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Final one. In 11p, SC gets WR Feaster the ball again on a Riley staple: PA tunnel screen. Feater does a good job of not losing momentum while going down to get the low pass. The money block comes from C Raymond. Incredible athleticism to cover that much ground and strength to drive his man once he arrives:

Again, in 12p SC calls a screen. This one to RB Wormley. Watch how long the delay is before LT Paige and LG Miller burst out. Fearless play from Maiava as well, putting his body on the line to sell the fake. Wormley is a dynamic back after the catch:

A lot of (deserved) heat has been put on Lincoln Riley but one thing you can't question is the dude is probably the best screen designer in CFB. Washington was doing a good job effecting Maiava on Saturday so to slow the rush LR got in his bag. In 12p, Riley gets to a shallow screen to WR Boobie Feaster. Good field awareness from young Feaster to get behind the LOS before catching it.

Players that stood out on Saturday: EDGE Cam Crawford DT Jahkeem Stewart LB Elijah Newby LB Ta'mere Robinson CB Chasen Johnson NB Alex Graham WR Boobie Feaster RB Shahn Alston LT Elijah Paige TE Carson Tabaracci

CONCLUSIONS Overall, I think this game had far more to be encouraged by than discouraged by. I'm not worried about the USC Offense. As WR Mosley and TE Bowman get back healthy, this O-line continues to settle in, and hopefully QB Maiava returns to form, this offense has the chance to be elite. That starts with eliminating massive, game changing, self-inflicted wounds. The good news about self-inflicted wounds, however, is that they are in your control. The speed and efficiency of USC's ability to fix those costly mistakes will determine the ceiling of this unit. On Defense, I think USC has found its identity. If bringing pressure consistently means getting beat deep a couple times I can live with that. What I can’t live with is dink and dunk, 1000 paper cuts. Get after somebody, come out throwing haymakers. If they beat you, so be it. I loved the fact that GP was willing to blitz time and time again, that he used his extensive personnel in advantageous situations, and that he was willing to trust his cover CBs in press man. We all know this team is not perfect but if USC can get out of its own way and the coaching staff can pull the potential from this squad, the Trojans will be a force to be reckoned with. If Lincoln Riley can do it, he has a playoff team; if he can't, he'll be out of a job. At some point your $100M coach has to be a difference maker, the time is now. See you all next week. ✌️

On the second to last play of the game, GP goes back to the well with double mug blitz. I previously posted the All-22 but here is another angle from the TV copy:

Here's another exotic pressure. This time SC shows a Quarters look presnap, rolling to what looks like cover 6 (deep half to the boundary, quarters to the field). On the snap, EDGE Crawford drops to the boundary and NB Graham blitzes from the other side. Crawford's one step in before dropping forces the LT to commit to him, giving DT Stewart just enough time to beat his man and create instant pressure in the middle. It is not an understatement to say he is the best DT USC has had since Leonard Williams. He forces QB Williams right into Graham on the blitz and he brings him down for the sack:

I've discussed a bit about the increased frequency of press man on Saturday. While GP is definitely increasing his aggression with press, I do think SC has the personnel at CB to do it. CBs Williams and Johnson have been very good thus far and allow SC to be more aggressive with when and how they deploy press man. Here is a great example. Although CB Johnson gets beat off the line, he uses his speed to catch up to the WR and ends up stride for stride with him down the sideline. While there was a bit of tugging towards the end, but when the ball arrives, Johnson is in the WRs hip pocket and releases his hand from the jersey. This is a great example of how SC's CBs should ride the line perfectly between physicality and a penalty:

Here is another mug look that SC had success with on Saturday. Here you have double mug blitz. Again you see LBs Newby and Walker, with the DTs Abasiri and Stewart on the inside and EDGEs Shelby and Fischer on the outside. On the snap, Walker and Newby blitz, forcing the RB to pickup Newby 1 on 1. After forcing a commit, Walker falls back to hook/curl QB spy. Newby makes light work of the RB and forces pressure on QB Williams that he somehow evades. Nice work here:

Here is another blitz look I liked. SC comes out in one high, with SAF Pierce walked down into the box. Pause on the presnap and watch NB Graham's eyes. He looks like he's coming on yet another NB blitz, the RT thinks so for sure (look at his head and movement at the snap). Instead, Patterson brings pressure from the other side, creating a stunt with EDGE Fisher on the inside, allowing LB Bryant to loop outside untouched. QB Williams makes a nice play here, but the design forced him out of the pocket and off his spot:

Here is an example again from base. Notice again here the personnel switch at LB with Walker and Newby. Also notice the lack of cushion the Washington WRs are getting. This is press man all day and it shows a lot of trust in the Trojan CBs. The lack of easy access throwing windows allows EDGE Cam Crawford to do his thing. This was his best game as a Trojan and he was creating havoc on nearly every down. Watch here as he totally dominates LT Greene and gets instant pressure on QB Williams. After this, Washington sat Greene for the rest of the game:

On Washington's next possession we see a different look. Personnel wise, SC is still in the standard 4-2-5 but this time the alignment is different with a mugged front. DT Abasiri kicks out along with EDGE Wafle to a wide nine tech, DT Stewart plays head up zero tech, EDGE Crawford is stood up in the A gap, and LBs Walker and Newby are also stood up in both B gaps. On the snap, SC looks like it's bringing the house, forcing QB Williams to bring his eyes down almost right away. DT Stewart commands a double team, allowing EDGE Crawford to win inside, DT Abasiri to win outisde, and EDGE Wafle to compress the pocket with a bull rush. Meanwhile both LBs have dropped from their rush and picked up a QB spy. As QB Williams floods to the field LB Walker does a great job of using his athleticism to close the gap. Crucially CB Hill is sticky in coverage and breaks up the pass. This is an example of all three themes, a lot of good here:

On the first 3rd down of the game, SC comes out in a base look. 4-2-5 with a two high shell. Its man across the board with SAF Pierce playing the deep third. On the snap, EDGE Crawford abuses FR LT Kodi Greene and creates instant pressure. Here is where we see theme number one emerge. Inserting more athletic LBs in Walker and Newby to play hook/curl to QB spy, forces Williams to throw instead of run. LB Newby does a great job of both playing the QB and feeling the receiver behind him and forces Williams to try to throw overtop which he misses. Really well done by the SC Defense here:

How did the Trojans do that? There were three major changes on Saturday that allowed SC to play much better on defense: 1) situational personnel changes 2) blitz frequency 3) press man coverage

I will start this segment by issuing a one-time caveat: Washington has struggled mightily on offense this year. That said, they still have one of the most talented QBs in the nation and are still more athletic than most Big 10 teams on the outside. The 21 points the Trojans surrendered is not indicative of how well SC played. Was it perfect? No. But when it mattered SC did what it hasn't done all year: get off the field.

I also have to point this one out because I think it was the single most important play of the game outside of the strip sack. On 3rd and long, the Trojans are down 21-10. Convert or die. UW blitzes Maiava and he calmly delivers a strike to WR Williams in the seam. Notice how his feet, strong base, strong throw. With Maiava, the story is in his footwork:

Here is how good Jayden can be when he's under control and uses his footwork. On the snap SC lines up in 11p disguised as 12p, with Williams as the WR/TE. The PA fake forces the LBs to step up and Maiava layers the ball beautifully, to WR Williams for a big gain. Watch Jayden's feet here, strong base, athletic position, and uses his back foot to drive this ball. If he doesn't do that its underthrown and the LB undercuts it for an INT. Really good from Jayden here:

Right after this beautiful dart run design, Riley dials up a PA pass on the very next play. Here you get the same TE insert motion and this time LG Miller pulls. The defense buys the fake and Maiava has enough time to find WR Dixon-Wyatt down the hash for a TD (still don't know why Maiava is fading away here). However, a penalty brings this one back and the drive ends in no points. I know this one killed Lincoln Riley:

Here is a great example in a goal to go situation. The Trojans come out in 12p, heavy to the boundary side. Against a team that loves to pull as much as SC does, whenever a TE does so the LB or DB responsible is taught to flow with them as thats typically the run direction. Here however, Riley pitches backward, running double split zone to the weak side and RB Jordan walks in for the TD. Getting slightly more creative in the run attack could be massively beneficial for the Trojan offense: