A Unique Villain Returns To LA as USC Trojans Play Utah State

It’s hard to imagine Bryson Barnes as the quintessential USC Trojans foe, but that’s the unexpected beauty of college football.  Barnes was playfully called “ The Pig Farmer ” by Utah coach Kyle Whittingham after he engineered a dramatic final drive victory culminating in a field goal as time expired against the Men of Troy on a chilly Los Angeles evening last October.

The Barnes performance was particularly memorable. Beyond his heroics through the air going 14/23 for 235 yards and three touchdowns against only one interception, he could step in for Cam Rising, one of the great leaders of the now surgically extracted PAC-12, and stroll out of the Coliseum a hero. The play that sticks out in everyone’s mind was his 26-yard scramble on 2 ^nd & 15 from the Trojans 45-yard line with 16 seconds left to solidify field goal range for the Utes. That singular play was the tipping point for the ineptitude of the Alex Grinch era in Tinseltown.

Now Barnes returns tonight donning one of the state’s other university colors as an Aggie for Utah State. Barnes is coming off of an 11/21, 198 yards, and two touchdowns, one interception performance in a 36-14 win over Robert Morris last week. But given USC’s vastly improved defensive scheme, strength, and speed, it’s hard to imagine lightning striking twice for “The Pig Farmer.” In fact, expect the Trojans to cover their 28.5 spread against a vastly overmatched Aggies group.

3 Keys in the USC Trojans – Utah State Aggies Game

Running Game

The Trojans can fortify generating more offensive balance as they enter the meat of their BIG-10 schedule. As phenomenal as last week was, USC had 378 yards passing and only 69 yards rushing.

While Woody Marks was the primary engine for that output with 16 carries for 68 yards, 24 of those yards came on successive carries at the end of the first half when LSU was content with giving up a field goal attempt in a more prevent defensive look, while the final 13 yards was when the Tigers crashed the line leaving the second level exposed, on Marks’ game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left. For the rest of the game, Marks was limited to only 13 carries for 31 yards, albeit against a top-tier SEC program. Expect the Trojans to firmly establish the run tonight.

Pass Rush

While I thought the entire front seven was phenomenal against arguably the nation’s best offensive line with four NFL quality players, if we’re trying to find warts on the Mona Lisa, USC did walk away from Allegiant Stadium with zero sacks. That was clearly a function of competition and not an area of concern whatsoever in my mind, but expect to see the likes of Anthony Lucas, Jamil Muhammad, and Braylan Shelby get after The Pig Farmer tonight. I anticipate seeing 4+ sacks over four quarters of highly aggressive point-of-attack line-of-scrimmage play.

Secondary

As mentioned earlier in the week when we went live on our Salute to Troy show postgame, I thought one of the unsung heroes of last week’s Tiger triumph was the play of Kamari Ramsey. His nine tackles, overall impact, and strategic decision-making on the defense’s backend were a vastly underrated part of the Trojans’ victory. However, outside of Ramsey, the secondary play was a bit pedestrian, highlighted by the soft zone cushions provided to LSU receivers, particularly in the game’s first half. Look for the secondary to jam much more at the line, try and suffocate Aggie receivers, and perhaps even force an interception or two from Barnes.

As the Hollywood principle goes, sequels are never as good as the original. For the Trojans’ sake, let’s make sure that adage stays true as the clock strikes midnight tonight. I think it certainly will.

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