Air game goes missing in key loss to Stanford
Through two games, it appears USC has fixed one problem on its offense. The Trojans have been able to establish a legitimate run game, averaging 172.5 ground yards in the opening two weeks.
But when head coach Clay Helton recapped to reporters on Sunday his takeaways from the tape review of Saturday’s disastrous 42-28 loss to Stanford, what stood out was that the Trojan passing attack had fallen flat.
“Really the missed opportunities in the passing game as an offensive unit,” Helton said. “To be able to create explosive plays as well as points in the red zone. You look up and you really got five plays over 15 yards on the day and two of those were within the run game.”
Yes, the passing game, pretty much the one aspect of USC that has been unassailable the past two seasons, is now a cause for concern for the Trojans.
In the loss to Stanford, quarterback Kedon Slovis completed 27 of 42 passes for 223 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
The pick, which was returned for a costly Cardinal touchdown, was a drop by receiver Drake London. But as offensive coordinator Graham Harrell noted, the throw was also behind the receiver.
USC did do better in the red zone, scoring in all five trips and three times reaching the end zone. But the two field goals came after misses on potential touchdown passes.
“If we hit that post to Drake early on, that’s four more points. If we make the catch on the seam to Gary, that’s four more points,” Harrell said. “All of a sudden, you got a totally different feel, a totally different game.”
Two games is undoubtedly
USC (1-1, 0-1) AT WASHINGTON ST. (1-1, 0-0)
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Martin Stadium (Pullman, Wash.)
Watch/listen: Fox/ 790AM
USC update: The Trojans suffered a dispiriting loss to Stanford in their Pac-12 opener Saturday, a 42-28 defeat that was only that close due to two garbagetime touchdowns by USC. It was a real fall from grace for USC after an encouraging Week 1performance. But the Trojans committed nine penalties for 109 yards, struggled to extend drives on third down and got gashed for big plays by a Stanford offense that struggled in a loss to Kansas State one week earlier. ... DE Nick Figueroa left at halftime, the second week in a row he’s been unable to play in the second half. In Week 1, Figueroa suffered an AC sprain in his shoulder.
Washington State update: The Cougars offense has been solid if unspectacular through the first two weeks of the season. Washington State is averaging 411 yards per game and 257 through the air. The other side of the ball, though, has been another matter, with the Cougars surrendering 430.5 yards per game. Even in a bounce-back win over Portland State on Saturday, Washington State gave up 420 total yards and 318 through the air.
— Adam Grosbard
a small sample size, but it’s what there is to work with at this point. And through two games, Slovis’ completion percentage has dipped to 65.4% from 67% in 2020 (and 71.9% as a freshman). Slovis is moving the ball an average of 6.1 yards per attempt, down from 7.3 last year and 8.9 in 2019.
Asked directly if the offense has made the progress it should in Year 3 with the same offensive coordinator and quarterback, Helton deflected to discuss how USC’s average starting field position at its own 22 hurt the Trojans.
But Harrell’s Air Raid attack is supposed to be the type of offense that moves quickly down the field regardless of starting position. Helton said Sunday that he felt USC didn’t really get its desired tempo going until the fourth quarter, at which point the Trojans were already down by 29.
“They just executed better than we did tonight out there,” said Harrell, who also said Stanford did not do anything schematically that surprised USC. “We gotta play harder, we gotta execute better. We didn’t execute great Week 1, especially in the red zone in Week 1.”
Helton echoed that line Sunday, saying, “I thought [Harrell] put our kids in good position last night to be able to make plays. It’s something that, I know our kids are going to look back on and say gosh darn, we missed some opportunities there.”
Injury report
Helton said that USC defensive end Nick Figueroa was pulled from Saturday’s game after his AC sprain from Week 1 flared up again. Figueroa is considered day-to-day, but Helton acknowledged he may need some down time to let the shoulder heal.
Figueroa’s primary backup, freshman Korey Foreman, was also limited on Saturday by a foot injury.
“Credit to the kid, he’s been a warrior fighting through it,” Helton said. “We limited his role just based on the amount of practice he got last week.”
WR Drake London “tweaked his back” on his fourth-quarter touchdown catch, Helton said, but is not expected to miss the Washington State game.
UCLA (2-0) VS. FRESNO STATE (2-1)
When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday
Where: Rose Bowl
Watch/listen: Pac-12 Network / 570AM
UCLA update: The Bruins had a week to recover and enjoy a signature win over LSU, but now coach Chip Kelly must prepare his team for the Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl in the final nonconference game of the season.
Kelly used the bye week as an opportunity for the Bruins to improve and clean up some Week 1mistakes, ranging from penalties to communication issues to the snap exchange between the center and quarterback. Fresno State update: Quarterback Jake Haener and the Bulldogs are coming off a dominant 63-10 home victory over Cal Poly on Saturday. Haener completed 17of 22passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair to Josh Kelly, who finished the night with three catches for 127 yards. The defense produced 10 tackles for a loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. Fresno State opened the season Aug. 28 with a 45-0 victory over UConn before coming up short, 31-24, at Oregon.
— James H. Williams