2011 USC Football: Trojans Face Scorching ASU Defense

Each week, USC football fans have to listen to coach Lane Kiffin explain why this week, the competition is even better than all the preceding teams USC has faced. Minnesota was good, but rebuilding. Utah was really good, but hurt. Syracuse was good, but even more put together. Now, this week’s game against Arizona State is the ‘no seriously, this is really the team that will challenge USC—seriously, even more than all the others team du jour.

Unfortunately, that’s about right.

ASU is outscoring their opponents 33-20. USC holds roughly the same two-touchdown advantage over their opponents, 27-13. Digging a bit deeper, USC's defense allows 72 percent first downs by passing; ASU allows only 46 percent by passing. With three talented receivers on the ASU offense, that 72 percent could prove to be a huge headache for Trojan fans tonight in Tempe’s Sun Devil Stadium.

There’s a similar imbalance on the USC offensive side of the ball—Troy earns only 37 percent of their first downs by rushing; ASU has a seemingly more balanced attack at 52 percent rushing first downs. So far this season, the Trojans have had zero punts returned against them. ASU has good special teams as well: the two punts they have covered have averaged -2 yards in returns.

With respect to turnovers, both teams are averaging one fumble lost per game. However, Sun Devil QB Brock Osweiler has thrown three picks to Trojan Matt Barkley’s lone interception.

So while ASU is as good as or better than USC in all three phases of the game, patterns are emerging for both teams.

USC likes to (some say has to) rely much more on the pass than the run as Matt Barkley has a talented corps of receivers at his disposal, and the still-gelling group at offensive line for USC seems to be handling pass blocking better than the intricacies of run blocking at this point in the season.

However, while on the surface ASU appears to be a more balanced team, they are not. Statistically, the ASU offense is within 1 percent of USC in the amount of passing yardage compared to total team yardage—USC is at 69 percent passing yards, ASU, 68 percent.

So once again, just like every week before it, Week No. 4 in USC’s season asks the same questions:

1. Will the O-line protect Barkley against the most aggressive (and penalty-prone) defense the Trojans have faced all season? (ASU already has nine sacks; USC has only given up two.)
2. Which pass-reliant QB will perform better tonight—7 TD/3 INT Osweiler for ASU, or 9 TD/1 INT Barkley for USC?
3. Will the improving USC defense withstand the onslaught of yet another pass-happy offense?

USC fans feel just like head coach Lane Kiffin when he said of tonight’s ASU contest, “We just want to win that game and then get out of there.”