The USC football program has won 11 national championships and 31 bowl games but the 2010 team has dazzled only the most Pollyanna of its supporters so far.
The 2-0 Trojans have wins over Hawaii (49-36) and Virginia (17-14). Neither Hawaii nor Virginia is deserving of more than a mediocre label at best.
USC ranks 37th in the country in rushing offense per game (185.6 yards) and 47th in passing (240 yards). The Trojans are 107th in total defense giving up 464 yards per game and No. 73 in scoring defense at 25 points a game.
Tomorrow first year coach Lane Kiffin, a Bloomington Jefferson alum, brings USC to play coach Tim Brewster’s Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Kiffin’s profile is pretty glitzy, a handsome 35-year-old with a platinum reputation as a recruiter and coaching stops already with the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans. And, oh, yes, he might have the best looking coach’s wife in the country.
But the other day on ESPN Radio Colin Cowherd and Bob Davie said that Kiffin prefers to emphasize running the football, perhaps to the detriment of his own success so far with the Trojans. Translation: Kiffin might be glitzy in some ways, but his football approach can be old school smash them and smash some more.
“They’re a team that needs to throw the football down the field,” said Davie, the former Notre Dame coach. “I watched the game the other night against Virginia. They’re lucky they hung on and won that game.”
The Gophers are about a two touchdown underdog tomorrow and if they play pass defense like they did against South Dakota the Trojans will score a lot of points. USC sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley has thrown seven touchdown passes and is No. 12 in the nation with a passing efficiency of 171.82. The Gophers rank 97th in the country in pass defense, giving up almost 300 yards per game.
But tomorrow’s game won’t be determined by the stats of past weeks and if the Gophers play with fury this game could be close, or an upset. It should be an angry group of Gophers who take the field tomorrow after last Saturday’s surprise loss to South Dakota.