Idaho game recap

Sure, John David Booty had three touchdown passes and threw for over 200 yards. Yes, Stafon Johnson scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, the first of his Trojan career. Even with that, there was just something missing from this game in terms of artistic expectations.

Of course, things could be worse, we could be Michigan tonight.

"It was a workman-like game," said head coach Pete Carroll. "I think we were ready to explode in the first, went quiet in the second, came out in the third ready to go, and the quieted again in the fourth. It was an opportunity to get a lot of guys in, get information, see how they do and put the first game behind us. We missed a few opportunities. Idaho did a good job."

At some point the Trojans have to take this victory and move on, especially with the reality that we played this game without expected starters Josh Pinkard, Patrick Turner, Chauncey Washington and Matt Spanos. Add to that, Sam Baker only played in limited action and Brian Cushing left the game in the first quarter with an ankle sprain.

The important thing is that the Trojans came away with a victory in front of a crowd of 90,917 (the first non-sellout in 11 games at the Coliseum for the Men of Troy. If you are looking on the bright side of things, it was the 14th straight crowd of over 90,000).

The night got started with an emotional tribute to the late Mario Danelo as the entire Danelo family came to mid-field for a pre-game ceremony where they
were also joined by former punter Tom Malone. The tribute to Danelo continued after the first USC score, a touchdown run by Stafon, when Pete Carroll sent 10 men onto the field (no kicker) and they allowed the clock to expire before taking the penalty and sending David Buehler onto the field for what had to be the most dramatic, if not the most important, kick of his life.

"It's a really emotional situation for all of us that never has quieted down," said coach Pete Carroll. "We do what we can but I like that we gave him a special moment in this game. We don't want this to go away. We love the guy and hate that he's not with us."

"We had talked about it beforehand but we didn't want to overemphasize the importance of making the kick," said Sam Anno, a video assistant and former special teams coach for the Trojans. "It was one of those situations where, you know you have to make it."

Fortunately, the moment was secure as Buehler drilled the long extra point right through the uprights. As the crowd realized what was taking place, it was a nice ovation that rang through the Coliseum.

It was a predictable start to the game as the Trojans jumped out to an early 21-0 lead. After the Stafon touchdown, Booty completed a TD pass to C.J. Gable (the first TD reception of his career) on a drive that was helped by a long 35 yard completion to Fred Davis.

Shareece Wright made a nice play for the defense with a 12 yard TFL to help the defense shut down the Vandals again which led to another Booty touchdown pass, this time a beautiful one handed grab by Vidal Hazelton (the first TD of his USC career) while he was being undercut by the defender. The Vandals hit a short field goal just before half to pull within a 21-3 score but the mood at halftime among the Trojan faithful was not one of celebration.

The numbers themselves at half were not bad. USC had rushed for 131 yards and threw for 109. Gable and Johnson each had over 50 yards rushing in the first half. One issue seemed to be with the Trojan secondary, particularly as they were reacting to the play action passing game of Idaho. The Vandals only rushed for 34 yards in the first half but they threw for 148. Of their 10 first downs, nine came via the pass. For a USC defense that was supposed to feature a renewed pass rush and a shut down secondary, this was not the news they were expecting.

The second half got started with a spark that was provided by freshman Joe McKnight as he took a handoff and ran for 21 yards to the Idaho side of the field and the Coliseum crowd had something to cheer about. It was good to see Joe moving so well after being banged up for so much of camp with a sore knee. A pair of Booty completions to Brad Walker and David Ausberry helped get the ball close, along with a nice run by Gable, and Booty was able to toss a short TD pass to Stanley Havili to make the score 28-3.

The Trojans continued to with the momentum on the next defensive possession as Kyle Moore sacked Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle, forced a fumble, and then recovered it himself at the Idaho 19 yard line. With a golden opportunity to capitalize and put the game away, the Trojans went four plays and out to turn the ball over.

On the next offensive possession, however, the Trojans were able to mount a nine play drive which ended with a short Stafon touchdown run and, finally, it appeared as if the game was out of reach with a 35-3 margin. Stafon had also converted a key 4th down run on that drive to keep things going.

By the time Buehler closed out the Trojan scoring at the end of the third with a 36 yard field to make the score 38-3 all that was left for the coaches and fans was to keep everyone else healthy and run out the clock as best they could.

Trojan notes

* USC had three turnovers in the game. "I was really disappointed we turned the ball over three times," said Carroll. "It's a bad stat for us in that regard."

* Havili had a career-high five receptions, including his first career TD catch.

* Former walk-on Brad Walker, who earned a scholarship earlier this fall, caught the first two passes of his career in this game.

* Clay Matthews had a blocked FG in the 2nd quarter and also added four tackles and a pass break-up while filling in for an injured Brian Cushing.

* USC started two true freshmen tonight, Kristofer O'Dowd at center and Everson Griffen at defensive end. Other true freshmen to play in the game were Chris Galippo, Malcolm Smith, Joe McKnight and Ronald Johnson.

*Besides Cushing (ankle), we also saw linebackers Kaluka Maiava (hamstring) and Thomas Williams leave the game with minor injuries.