USC’s surprisingly strong pass rush to be tested by Utah’s elusive Cam Rising
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — Months after wondering whether USC might have enough pass rushers to even survive the spring, Alex Grinch took approximately two seconds Wednesday to bask in the fact that his defense now leads all college football in sacks through six weeks.
“That’s interesting,” the USC defensive coordinator said before challenging his unit to make every one of those nation-leading 24 sacks again in the second half of the season.
“That’s got to continue,” he said.
That won’t be easy, even with dominant defensive lineman Tuli Tuipulotu leading the way.
Only three other teams in the past decade of college football have managed a higher rate of sacks per game than USC this season.
It has done so with an unexpected cast of sack artists. While Tuipulotu has been largely unstoppable — leading the nation with seven sacks of his own — 10 other Trojans have also taken down opposing quarterbacks at least once.
USC’s defense will need all hands on deck if it has any hope of containing elusive quarterback Cam Rising on Saturday at Utah.
Rising, a Newbury Park High product, was once a top recruiting target of Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, but ultimately chose Texas before eventually transferring to Utah.
“He’s really been a great fit there for the team and what they’ve done offensively,” Riley said. “He’s run it very well and then you can see this year just his evolution, right? He’s more experienced, they’re doing more things I think through him, which is no surprise. Running the ball well, throwing it well. That’s why I recruited him coming out.”
The reigning Pac-12 offensive player of the year, Rising has been sacked just five times in six games. He ranks behind only Oregon’s Bo Nix in rushing yards by a Pac-12 quarterback this season.
As quarterbacks go, Grinch says, Rising is especially tough to take down.
“You have to make sure, as best you can, it’s not one guy trying to get him down,” he said. “Similar to how you would describe a running back going through the hole. It can’t just be solo tackles.”
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