It might be time to finally accept USC’s defense for what it is
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — TUCSON, Ariz. — “You are what you are.”
Those words were spoken by USC head coach Lincoln Riley during the Trojans’ bye week when asked if his defense was getting the respect it deserved for leading the nation in turnover margin. The argument went that, while the numbers may seem like outliers, the Trojan defense had produced them and should be judged by them.
But if you follow that logic, after another wobbly performance in Saturday’s 45-38 win over Arizona, it might be time to ask the question: Is this just what the USC defense is at this point?
The Trojans allowed the Wildcats — a good but not great offense — to gain 543 yards. It was the second straight game USC has allowed its opponent to cross the half-millenniam mark, and across the last two contests the Trojans have surrendered 1,105 yards.
The sheer numbers are massive. In his postgame interview on Saturday, Riley noted some reasons for the lopsided number. Injuries to linebackers Eric Gentry and Ralen Goforth certainly played a part. Riley also noted a number of spectacular plays by Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura (7) and his receivers.
Fair enough. But Riley also used USC’s fast-moving offense as an explanation. In a game full of offensive possessions, the defense is going to have a lot of series, too. Which is fine, until you remember that USC allowed 14.6 yards per completion and 6.3 per carry.
Most concerning, though, is that USC spent a bye week between these two games trying to address season-long concerns about tackling and communication. And neither appeared to improve.
In the loss to Utah prior to the bye week, USC had 18 missed tackles, per Pro Football Focus. Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch talked about how tackling would be a focus and emphasis.
Against Arizona, after all that work, USC had 20 missed tackles.
That played a big part in Arizona’s nine rushing plays of 10 or more yards and 11 passing plays of 15 or more. But so did, apparently, failure to communicate the play call across the defense.
“I would say today that was just us once again not communicating, everybody not on the right track,” safety Calen Bullock said. “You got one half of the field that got the play, and then the other half probably didn’t get the play, or one person didn’t get the play. It’s just little things.”
Sometimes those little things just add up to some cardiac concerns late in a game, like against Arizona. Other times, they lose you games, as against Utah.
USC is ranked ninth in the polls, 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12. Despite the 381.6 yards allowed per game, the Trojans are second in the conference in points allowed (22.1) thanks to forced turnovers, sacks and red-zone defense.
Against Arizona, all three of those factors played a role in USC’s win. Safety Bryson Shaw (27, Pac-12 DPOW) intercepted a pass in USC territory to stop the Wildcats in the third quarter. Linebacker Shane Lee had a second-down sack for a loss of 12 that led to an Arizona punt in the fourth. And USC held the Wildcats to field goals on two of five red-zone appearances.
So, through eight games, USC is what it is. The tackling issues and the bleeding of yards might not be fixable this year, but there are strengths for the unit, too, that are contributing to wins.
“You gotta kinda rely on your fundamentals, which is playing hard, doing your job and things like that,” Lee said. “And that’s what as a defense we have to rely on no matter what. No matter who play, how good or how bad we do, we gotta rely on our commitment to what we see as our fundamentals.”
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