2007 Game 11:  USC vs. Arizona State - Offense Notes Date - November 22, 2007 Location - Tempe, Az. Result: USC 44 - ASU 24 Here are some details about how USC scored in the game versus the Arizona State Sun Devils. Technically all of USC's points came on drives starting on their side of the field but in reality five of the eight scoring drives started in between USC's 45 to 50 yard line. Normally in the past that sort of consistent field position has come through turnovers but not so much in this game. USC forced only one turnover on a fumble recovery on the Rudy Carpenter sack play. The favorable field position was mainly done through good kick returns, solid overall defense, and consistent offense. How USC Scored Drive Starting Point Points Comment (Starting Field Position) Long field scoring drives 44 5 Long Field TD Drives (49, 46, 46, 47, 29 Yard Line  3 FG Drives (30, 39, 45) Short field scoring drives 0 0 Short field drives Direct scores by the defense or special teams 0 No direct scores. Totals 44 5 TD's & 3 FG's in total. As evidenced above USC had a very productive game in terms of long field scoring points. However only one of the drives for TD was fairly long starting on the USC 29 yard and one of the FG drives started on the 30 yard line. The rest started all much nearer to mid-field where it is easier to be aggressive with less risk. On the negative side the defense forced only one turnover in the game. USC still ranks just 82nd in the nation in turnover margin. Fortunately the return game was fairly strong and the defense generally kept ASU pinned down. For the game USC started drives on the 49, 30, 46, 20, 28, 39, 46, 45, 47, 29, 18, and 20 yard line. USC was not really "backed up" much in the game or forced to play conservatively. Also on a positive note USC had zero turnovers on offense in the game for the first time this season. These factors all positively affected the game. Updated YTD Trend For LF Points Here is an updated look at how USC is doing this season in terms of long field scoring points. This game pulled the average back up two points to approximately where it has been five of the past six seasons (except for 2005). So most years the points differential comes on short field scores of one kind or another. The 2003 squad however also featured a defense and special teams unit that scored 10 touchdowns that year directly by themselves. This year's defense and special teams so far have scored zero by way of contrast. USC Scoring Per Game & Turnover Trend Here is an updated look at USC's scoring this season on a per game basis. The chart below also depicts the number of turnovers per game. Take care of the ball on offense as Pete Carroll notes and the offense generally tends to do better. Here are some stats I compile after every game as well for comparison. Key Stats Check Category USC Comment Red Zone Efficiency 100% USC was 6 for 6 in the red zone and had two scores from outside the redzone. First Down (+4) Efficiency 59% USC was a healthy 59% on +4 yards on first down plays gaining 4 yards or more on 23 of 39 opportunities. Turnovers Lost/Gained +1 USC forced one fumble in the game on a Rudy Carpenter sack. Big Plays (+10 on runs) 2 Only two big runs of over 10 yards in the game for USC. Each was 12 yards long. Big Plays (+15 on pass) 10 There were 10 big passing plays in the game netting over 15 yards. However quite a few were shorter passes with very big yards after catch generated by the receivers. Overall Scoring Drive Conversion 75% USC scored on 8 of its 12 drives for a very healthy 75% conversion. Average Drive Length  40 yards Average drive length was just over 40 yards or higher than average for most years. Scoring Drive Length 51 yards Scoring drive length was just 51 yards or roughly average for most years. 3rd Down Conversion 50% USC was 8 of 16 on third down conversions in the game. 4th Down Conversion 50% USC was 1 of 2 on 4th down attempts. The last one was a run play attempting to help run out the clock. Sacks Generated 6 Sacks USC produced six sacks in the game subtracting 40 yards off the ASU rush attack. Tackles For Loss 10 TFL's  USC produced 10 tackles for loss in the game. USC Overall Offensive Stats Plays Number Yards Per Play Average Run Plays 37 133 3.6 Pass Plays 40 375 9.4 Total Plays 77 508 6.6 Passing Game Related USC got off to a hot start passing on six of the first seven plays of the game and 13 of the first 15 plays in the game.  ASU primarily plays one scheme in the secondary known as Cover 4 or Quarters coverage. It looks similar to Cover 2 pre-snap but is played differently in terms of responsibility (see image below). The two safeties line up slightly less deep than Cover 2 and and unlike Cover 2 play down field quickly in run support. This action helps get 9 men in the box rapidly on run defense. In terms of weaknesses it does not cover the underneath areas as well as the five players do in Cover 2. The outside linebackers are often responsible for covering the flats to the outside which makes it critical to stretch the defense horizontally with the passing game. As such Cover 4 is susceptible to giving up plays to the areas just outside the LB's which is where USC focused much of its passing attack. Cover 4 is also essentially a man for man scheme once multiple WR's get more than 10 yards down field. USC had success down field in one on one situations as well. Cover 4 Picture / Quarters Coverage Passing Yards & Completion % Chart In terms of yardage USC was 26 of 40 passes for 375 yards. If the stat I heard on TV was correct then about 265 of those were yards after the catch however and not just down field passing. Credit the wide receivers for effective route running as well as good game planning to get people in open spots versus the ASU coverage schemes. There were also fewer drops in the game and better ball placement as well it appeared. The 375 yards passing was the highest amount this year surpassing the Stanford game by eleven yards. YPA / YPC Chart Big Pass Plays There were 10 big pass plays in the game for 245 yards of passing. There were too many big plays to highlight so I'll just pick a couple and put them in pictures below. Two will show a couple of the Fred Davis catch and run plays and two will highlight deeper seam passes down the middle to Patrick Turner and Ronald Johnson. Fred Davis 25 Yard Catch & Run On this play USC motioned Fred Davis across the formation from right to left with twin receivers to the left as well. John David Booty faked the hand off to the running back on first and ten and rolled left. Fred Davis after showing run block leaked out to the left while the twin receivers streaked down field taking their defenders with them. The result was open field and lots of room to run after catch. Finally Fred Davis was tackled after a 25 yard gain for a very good gain on the play. As the TV announcers noted though it was a busted play by the two ASU defenders charged with keeping containment. They both cheated towards run and lost their assignment. Still a nice play. Fred Davis 26 Yard Catch & Run The second big Fred Davis play came on a 3rd and 6 where USC motioned to a bunch formation left and TE Davis right. Here you can see that it became a standard "mesh" play where two receivers cross underneath. The other two WR's clear out the secondary by running deeper. The QB just has to pick on these plays depending upon which player is more open after the "mesh" in the middle of the field. Either would have worked but he chose Fred Davis now on the left hash mark. Fred's cover person was out of position after the mesh and now has to try to bring him down from behind. He makes an attempt and fails with his arm tackle down around the legs of Fred Davis. Ten yards later the DB's recover and bring Davis down after a 26 yard gain on a nice play. Patrick Turner 29 Yard Reception This was on a first and 10 play from ASU's 31 yard line. From here USC is always very aggressive over the years. The I Formation is strong run formation and here Havili motions from the strong side to the weak side. In the second picture you an see the play action and pass protection scheme. In the third picture Booty has no pressure at all and plenty of time to scan down field. As you can see in the result Patrick Turner was wide open on his deep seam route down the middle for a nice 29 yard gain. Ronald Johnson 33 Yard Reception Here is a four shot sequence of the Ronald Johnson reception on the very next drive. Again it comes from the ASU 35 yard line where USC is known to takes it shots down field. In the second frame you can see how the play action works momentarily to hold the safety players from retreating backwards at the snap until after the play fake is complete. Booty rolls right with plenty to time to find Ronald Johnson open down field for a nice 33 yard gain. The two big down field shots shown here worked due to a) the advantageous field position, b) the ASU respect for the run game of USC on the play action, c) the excellent protection afforded the QB, and d) good route running by the wide receivers. No drops or overthrows on these plays this week as well. Small factors we often take too much for granted. Pass Histogram Here was the shape of the passing histogram in the game for USC. As you can see due to the impressive YAC numbers the yardage totals skew to the right for this game with 10 passes of 15 yards or more. Running Game There were not a lot of running game highlights in the game for USC. Only two big runs of greater than 10 yards were recorded. However as you can see below there were a lot of good quality runs in the 3 to 9 yard range that helped keep the chains moving and the defense honest respecting the play action passes, etc. USC Rush Histogram Big Runs There were only two big runs in the game of over 10 yards and one of them came on a pass that was ruled a lateral to Vidal Hazelton. The 12 yard gain by Hazelton came on a 3rd and 2 play just across the fifty yard line. USC line up in a bunch formation to the left in the first picture. USC runs a lot of different plays from the bunch formation including toss sweep on 3rd and short situations. This time as you can see in the second picture it was a lateral to Hazelton with the two other WR's releasing to block down field. This isolates Vidal one on one versus the 3rd remaining defensive back on the play. In the 3rd picture it looks like the defender has the angle and will bring Hazelton down near the yellow line. However Vidal makes a nice cut back inside and bursts through the gap so quickly that he gains a nice 12 yards on a very simple play. The USC offense just has not had this little spark since Reggie Bush left. I hope that next year and beyond we will see more of this from players like Vidal Hazelton and of course from Joe McKnight and Ronald Johnson. Offensive by Downs & Run versus Pass Downs Runs Passes Total 1st 16 20 36 2nd 14 9 23 3rd 6 10 16 4th 1 1 2 37 40 77 The end result was a balanced game in terms of play selection. However as noted above the majority of the runs came after the first quarter had ended in the game. USC was bent on passing early in the game and found much success in that department. Other Notes & Reflections: This was obviously a good win for USC and helps put the Trojans within reach of a BCS bowl game. Coupled with Oregon's loss the upcoming UCLA game now looms as both bragging rights for the city as well as for the Pac-10 berth in the Rose Bowl. UCLA's rush defense ranks 15th in the nation at 104.9 yards per game (roughly the same as the Arizona State unit) and will present a solid front. The secondary for the Bruins gives up 236.9 yards per game on average but also makes its share of interceptions with 12 so far on the season. I don't think yards will come as easily as they did versus Arizona State since this is essentially like a bowl game for the Bruins and chance to play spoiler again. Unlike last season however a few things on offense appear to be working better for the USC. In general the Trojans have been much more effective running the ball especially when needed to pick up key short yardage first downs. This helps to keep the opposition from cheating to much one way or the other. Secondly John David Booty is healthy and mobile unlike the tail end of last season where he was somewhat banged up. Third UCLA ranks high in sacks again this year (12th in the country) but is not as fierce as last years unit that finished ranked 6th in the nation. The reason is that last season with Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis UCLA could bring pressure off both ends which forced USC to keep backs and or a TE in for protection on many plays. This year only Bruce Davis off one end appears to be having a very big year with 9 sacks and as a result pass protection schemes will be slightly easier. Fortunately blocking by USC's RB's is also improved it appears which should allow more time for the quarterback to throw when needed. Lastly and perhaps most importantly I suspect that no one is looking past the game given the result last year and all the upsets that have occurred this season. USC should win but rivalry games often have a way to staying uncomfortably close. I expect this one to be no different.