USC makes Blackshirts pay for mistakes
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
It’s never a good sign when a defense allows career-long runs — by two different backs — on the first two plays of the game.
But it was certainly a very telling sign Saturday night for Nebraska.
A recurring problem that’s popped up at various times in recent seasons for the Huskers appeared again against the nation’s top-ranked team.
Bad angles. Overpursuing. Missed tackles.
That’s all bad enough by itself. Do it against lightning-quick backs with some dazzling moves, and you’re in deep trouble.
Such was life for the Blackshirts against mighty USC.
The Trojans and their vaunted stable of running backs ran through, over and around Nebraska defenders for more than 300 yards in top-ranked USC’s victory at Memorial Stadium.
And much like last week, Nebraska had problems adjusting to the same play the opponent ran over and over.
Last week, against Wake Forest, it was end-arounds and general misdirection that fooled the Blackshirts more than once.
This time, it was running plays up the middle. Over and over and over.
The USC offensive line, starting true freshman center Kristofer O’Dowd, blew open huge holes against a Nebraska defensive front that entered the season with four new starters.
Nebraska never plugged the holes.
To go with those wide openings, USC made the Blackshirts look silly by breaking tackles and zooming past defenders taking bad angles.
Take the first two plays of the game.
With USC backed to its 4-yard line, and a crowd of more than 84,000 roaring, freshman fullback Stanley Havili broke through the line of scrimmage and ran loose for a gain of 50 yards.
The next play? C.J. Gable escaped the grasp of senior cornerback Zackary Bowman and rambled 40 yards to the Nebraska 6-yard line, setting up USC’s first touchdown.
Nebraska’s problems didn’t end there.
Senior linebacker Lance Brandenburgh overran running back Joe McKnight on a second-and-3 play. McKnight gained 11 yards.
On USC’s go-ahead touchdown drive, after Nebraska had grabbed a 10-7 lead, sophomore safety Larry Asante took a bad angle on Stafon Johnson, who burst through for a 16-yard gain.
Sophomore nose tackle Ndamukong Suh, regarded as perhaps Nebraska’s top defensive player, couldn’t wrap up Johnson, either.
When it appeared Suh had Johnson tackled for a loss, Johnson spun away and gained 9 yards. What would’ve been a third-and-long play turned into a third-and-1 from the Nebraska 36.
USC converted, and kept driving. Johnson followed with a 32-yard run on the nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive that Johnson finished with an easy 7-yard touchdown run. That put the Trojans ahead 21-10 at halftime.
In the first half alone, USC had 205 rushing yards and averaged 12.8 yards per carry.
The missed tackles continued in the second half, and so did USC’s big running plays.
A 25-yard run by Johnson drive and a 15-yard run by Chauncey Washington highlighted a third-quarter touchdown drive. It put USC ahead 42-10 and sent Nebraska fans heading for the exits with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, senior linebacker Steve Octavien collided with Johnson in the backfield … but didn’t tackle him. Johnson gained 20 yards.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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