Alex Grinch credits Utah for USC's low sack numbers

The USC Trojans fell in a hard-fought game against Utah on Saturday. Some watching the game could point to the lack of pressure by USC’s defense as a contributor to the success of Utah’s offense. Trojans’ defensive coordinator Alex Grinch could be counted as one of those individuals. Recently when reflecting back on his defense’s performance against the Utes, Grinch gave credit to Utah for USC’s low sack numbers.

“I think credit goes to the opponent. They did a nice job. You got to start there when it’s true. I think in this, this was a quality opponent,” said Grinch. “Utah does a good job, and they had for a long time, from an offensive standpoint; that staff and online standpoint. And then you look at where there are opportunities that we missed. We’re in the backfield or a click late. The film suggests there were several instances where we were a click late, which that means you got to do a better job on the back end—making sure that you make that quarterback hold on. You know we’re talking fractions of seconds in some instances.”

Not only did the Trojans’ defense fail to record a sack they also didn’t record a single turnover in the game. USC could not make Utah quarterback Cameron Rising uncomfortable in different areas of the game. And that is another thing that Grinch highlighted about his defense.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“It’s all 11 that that creates sacks. And that’s obviously not 100 percent true. Sometimes it’s just a singular effort that gets home. So often, it’s the extra effort on the front because you did such a good job on the back end… So, no, it’s a combination of things. We gotta do a better job in coverage to make the quarterback hold on to the football. We got to make sure we’re winning some one-on-ones, and we can’t be OK just saying: shucks were close. We got to get there faster; so that’s the nature of it.”

USC is still in the hunt for the Pac-12 title and possibly a College Football Playoff berth. This week the Trojans have a bye, and we’ll get some much-needed rest. But the following week, the journey continues as they head to Arizona to take on the Wildcats. The kickoff for that game has still yet to be determined.