2007 Game 1 USC versus Idaho - Defense Notes Date - September 1, 2007 Location - LA Coliseum Result - USC 38 Idaho 10 Just like the offensive side of the game I am not too sure that we learned very much from this opening victory. Nebraska will be a much better indicator in two weeks. USC played the game somewhat under wraps on defense sticking to base schemes for the most part. I'll put up some pictures below. After watching the game tape Pete Carroll commented to the press that he saw some problems that concerned him and they'd work hard to fix those in practice. We won't get a good read on the defense for several games but I have a hard time believing that it will live up to all the hype placed upon it during the off season. (Note: I hope I am 100% wrong on that point.) To put things in perspective here are some of the lofty goals that the USC defense would have to match in order to stack up with the stellar defenses of 2002-2004 for example. Category 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 YTD Rush Yards Per Game 83.2 60.2 79.4 130.5 91.1 98.0 Rush Yards Per Carry 2.8 1.8 2.6 3.8 3.0 3.1 Pass Yards Per Game 201.8 276.2 199.9 230.4 204.7 155.0 Pass Yards Per Completion 11.6 11.5 10.6 11.1 11.1 9.7 Pass Completion % Allowed 49.8% 55.0% 53.8% 59.7% 54.6% 45.7% Total Yardage Defense 284.9 336.4 279.3 360.9 295.8 253.0 Scoring Defense 18.5 18.4 13.0 22.8 15.2 10.0 Sacks 43 55 50 32 35 2 (26) Tackles For Loss 96 126 120 73 87 9 (91) Fumbles Recovered 19 20 16 16 11 1 (13) Interceptions 17 22 22 22 11 0 (0) 3rd Down Defense % 27.6% 38.8% 28.0% 36.5% 38.7% 23.5% Note: The 2007 total is obviously just year to date. Figures inside ( ) indicate simple projections over a 13 game season. I highlighted the leading performance year in each category for previous seasons. As you can see most of the high marks came in either came in 2003 or 2004. None of the benchmarks came in 2006 or 2005 (with the exception of the interception total in '05). Most fans are far more interested in offense but it normally takes a top 10 scoring defense to win the national championship. This year is off to a good start in a couple of categories (pass completion %, total yardage, scoring defense, and 3rd down defense) but this has to be weighed against the caliber of the competition in game one versus Idaho. After the Nebraska game we'll have a much better feel for the team and what might be possible. On a discouraging note USC continues its performance slide in the areas of sacks, tackles for losses, and turnovers. These areas will all need to pick up if USC is to run the table and make it to the BCS Championship game. Here is a quick look at how Idaho scored. How Idaho Scored Drive Starting Point Points Comment Long field scoring drives 3 1 FG Drive (53 Yards) Short field scoring drives 7 1 TD Drive 39 Yards (After interception) Scores directly by the defense or special teams 0 Totals 10 1 TD and 1 FG in the game. USC could have easily only allowed 3 points this game. The interception by Mike McDonald allowed Idaho to score a late touchdown with a short field to work with. USC also dodged a bullet when Idaho missed a field goal after the Joe McKnight fumble deep in USC territory. The Trojan's special teams deserves a pat on the back for the blocked field goal in this game as well. USC Base Defense Schemes Opponents won't learn much studying this game film regarding USC schemes on defense. Just like on offense the Trojan coaching staff kept it fairly conservative and played things close to the vest. Most of the game USC played its signature Under Front which confuses so many fans and sports writers. Click here for Pete Carroll's presentation on the defense. Defenses are categorized by gap responsibility, technique alignment, and personnel by the coaches. USC has stuck primarily to a one gap scheme with players lined up in the 5 technique, 1 technique, 3 technique, and 5 technique spots on base downs perhaps 50% of the time. Last year Brian Cushing played a stand up end at one of the 5 technique spots which confused the media. Click here for pictures and details. It was the same scheme as always just with a stand up defensive end and not a true 2 gap 3-4 and erroneously reported in the press. Here USC has a DE at the top of the screen outside the left tackle in a 5 technique, a DT in a 3 technique on the guard, a 1 technique NT to the strong side of the formation and a 5 technique DE between the right tackle and the first tight end. SLB Brian Cushing drops down to cover the first TE and with the 2nd TE in this formation safety Kevin Ellison is down as well. But subtraction you can infer that USC was likely playing a form of Cover 1 in the secondary behind this alignment. On other plays with a more spread type formation and no TE on the line of scrimmage USC moved defensive end Lawrence Jackson further outside for pass rush. Since this opens up a run gap to his right the SLB moves back off the line of scrimmage and inside a couple steps. This gives it the more classic 4-3 look that most people and the media can recognize. Behind this front the Trojans played from a Cover 2 shell with different schemes (man under, zone, cover 2 pattern read, etc.) USC did align differently on a couple of plays but I didn't get any good pictures of them. On a couple of obvious passing downs there were only 3 down lineman and a higher number of pass defenders in the game. Also Sedrick Ellis did line up directly over the center on a couple of plays and play 2 gap football. This has all been done in the past and will be done again in the future. I'll look for better pictures next week. Normally ESPN has more cameras at the game and a few more end zone shots are taken which are ideal for identifying the exact alignment spots. USC Blitz When I re-watched the game I noticed that USC did blitz a fair amount and more than I initially thought they had. Idaho QB's went a combined 16 of 35 for 155 yards and a 45.7% completion percentage. That is a good result for USC's defense. On third down for the most part USC kept Idaho from moving the chains as the Vandal's only averaged 23.5% success rate. These would be very impressive numbers if USC can maintain them against the higher caliber passing teams in the Pac 10. I counted a total of 16 blitzes in the game depending upon how you define blitz. In the strictest sense it is only a true blitz when you rush one more person than the offense has blockers (e.g. rush 6 versus 5 in protection). I used the much, much looser definition to indicate when someone other than the defensive lineman rushed the QB. In several cases this only meant rushing 4 people as a linebacker blitzed and a DE (either Griffen or Moore for example) dropped into pass coverage. I won't put up the pictures of the blitz this week but they were a mixed combination of MLB solo blitzes, SLB & MLB blitzes, WLB & MLB Blitzes, as well as Corner & LB blitz schemes. Some of the more common ones are outlined by Pete Carroll here in this presentation. USC Rush Defense In total the Vandals ran for 32 times for 148 yards total but also lost 40 yards due to TFL's and Sacks. This nets out to 98 yards and 3.1 yards per carry the way the NCAA calculates run statistics. As usual USC played fairly well on run defense but gave up a few big run plays as they are prone to do the past couple of seasons. Here is a histogram of the runs by Idaho in the game that highlights this point. The real damage was done by Idaho on just 6 run plays that totaled 91 yards or 15.2 yards per carry. The longest went for 29 yards. It appeared that USC had several breakdowns in communication or gap responsibility coordination on these plays. I assume these were some of the problems that Pete Carroll caught after the game. Excluding these 6 runs USC allowed a total of 7 rush yards in the game. This is the nature of run defense with USC including last year. In general it is very stingy however it is prone to giving up a couple of big run plays on draws, delays, mis-direction, or when break downs occur. Idaho Big Run Play Example - 22 Yards 3rd down and 8 Yards. USC had NT Ellis in a zero technique on the center and two 3 technique lineman. One DE Griffen split wide for pass rush reasons and SLB Cushing dropped down the cover the TE. At the snap the RB is already starting to angle somewhat to the left. As you can see DE Griffen is coming hard from the weak side C gap to the offensive left side of the ball in pass rush mode. Sedrick Ellis commands a double team in the center of the line. Unfortunately DT Moala stunts into the weak side C gap where Griffen is rushing. I don't know if this was planned or a communication break down. Perhaps Griffen was supposed to twist around back behind into Moala's gap. Anyway this left the weakside B gap wide open. If this was a planned stunt as executed then the B gap responsibility should have shifted over to the linebacker. He did not move over until too late and is blocked on the play. So we are left wondering where the breakdown occurred within these three players Here the running back breaks through the gap and has clear field in front of him. #93 Griffen shows his recovery speed and almost brings down the back from behind. After a 22 yard gain the Idaho back is finally brought down by the free safety Taylor Mays.  USC Pass Defense The pass defense as noted above was fine from a statistical point of view. If USC can hold other teams to this level it would be a major accomplishment. However I suspect in reality that Idaho was not much of a challenge and we'll learn much more versus Nebraska. On a concerning note USC did not intercept a single pass in the game although one by Rey Maualuga was called back as the opponent was ruled down. Also Kevin Ellison just missed one on a nice batted away pass play in the secondary. USC will need turnovers like this in 2007 to help generate short field scoring opportunities for the offense just like it did in 2002-2004. Just like the run defense the USC pass defense was sturdy most of the game. Six pass plays accounted for over two thirds of the Idaho success in the game through the air. The chart above only shows completed pass plays an not all the attempts. We'd see a spike of 19 zero yard pass plays if all attempts were included in the chart. Stopping the types of passes completed is something the team will work on in practice. On another note while John David Booty had one passed batted down in the game the USC defense was busy batting down 3 passes in the game. Both are about average for USC compared to previous seasons. Other notes and reflections We will just have to wait until the Nebraska game to learn the capabilities of the defense. QB Sam Keller has faced USC before back in 2005 when he was starting for Arizona State. In that game he was 26 of 45 passes for 347 yards with 2 TD's. However he also threw five interceptions leading to several easy scores for USC and a come back win in the second half. I imagine USC will blitz a fair amount if he gets a hot hand or if the defensive line is unable to generate much pressure. Overall Idaho ran 67 plays for 253 yards and a 3.8 yards per play average. If the Trojans can maintain this level against stiffer competition as well as generate sacks and turnovers then the hype surrounding this unit may well be justified. We'll know one way or the other in a couple of games.