U tries running back as defensive end to aid pass rush

LOS ANGELES — Gophers coach Jerry Kill and his staff, desperate to increase pressure on Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley, used running back Lamonte Edwards as a pass rusher in the second half, lining him up at defensive end Saturday.

"We had a running back on a pass rush in a critical situation," Kill said after the Gophers lost 19-17.

"Lamonte Edwards went in -- we put him in at a wide end on a critical play when they threw a screen. We got pressure on the quarterback, they dumped the screen and we made a big play.

"We did everything we could, coaching-wise."

Edwards, a Woodbury High School product who redshirted as a freshman in 2010, also had his first college carry, for no gain in the second quarter.

Almost costly Trojans coach Lane Kiffin has given Barkley the option of trying a two-point conversion rather than kick the PAT if he sees a matchup he believes the Trojans can exploit, and Barkley tried it twice on Saturday -- and each time, it failed.

Fullback Rhett Ellison was stopped less than a yard from the end zone after USC's first-quarter touchdown, and Barkley bounced a short pass at his receiver's feet after the Trojans' second touchdown.

Beal stays home Not making the trip with the Gophers: middle linebacker Brendan Beal, who suffered a knee injury on the final play -- well, what turned out to be the final play, when he went down -- of Wednesday's practice.

The severity of his injury hasn't been determined yet, but the Gophers fear he will miss a substantial amount of time.

Beal, who transferred from Florida and sat out last season, already has missed a season after tearing a knee ligament in 2008. He had been expected to be the primary backup to middle linebacker Gary Tinsley.

Head (set) games Kill revealed that his team's headsets did not work in the first half, keeping him and his staff from being able to call plays in to quarterback MarQueis Gray.

Was that USC's fault? "It was our communicating system," Kill said. "I'm not going to throw them under the bus. It's hard because we do everything through communication, and when the headphones are in and you can't communicate with your quarterback, it makes him look silly.

A historic place The Gophers, who play in one of college football's newest stadiums, opened their season in one of the 10 oldest. The Los Angeles Coliseum, which played host to the 1932 and '84 Summer Olympics, opened in 1923. Saturday's game was the Trojans' 566th inside it. The stadium was also the site of Super Bowls I and VII and the 1959 World Series.

The stadium isn't modern enough for an NFL team, so the university is hoping to buy the large bowl-style stadium and renovate it, according to news reports. The Coliseum unveiled its 150-foot-wide high-definition video board, the second-largest in college football (after Texas), on Saturday.

Etc. • Kill doesn't plan to name team captains yet, but seniors Duane Bennett and Kim Royston were appointed to represent the Gophers during the coin toss, which they won.

• New Gophers kicker Chris Hawthorne hit a 21-yard field goal with 4:07 left in the first half. The transfer from North Carolina State missed two other kicks, albeit long ones -- one from 51 yards, and another from 42 as the half expired -- because both were low and were tipped at the line of scrimmage.

• USC won its opener for the 14th consecutive year, ending the Gophers' three-game winning streak in openers. Kill became the fourth Gophers coach in a row to lose his debut.