2008 Week 6

Wideout Damian Williams tip toes the sideline after a nice catch

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Los Angeles, (AP)

USC returned home last week with a win 23-6 win against the Oregon St. Beavers. Most teams are happy with a victory in a all so competitive world of College Football, but not the Trojans. Throughout practice this week, all the men of Troy on the offensive side of the ball kept expressing how disappointed they were with their performance. After an impressive victory over #3 ranked Ohio St. The Trojans only managed to score 1 offensive TD against the less than stellar Oregon St. defense.

"We have to get focus and give the defense some rest. As good as they are, we need to give them a hand."- Mark Sanchez

Sanchez's words seemed to have inspired the Trojans last night, as the offense for the Trojans came to impress without the services of Joe McKnight.

The Men of Troy racked up 422 yds of total offense and managed 6 offensive TDs. The Trojans ran the ball effectively as they 1 yd short of the 200 yd rushing mark for the game. The offensive line only allowed 2 sacks as oppose to the 7 sacks they allowed to the Beavers the previous week.

USC showed some big play ability as Stafon Johnson came up with a hugh 45 yd run for a TD early in the game to set the tone. Sanchez almost delivered a beautiful 34 yd pass to the sideline to Arkansas transfer Damian Williams who extended his out stretched arm for the nice grab.

It looks like Sanchez have found a consistent go to guy in Damian Williams. Sanchez and Williams looked very comfortable with each other especially on their timing routes. Damian finished the game with a team leading 6 rec, 77 yds and 1 TD. Williams is currently leading the Trojans with 15 receptions.

Stafon Johnson had a hell of a game also as he carried the ball 10 times and rushed for 112 yds for 2 TD.

The game started off pretty entertaining as the Trojans and the Ducks went back and forth during the first 4 possessions. Trojans opened with 7 yd Sanchez pass to Stanley Havili and the Ducks answered with a long drive of their own and concluded with a 9 yd pass from J. Masoli (Roper injured after being hit by Taylor Mays) to J. Williams. Trojans then answered with a 45 yd TD run from Stafon Johnson, and the Ducks came back with a TD pass from J. Masoli once again making the score 14-14 at the end of the 1st QTR.

Trojans then dominated the 2nd QTR with 24 unanswered points highlighted by Taylor Mays' 31 yd int return for TD. The Trojans went up 38-14 and never looked back.

The Trojans' defense was not as dominate as you would hope giving up 20 pts. But they were making some big plays out there. The 20 pts scored by the Ducks marked the highest total any teams have put on the Trojan defense this year, not too bad. Kevin Ellison led the way with 11 tackles and 2 for loss. Taylor Mays scored a defensive TD 2 weeks in a row, making that 3 for the year. He is most likely a front runner for the Jim Thorpe Award (given to top DB) at they point.

"We did a better job protecting our QB this week. When we give him time he can make all the throws. We'll continue to improve as we go we're still young"- Butch Lewis

Next Game

Trojans stays at home to face the Sun Devils (3-2). ASU have always played the Trojans pretty well and with another year of improvement under Dennis Erickson and QB Rudy Carpenter, The Trojans will need to bring their A game as they are trying to avoid an upset like the previous 2 years.

Notable Mention

Brian Cushing had 8 tackles, 2 for loss and a int. Cushing played a very solid game as he played great pass defese.