High stakes for Trojans: Three things to watch for in USC vs. Washington State
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — Travis Dye has been around football long enough to see the signs: The emotional road win in Corvallis. The less-than-stellar week of practice that followed. The sloppy start against Arizona State. Sure, the ship was eventually righted in a 42-25 win, USC’s fifth straight to start the season. But the effort was enough to remind the fifth-year senior running back how hard it is to keep winning — and how quickly a letdown could come.
He passed along that message after the Arizona State game on Saturday.
“We need to put our main focus on the little stuff and just realizing that winning does not come easy. It’s not something that you just get used to,” Dye said. “You have to come in, week in, week out with everything you have. Because you’re going to get everybody’s best shot. That’s just how it is. When you go to USC with all this hype around you, you’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
The next two weeks, in that regard, represent the truest test of the Trojans’ mettle — not to mention their College Football Playoff semifinal bonafides — this season. Washington State, at 4-1, boasts one of the better defenses in the conference, while Utah was the preseason Pac-12 title favorite. How USC fares against both could very well determine the direction of its season.
USC hasn’t opened a season 6-0 since 2006, the year after the Trojans lost in the national title game to Texas. Unlike that team, which was coming off an unparalleled stretch of success, this one is still very much learning how to win.
“It’s a daily fight. I mean, it is,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I use ‘fight’ because that’s just the only way you get better. You’ve got to strain. You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone. It’s a process to understand that, right? There’s some of it you can learn before, and we try to pack as much of that in as we possibly can. There’s some of it that’s not going to take hold until you actually get in some of these situations as a team and individually.”
Those situations are coming soon enough.
Here are three things to watch for when USC faces Washington State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PDT (Fox; Fox Sports app):
Another dual threat
WSU QB Cameron Ward throws a pass against Colorado State on Sept. 17. (Young Kwak / AP)
Alex Grinch would probably rather not see another capable running quarterback. But after largely containing Emory Jones last week, USC’s defensive coordinator has a more dangerous dual threat to deal with this Saturday.
It didn’t take long for Cameron Ward to prove he belonged in the Pac-12, after transferring from Football Championship Subdivision Incarnate Word. His 1,445 yards ranks third in the conference, just ahead of USC’s Caleb Williams (13). But Ward has thrown seven interceptions this season, including four over the past two weeks. Williams just threw his first last Saturday.
Baiting Ward into making mistakes in the passing game could be key for USC, which leads the nation in interceptions (12). Containing his ability to extend plays could be another story.
Grinch said Ward had the ability to “make a bad play a good play really quick.”
“That’s why everybody loves having scrambling quarterbacks,” Grinch said. “We certainly love having ours.”
Rice rising
WR Brenden Rice runs the ball during a win over ASU on Oct. 1. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
We’ve already witnessed breakout performances from Jordan Addison, Mario Williams and even Tahj Washington among USC’s receivers. This week, Riley seemed to call his shot on which receiver would be next.
Brenden Rice has at least three catches in each of USC’s past three games and tallied 72 yards receiving last Saturday.
“He’s doing some really good things on tape,” Riley said Monday on the Trojans Live radio show. “I feel like he’s right on the verge of a breakout game for us.”
Tight end time?
TE Lake McRee runs after making a catch against Stanford on Sept. 10. (Godofredo A. Vásquez / AP)
Lincoln Riley used his tight ends at Oklahoma unlike any other coach in college football. But through five games of his tenure at USC, we haven’t seen much from the Trojans’ tight ends at all.
Lake McRee and Malcolm Epps, the only two tight ends to be targeted this season, have combined for a target share of just 6.3% in USC’s passing game. That’s less than half of the target share tight ends saw in USC’s 2021 offense (13.6%), when much was made of their limited role. At Oklahoma, Riley’s 2021 offense targeted tight ends 22% of the time.
Injuries to Jude Wolfe, who was expected to play H-back, as well as McRee have made involving the tight end a bit more complicated. But with McRee expected to play this weekend, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see USC’s tight ends step into more significant roles.
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OU is a train wreck … just awful on both sides of the ball
Even making Suck look good so now we have to listen to Herbie and Klatt how great Suck is again
USC cannot afford the penalties they had last week. Those 1st and 15 drives can be a real pain. Riley knows how to move the pocket, and if he were to introduce some new wrinkles this week they should work out fine. I keep waiting to see the tight ends get into the game. With the receivers USC puts out there those tight ends underneath should be open if WSU defends like OSU did. In the end I am sure LR doesn’t need my help.
We have seen these past few weeks, Caleb holding onto the ball longer and in some instances too long and getting hit or throwing the ball away at the last second. With such talented WRs with speed, wouldn’t quick slants or setups where two WRs are close together forcing the defenders to back away some be effective? Maybe faint a short slant but lob a pass beyond? I can’t believe these CBs can tightly cover our receivers for long periods of time. Or, Caleb needs to roll out more if the play demands more time to clear a receiver.
Four-star combo guard Silas Demary Jr. (6-4, 180) commits to USC basketball Shotgun Spratling (247Sports) — USC basketball has its first commit of the 2023 recruiting cycle. Four-star combo guard Silas Demary Jr. announced his commitment Friday afternoon live on 247Sports, choosing the Trojans over hometown NCS as well as St. John’s, Tennessee, and Virginia Commonwealth. Demary sat less than 10 miles away from NCS when he made his announcement from Millbrook High School in Raleigh, N.C. He also had local connections to VCU with his father having been a football player at Virginia State University about 30 minutes away. But after… Read more »
I am seeing more “upset warnings” being posted everywhere, but I think they are just trying to get that, “I toldya so!” in first. I am confident Riley will not allow his team to come out flat.
Rialto, I think upset warnings are well earned. I read that Caleb is scrambling on 33% of his passing snaps. And, WSU is by far the best pass rush team we will face so far. WSU also has a potent O and given how our D played against an inferior O in the first half of last week, there are very valid reasons to predict an upset. SC is must watch TV because it is such a high wire act. Without Caleb (and a solid QB like probably Moss or Dart), I would say we would 3-2 and unranked. Caleb… Read more »
Well said RJJ. I want to see a hungry highly energetic USC team on the field Saturday. My thinking is if this game is lost, it is due to not giving it their best effort by the team.
“We need to put our main focus on the little stuff and just realizing that winning does not come easy. It’s not something that you just get used to,” Dye said. “You have to come in, week in, week out with everything you have. Because you’re going to get everybody’s best shot. That’s just how it is. When you go to USC with all this hype around you, you’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”
“It’s a daily fight. I mean, it is,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I use ‘fight’ because that’s just the only way you get better. You’ve got to strain. You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone. It’s a process to understand that, right? There’s some of it you can learn before, and we try to pack as much of that in as we possibly can. There’s some of it that’s not going to take hold until you actually get in some of these situations as a team and individually.”
It didn’t take long for Cameron Ward to prove he belonged in the Pac-12, after transferring from Football Championship Subdivision Incarnate Word. His 1,445 yards ranks third in the conference, just ahead of USC’s Caleb Williams (13). But Ward has thrown seven interceptions this season, including four over the past two weeks. Williams just threw his first last Saturday.
Thanks Gomer … Kansas is so much bigger and better than SC up front defensively
OU is a train wreck … just awful on both sides of the ball
Even making Suck look good so now we have to listen to Herbie and Klatt how great Suck is again
Anyone else watching Bosco/Mater Dei tonight?
Even out here, that game sounds epic!
#1 vs #2 national ranked teams.
I am. Santa Ana Bowl. Great night for football.
Reminds me of when Santa Ana and Isaac Curtis beat us in the SA Bowl in 1968, but it was uncomfortably hot in the middle of the day.
Isacc Curtis WOW … never understood how he never ended up at SC
Went to Cal then ended up at SDSt then stardom at Cincy
USC cannot afford the penalties they had last week. Those 1st and 15 drives can be a real pain. Riley knows how to move the pocket, and if he were to introduce some new wrinkles this week they should work out fine. I keep waiting to see the tight ends get into the game. With the receivers USC puts out there those tight ends underneath should be open if WSU defends like OSU did. In the end I am sure LR doesn’t need my help.
We have seen these past few weeks, Caleb holding onto the ball longer and in some instances too long and getting hit or throwing the ball away at the last second. With such talented WRs with speed, wouldn’t quick slants or setups where two WRs are close together forcing the defenders to back away some be effective? Maybe faint a short slant but lob a pass beyond? I can’t believe these CBs can tightly cover our receivers for long periods of time. Or, Caleb needs to roll out more if the play demands more time to clear a receiver.
Four-star combo guard Silas Demary Jr. (6-4, 180) commits to USC basketball Shotgun Spratling (247Sports) — USC basketball has its first commit of the 2023 recruiting cycle. Four-star combo guard Silas Demary Jr. announced his commitment Friday afternoon live on 247Sports, choosing the Trojans over hometown NCS as well as St. John’s, Tennessee, and Virginia Commonwealth. Demary sat less than 10 miles away from NCS when he made his announcement from Millbrook High School in Raleigh, N.C. He also had local connections to VCU with his father having been a football player at Virginia State University about 30 minutes away. But after… Read more »
I am seeing more “upset warnings” being posted everywhere, but I think they are just trying to get that, “I toldya so!” in first. I am confident Riley will not allow his team to come out flat.
Rialto, I think upset warnings are well earned. I read that Caleb is scrambling on 33% of his passing snaps. And, WSU is by far the best pass rush team we will face so far. WSU also has a potent O and given how our D played against an inferior O in the first half of last week, there are very valid reasons to predict an upset. SC is must watch TV because it is such a high wire act. Without Caleb (and a solid QB like probably Moss or Dart), I would say we would 3-2 and unranked. Caleb… Read more »
Well said RJJ. I want to see a hungry highly energetic USC team on the field Saturday. My thinking is if this game is lost, it is due to not giving it their best effort by the team.