The LifeMaven

1. The O-line play by USC wasn’t too hot throughout most of the game until their game winning drive, where something just seemed to click and they put it together.

2. A lot of credit to the interior USC line for getting those tough 3 & 1’s and 4& 1’s. The QB sneak seemed to be there all game and Ohio State seemed to do little to try and stop it.

3. Still on the O-line, they seemed to be more unnerved by the crowd noise and hostile environment than freshman quarterback Matt Barkley seemed to be.

4. Barkley showed a lot of toughness out there today. He took some shots and got dinged up a little, but still toughed it out the whole game. He was very poised and calm and didn’t seem to unnerved by the crowd.

5. Ohio State quarterback, Terrelle Pryor, on the other hand looked a lot more jittery out there. He seemed to be pressing; trying to do too much, forcing some pitches on option plays that weren’t there and ended up hurting his team a bit in the field position battle. His footwork wasn’t so great and he missed some opportunities to do real damage with his arm and his legs.

6. Throughout the game, both defenses seemed to play very well.

7. Offensive play calling: USC’s play calling was very good, not asking too much of Barkley and letting his supporting cast take the load off of him. That game winning drive belongs to Joe McKnight just as much as it does to Barkley. Ohio State’s play calling on the other hand seemed to put a little too much pressure on Pryor tonight, and he just seemed to be overwhelmed by the moment.

Parting thoughts: Crowd noise was a factor most of the night. But it looked like Pryor was more unnerved in the big game than Barkley was.

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