USC Football: 5 Things That Must Change for the Trojans to Improve in 2015

Immediately following a 45-42 Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska last month, members of the USC football team all repeated one word regarding the 2015 season: Championship. 

Quarterback Cody Kessler, offensive lineman Toa Lobendahn and head coach Steve Sarkisian all said that's the goal to which the Trojans are building.

"Our future...is ridiculously bright," Sarkisian said. "We're employing to continue to get better and continue to recruit. We're going to recruit great players. We're going to develop the players that we have in our program. We're going to compete for championships." 

Coming off a 9-4 finish in 2014, USC certainly has areas in which it must improve if it's to turn the bowl-game rhetoric into reality. 

Cody Kessler's Big-Game Performance

Quarterback Cody Kessler closed out 2014 with six touchdown passes against Notre Dame and four in the Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska, elevating his yearlong total to 39. That was good enough to tie him with Matt Barkley for the USC single-season record.

It was also a positive indication that Kessler is capable of being a championship-caliber quarterback. While the redshirt junior wrote his name in the USC record books throughout 2014, much of his damage prior to the final two games came against opponents with sub-.500 records. 

Opponent (Final Record)	Comp.-Att./Yards	TD	INT
Fresno State (6-8)	25-37/394	4	0
Oregon State (5-7)	24-32/261	2	0
Colorado (2-10)	19-26/319	7	0
Washington State (3-9)	21-32/400	5	0
Cal (5-7)	31-42/371	4	1

A four-touchdown effort in the loss at 7-6 Boston College was Kessler's previous significant output against a team that finished with a winning record. 

Conversely, he was less effective against the other four Pac-12 South teams that finished 2014 ranked in the Top 25. 

Opponent (Final Record)	Comp.-Att./Yards	TD	INT
Arizona State (10-3)	28-45/273	0	0
Arizona (10-4)	20-30/185	1	1
Utah (9-4)	24-32/264	2	1
UCLA (10-3)	22-34/214	1	1

Given that one more touchdown pass against either Arizona State or Utah is the difference in USC playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game or not, it's clear Kessler's improvement in big games is one crucial element to the Trojans' goals next season. 

Secondary Play

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

It's difficult to find a unit anywhere in college football more collectively youthful than the USC secondary in 2014. The Trojans regularly ran with sophomores Kevon Seymour and Leon McQuay III, redshirt freshman Chris Hawkins and true freshmen Adoree' Jackson and John Plattenburg. 

A third true freshman, Jonathan Lockett, saw meaningful action midway through the conference slate. 

USC's inexperience was plainly evident at times. Opponents went at the Trojans defensive backfield to the tune of 274.5 passing yards per game, the 11th-most any FBS team surrendered in 2014. 

There were miscues such as McQuay's missed tackles at UCLA or Hawkins' penalty-prone play. But the secondary also showed potential. 

McQuay rallied to play a key role in the bowl win; Jackson did not give up a passing touchdown until the final game. 

Parlaying growing pains into performance in 2015 is a cornerstone for USC's defense to build upon and improve next season.

End-of-Game Play-Calling and Execution

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Sarkisian made no mistake when assessing the problem with USC's end-of-game execution, noting that the Trojans' repeated struggles were the responsibility of the coaching staff. 

The Trojans surrendered fourth-quarter leads in losses to Arizona State and Utah, but also saw Arizona nearly erase a multiple-score deficit. Right down to the final game of the season, the Trojans were outscored 8-0 by Nebraska in the fourth quarter of the Holiday Bowl. 

Each fourth-quarter performance was different, with some opponents—like Arizona and Arizona State—piling up points in a hurry. Against both Utah and Nebraska, the USC offense went stagnant.

In all four instances, the Trojans were less aggressiveness on one or both sides of the ball.

Special Teams

USC's special teams play in 2014 was a series of highs and lows. 

The season finale is a microcosm for the Trojans' entire season, as it featured Jackson's 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well as Nebraska starting with excellent field position. 

"We need to clean some things up coverage-wise," Sarkisian said. "But at the end of the day we've done some really cool things on special teams. Would I like more consistency? Sure. That's all part of the process."

Cleaning up special teams gaffes was indeed part of Sarkisian's entire first-year process.

USC dealt with an injury to its long snapper, which forced Kris Albarado to punt at or near midfield for much of Pac-12 play. Placekicker Andre Heidari also battled through injury, and coverage was a repeated issue, as opponents ran punts back 20-plus yards four times and 40-plus yards three times. 

The arrival of more reinforcements this offseason should help. 

"When we get more depth I think we will become even better on special teams," Sarkisian said.

Consistent Run-Pass Balance

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USC put together four straight games with at least 200 rushing yards midway through 2014. Yet, as Kessler began to cook in late October and into November, USC's run game production tapered off. 

The Trojans finished with four consecutive games of 100, 127, 79 and 62 rushing yards, respectively, before finally breaking loose for 205 against Notre Dame. 

While Kessler's prolific passing buoyed USC down the stretch, the loss at Boston College—in which the Trojans gained just 20 yards on the ground—proved that this is a team that cannot thrive on the pass alone. 

"Issues in the running game, we need to get fixed and fixed quickly," Sarkisian said in November. "I think we're at our best when we're a balanced football team, so that will be a point of emphasis of ours moving forward." 

The run and pass working in tandem is symbiotic. Outgoing running back Javorius "Buck" Allen said when Kessler is moving the ball well, it makes the job of the ball-carriers "very easy." 

Likewise, Kessler's job is easier when defenses must honor the run as well as the pass. 

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com.