USC Sears Washington St. 44-19
Week 2 conference opener on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles as the #15 ranked University of Southern California Trojans hosted the Washington State Cougars. It was an early test at home for the Trojans defense as Washington St. achieved a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, USC quickly figured things out after Washington St. continuously threw the football. USC was up 20-10 at the half and receiving the second half kickoff.
USC freshman Quarterback Jack Sears burnt the Cougars defense for most of the day going 19-29 for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sears also lead the team in rushing attempts with 14 for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns while fumbling once on a option play, but recovering his own fumble.
Trojan Wide Receivers shared the wealth as freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown lead the way with 5 catches for 126 yards. St. Brown went to high school in Yorba Linda, CA. Sophomore Tyler Vaughns caught 5 for 60 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Devon Williams caught 4 for 50 and a touchdown. Running the ball was not as effective. Sophomore Stephen Carr had 10 carries for 52 yards and senior Aca'Cedric Ware had 4 for 12 yards. Sears managed a 32 yard scamper in the 4th quarter, it was the second longest play from scrimmage for USC on the day.
Trojans defense was effective and came up big when needed. Giving up 460 yards through the air does not seem effective, but they held the Cougars to -7 rushing yards on 8 attempts and only surrendered 2 total touchdowns. Washington St. Quarterback Mishew threw the ball 61 times. The Cougars had 5 opportunities from the redzone: 2 touchdowns , 1 field goal, turnover on down and threw a pick six. WSU also missed a 50+ yard field goal attempt.
Trojans look to continue their run at a BCS game next week at home against Arkansas.
10-05-2018, 10:46 AM
