Let's say Hawthorne makes one of the two long FGs (and yes, a 42-yarder is long, especially outdoors). Then how do you know how the game would have shaken out? Would USC have continued to flounder offensively or would Kiffin have got a brain and done something different? Would the Gophers have played with more or less confidence and hustle? None of these things are known, so "If we make one of the 2 missed field goals, we win," is simply false.
Missed field goals at the end of games are the only ones that actually win or lose games.
All that said, I'd like to see a better kicking game, too; but the 25-yarder from the hash (quite an angle) was right down the pipe.