Starter Khalil Tate struggled for the second straight week before being pulled in the third quarter. Tate completed 7 of 11 passes for only 51 yards and failed to lead a scoring drive. He got sacked six times, including three of his own doing as he continued his bad habit of running out of bounds instead of throwing the ball away. The pass protection hasn’t been great the past two weeks, but Tate has looked flummoxed against the blitz. Freshman Grant Gunnell threw an interception on his first pass – he was hit by a free rusher on the play – but rebounded to complete 16 of 26 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns. Gunnell absorbed several hard hits but was sacked only once. Most of his production came in the fourth quarter, when the game was out of reach. Still, Gunnell performed well.
J.J. Taylor was Arizona’s best offensive player, totaling 80 yards on 16 carries. Taylor displayed both elusiveness and power. Nathan Tilford again impressed in limited duty. He gained 61 yards on seven attempts, including a nifty 21-yard cutback run from the UA 2-yard line. Michael Wiley carried two times for 13 yards, with one of those rushes ending in a fumble late in the first quarter. Wiley caught four passes for 27 yards. The running backs bear at least some responsibility for the pass-protection issues.
Brian Casteel led the group with five catches for a career-high 105 yards and two touchdowns. Both TDs came in the fourth quarter on passes from Gunnell – a sprint up the right sideline and a leaping grab in the end zone between defenders. No other receiver distinguished himself. Jamarye Joiner caught two passes for 28 yards but dropped a would-be touchdown pass from Gunnell in the fourth quarter. The receiving corps as a whole has not done as good a job as last year’s group of getting open when Tate escapes the pocket.
A similar story to last week – decent blocking in the run game, significant struggles in pass protection. Excluding sack yardage, Arizona rushed for 179 yards on 31 attempts. But the UA allowed a season-high seven sacks, and, as mentioned, Gunnell took several hits. Far too often, USC blitzers encountered no resistance on their way to the backfield. The Wildcats again worked with a shuffled line and clearly missed senior right guard Cody Creason. Veteran Bryson Cain took his spot, while Paiton Fears again started at left guard. Most of the pressure, though, came from the edges.
USC’s final offensive numbers – including 201 rushing yards – are misleading. The UA defensive front held its own through three quarters, limiting the Trojans to a respectable 113 yards on 26 carries. The only obvious bust happened in the fourth, when Kenan Christon broke loose for a 55-yard touchdown. Defensive linemen Trevon Mason and JB Brown each recorded his first sack of the season. LB Tony Fields II had a team-high 10 tackles and forced a fumble, which fellow linebacker Colin Schooler recovered. Schooler had nine stops. The front lost veteran DT Finton Connolly to an arm injury in the first half.
Considering the quality of USC’s receiving corps – and the fact Arizona frequently had to defend short fields – this group performed adequately. Scottie Young Jr. and Jace Whittaker – who joined Young at safety – each had six tackles. Whittaker also had a pass breakup, as did freshman CB Bobby Wolfe, who replaced an injured Lorenzo Burns in the second half. Wolfe was victimized on a 55-yard pass from Kedon Slovis to Michael Pittman Jr. in the third quarter. Safety Tristan Cooper appeared to break the wrong way on Slovis’ 5-yard TD pass to Tyler Vaughns three plays later.
It was a rough night for this unit. The troubles began when returner Stanley Berryhill III muffed a first-quarter punt, which USC recovered and converted into a field goal. Joiner replaced Berryhill after the fumble. Punter Matt Aragon continued to struggle, averaging just 35.7 yards on seven attempts. Aragon’s get-off time also seems to have slowed in recent weeks. Lucas Havrisik missed both of his field-goal attempts, although both were 50-plus-yarders (56, 50).
USC basically copied Washington’s defensive game plan – frequent blitzes and conscientious edge containment – and Arizona had no answers for it until it was too late. Kevin Sumlin and Noel Mazzone are in charge of the offense, and they couldn’t come up with ways to help Tate function more efficiently. Sumlin made a wise move in switching to Gunnell on the second series of the second half. Marcel Yates’ defense again rose to the challenge in the first half while the offense and special teams struggled. The Trojans had just 163 yards on 33 plays (4.94 ypp) in the opening 30 minutes.
