Joel Klatt evaluates USC’s chance to be a CFP contender

USC is out of the gate at 4-0 and looking much like the Pac-12 frontrunner they were a year ago. Obviously, the league is even stronger this season, but Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt still sees the Trojans as one of its best national contenders.

On his YouTube show this week, Klatt made the case for a number of top programs as national title contenders this season, and included USC. As for why? Well, the simple answer is the superstar they have under center.

“USC is real. We know that,” said Klatt. “Now, while I say Michael Penix has played the best in the country, I believe that, but the best player in the country is Caleb Williams and he’s done nothing to disappoint this year. He’s been absolutely flawless.”

Williams’ playmaking outside of the pocket garners a lot of attention, but Klatt is just as impressed by the Trojan QB’s ability to process and pick apart defenses while holding his ground inside the pocket.

“Everybody talks about what he does outside the pocket, and yes, that’s what makes him great or generational. But you only become a great player or a generational player if you can also do what great players do in the pocket and control the game and manipulate the game with your feet and your eyes and your mind and then throw accurately down the field, which he does.”

Pivoting to the other side of the ball, Klatt explained that it’s the USC defense that makes this team more dangerous as a title contender in 2023. Particularly, he loves the Trojan pass rush and had some mighty impressive numbers to share on their behalf.

“So, USC is third in the country defensively in sacks. While they gave up some yards against Arizona State last week, they do some things on the defensive side that are better than a year ago. Remember last year, they lived on turnovers. They’ve gotten some turnovers this year.

“But it’s a little bit different because they’re generating pressure and that pressure, I think, is more sustainable. And the reason I think it’s more sustainable is that they’re generating the pressure without blitzing for the most part. They’ve got defensive front players: Bear Alexander, Solomon Byrd, Jamil Muhammad, Stanley Ta’ufo’ou. These guys can present pressure on the quarterback, even without help from the second level.

“In terms of blitzing, they’re top 10 in the country in pressure rate and No. 1 in the in the country on quarterback pressure rate on non-blitz plays. So think about that. They’re the best non-blitzing pressure team in college football. That’s better than a year ago.”

That’s not to say the USC defense is unflawed — they certainly are. But the ability to consistently pressure the quarterback and force mistakes out of those pressures can cover up a lot of holes for any defense.

“So while Saturday was a bit of of a scare against Arizona State, and they do have to get better at tackling in space, in particular in the secondary, they do some things on defense that are better than what they were. And we all said, I was included in this, that all they needed to do was be better on defense and then… holy cow what would they be?”

Regardless, Klatt has them penciled in with the group of contenders at the moment: “So they’re still above the line, but they’re not quite as obvious.”