The USC Trojans beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl on Saturday night, outlasting the Cornhuskers 45-42 in one of the most highly-contested games so far this bowl season.
It capped off Steve Sarkisian’s tumultuous first season as the USC head coach. The Trojans showed signs of brilliance, particularly on offense, but they had a hard time finishing games. They lost a close game to Boston College for their first defeat of the season, and then lost to Arizona State and Utah on last-second touchdowns.
In both of those games the Trojans had the victory in their sights, but they found a way to lose. A big reason for their inability to close out games is the fact that they are still suffering from the sanctions imposed from the Reggie Bush antics. The biggest pain has come from the scholarship reductions.
USC has only been allowed 65 scholarships while other programs around the country have access to 85. While this number might not seem too devastating, it is. They do not have the depth necessary to rotate defensive lineman, which is vital to slow down the up-tempo offenses that are sprouting up around the nation, especially in the Pac-12.
The lack of scholarships even comes back to haunt the Trojans in practice, when the team doesn’t have enough backup players to give the starters a challenge during the week. The first-string can’t reach its fullest potential because they don’t get the kind of competition during practice that other programs around the country do.
However, the scholarship reductions end after this season. The Trojans will bring a solid recruiting class to Southern California this year, as their class ranks as the best in the Pac-12 and eighth in the nation according to 247Sports.com.
The members of the 2015 class will infuse even more talent into a USC roster that is already filled with it, especially on offense.
The trio of Cody Kessler, Javorius “Buck” Allen and Nelson Agholor gives the Trojans three of the best players in all of college football at their respective positions. That is, if they all return to USC for their senior season. All three are potential NFL prospects, and two of the players are still undecided about their future.
The Trojans will surely be without star defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who announced he would forego his senior season and declare for the NFL draft.
Kessler has already announced he will be back in 2015, but Allen and Agholor are still mulling over their options, according to Reign of Troy.
Yet even if Allen and Agholor are playing in the NFL once next season rolls around, the Trojans shouldn’t have any trouble scoring points.
Kessler tied the USC and Pac-12 single-season record for touchdown passes with 39, and could throw for even more next year. He will have an abundance of weapons at his disposal. Tre Madden will return to USC after he was shut down in October due to a turf toe injury. Madden started the year ahead of Allen on the depth chart, but never played in a game because of his injury.
Madden rushed for over 700 yards and better than five yards per carry in 2013, so he should be a competent option to replace Allen if he does decide to go pro. And even if Allen stays, Sarkisian will find a way to get Madden the ball because he is a dynamic player.
The USC team is going to be stocked with explosive playmakers. True freshmen JuJu Smith and Adoree’ Jackson are ultra-talented receivers who showcased their skills in the Holiday Bowl. Each one averaged better than 22 yards per reception, and Jackson scored two touchdowns, one on a kickoff return and one on a short swing pass that he turned into a 71-yard score.
Jackson played both ways this season, he was the starting cornerback as well as a receiver, and it will be interesting to see if he gets more touches on offense in 2015.
Tight end Bryce Dixon, also a freshman, played arguably his best game of the season against Nebraska, snagging four passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. Starter Randall Telfer will graduate after this year, and Dixon should be able to take over as the starting tight end next year.
Running back Justin Davis also put together an impressive freshman campaign in 2014. He was the Trojans’ second leading rusher with 595 yards and four touchdowns, and he also caught 13 passes out of the backfield with two receiving touchdowns.
And then there’s George Farmer, who might have the most ability of anyone on the team. A former five-star recruit from Junipero Serra, the same high school attended by former Trojan All-American receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, Farmer has had a rough college career so far.
In an insightful Sports Illustrated article by Joan Niesen, it was revealed that Farmer was more physically talented coming out of high school that both Woods and Lee.
“To put it simply, Farmer was the best of the three,” Niesen wrote. “The 6’1” receiver had every physical advantage, from blazing speed to his 220-pound frame. His gifts were varied, yet they worked in perfect sync.”
Unfortunately, Farmer has battled various injuries throughout his collegiate career. He caught 25 passes for 314 yards in 2014, and if he is fully healthy in his senior season, he could easily replace Agholor as Kessler’s go-to receiver. And if Agholor stays, the receiving corp will be scary.
Couple the wealth of talent with the innovative offensive mind of Steve Sarkisian, and USC could very easily overtake Oregon as the offensive juggernaut of the Pac-12.
Sarkisian hasn’t been bashful about sharing his optimism, especially regarding Kessler’s return.
“I really think Cody will take off in this system. We have a chance to be a very, very good offensive football team next year, and a big part of that is Cody coming back,” Sarkisian said, per Michael Lev of The Orange County Register.
But before crowning them as 2015 champions, be cognizant of the fact that the Trojans faced an eerily similar situation before the 2012 season. Matt Barkley decided to return for his senior year, and he was supposed to lead USC to a national title with Lee, Woods, Agholor and Silas Redd putting up big numbers.
That team went 7-6 and looked nothing like the championship-caliber team they were touted as at the beginning of the season. They are the only team in NCAA history to start the season as the top-ranked team in the preseason poll, only to finish the season ranked out of the Top 25.
However, Sarkisian is a much better head coach than Lane Kiffin was, and Sark should be able to manage the players much better than Kiffin did.
With that said, the Trojans have the talent to compete for a spot in the NCAA Playoff next season. They have a very tough schedule, including Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon and UCLA, but with the playmakers they have, they can win plenty of games even against top competition.
Even with the scholarship reductions gone, it is going to take a couple of recruiting classes to replenish the depth necessary to compete for a playoff spot. If this year’s haul is any indication, Sarkisian will have no problem bringing the top prep talent to Southern Cal.
If the coaching staff can somehow find a way to put together a capable defense, the Trojans will definitely have the offensive firepower needed to win a national championship in 2015.