Khalil Tate threw two touchdown passes and ran for a season-high 38 yards, but his performance left something to be desired. Tate completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes (16 of 33) and threw an inexplicable interception that led to a USC field goal. While his 13 rushes also were a season high, it didn’t appear that he took every opportunity he could have – or got the most yards out of them. Tate, who still seems limited at times because of his ankle, was it his best on TD passes to Stanley Berryhill III (33 yards) and Cedric Peterson (32). Both throws were on the money.
A tough position to grade, because running lanes were hard to find. Coming off a career-best 284 yards, J.J. Taylor managed just 50 yards on 18 carries. Gary Brightwell had 14 yards on four attempts. But he needed only one to get into the end zone from the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter after Tate and Taylor failed to get the ball across the goal line. Taylor got involved in the passing game, including a 20-yard reception at the end of the half that led to a field-goal attempt.
The receivers’ inability to get open played at least some role in the passing game’s struggles. Shun Brown led the unit with five catches for 81 yards. Peterson did an excellent job of getting a foot down on his touchdown. Tony Ellison made two tough grabs over the middle, totaling 29 yards. Shawn Poindexter was relatively quiet with two grabs for 22 yards and took a nasty-looking shot to the helmet. The tight ends continued to be a non-factor as receivers.
A rough night for this group, which had been trending upward. Arizona had just 98 net rushing yards, averaging 2.6 yards per attempt. The Wildcats’ longest run was 10 yards. Like the Houston game in Week 2, Arizona struggled mightily to score on goal-to-go from the 1. The Cats didn’t have left tackle Layth Friekh that day. They did Saturday night, but he wasn’t at full capacity. Friekh, the line’s veteran leader, was bothered by a lower-leg injury, and he had to leave the game in the second half.
The front had major trouble stopping the run against a USC offense that hadn’t run the ball well before this game. But after yielding Aca’Cedric Ware’s 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the front flipped a switch. The Trojans didn’t score from that point forward and barely moved the ball. Kylan Wilborn had his second sack of the season and first forced fumble, which PJ Johnson recovered. Johnson, playing defensive end for the first time, also had a sack. Colin Schooler had a game-high 13 tackles, plus a strip and recovery.
USC quarterback JT Daniels attempted only 24 passes, but he completed 16 of them and found open receivers in critical situations early in the game. Daniels did not throw a touchdown pass. Scottie Young Jr. started at “Spur” safety for the first time and had a pass breakup. The other Spur, Tristan Cooper, had a team-high two. Safeties Jarrius Wallace and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles combined for 16 tackles, a sign that USC’s running backs were getting into the secondary far too often.
The kicking game was off, and it was costly. Lucas Havrisik had a 38-yard field-goal attempt blocked at the end of the first half, and he missed an extra-point try for the second time this season. Havrisik has made just 4 of 9 field-goal attempts, and it’s likely the kicking competition will be reopened this week. Havrisik did have three touchbacks on three kickoffs. Dylan Klumph averaged just 38 yards on nine punts. His long, a 50-yarder, landed in the end zone. He followed that up with a 21-yard shank. Josh Pollack’s onside-kick attempt took a wrong turn, allowing an easy recovery for USC.
For the third time in as many losses, Arizona got off to a sluggish start; it was 24-0 less than five minutes into the second half. Kevin Sumlin didn’t agree with players that the energy level was lacking at times, but the offense had little in the way of juice until it was too late. Inside runs are a huge part of Noel Mazzone’s offense, but he might have stuck with them too long. Marcel Yates did not throw a ton of exotic pressures at Daniels, perhaps out of concern that the Jace Whittaker-less secondary wouldn’t hold up.
