Virginia Game Impressions: 5 Ws and an H

Round Up:

The Trojans opened the 2010 home campaign by defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 17-14 in a defensive battle punctuated by penalties and mistakes.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley had 202 yards and two touchdowns passing. His Cavalier counterpart Marc Verica threw for 190 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

True freshman wide out Robert Woods caught three passes for 64 yards and senior Ronald Johnson caught five for 58 yards. But it was Jordon Cameron and Brandon Carswell who came down with touchdown catches.

On the ground the Trojans were led by Marc Tyler with 67 yards while true freshman Dillon Baxter had 49 yards on nine carries in his debut. Virginia's Perry Jones ran for 77 yards; Keith Payne added 57 yards and a touchdown.

WHEN was the game decided:

Matt Barkley evaded pressure and sneaked a pass through the Virginia secondary to Brandon Carswell for a touchdown with one second left in the first half.

The defenses buckled down and despite a late (late) score for Virginia, USC controlled the game in the second half keeping the Cavaliers from seriously challenging for the game after halftime.

WHO stood out:

The refs. It was raining yellow flags at the Coliseum. Virginia had nine for 101 yards. USC was hit with 13 for 140 yards. To put that in perspective, USC had more penalty yards than they did rushing yards. Together there were 22 flags for 241 total yards. Putting that into perspective, neither team surpassed that number in rushing or passing.

There are two issues here. The first will be addressed a little further down. The second is how the dismal display of inconsistency from the refs affected the flow of the game for both teams. Big play after big play was called back for holding penalties that could have been called on every play. Personal fouls were assessed on one tackle then not assessed on another tackle of the same type. And I have yet to hear an explanation for the call of "targeting" which took the wind out of the sails of a USC defense that was seemingly finding its groove.

The defense. Not that they looked particularly great, but with a performance so significantly better than the drubbing they received at the hands of Hawaii, the defense deserves recognition. In the secondary, Nickell Robey specifically looked more prepared to play at the college level and Shareece Wright seemed much more like the senior he is. TJ McDonald also came away with an important interception in the end zone. The defensive line looked porous at times, but they came up big in short yardage situations.

Dillon Baxter. On a night when the running game never really got going, Dillon Baxter nevertheless showcased his skill and the reason the coaches are so keen on the true freshman running back.

Stanley Havilli. Nothing new, the guy is money.

WHERE do we need to improve:

Penalties. Penalties. Penalties. Blame the refs all you want for being inconsistent and irritatingly involved in the game, but the penalties that were deserved weren't just inconvenient; they were devastating. If even a third of the penalties were wiped out, the questions about offensive troubles would be non-existent and a decent performance by the defense would have been judged even better.

Offense. Most of the articles about USC after the game said that this game proved that the defense is not as bad as suspected and the offense not as good. I disagree. This offense is far better than they showed against the Cavaliers and they will have to play with the crispness and poise that they displayed at Hawaii if the team is going to be successful. The difference between the Hawaii and Virginia games was not all about facing a stronger defense (which Virginia has). It was the penalties and the dropped passes and the overthrown balls.

Where Barkley looked like a fifth year senior against Hawaii, he looked like a freshman against Virginia. Gone was the accuracy and touch. Where Ronald Johnson looked like an all-world receiver against the Warriors, he looked unreliable against the Cavaliers. The Virginia defense presented more of a challenge certainly, but they did not make Barkley incapable of hitting a receiver accurately or his receivers from holding onto open catches.

The defense. As improved as they looked, they still looked vulnerable in some of the same places. Often it was Virginia miscues (dropped or missed passes) that stalled drives. The corners and safeties are still not playing the ball. And most importantly, the defense as a whole still looked slower that the offense they faced.

WHAT did we learn:

Dillon Baxter, who had 11 touches, will be a featured member of the offense.

WHY this game will be remembered:

It was Lane Kiffin's first home game as head coach.

It was the first time Reggie Bush's number five jersey was not featured among the other Heisman winners in front of the peristyle.

Things that made you go HUH:

I said it before but..."targeting"?

The student section seemed more crowded than at any point last season...but much less loud.

Next week:

The Trojans travel to Minneapolis for a 12:30 p.m. game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Minnesota is 1-1 and lost to South Dakota on Saturday.