Defensively Speaking: Washington State

I love watching a championship team form and develop in front of our very eyes…and that is what I saw yesterday as the USC Trojans defeated the Washington State Cougars 30-14 in the LA Memorial Coliseum.

That was a good, talented and tough WSU team out there yesterday. I was impressed but not surprised. We always bring out the best in our opponents. But when it counted the most, the Trojan team took a deep breath and used some of the lessons learned from the Oregon State come-from-behind victory to physically and mentally defeat WSU and improve our overall record to 6-0 (Pac-12 Conference record 4-0). 

This was not a “maybe” kind of win. Oh no, the Trojans fought for it. It was a statement game that the casual observer won’t understand nor even care much about, but I’ll guarantee you that there are some very sore players from both teams this morning. That’s good, because the team must remember the energy, focus and determination it took to ultimately pound WSU into the ground. This is Trojan football and the foundation of a championship team. This is the culture that Coach Riley is installing into his team. And I saw some symmetry of effort and intensity on defense, offense and yes, even special teams.

Some people may criticize the offensive play calling but I won’t because Riley was going to use his “veterans” from multiple programs that he has brought together to play good defense and also good “defensive offense” to grind down WSU. It worked. It may be his overall plan for the balance of the season but more likely it will be a specially modified gameplan with some preplanned halftime adjustments already in the can and practiced during the week. This is what championship-caliber teams do all the time and it’s some of the things I look for in order to assess how the team is progressing. Let’s talk some X’s and O’s

The base set was our version of a 3-4 (three down linemen and four linebackers) We played our nose tackle in an over set to strong side and occasionally slanted the NT for stunting purposes.

What Worked:

• Erik Gentry at Mike LB is getting to be quite a deadly and disruptive force. His positioning and closing speed (quickness) continue to improve. He is tough and can move to five technique easily. If he stays healthy, he easily is All-Conference.
• Tuli Tuipulotu is just unstoppable and is effective from multiple positions
• Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch has been using some formations and stunting to attack gaps and/or locations in the pocket. This will come in handy against Utah. He may use Calen Bullock and Gentry in certain situations to take away Utah’s Tight Ends in 3^rd down situations
• Pass rush was laser locked-on which is saying a lot against a mobile and strong QB
• Redzone defense combined with multiple pressure packages disrupted both running and short passing game. This will be a have-to against Utah.

What Didn’t Work:

• Tackling was “challenging” in the extreme. This actually is not a surprise to me as offensive players can make your open space tackling look sick (in a bad way) especially when we’ve lost our starting MLB and SS. No excuses though…still got to get it done and this game also had a serious streak of player attrition and conditioning components to it.
• Brandon Pili is playing hard but it’s a tough assignment for him to handle a two-A gap NT assignment. He’s also coming off a tough Achilles tendon injury and is giving his all. Obviously if we lose A-gap control then the Mike LB has that next responsibility or even a safety or nickel. That happened yesterday several times which wrecks the entire defensive scheme
• Korey Foreman has had plenty of opportunities to make a difference. He absolutely needs to up his intensity level. We’re way past high school level football and we need him delivering quickness in pursuit and then some. I would hate to sit through his isolation film sessions but It’s up to him and we do need him to play well.

Shout Outs:

• Travis Dye – just keeps making plays and energizes that entire team. He is critical to the Trojan’s success
• O-line – The entire O-line plowed WSU under
• D-line – not everybody played well but as a unit they got it done and a shut out 4^th quarter.
• Gentry – he is a difference maker
• Tuli – will be on my shout list for the entire season (cut-copy-paste!!)

Let’s get ready for a fire-upped Utah team this weekend and Fight On!