2007 Game 11:  USC Versus Arizona State - Defense Notes Date - November 22, 2007 Location - Tempe, Az. Result - USC 44 - ASU 24 Here are some updates on the 2007 edition of the USC defense after the ASU game. This was a nice victory for the Trojans and with only two games remaining you can get a better sense of where this unit will fall historically in several categories. (Note: The following data is all from the NCAA's CFB web site for Division I football statistics and the 2007 defense figures are all year to date numbers as of today. The all time leading performances for the Pete Carroll era are highlighted in black for completed seasons.  To the right is a column with the current team's NCAA rank so you can see where it is relatively strong and were it ranks relatively weak.) Category 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 YTD NCAA Rank Rush Yards Per Game 83.2 60.2 79.4 130.5 91.1 85.3 #4 Rush Yards Per Carry 2.8 1.8 2.6 3.8 3.0 2.5 #4 Pass Yards Per Game 201.8 276.2 199.9 230.4 204.7 181.8 #11 Pass Yards Per Completion 11.6 11.5 10.6 11.1 11.1 9.7 N/A* Pass Completion % Allowed 49.8% 55.0% 53.8% 59.7% 54.6% 54.3% N/A* Total Yardage Defense 284.9 336.4 279.3 360.9 295.8 267.1 #2 Scoring Defense 18.5 18.4 13.0 22.8 15.2 16.7 #6 Sacks 43 55 50 32 35 36 (42) #9 Tackles For Loss 96 126 120 73 87 77 (91) #27 Fumbles Recovered 19 20 16 16 11 11 (13) #38 Interceptions 17 22 22 22 11 9 (10) #93 3rd Down Defense % 27.6% 38.8% 28.0% 36.5% 38.7% 33.1% #19 *Not available in any easy format Note: Figures inside ( ) indicate simple projections over a 13 game season. The Trojan rush defense improved from last week as Arizona Stated generated just 16 net yards rushing. 40 yards were subtracted due to six sacks in the game by USC. Overall rush defense ranks #4 in the country but does not look like it will reach the level established by the 2003 team. Pass yardage defense is now at 181.8 yards per game and looks like it could set a new low benchmark for the Pete Carroll era. Currently it ranks 11th in the country. Total yardage defense is now at 267.1 yards per game year to date and still ranks second in the country behind just Ohio State. That total yardage level is just under the lowest mark of the Pete Carroll era by a dozen yards and could set a new benchmark. USC had six sacks and 10 TFL's in the game to move it higher in both of these rankings. After a slow start the sacks in particular are picking up nicely. With two good final games it might reach the level of the 2002 USC squad but will not threaten the 50 sack levels of 2003 or 2004. How Arizona State Scored Here is a quick breakdown of how ASU scored. Drive Starting Point Points Comment Long field scoring drives 10 One long TD drive of 74 yards and one long FG drive of 70 yards Short field scoring drives 7 One short 20 yard TD after blocking a USC punt. Direct scores by the defense or special teams 7 USC allowed its first kick return of the season. Totals 24 USC Base Defense Schemes / ASU Formation / Charles Barkley's Head Arizona State almost exclusively uses a one back offense as Dennis Erickson has throughout the majority of his career. Here are several that were used in the game. Here is a one back set on first and 10 with 3 WR's (Trips) left. ASU ran on the play for a short gain. Here is a 3WR set spread (2x1) with the QB in Shotgun. Pass completed over the middle for first down. Here is the 3 WR formation with QB under center. On first and 10 USC aligned this way with the safety giving a cushion of 10 yards. It was a run play stuffed for a two yard loss. Here is the same formation on 2nd and 12 and USC brought the DB's up closer in coverage. It was a out pass play to the right sideline completed for a few yard gain. USC Rush Defense The USC rush defense played very well in the game for the most part. Only 16 yards rushing were allowed on 35 carries for 0.5 yard average. In reality ASU rushed for another 40 yards but that amount was subtracted off due to the six sacks on Rudy Carpenter.  Here is the first sack in the game of Carpenter by Sedrick Ellis. From behind you can see Sedrick lined up on a direct shade or zero technique on the center #76. On the snap the center blocks left and the RG #63 has to try and down block Ellis to help out. Sedrick is too quick though for this to work and is through the hole before the QB even gets fully turned. Realizing he is in trouble Carpenter attempts to move sideways... ...but it is too late and Ellis is too quick. The result is the first sack of the game. For this little pose Ellis drew a 15 yard penalty and ASU continued the drive to score a touchdown. Pete Carroll is right...there is something fishy going on with the referees in the Pac-10 and all the penalties on USC. Lawrence Jackson was of course the star of the game in the sack department with four for 22 yards. Here was the first sack by Lawrence that came on a critical 4th down and 1 yard play. The game was still tied at 17-17 and ASU appeared to be driving to take the lead midway though the second quarter.  ASU lined up in its 3 WR (2x1) formation with the QB under center. The Sun Devils planned to take a shot down field it appeared and not just run for the 1st down. USC did not blitz but still the pocket quickly collapsed up the middle and from the sides. On the backside Lawrence Jackson got to him first as if unblocked. Carpenter went down and this ended the ASU drive. USC scored a field goal on the next drive and the scoring gap only widened after this point. Rush Yards Allowed YTD YTD the USC rush defense is holding pretty steady as noted above. The two big exceptions this season have been the Oregon game and the Cal game. USC Pass Defense The USC pass defense did fairly well limiting Rudy Carpenter and ASU to 22 of 31 passes for 243 yards. Carpenter did complete a high percentage of his passes but was also sacked six times on pass plays that are not captured in the statistics above. Instead the NCAA puts those plays in the rushing statistics. USC did allow a couple big pass plays in the game and smaller ones as well. I'll highlight two below. ASU Screen Play Example On first and 10 ASU lined up in its normal 3WR formation with the TE to the single split end side. The play was a little screen pass / delay to the RB out of the back field. The two USC LB's on the play get picked up by ASU lineman and an alley is created to the left as containment is lost on the play. Eventually the RB is caught after a nice gain but unfortunately USC gets called for face mask as well on the play. ASU Big 42 Yard Pass Play This was the biggest pass play surrendered by USC in the contest. ASU was in its 3WR formation (2x1) with the QB in Shotgun. The route was a simple little curl or in route completed to McGaha versus Cary Harris. It should have been stopped for a 10 yard gain. Terrell Thomas takes a bad angle and the ASU WR's make some nice confusion / traffic in the middle. Shareece Wright has another shot at him a few yards later but also gets faked on the play. Cary Harris gets blocked again on the play around the 30 yard line. Finally down near the 15 the WR is tackled after a 42 yard gain. Overall YTD here is a  year to date look at the USC pass defense in terms of yards allowed, completion percentage allowed, YPA, and YPC. USC Interceptions & Fumbles USC produced one fumble but generated no interceptions on defense in the game. The squad currently ranks 82nd in the nation in turnover margin which is still the lowest of the Pete Carroll era. Sacks & TFL's Trend USC has picked up 16 sacks in the last three games this season coming mostly in just two games. USC had 22 sacks n the eight games preceding the nice spike in output the past couple of weeks. Another half dozen or so would be nice versus UCLA. Other Notes and Reflections At the eleven game point the USC defense has held up well for the most part. On average it is a fine overall defense ranking #2 in the country behind only Ohio State in terms of yardage. Unlike the great USC Pete Carroll defenses of 2002-2004 however it has not produced many turnovers or scores. This is the first season since Pete Carroll arrived that I can recall with no TD's scored by either the defense or special teams. That has got to be something that is keeping the coaching staff awake at nights. Pass interceptions in particular are the lowest of the Pete Carroll era which is surprising given all the talent in the secondary. Special teams play for USC also had a big couple of let downs against Arizona State as well. The first mistake was the kick off return allowed on the opening drive to ASU. The second mistake was on the block punt. Mistakes like these are often the difference in close games. Let's hoped the are cleaned up and eliminated for the remainder of the season.