USC Must Piece Offense Together to Hang with Arizona

A shootout is likely when USC visits No. 10-ranked Arizona Saturday night. The good news for the Trojans: They’ve shown all the elements necessary to hang with Rich Rodriguez’s free-wheeling Wildcats in a high-scoring affair.

The bad news? Rarely has the USC offense put all these elements together at the same time.

USC head coach Steve Sarkisian’s uptempo offense has at times been a Corvette, combining the smooth handling of quarterback Cody Kessler with the high-octane engine of running back Javorius “Buck” Allen.

Certainly there’s evidence of USC’s potential. Since mustering just 13 points in the win at Stanford, the Trojans scored 31 at Boston College, 35 against Oregon State and 34 against Arizona State.

But then there are those times when the Corvette gets stuck in the mud. Despite scoring into the 30s the last three games, the USC offense ran out of gas for long stretches each time.

At Boston College, the Trojans went almost 40 minutes without scoring. Against Oregon State, the offense was held out of the end zone for the entire first and third quarters.

In last week’s loss against Arizona State, the first offensive touchdown didn’t come until the 2:39 mark in the second quarter despite two prior trips into Sun Devils territory.

Overall, USC had five multiple-play drives stall on Arizona State’s side of the 50-yard line.

Sarkisian’s challenge to keep pace with an Arizona offense scoring a shade below 40 points per game is that USC has stalled in different phases every week. But there is one universal fix USC can make to avoid the droughts that is plaguing it.

“One of the keys for us is getting more yards in chunks,” Sarkisian said on the Pac-12 teleconference call Tuesday. “I thought we’ve improved that in the running game, and it’s an area of focus of ours in the passing game this week so that we don’t have so many drives that aren’t nine, 10, 12-play type drives.” 

Recent history between the Trojans and Wildcats suggests USC cannot afford a similar dry spell against Arizona. In the last three seasons, the teams combined for 89, 75 and 69 points. Arizona’s lowest final score in that stretch is 31; USC’s is 36.

Not coincidentally, that 36-point low mark is also the Trojans’ only loss to Arizona in that time. Also of no coincidence: USC went more than 20 minutes without a point in the loss.

Season	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards	Points Scored
2013	297	249	38
2012	493	125	36
2011 (Mike Stoops at Arizona)	468	114	48

Unlocking Big-Yardage Pass Crucial versus Arizona 

The Trojans run game has come alive since amassing just 20 total yards at Boston College, thanks to Allen’s efforts.

After he said he felt capable of springing the big play on any touch, Allen came through with games of 115 and 143 rushing yards.

Justin Davis added 82 and 67 yards the last two weeks to give the USC rushing attack a more varied look, and even Kessler got in on the action with carries of eight and 13 yards. The eight-yarder was good for a touchdown.

Conversely, Kessler is nickel-and-diming defenses with the pass. Nine of his 24 completions against Oregon State went for more than 10 yards; just eight of his 28 completions against Arizona State were good for more than 10.

Three of Kessler’s big-play passes the last two weeks came off wheel routes by Allen and Davis.

While USC needs more explosive plays in its repertoire, the recent success of the wheel route does bode well for Saturday. The Trojans hit Arizona’s defense for a 63-yard score on one last season. 

Another promising trend for the USC offense: Three of Kessler’s long-yardage plays against Arizona State went to wide receiver Nelson Agholor.

Unleashing Agholor 

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press/Associated Press

Following Kessler’s performance against Oregon State in which the quarterback connected with nine different targets, Sarkisian said getting the ball to Agholor while still spreading it out was a point of emphasis.

And indeed, Agholor came back with a season-high nine catches last week.

“I loved it,” Sarkisian said on Sunday. “We targeted him a few times, and maybe even not enough, quite honestly.

“We’re going to continue to need that from him as we move forward,” Sarkisian added.

Arizona is a logical starting point for Agholor’s next step forward. He abused the Wildcats for 161 receiving yards a season ago.

In fact, over the last three meetings, the Arizona game has been fertile ground for Trojans receivers to put up big numbers. Robert Woods caught 14 passes for 255 yards in 2011, and Marqise Lee set a Pac-12 record with 345 yards in 2012.

While Arizona has made strides in its third year under defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel, the Wildcats are still prone to giving up the home run ball through the air. 

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Per ArizonaWildcats.com, Cal quarterback Jared Goff completed seven passes of 20 yards or more against Arizona in Week 4—three went for touchdowns. 

Agholor is USC's best option for unleashing the deep ball, but only if he's used on deep routes. He did much of his damage against Arizona State through yards after the catch, stutter-stepping and spinning his way out of tackles.

Sarkisian has gradually made tweaks to the USC offense each time out, but against Arizona's frenetic pace, the Trojans' offensive engine must fire on all cylinders.  

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics via USCTrojans.com unless otherwise noted.