USC faces Washington needing more than Alex Grinch’s accountability

The No. 5 Huskies arrive with QB Michael Penix Jr. as the latest test for the No. 20 Trojans’ scuffling defense

Luca Evans/Mirjam Swanson (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — For five minutes straight, Alex Grinch propped up a verbal Trojan sword and flung himself on it, taking a fall repeatedly in the span of three questions Tuesday.

Some comments from USC’s defensive coordinator, taking such accountability, were necessary and refreshing after another haunted house of a defensive performance against Cal – 527 total yards and seven touchdowns surrendered. Some, though, came unprompted, another self-impaling instead of simply walking away: “We had a play today – you weren’t there for it,” Grinch smiled after practice Tuesday, “but you’d be ripping me right now for that.”

Grinch, by this point nine weeks in, is clearly aware of the pressure on his defense. Excessively aware. Statements of oh-so-close positivity he’s echoed from film-watching throughout the season – “just a play away” – have worn thin on ears of USC’s fanbase, and the coordinator seems to know it after his squad has given up an average of 42.6 points in the past five games.

“You look at all those things,” Grinch said, “and you make sure as best you can – you accept blame.”

He’s handled the pressure, linebacker Mason Cobb said, “like a champ.” And in a time when college kids could crumble under the weight of national ridicule, Grinch commended them for sticking it out – no hint of momentum on their side Saturday, no reason to fight, and yet they emerged with a win.

It’s continued to build trust with Grinch, senior captain Shane Lee said, even through turmoil, a coordinator continuously throwing himself in front of public fire and bullets to try to galvanize his unit.

Making himself the scapegoat, though, can only go so far. Grinch is not solely responsible, plain and simple, for countless strange tackling angles that have turned five yards into 20, or gaps in run defense going consistently uncovered. Players, multiple times this season, have emerged from Grinch’s public security blanket to shoulder responsibility: Guys “aren’t trusting themselves,” Cobb said Tuesday.

“We just got a risk-reward type of thing … with our defense, a lot of times, where a guy is not doing the job, or not going to the right place, and that’s how the explosive (plays) happen,” linebacker Eric Gentry said Tuesday.

Reward has been there – USC’s defense is ranked third in the FBS in tackles for loss – but risk has reigned, with quarterbacks too often threading through collapsing pockets and finding receivers open due to poor coverage technique.

And for USC (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12), ranked No. 20 in the initial College Football Playoff poll, to keep its Pac-12 title hopes alive Saturday, it will need a much healthier balance of reward against fifth-ranked Washington (8-0, 5-0) and an offense sparkling with playmakers that should present one of the more entertaining games of the college football season.

USC before its game against Cal on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, in Berkeley, has given up an average of 42.6 points in its past five games going into Saturday’s home showdown against Washington. (AP/Jed Jacobsohn)

When Washington has the ball

Michael Penix Jr. is a cyborg with a six-shooter, rearing back in pockets, uncorking a lefty three-quarter-angle delivery that looks ugly and seamless in the same motion, zipping lasers to receivers in one-on-one coverage perfectly calibrated in velocity and target. He leads the FBS in passing yards; he may very well win the Heisman, a year after finishing a distant eighth to USC’s Caleb Williams.

There is one slight blemish on Penix Jr.’s season résumé, though, that a well-prepared USC defense can exploit. Given time and a clean pocket, counting on Domani Jackson and Jaylin Smith and Bryson Shaw to consistently blanket Washington receivers Rome Odunze and Ja’lynn Polk is a losing battle. But Penix Jr. has completed less than 50% of his attempts and thrown for just one touchdown this year when under pressure – not coming often, as the Huskies’ line has been stout.

A week after serving a first-half suspension for targeting, Bear Alexander could have a massive impact on the interior, and USC needs pass-rushers Solomon Byrd and Jamil Muhammad to generate consistent pressure off the edge to make Penix Jr. uncomfortable.

When USC has the ball

Washington co-defensive coordinator William Inge wiggled his hand maniacally, tracing a snake through the air, when describing Williams in media availability this week.

“He does a great job of being able to manipulate, move around in the pocket while still keeping his eyes down the field,” Inge said. “He can feel where a pressure point may be coming.”

After a three-interception game against Notre Dame and Utah holding him without a passing touchdown, Williams bounced back against Cal, making a number of pinpoint downfield throws on the run the world has come to expect. Washington is 116th in the FBS in opponent passing yards per game; the stage is set for fireworks Saturday at the Coliseum.

No. 5 Washington (8-0, 5-0 in Pac-12) at No. 20 USC (7-2, 5-1)

Saturday, 4:30 p.m.; Coliseum; ABC (Ch. 7)/790 AM

The network isn’t sending its A-team – Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe – to call a pitchers’ duel. They’ll be here for some high-scoring football drama, to broadcast the current odds-on Heisman Trophy favorite vs. last season’s Heisman Trophy winner.

Michael Penix, Jr vs. Caleb Williams: the national leader in total yards passing (2,945) vs. No. 2 (2,646).

Williams vs. Penix: the national leader in touchdown passes (25) vs. No. 2 (24).

And as long as Williams is working his magic, it ain’t over.

“You just you can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Williams told reporters this week, even relaying a phone conversation he had with Riley the night of USC’s 34-32 loss to Utah a couple weeks back. “It was a weird feeling you still have, that feeling inside that you can do something special.”

“Hopefully, we can keep finding a way to get it done,” Riley said last week after the gut-wrenching Cal win. “And with the fight we showed today, I wouldn’t count us out.”

Can’t yet, but only because it ain’t over till it’s over.

ocregister.com

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