalties against the Buffs after leading the nation in flags per game midway through the 2012 season.

That didn't work too well. The Trojans finished with 10 penalties, including four of the personal-foul or unsportsmanlike-conduct variety.

"It was just really upsetting," Kiffin said. "That's not who we want to be and not the product we want to put out there."

The flags cost USC a total of 90 yards. Colorado, by contrast, had only four for 46 yards.

Williams' ejection

Freshman defensive tackle Leonard Williams was ejected in the second quarter after he threw a punch at a Colorado offensive player's facemask.

Teammates said Williams was spit on in the bottom of the dogpile. Because he was ejected due to a flagrant foul, the play will be reviewed by the Pac-12 office to determine whether he'll be suspended for the Trojans' next game.

Williams could miss half or all of the Arizona game. Kiffin said he didn't get a good look at what Williams did but was going to pull him from the game even if the officials didn't.

Injury update

Left tackle Aundrey Walker went down with an apparent neck injury in the third quarter and was carted off the field and transported to the hospital.

Freshman Max Tuerk, who replaced him Saturday and stands to take his place if Walker's out for an extended injury, said the injury looked "really bad."

"I really wish the best for him," Tuerk said. "We'll see how he is tomorrow."

Walker and Tuerk had been rotating in every other series in the first half.

In other injury news, receiver Marqise Lee had stitches in his hand, Woods said, which played a role in Barkley throwing the ball to him only six times Saturday.

Final notes: De'Von Flournoy's 21-yard second-quarter catch was the first of his career. Woods recalled a passing-league tournament from his junior season of high school football when he was playing safety and Flournoy tore him up as a receiver. Woods said that was one of the reasons he came to USC. ... Receiver George Farmer said he was "caught off guard" when Kiffin called him into the game late in the fourth quarter at running back. Farmer's one carry, which went for nine yards, was called back because of a penalty. ... One of the most famous members of Earth, Wind & Fire, falsetto Philip Bailey, was in attendance at the Coliseum, invited by Colorado coach Jon Embree. ... Said Embree of Barkley: "There's a reason why he's gonna go like that in the draft. I'm glad he's done and I don't have to see him in person anymore."

LOS ANGELES -- Leonard Williams didn't know too many of USC's defensive players when the Trojans were recruiting him around this time last season.

He knew Dion Bailey and Hayes Pullard, the two young linebackers, and defensive backs Nickell Robey and T.J. McDonald. That's about it.

So suffice it to say that Williams, a freshman starring at defensive tackle for the Trojans this season, didn't think he'd playing on an at-times-dominant defense right away at USC.

"I was really surprised, because when I was coming here, I was always hearing about the offense and stuff like that," Williams said Wednesday. "I think the defense is really performing right now."

A significant part of that performing can be traced back to him.
Williams was widely expected to be USC's biggest impact defensive recruit, but few expected the impact would be at this level.

Through six games, Williams has registered 5.5 sacks, 18 tackles and two fumble recoveries. He already has progressed from a rotation player at end to a a key reserve tackle to, now, USC's starting defensive tackle, pushing third-year man George Uko to the nose tackle spot and second-year player Antwaun Woods to the bench.

He and defensive end Morgan Breslin might be USC's two biggest surprises this season, and they've been lining up next to each other for the majority of snaps in recent weeks.

USC coach Lane Kiffin and defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron try to only recruit out-of-state players whom they believe have first-round NFL potential. Williams, from Florida, certainly fits that bill as a 6-foot-5, 270-pounder with plenty of room to add weight.

He's not even 18 1/2 yet, either. But he plays a lot older, Kiffin said.

"He doesn't get rattled," Kiffin said of Williams. "He's just one of those rare guys who can come in as a true freshman and not just play but make an impact."

(Read full post)

SEATTLE -- No. 11 USC battled past some second-half troubles to top Washington, 24-14, on Saturday at CenturyLink Field. Here's a report card for the Trojans:

PASSING ATTACK
Yeah, 10 completions isn't really going to cut it. Matt Barkley didn't attempt a ton of passes, but his attempts weren't particularly effective anyway. Robert Woods did show some impressive explosiveness. Marqise Lee's best play was called back because of a penalty. Only four receivers caught passes.

RUSHING ATTACK
Silas Redd had a fantastic first quarter and a strong second, then stayed in the locker room after halftime and wasn't quite the same when he returned to the game later. Curtis McNeal was effective, as usual, as the No. 2 runner. No real chances for D.J. Morgan.

IN THE TRENCHES
Too many penalties on the USC offensive line, but, in general, the players were able to produce room for Redd and McNeal to run. The tackles were still occasionally smoked around the edge. The Trojans' D-line hasn't had a bad game yet, and Morgan Breslin and Leonard Williams are two dominant newcomers.

DEFENSE
Not a perfect performance, but USC's defense made big plays when it needed to. Dion Bailey had an impressive first-quarter pick to get the Trojans going, and Jawanza Starling's fourth-quarter strip might have been the play of the game. Both players made more plays, too. Torin Harris missed the second half, but Josh Shaw stepped in just fine at corner.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Anthony Brown's blocked punt and scoring return was huge, so that helps keep this unit from a much lower grade. Nickell Robey was very shaky as a punt returner, muffing two fair catches, and Andre Heidari had a second-half field-goal attempt blocked.

COACHING
At times, Lane Kiffin can be an inventive and intelligent play-caller. This was not one of those times. It seemed too often USC was in a third-and-long scenario and Kiffin was calling for a run to hedge his bets and get a little bit better field position. The third quarter continues to plague Kiffin's squad.