USC Football: What You Should and Shouldn't Be Concerned About After Week 2
Head coach Steve Sarkisian called the 13-10 defeat No. 9-ranked USC football scored over Pac-12 Conference rival Stanford cause for celebration.
"We know the value of a win on the road in-conference," Sarkisian said on his Sunday conference call. "Especially against the two-time defending champs. When you go into Stanford and win where they hadn't lost in 17 games, that's a great win."
But Sarkisian also stressed that the win must be a building block. USC still has a long road back to the top of the Pac-12.
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WHAT YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT
1. Depth
The elephant in the room for USC throughout this season will be its limited numbers. The Trojans had fewer than 60 scholarship players available Saturday at Stanford.
An injury to a key player—like, say, defensive lineman Leonard Williams—could very well be the difference in playing for the Pac-12 championship and not.
They faced that possibility at Stanford with Williams, who was battling an ankle injury.
Williams rallied to make 11 tackles and a sack en route to Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week recognition.
Without Williams anchoring the defensive front, USC would have been hard-pressed to duplicate its overwhelming red-zone play.
"To see him fighting through [injury] sets a great example for his teammates," Sarkisian said. "To have 11 tackles in one game and a sack is a great accomplishment. Knowing he wasn't 100 percent is an even greater accomplishment."
Indeed, Williams came through in the clutch. But fighting through an injury, as the Trojans' star did Saturday, may not always be an option. Whether it's Williams or any of the team's other key players, the possibility of losing someone weighs heavier on USC than it does other teams.
The primary example this season is the secondary, which already endured one big blow when redshirt senior cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended indefinitely.
USC saw what having Shaw out of the lineup meant last week. Shaw often matched up against Stanford wide receiver Ty Montgomery in USC's 20-17 win over the Cardinal in 2013, and Stanford's dynamic playmaker was limited to just 23 yards receiving.
On Saturday, Montgomery caught nine passes for 83 yards.
Another loss at defensive back could put the USC pass defense in a tough spot—and that's just one example. The running back corps took a hit to its depth with Tre Madden sidelined; another injury there would vastly change the look of the offense.
Nothing but good health and good fortune can truly alleviate this concern for the Trojans as the season progresses.
2. Penalties
The sample size is low, but Sarkisian and his staff should be concerned that USC is among the nation's most penalized teams through two games.
Pac-12 officials are notorious for throwing more flags than their counterparts in other conferences. The proof is in the numbers in recent seasons, which both returning Trojans and Sarkisian experienced.
Sarkisian's Washington team was the second-most penalized team in a highly penalized conference in 2013.
| 2014 | USC | 19 | 81.5 | 107 | |
| UCLA | 21 | 86.0 | 112 | ||
| Utah | 19 | 86.0 | 112 | ||
| Colorado | 18 | 94.5 | 119 | ||
| Oregon State | 26 | 109.0 | 125 | ||
| 2013 | USC | 95 | 57.7 | 98 | |
| Cal | 85 | 67.5 | 116 | ||
| Oregon | 106 | 70.2 | 118 | ||
| Washington | 105 | 71.7 | 119 | ||
| UCLA | 105 | 73.1 | 122 |
Penalties are effective speed bumps for a hurry-up offense like USC's. The Trojans experienced just how effectively firsthand against Stanford, as they racked up 10 flags for 87 yards.
Likewise, defensive penalties had the Trojans moving backward, which contributed to Stanford's six red-zone opportunities. USC's play with its back to the end zone was valiant, but it cannot afford to face similar situations throughout conference competition.
3. Diversity in the Passing Game
Quarterback Cody Kessler put up career numbers in the Trojans' Week 1 romp over Fresno State with 394 passing yards and four touchdowns. His ability to spread the ball to a variety of receivers on a number of different routes opened the field.
Stanford's swarming defense limited Kessler's options, but the quarterback had a security blanket in wide receiver Nelson Agholor.
Few teams have a player of Agholor's ability in their wide receiving corps, thus Kessler is wise to make use of him. Agholor is one of the most electric playmakers in space, as well as a constant breakaway threat.
However, Kessler must be careful to avoid the redundancy that plagued USC's offense in former head coach Lane Kiffin's last season-plus with the Trojans.
USC relied heavily on Marqise Lee in 2012 and the first few games of 2013—perhaps too heavily.
"I think we focused too much on [Lee] as a team and we took away from other great playmakers like Robert [Woods] and our tight ends," former Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley told Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times in December 2012.
Much like his former teammate Lee, Agholor is both dependable and explosive. But Kessler must make effective use of all his options to keep defenses honest in their coverage schemes.
George Farmer was the only other target with multiple catches on Saturday. Justin Davis and John "JuJu" Smith each had one.
Sarkisian said the passing attack "could have been more aggressive" against Stanford. As defenses become more focused on the Trojans' multifaceted running game and the dynamic Agholor, that aggression must be an element USC explores more.
WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T BE CONCERNED ABOUT
1. Backfield Combinations
Sarkisian inherited a deep and talented corps of running backs upon his arrival at USC. Implementing each ball-carrier's strengths into the game plan ran contrary to Sarkisian's formula at Washington, though.
With the Huskies, Sarkisian leaned on a workhorse feature back who approached or exceeded 300 carries for the season. And the coach's USC offense is building off the play of its own hard-running No. 1 back.
Javorius "Buck" Allen has reestablished himself as USC's primary rusher early in the campaign, picking up where he left off from a great finish to 2013. But the Trojans feature a much more multidimensional ground attack than many of Sarkisian's Washington teams.
| Javorius "Buck" Allen | 45 | 287 | 1 |
| Justin Davis | 20 | 50 | 1 |
| James Toland | 12 | 47 | 0 |
| Soma Vainuku | 4 | 29 | 1 |
| Max Browne | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Cody Kessler | 10 | 8 | 1 |
That versatility was on display against a Stanford rush defense that routinely ranks among the nation's best.
Allen's 154 yards set a new career high. Twenty-two of Allen's 154 yards helped set up kicker Andre Heidari for the decisive field goal.
"We wanted to dedicate [the strategy] to run the football. We didn't want to abandon it," Sarkisian said.
The final drive also featured contributions from Davis and fullback Soma Vainuku.
The sophomore Davis never produced any of the long runs that highlighted his truncated freshman season, but he did provide USC's only touchdown of the afternoon.
"VINE - USC's Davis 1st to score https://t.co/PyQoMin4ZY
— FanSided GIF (@FanSidedGIF) September 6, 2014"
Expect Davis' role as a receiving option out of the backfield to grow in the coming weeks, adding another dimension to the USC attack.
Sarkisian will also have the option of integrating Madden into the rotation when he recovers from turf toe. Madden was USC's leading rusher for the first half of 2013.
2. Offensive Line Play
Questions abounded about USC's young and inexperienced offensive line before the season.
The Trojans ranked No. 104 nationally with 35 sacks allowed in 2013. If that wasn't bad enough, center Marcus Martin bypassed his remaining eligibility to enter the NFL draft and veteran Aundrey Walker struggled with injury throughout the offseason.
Yet through two games, this group has acquitted itself nicely. It did not allow a sack in the Week 1 defeat of Fresno State, and paved the way for Allen's impressive rushing performance against the stingy Stanford defense in Week 2.
True freshmen Toa Lobendahn and Damien Mama have been crucial to the unit's overall performance, and their ceiling for improvement as the season progresses is high.
"We've got a lot of areas to improve upon, and our play up front is one of them," Sarkisian said. "But the good thing for our young O-line is they've seen a lot of defenses. Fresno State threw a lot at them, Stanford threw a bunch at them, and they responded really well.
"Can we get better? Sure. But those guys playing in their second game, on the road, I was really pleased," he added.
3. Front Seven
That the Trojans' front seven is playing so well should come as no surprise. Sarkisian called the unit "the strength of this football team" at Pac-12 media days. With a veteran like Hayes Pullard at linebacker and an All-American such as Williams on the line, it's understandable.
But the group goes well beyond those names, and that's been evident early into 2014.
The front seven's strength was most evident in Week 2 with its red-zone play. Stanford could not adequately establish the run, and quarterback Kevin Hogan's passing lanes were stifled.
Sarkisian said the Trojans' play inside their own 20-yard line was a response to a challenge made in the week's practices. After Fresno State scored touchdowns on each of its red-zone opportunities, Sarkisian said on Tuesday's Pac-12 coaches teleconference that shutting down the Cardinal was "a point of emphasis."
Meanwhile, as problematic as depth is across other areas of the depth chart, the linebacker corps showed off how rife it is with contributors against Stanford. Pullard was ejected in the second half for targeting, but Sarkisian praised the performances of Michael Hutchings and Anthony Sarao after Pullard's departure.
Outside linebacker J.R. Tavai also stepped up to force a win-sealing fumble on his sack of Hogan.
The front seven's collective was perhaps the most important component of USC's win in Week 2. That likely won't be the last time this season, either.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com.
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