Needless penalties and a sputtering offense have the USC Trojans trailing the Arizona Wildcats after the first quarter, 10-0. Matt Barkley was intercepted to cut the Trojans' first drive short, and Arizona has been able to capitalize on Trojan mistakes.
Marqise Lee is attempting to jump-start the Trojan offense on his own, with mixed results. He picked up 38 yards on a punt return and added another 57 on a pass from Barkley, but the drive ended on 4th-and-2 at the Arizona 15. The Trojans are winning the time of posession battle, but they've been unable to maintain any momentum.
The Trojan defense was able to make a stop in the red zone, limiting the Wildcats to three late in the quarter. They were able to do so in spite of repeated penalties, including a dead ball personal foul on Leonard Williams when he pulled the helmet off an Arizona runner. An earlier personal foul on an Arizona drive handed them a free first down and eventually resulted in a Wildcat touchdown.
Barkley is 9-for-13 for 107 yards in the first quarter. Silas Redd hasn't been much of a factor, collecting only 10 yards on 5 carries.
