Given that several players in the secondary are banged up, I suspect we will see some similar cover 2 defense we played at WSU and not a whole lot of man press. I assume Scalley would want to protect us from getting burned over the top by guys like Drake London. Despite the shaky start, Slovis and his receivers are good enough to abuse our guys if we try and play them tight. As a result of this defensive strategy I can see USC having long, sustained drives down the field. Solid red-zone coverage and holding them to field goals will be key. I think multiple 70, 80+ yard drives ending in field goals can be demoralizing and work in our favor. For this to really work though, the D-line needs to be physical and get pressure even in 4 man sets.
Offensively, I agree that we need to hit our playmakers harder. Kuithe needs to show why he is the top TE in the conference. One of the recievers needs to step up as the go-to guy in 3rd and long situations. Whichever RB gets the most touches needs to establish themselves as an every down back. We have a lot of potential weapons offensively, just no alpha dogs right now. As the old adage with QBs goes, if you don’t have 1 QB you have zero. The same is true of much of our offensive playmakers.
USC also has some studs on their D-line, so this will be a true test to see if the O-line has made progress.
Overall though, the incredible thing is that we can still lose this game and be just fine in the PAC-12 south. ASU sits atop the division right now, and if we lose to SC and beat ASU next week, we jump to the top spot. Obviously I’d love the cushion and morale boost of a win in the coliseum, but the game against ASU matters way more right now.
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