Claude Pelon did a little bit of everything for the USC defense Saturday night. The interior defensive lineman had three tackles, including a sack to help stall out an Arizona drive just before halftime.
But what he did on the play after the sack proved even more important. After USC head coach Steve Sarkisian called a timeout to try to ice the kicker, Pelon burst up the middle and swatted away Arizona kicker Casey Skowron's field goal attempt.
The play kept the halftime score at 14-6 and the three points turned out to be quite significant.
Immediately after the game, I grabbed Claude Pelon and tried to get him to describe the emotions of the crazy game that nearly saw Arizona come back from a 28-13 deficit in the fourth quarter.
Pelon said it was definitely a nailbiter. He said the defense had been challenged this week to make some strong defensive stands and he felt that's exactly what the Trojans were able to do. He also felt they were able to represent the SC logo that is on their chests (small logo on chest of uniforms at base of collar) and play like a USC ball club.
When I started to ask Claude Pelon about the craziness of the special teams and his blocked kick, he was rushed off by Steve Sarkisian.