Last week there was a post up on Addicted to Quack about putting the game in Mark Sanchez’s hands in order to beat the Ducks.
Here's a taste...
So, not surprisingly, the running game of USC was quite poor to below average in all of their losses. While they had some below average rushing performances in their victories, the only one that really stands out are the Michigan and OSU victories, in which they averaged below 3 ypc and still won, through the strength of the defense and a passing game that did quite well. And let's not forget that in 2006, John David Booty had Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith to throw too, and they each surpassed 1000 yards on the season. In 2007, the go-to recevier was Fred Davis, a tight end, and no wide receiver surpassed 600 yards on the year. As USC is only 3 games into the 2008 season, it's hard to tell if this trend has changed. Damian Williams (transfer from Arkansas) has stepped up, but USC still seems to lack the big play receiver that they had in years past.
But on top of this, we haven't seen Sanchez win a game with his arm yet. He didn't have to do much against Ohio State or Virginia, or in the 2007 victories in which he played, but he has come up short when he has had to pull out a victory. Against OSU and Oregon, he showed the ability to score points in bunches when coming from behind, but he has thrown interceptions when the pressure is truly on him. Now, I'm not a big believer in "clutch," but despite Sanchez's solid numbers in these games, he's come up short.
Well, I think thats a little unfair but I see what he trying to say here. Last night Sanchez did just that, beat them with his arm, and he did it against what has been desribed as one of the top secondaries in the nation. What surprised me was how the Ducks for all their experience got caught napping on the switch play that Williams broke loose for a TD on and the RoJo score where they let corner cover one whole half of the field allowing him to get beat without any back-up coverage.
Anyway, I thought JT made some good observations in his write up but he got what he wished for and Sanchez did exactly what we wanted him to do.