EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It was going to be difficult enough for the Syracuse Orange.
Not many teams are going to be able to corral USC Trojans receivers Marqise Lee and Robert Woods. Not over the course of a game.
But the Orange, for whatever reason, decided here Saturday to make the task even more difficult. USC players and coaches said the Syracuse defensive backs specifically called out the talented receivers during pregame warm-ups, taunting Lee and Woods with profanity and vulgarity.
Uh, bad idea.
"We heard that and said, 'Oh, that's how it's going to be?'" one Trojan said. "We wanted to come in here and have a nice game, but, oh, OK."
That's about how the game, a 42-29 Trojans win, played out. USC had a rather uneven performance, something you might expect inside a giant, quarter-filled NFL stadium for a West Coast team playing an East Coast nonconference game. (Not to mention severe weather that delayed the start of the second half for about an hour.) But the ability of Lee and Woods to lead the Trojans' offense out of a lull, and how Lane Kiffin uses them to enhance the run game, stood out among the things I learned in Week 2.
To read Travis Haney's full Week 2 takeaways column, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Travis Haney
ESPN Insider• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Travis HaneyTravis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.
A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.
Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.
Haney resides in Charlotte, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter here.
