FOOTBALL

Is Defensive Scheme Hurting USC?

Here’s what a former USC player said about the Trojans’ defense:

“USC runs a 2-gap defense, which means the inside linebackers have to take on offensive linemen. They are big guys against teams like Notre Dame, that pound you.

“You have to have personnel to plug in, like the Raiders had with Matt Millen. Against the wide-open teams, yes our inside linebackers can run.”

This ties in with what I’ve said since the spring: John Houston is an undersized middle linebacker and it doesn’t really make sense to force him to play there.

23 thoughts on “Is Defensive Scheme Hurting USC?”

    1. Can you imagine what Alabama’s d-coordinator, Pete Golding, could do with USC’s players?
      #…[IfHeCouldGetOverTheShockOfSwitchingToThePac12,ThatIs]….

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    2. Number 10 on defense is a tackling liability. He just does NOT make enough tackles especially during crucial plays. Off this subject, I will NEVER understand why they are NOT feeding Stepp the ball 15-25 times per game!?

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  2. Anyone that knows football and has watched this team play, knows that this defense is NOT a 2-Gap defense. The former player you talked to must have never played a snap…

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  3. meanwhile…Washington vs Oregon seems like a Pac12 game one must watch; after all hellton states SC will be in Pac12 title game and he is always right…just wait ’til Nov…like last year.
    ps
    I do know SC has too many gaps on defense and offense.

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      1. could be…
        Pac 12 chnl like SC game I get it on Dish 3 hrs after Oregon Wash and 3 hrs before SC…if I can stay awake will be entertaining…Utah Oregon still in top 15…I think

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      2. ASU and Utah play in the south, the UDUB Oregon game means noting to SC fans, and I doubt it will be much of a game, but who knows, it is the PAC WAC 12

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  4. That’s the point former USC linebacker Riki Ellison made on social media. These former players can run circles around Clay Helton, and his coaching staff with their knowledge of the game. Neither Ed Orgeron, or Helton had true coordinators duty’s on their resume, when they were hired to their current positions. But Orgeron was smart enough to know, he had to surround himself with top assistant coaches, to makeup for his lack of experience in certain areas. That’s the difference between a 6-0 nationally ranked team, and a 3-3 one that’s struggling .

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  5. Good point. [Also watch any LSU game and tell me how many times Joe Burrow has to watch the sidelines for TWENTY seconds to get the FINAL version of the 3rd down play]……

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      2. I’ll take all those flaws knowing how much he loved USC and how well he is coaching now.

        #EdOIsMoreOfATrojanThanAnyAdministratorInHeritageHallRightNow

        #PatHadenBelievedIn’USCkindaguy’AndStillSelectedSark-WhatDoesThatTellYou?

        #EdO>PatHaden&SteveSarkisian&SteveLopesCombined

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    2. When Ed O beats Alabama I’ll be convinced and I like Ed O. But he has yet to beat them or keep the game competitive. Also, I realize he was heated but he quickly showed that SC team what a cry baby does when he doesn’t get his way by storming off without coaching them for 1 more game or even letting them know why he’s so angry and at least addressing the players one last time. And think about this…..Ed O would have had Helton as his OC.

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      1. Yes, he did storm off but in my book that is not an unforgivable sin.

        He was ticked because he got passed over for someone not qualified at all – Steve Sarkisian. Or as they called him in Seattle – Seven Win Sark.

        And, had he got the job it’s no guarantee he would have kept Helton. Maybe he goes out and gets another OC.

        USC did EdO wrong more than EdO did USC wrong. That whole incident is on USC, Pat Haden and Steve Lopes.

        #I’llTakeEdOAndHisNo.2RankingRightNowOverSoftHelton’sB.S.ExcusesAndClearMismanagementofTheProgramAndGames

        #HeltonIsSoSoftEdOCouldJustLookAtHeltonAndMakeHimCry

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      2. I would take Ed O over Helton any day also, but i want to shoot for the stars this time.

        ⭐=Urban Meyer

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  7. Something to ponder that is significant relating to AD’s and coaching staff.

    Yahoo’s Pete Thamel examines the hottest coaching seats in the FBS and includes two in the Pac-12: USC, which is expected to make a change, and UCLA, which isn’t. Regarding the former, Thamel notes the immediate matter of identifying an athletic director: “USC certainly has strong athletic department revenue and robust booster support. But many of the prominent athletic directors that have declined interest already have pointed to the Pac-12’s struggling television network and lagging revenue distribution as reasons why the job scares them. Hard to chase places like Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma when your revenue from the conference is nearly half of the revenue of schools you are supposed to compete with.”

    • The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman surveys the landscape — not the jobs that are likely to open but the potential candidates for the vacancies. Feldman’s list is 23 names deep and includes Group of Five head coaches and Power Five coordinators/assistants. The Pac-12 has two representatives, both from the same team.

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    1. My guess is USC doesn’t need a coach right now who gets “scared” when he’s informed of dwindling Pac 12 television revenue….
      #HireMeyer…HeWantsTheJob

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      1. MG,
        I think Thamel’s context puts a Funding emphasis to potential AD’s.

        Of course hire Meyer…if SC can offer the right package and I’m not talking money solely for Meyer. He will no doubt want a sustained commitment to resources, personnel and autonomy to make his plan work.

        The self absorbed BoT has to be bright enough to realize ANY top tier Coach is going to require that. Maybe that’s the reason we have what we have…

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    2. Part of the reason with the struggling television network and lagging revenue distribution is because the conference made a fundamental flaw in analyzing interest in the conference.

      Fanbase interest in the Pac-12 is simply not comparable to the SEC or Big 10 or Big 12. Pac-12 teams have great support for their individual schools but are not as rabid for the other teams as it is in the SEC or the Big 10. Fans from those schools will watch games from their conference even when their school is not playing. If your Pac-12 school isn’t playing in the game, not likely that an L.A. student will sit around and watch WSU vs. Colorado. There is no overbroad interest in the conference.

      They put the TV package together thinking that Arizona kids might get together to watch OSU vs. UW but that was nothing more than a pipe dream. The Pac – 12 set their expectations too high and then figured out too late that no one cared about their games outside of the teams playing.

      #ThereIsNothingWrongWithBeingRabidAboutYourSchoolButIt’sAskingAlotToHaveEveryoneRootForTheWholeConference

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    3. Meyer is going to ask for total program control and he’s likely not going to get it. No way he’s going to let Heritage Hall – especially an idiot like Senior Associate Athletic Director Steve Lopes – approve who he wants to bring on as assistants. Or even a guy like Lopes tell him who he should bring on. Can you imagine Lopes telling Urban he needs to keep John Baxter or Tim Drevno?

      #TheMeyerCandidacyIsGoingToSucceedOrFailOnProgramControl,NotMoney

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      1. Marvienna,

        You make too many relevant points, you’re using reason, logic coupled with reality. SC has far too long held celebrity status in LA. In the last ten years that has diminished to where SC is no longer the Golden Child of LA and if the current embedded “Good Ole’ Boys” continue their ways, all the Alums and past fans can bask in will be, The Legacy of Years Gone By.

        Pretty bleak if you ask me.

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