USC vs. Texas 2017: Five takeaways from the game

The Body Blow Theory is a law

Typically after USC plays Stanford, they struggle in the following game because of what is known as Bruce Feldman’s Body Blow Theory. It states that after playing a very physical game, you will look sloppy in your next game because it takes more than a week to recover.

This was evident, given the fact several USC starters were out of the game —John Houston Jr. and Marlon Tuipolotu missed the game entirely— and Porter Gustin had surgery but still managed to play the first half.

On offense, the struggles were more clear. After the offensive line looked elite last week, paving the way for USC to rush for 307 yards, they were pushed around and bullied by Texas’ defensive line and linebackers.

The same unit that pushed Stanford’s large defensive linemen around could hardly get a push. USC only mustered 78 yards on the ground and had Sam Darnold running for his life at times. He was sacked three times.

If the Trojans are going to make a Pac-12 championship and playoff run, they need to get back to the ways of Week 2, and not Week 3.