The Arizona Wildcats were in search of a bounce-back game after a 42-17 thumping at the hands of the Stanford Cardinal.
But with USC in town, Arizona came out flat, allowed over 205 rushing yards and fell victim to a physical Trojans team on its way to a 24-21 loss at Arizona Stadium on Saturday.
“”Another tough loss,”” said head coach Mike Stoops after the game. “”Overall not good enough against a team like USC.””
The Trojans took control early, following up a missed 38-yard field goal by Arizona’s Alex Zendejas on the Wildcats’ first drive of the game. USC quarterback Matt Barkley led a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
On Arizona’s very next drive, quarterback Nick Foles was blindsided by cornerback Shareece Wright who forced a fumble that USC recovered at Arizona’s 22.
The Trojans would capitalize on the turnover with a Barkley touchdown pass to tight end Rhett Ellison from seven yards out to give USC an early 14-0 lead.
Arizona answered back with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass from Foles to receiver David Douglas, who finished with six catches for 44 yards and two scores.
But on its next possession, USC continued to run the ball down Arizona’s throat and the Wildcats had no answer. Behind running back Marc Tyler, who finished the game with 31 carries for 160 yards, the Trojans sustained a 17-play, 66-yard drive that took 9:02 off the clock as Tyler crossed the goal line from three yards out.
“”Marc Tyler was outstanding,”” Stoops said.
Tyler bounced off of Arizona tackler after Arizona tackler, but he had a ton of help from his big and physical offensive line. The Trojans offensive line made Arizona’s defense look helpless, as the Wildcats yielded over 200 yards rushing for the second consecutive game.
“”We committed a bunch of guys to the run, as many as we can,”” Stoops said. They’re a good zone-blocking team. That’s a strength of their team. I thought they ran the ball excellent tonight.””
Arizona bounced back to close out the half with a 31-yard touchdown on a pass from Foles — who finished with 353 yards passing and three touchdowns — to Travis Cobb.
The Wildcats defense finally forced a three-and-out to star the second half, but Douglas lost a fumble at USC’s 15-yard-line to negate a scoring opportunity.
From there USC owned the quarter controlling the clock and gaining some cushion as it tacked a field goal with 3:35 left in the quarter to take a 24-14 lead into the fourth.
The Trojans stayed in the driver’s seat as the clock winded down, running all over Arizona’s struggling defense. USC controlled the ball for 37:27 to Arizona’s 22:33 and the Wildcats’ late comeback fell short.
Douglas scored on a pass from Foles with 1:01 left in the game, but the Wildcats couldn’t recover their onside kick attempt and the Trojans sent Arizona’s 2010 season into a downward spiral.
Check back at Dailywildcat.com Monday for more coverage from the USC game.
