Survive and advance: Scondi’s take on USC vs. Texas

The Trojans’ 27-24 overtime win in the USC vs. Texas game wasn’t pretty. Here’s the good, the bad and the uncertain from last Saturday.

A win’s a win or whatever other clichés there are for fans who want to make themselves feel better about last Saturday. The USC vs. Texas game wasn’t great for the Trojans, but it could have been a lot worse.

Here’s my breakdown of what was good, what was bad, and what was certain:

The Good

Defense

With all the accolades going to Sam Darnold and Chase McGrath, don’t forget the other side of the ball that singlehandedly kept USC in this game.

USC’s defense forced four turnovers, including a fumble near the goal line in the second overtime and held Texas to 10 points on offense.

Defense is only supposed to be half the game, but against Texas, it was at least 75 percent.

Sam Darnold

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and Sam Darnold in the fourth quarter.” — Thomas Jefferson

It’s hard to say a quarterback did it by himself, given that someone has to catch the passes he’s throwing. But his final drive of regulation is pretty close given the pressure immediately after Darnold takes the snap.

Look at him step into the pocket and throw a jump pass like he’s Tim Tebow in a goal line package.

USC’s receivers were so bad this game, he literally had to throw his passes so they drop perfectly into their hands.

Chase McGrath

Not sure you can start your college career any better than your made first field goal sending your team into overtime, and the second one winning the game in dramatic fashion.

Almost like he purposely missed his first attempt to create all this drama late in the game.

From my seats, his first kick looked like the worst field goal of all time. It had the trajectory and movement of a wounded duck. The ball looked like it was kicked by someone who is arguing with their friends about how they could be a professional kicker.

“It’s not that hard, I’ll show you.”

Technically, it’s true that Chase McGrath is a walk-on but this narrative seems a bit excessive. USC fans seem to be forgetting McGrath was a five-star kicking recruit who was added to the roster well after signing day.

He’d have a scholarship if USC had any left. Guess he’ll have to wait until next year. That is, if he keeps making kicks.

Ronald Jones & Steven Mitchell (For One Play)

Can the Trojnas head into halftime like that every game?

USC used to always score at the end of the first half with Pete Carroll, but it was usually a long play-action play, not a dump off pass that was sprung by a defender getting blocked into oblivion.

USC’s Hail Mary was exactly how Cody Kessler imagined every single one of the check downs he threw on third-and-8.

After the block, Mitchell ran down the sideline in the opposite direction celebrating. It was like when Steph Curry turns around before his shot even goes in.

Deontay Burnett

Why doesn’t USC make the whole offense out of the throw to Burnett in the end zone play? Week in and week out, he proves to be one of the most valuable players on the team.

Got to shake hands with a USC legend after catching a touchdown pass from a future one. Pretty good for one play.

Clay Helton

Apparently Clay Helton is a horrible head coach. Of all the coaches with active 12-game winning streaks, Clay Helton is by far the worst.

The team has only defeated four ranked opponents during that period! And only by a margin of six points! I want double digits! He stinks!

He’s only faced off and defeated David Shaw, Tom Herman, James Franklin, and Chris Petersen. But what about Nick Saban? Lost 52-6. FIRE HIM!

The bar has been set insanely high for Helton and his coaching staff, and I don’t really see how he hasn’t met it yet. Sure, he started off 1-3 in his first season, but he rallied the team to win out finishing with a miraculous comeback in the Rose Bowl.

The team hasn’t been winning games convincingly this year, but they’re still wins. Don’t let the inability of Vegas bookies to predict the spread make you think this team isn’t performing well.

Fans can’t applaud the defensive strategy while simultaneously questioning the offensive play calling. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Pete Carroll isn’t walking out of that tunnel. Except on October 8 when the Seahawks play the Rams.

The Bad

Jalen Greene

If Ronald Jones is the Texas Tesla, then Jalen Greene is the Serra SpaceX, because I’m ready to fire him into space. Not only is he dropping everything thrown to him, he has this uncanny ability of letting the ball hit off of him and into a defender’s hands. It’s like throwing to a trampoline.

Darnold is second in the nation in interceptions and half of them are because of Jalen Greene’s tip drills into opposing player’s hands. He’s a power forward, not a wide receiver. The best contribution he can provide to the team is giving Michael Pittman Jr. one of his ankles.

Jack Jones

Are you sitting down? Good. I wanted to make sure before I told you that Jack Jones had another bad game.

I honestly can’t figure out if Jack Jones is bad or just the weakest link on USC’s defense.

It’s both.

Despite an interception and solid  coverage on a couple deep balls early in the game, Jones fell apart —figuratively and literally— in the fourth quarter. If a receiver caught a ball, Jones was the closest defender whether he had his backed turned to the quarterback or on the ground eating grass on the go ahead touchdown.

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It doesn’t help that Jones is extremely cocky either. I could handle a bad cornerback. I can’t handle one that thinks he could win the Heisman while riding on the bench his freshman year. Throughout Texas’ final drive in regulation, Jones was actively taunting receiver Collin Johnson, who had seven receptions for 191 yards and a touchdown.

That’s like rolling up to a stoplight in a Honda Civic with a busted tail light and making fun of the guy next to you in a Ferrari.

Offensive Line

The offensive line was atrocious, allowing three sacks, nine tackles for loss, and hindering running backs to only 1.9 yards per carry.

After creating lanes the could fit a Ford F-150 through it against Stanford, the offensive line couldn’t make a hole big enough for a remote-controlled car.

Fox Sports

By the time the game started, I was an incoming freshman. When it finally ended, I was ready to submit my dissertation for my Ph.D.

This game may have been a little over three hours long but it felt like an eternity. It may be because the stress took years off my life, or the fact that Fox went to commercial every five minutes.

Is this the price USC has to pay to have primetime games? Because if it is ,I might be fine with the team dropping a game and getting back into that noon slot on the PAC-12 network.

Referees

For the first time in ever, USC benefitted from atrocious officiating. They didn’t call any pass interferences despite the Trojans’ corners holding on to the receivers jersey like Linus holds onto his blanket.

On Ellinger’s second interception, the referees missed a face mask penalty that I could see from my seat. His helmet spun around his head the way Daffy Duck’s bill does when he gets shot by Elmer Fudd.

They also reviewed literally every play. I was surprised they didn’t want to take a second look at McGrath’s game winning field goal.

Just gross incompetence from the officiating crew. But USC benefitted more than Texas, so overall great refs! Anyone know what they doing this Saturday, around 12:30?

The Uncertain

Fans

The NFL is going to need a third team in Los Angeles to beat USC’s attendance numbers.

While the game was a “sellout”, it definitely wasn’t filled with USC fans. At several points during the game, it felt like the Trojans were playing an away game, given how loud Texas fans got. It lead to several false start penalties and USC only converting six of their 18 third down conversions.

Despite how well the Longhorns travel to away games, USC fans were extremely loud and stayed until the very end. I know a lot of fans wanted to leave early, but the team made sure to keep them in their seats. Maybe that is why they played so badly?

Injuries

Might start to be easier to list off the players that didn’t get injured this past Saturday.

The war of attrition is wearing on USC’s starters and they’ve only gotten through the three battles.

What’s going to happen if USC makes the Pac-12 championship? Sam Darnold did play linebacker at San Clemente if USC needs him on defense.

I’d consider not working out for a few days if I have a blister on my toe, and Porter Gustin is collecting two sacks with one arm and a foot full of metal.

This is like your doctor saying you either have terminal cancer or the common cold.

Expect Clay Helton to get more vague throughout the season to the point where he’s going to tell reporters whether his injured players are currently breathing or not.

Running Out The Clock

So did USC decide whether or not they want their team to run out the clock at the end of the first half or not?

Almost like it isn’t a set strategy.