Of the half-dozen losses USC suffered in its disappointing 2012 season, perhaps none of them stood out to former head coach Lane Kiffin more than a 39-36 defeat at Arizona.

It wasn’t the sloppiest or most embarrassing of the team’s setbacks. But, to Kiffin, it contained the precise moment that sent their season into a tailspin: An overthrown pass from Matt Barkley to a wide open Robert Woods in the third quarter that would have given USC a daunting three-possession lead. The Wildcats would go on a 26-8 run to win the game, kicking off a dismal 1-5 stretch to end USC’s year.

“We were 6-1 at that time against Arizona and we were in command of that game, up 15 with the ball,” Kiffin said at Pac-12 media day in July. “Their crowd was starting to leave, and we were going to be coming back to play Oregon in a big game but we missed that play and a bunch of plays the rest of the game there.”

With the benefit of further hindsight, it can be argued that Arizona was the turning point for his entire coaching career, the catalyst for an unacceptable seven losses in 11 games, culminating in a 62-41 shellacking at Arizona State that cost Kiffin his job.

On Thursday, USC is hoping that the Wildcats provide another turning point in Ed Orgeron’s debut as interim coach, one that this time saves their season instead of dooms it.

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USC (3-2) is looking to rebound after one of the worst defensive game in school history. The Trojans conceded a whopping 612 yards, including 351 through the air to Taylor Kelly, who averaged 10.0 yards per attempt. The 62 points allowed to ASU tied for the most the Trojans have ever allowed in a game, and helped vault the team’s scoring defense from 11.0 points per game – good for 11th place nationally – up to 21.2 per game, which now ranks 36th. All told, it’s a performance that the Trojan defense takes personally.  

“We've got a chip on our shoulder,” said Arizona native Devon Kennard. “We never expected to play like we did on the defensive side of the ball, and we’ve decided to take responsibility individually as a unit. We're going to work hard all week and get ready to fix it.”

The defense’s nightmare doubled as the offense’s best game of the season, and new play caller Clay Helton will look to build on that against a stingy Arizona defense that ranks ninth nationally with 14.3 points allowed per game. He’ll benefit from the return of Silas Redd, who says he’s fully recovered from two knee operations and intends to make his season debut Thursday. Redd’s addition will further bolster a stout running back corps headed by Tre Madden and Justin Davis, who accounted for a combined 250 rushing yards and all six of USC’s touchdowns against the Sun Devils.

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As enviable as USC’s running back depth is, the situation at wide receiver leaves much to be desired. The Trojans were down to two scholarship receivers by the end of the ASU game thanks to injuries to Marqise Lee and De’Von Flournoy, and Orgeron is unsure whether either can play against the Wildcats. Lee, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, is of vital importance to the Trojans’ passing game and told the Los Angeles Times’ Gary Klein that his left knee sprain was “very minor,” an encouraging sign made all the more promising by Lee being spotted on the sidelines of practice without crutches or a knee brace. Still, Orgeron was guarded on the prospects of his All American receiver making it back into the lineup, saying only that Lee “has made some miraculous recoveries.”

The Wildcats, meanwhile, will attack the Trojans on the ground. Arizona boasts the country’s tenth-best rushing offense at 291.5 yards per game, headlined by returning consensus All-American Ka’Deem Carey, who is averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

The team’s second-leading rusher is quarterback B.J. Denker, who has been as deadly on the ground (5.5 yards per carry and six touchdowns) as he has harmless through the air. According to the Daily Wildcat, Denker ranks 115th nationally in both passing yardage (445) and efficiency (94.4), figures well short of the gaudy numbers the departed Matt Scott tallied last year. Despite that, however, Rodriguez told a Tucson radio station that Denker is “still our best option [at quarterback] right now,” further highlighting a weakness that the USC’s defense will look to exploit.

The Trojans are 21-8 all-time against Arizona, but have split the last four games. The teams will kick off at 7:30 PST in the first Thursday night game in the history of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

 

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