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College Game of the Week: Trojans @ Bruins

CFF-REFO-WK13-USC@UCLA

Every week PFF has been dipping our toes into the world of college football (#PFFGoesToCollege) and this week is no different. This time we take a look at the Pac-12 for a showdown of west coast adversaries with USC traveling to UCLA.

In the end, the Bruins triumphed thanks largely to USC deciding early on it wasn’t going to bother covering wide outs, allowing quick points on the score board they never looked too likely to overcome.

But let’s dig into the standout performers.

USC Trojans – Performances of Note

Leonard Williams, DE: +4.8

Breakdown: Leonard Williams is the stud of this unit and talked about as a potential Top-5 pick. He looked that in this game even if he didn’t have a sack. Was a force against the run all game long.

Signature Stat: Was without a sack but notched three knockdowns and two hurries from his 25 pass rushing snaps.

Adoree’ Jackson, CB: +3.0

Breakdown: Josh Shaw may have made his return in this game but it was Jackson who saw the most snaps of any of the USC cornerbacks and rewarded them with an impressive performance, breaking up a couple of passes.

Signature Stat: Led the Trojans' defense with 76 snaps, the same number as Hayed Pullard and Su’a Cravens.

Toa Lobendahn, OT: -8.2

Breakdown: The Trojans have had their share of issues on the offensive line and that has led them to starting true freshman guard Toa Lobendahn at left tackle. This game showed how out of his depth he is at that position with so little experience.

Signature Stat: Was beaten for three sacks, a hit and four more hurries in his 42 pass blocking snaps.

UCLA Bruins – Performances of Note

Brett Hundley, QB: -2.4

Breakdown: It’s never a good thing when you throw a pick-six with your first pass of the game, and though his stats ended up looking pretty healthy by the end of the game, in all honesty, Hundley didn’t have to do a whole lot to get some of the biggest gains, owing far more to his receivers or AWOL coverage from USC.

Signature Play: Q3, 14:42. This throw was lucky to only be broken up, as Hundley turned and threw a bubble screen straight to a linebacker who could easily have taken it back for a score.

Owamagbe Odighizuwa, DE: +9.5

Breakdown: Leonard Williams might have shown impressive strength and run stuffing ability, but Odighizuwa brought the heat like nobody else in this game. He was a constant thorn in the side of USC as was teammate Deon Hollins.

Signature Stat: Notched two sacks, two hits and six hurries in just 35 pass-rushing snaps.

Caleb Benenoch, OT: -4.2

Breakdown: With Leonard Williams on the field it is no surprise that the right side of the UCLA line struggled, with both Quessenberry and Benenoch grading negatively for their run blocking display.

Signature Play: Q4, 12:39. Here Benenoch was tossed aside by Williams who made a tackle for short gain.

PFF Game Ball

The game had a few impressive performers but none more so than Owamagbe Odighizuwa who put forward a dominant display.

 

Follow Sam on Twitter: @PFF_Sam

 

For full USC and UCLA player grades, click over to Page 2…

USC Offense

WK13 USC O

USC Defense

WK13 USC D

UCLA Offense

WK13 UCLA O

UCLA Defense

WK13 UCLA D

 

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