Q&A with USC Site: Reign of Troy

Trenise Ferreira is the lead-writer/editor at ReignofTroy.com. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to USC athletics and she will actually be on the sidelines of the USC-UW game this weekend. You can follow her twitter at @SCColdHardFacts.

Here is the HuskyHaul question and answer with Trenise:

1. What is the strength of the USC team? 

Probably the passing game. Robert Woods has had a phenomenal season, but Marquis Lee is hard at work making a name for himself too. Matt Barkley has been fortunate to have an offensive line this season that is pretty good at pass protection, so when he finds his receivers, he will more than likely connect. And when you have boys like Woods and Lee out there, expect big yards-after-catch.<

2. Who is the biggest home run threat? 

At this point, I would say running back Curtis McNeal, he has recently been named the started and backing up–and showing up–Marc Tyler all season. At home, McNeal is averaging nearly 10 yards a carry, and when he gets going he needs to be gang tackled to be brought down. He’s hungry and he’s ready to have another big game against the Huskies.

3. How can the Huskies beat USC on Saturday? 

If the Huskies find away to get pressure on Matt Barkley, he will have a hard time getting passes off. He is not the most mobile quarterback, so once he is out of the pocket, crazy stuff can happen. Also, if the Huskies can shut down the running game, USC will have a hard time relying on the passing game to carry them through this game.

4. What did you think about Nick Holts comments? 

When Holt commented that he would “rather play Oregon than USC”, he didn’t realize that he was adding more fuel to the Trojans’ fire to beat the Huskies. The quote has been displayed all over Heritage Hall, and no doubt USC will be looking to make Holt eat his words. In my opinion, this comment seems a little obvious at first–I mean, any team would rather play ANYONE than Oregon, with their crazy good offense. But at the same time, it sounds like he is saying that USC is a much easier opponent, and if he really thinks that, then he must not have been paying attention to USC’s narrow loss to Stanford.

5. What about Steve Sarkisian’s in relation to Matt Barkley? 

I think Sark is trying to stir the pot a little bit by saying he would take Matt Barkley over Andrew Luck. There are obvious reasons why Luck is a better, more NFL-ready QB than Barkley, but at the same time I am not disappointed that he thinks so highly of USC’s quarterback!

6. Do you think Barkley will stay another year? 

I think that Barkley, unlike so many other guys at this juncture in their careers, does not have a financial need to go pro. And there is a small part of me that wants to believe that he would just LOVE to stay for his senior year, when USC is bowl eligilble, absolutely go off, and remind everyone who USC is.

7. Does USC find more success in the running game or passing game? 

At the beginning of the season, I would’ve said the passing game without question. But now it almost seems like it depends on who the Trojans are facing. Against Stanford, we saw USC put on an impressive ground game performance that we haven’t seen in years. Against Colorado though, USC relied heavily on their aerial assault. Both were extremely effective. So against an opponent like U-Dub, I imagine the Trojans will need the best of both worlds to bring it home.

8. Prediction for the game? 

Since USC has a competent kicker now, I am not worried that this game will come down to field goals. If it does though, USC will be on top of it. But I really think USC will be a little more dominant than that, and win 34-28. 

Thanks Trenise!