USC Trojans

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A report card to be proud of

There was very little to dislike about USC's performance in its rout of Washington

Updated: November 17, 2011, 11:41 AM ET
By Kyle Williams | We Are SC
Right after a game ends, coaches immediately watch the film and grade their players. The grades consist of two things, mainly -- assignment and technique. Here are my position grades after Saturday's 40-17 win over Washington.

Quarterback: 88 percent (B+)
With the running game working on all cylinders, Matt Barkley got a lot of work on his running back exchanges. Barkley did a good job managing the game and making his checks at the line of scrimmage. He had a rushing touchdown and threw a couple nice balls to Marqise Lee and one to Brice Butler. There were two passes during the game that easily could have been intercepted and shifted the momentum to Washington.

I put the blame on Barkley for the only sack USC allowed. The play was a quick screen, where Barkley throws the ball to his running back who's stationed around the line of scrimmage. However, Curtis McNeal got caught up with one of Washington's D-linemen, so Barkley had no one to throw it to. Looking back on the tape, Barkley will see that he should have just thrown the ball away.

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Kyle Williams | email

Analyst, WeAreSC.com