2007 Game 8:  USC Versus Oregon - Defense Notes Date - October 27, 2007 Location - Eugene, Oregon Result - USC 17 - Oregon 24 Here are some updates on the 2007 edition of the USC defense after the Oregon game. As I mentioned previously the team is doing well in many categories "on average". However it is not producing many big game changing plays like sacks, tackles for loss, forcing fumbles, or making interception. I have to imagine some of that is driving the coaching staff nuts as well. 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 this week I'll add 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 78.9 #7 Rush Yards Per Carry 2.8 1.8 2.6 3.8 3.0 2.5 #7 Pass Yards Per Game 201.8 276.2 199.9 230.4 204.7 184.1 #17 Pass Yards Per Completion 11.6 11.5 10.6 11.1 11.1 9.1 N/A* Pass Completion % Allowed 49.8% 55.0% 53.8% 59.7% 54.6% 54.9% N/A* Total Yardage Defense 284.9 336.4 279.3 360.9 295.8 263 #4 Scoring Defense 18.5 18.4 13.0 22.8 15.2 17.5 #15 Sacks 43 55 50 32 35 20 (33) #33 Tackles For Loss 96 126 120 73 87 49 (79.8) #67 Fumbles Recovered 19 20 16 16 11 9 (14) #30 Interceptions 17 22 22 22 11 6 (10) #96 3rd Down Defense % 27.6% 38.8% 28.0% 36.5% 38.7% 31.9% #32 *Not available in any easy format Note: Figures inside ( ) indicate simple projections over a 13 game season. The Trojan rush defense dropped slightly from last week after giving up 182 yards on 47 carries to the Ducks. It now is neck and neck with the 2004 team's performance in this category. Pass yardage defense held fairly constant at 184 yards surrendered per game. Oregon only threw for 157 yards this past week but was able to complete a high percentage of passes (16 of 25 for 64%) and more importantly threw no costly interceptions. Total yardage defense is a mere 263 yards per game year to date and ranks fourth in the country. That total yardage level is also the lowest mark of the Pete Carroll era should it hold put the rest of the season. That ends the good news. USC ranks 15th in scoring defense, 30th in fumbles forced, 33rd in sacks, 67th in tackles for loss, and just 96th in the nation in terms of interceptions. In terms of average yards surrendered this defense is quite good. In terms of big plays (sacks, TFL's, turnovers generated, etc.) it is so far just very ordinary. How Oregon Scored On USC Oregon was limited to 24 points in the game. 17 of those came on longer field drives starting on their side of the field and one was the result of a short field drive starting on the USC side of the field after the Havili fumble Drive Starting Point Points Comment Long field scoring drives 17 One 72 yard drive. One 58 yard drive after an interception of Mark Sanchez. Short field scoring drives 7 One 16 yard drive for TD after a USC fumble Scores by the defense or special teams 0 N/A Totals 24 USC Base Defense Schemes / Oregon Formation Oregon is pretty consistent week to week in the way they line up in terms of personnel grouping and formation. From one formation they'll use a lot of simple motion and tiny tweaks.  Here is the base formation with the QB in shotgun, the 1 RB off to the side, the 1 TE on the line of scrimmage and 3WR's in a 2x1 set with the two almost always to the wide side of the field (Note: One WR is out of view due to the TV angle and the wide split of the receiver in this picture). From this spread type formation they run or execute virtually all of their base offense. For subtle tweaks the TE will change sides, or split out wide. Sometimes they'll motion the slot receiver into the back field as well. Sometimes the TE comes out for a 4th WR and they will align in a 2 x 2 WR set. For the most part however the Ducks use a very regular look down after down (unlike the multiple formations of USC - I Formation, 2 TE, 3WR, 4WR, 5WR, etc).  Despite the spread formation and the 3WR part of the alignment the Ducks like to run the football much like Florida does from this set. The benefit is that there are usually just six defenders in the immediate tackle box versus six blockers for the offense. Someone has to shed a block to make the play versus the run (by either the QB or the RB) or the 7th defender (either the split out LB or a safety) has to come down and make the play. Oregon ran 47 times and passed 25 times for about a 2 to 1 run pass ratio in the game. USC tried a variety of things in the game to stop the Ducks rush attack. For the most part they practiced fairly good gap discipline staying in assigned lanes but several painful breakdowns did occur.  I can't find good pictures of all the different methods applied by the Trojans but I spotted some of the following things in the game. USC looks like it tried spying on Dixon on certain downs with the MLB position it appeared on some replays. They also did try bring a 5th defender up in rush mode several times for pressure or faked blitzing. Also there were times where Kyle Moore was aligned way out towards the sideline off the line of scrimmage to defend the flats area. Sometimes in conjunction they lined up with Sedrick Ellis in a zero technique on the center and put two defenders in 3 technique positions to effectively shut off the middle gaps. Against an offense like Oregon the Trojans had to try different schemes and each enjoyed mixed results. Overall USC allowed just 3.9 YPC on the run plays. However Stewart and Dixon simply escaped for yardage multiple times and kept drives alive with quick decision making and scrambling skills. It was not a Vince Young like performance by Dixon but it was enough to keep the Ducks moving. USC Rush Defense The USC rush defense allowed a season high 182 yards in total. However the Trojans limited the Ducks to a 3.9 yard average on 47 rush attempts. There were a couple of breakdowns though that really hurt. The big one was a draw play up the middle by Jonathon Stewart on a 3rd and 14 play after Oregon had intercepted the ball in the 3rd quarter. If USC would have held here then Oregon would have been forced to punt and USC would have gotten the ball back without any real damage other than the loss of the drive. Instead Stewart ran over several Trojans for a gain of 15 yards. This was one of about a half dozen plays in the game that turned the contest in the favor of the Ducks. Stewart Run for First Down on 3rd and 14 On 3rd and long Oregon stayed in their basic spread alignment with 3WR's (one out of the picture) and the QB out of Shotgun. The play was a simple delayed hand off to RB Stewart with some slight misdirection involved. Draw plays should only gain a few yards on 3rd and long and be stopped by the linebackers. However the first USC defender misses him at the 40 yard line. The second misses him at the 45 yard line. Finally three players corral him at the 50 yard line but his surge somehow carried him over the first down marker (not shown in full). This play really hurt with the obvious benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Stop Stewart on this run, the Ducks punt, and the game is still just 17 to 10 with a full quarter to play. Instead the Ducks convert on 3rd and 14 with a simple run play and keep the drive alive. Half a dozen plays later they are in the end zone with a 24-10 lead and all the points they need for victory. Small details like this matter and help decide close games. Here was the sequence of the Dixon TD run early in the game that was highlighted on the broadcast. Something broke down for USC on the play as there was no one left to stop Dixon up the middle. Oregon was in its base spread formation with 3WR's and the QB in shotgun. After spreading the field one danger is always the QB run up the middle. The option fake to RB Stewart was particularly good on this play. It pulled Sedrick Ellis and the rest of the USC defense to the right of the offense on the play. Still there should have been a middle defender left on the play - probably MLB #58 Rey Maualuga.  Dixon raced in untouched for an easy TD score. USC Pass Defense The USC pass defense in this game only gave up 157 yards and just 6.3 yards per attempt and 9.8 yards per completion. On the negative side it gave up 64% completion percentage and made zero interceptions. Dennis Dixon just made a lot of good decisions and either threw the ball away when under pressure or simply managed to scramble and pick up forward yardage.  There was just one real big pass play completed by Dixon on a TE Seam route up the middle TE Seam Pass completed versus Rey Maualuga Oregon spread the TE out left to the top of the screen this time so there are three receivers to that side. There was also a 4th to the bottom out of view. WLB Rivers is split out in the curl zone area leaving MLB #58 Maualuga alone on the middle. The pass was a simple 3 step drop and release play to the inside receiver / TE.  USC had no deep defender in the middle of the field on this play. Ellison was shaded towards the Trips side and Mays was towards the single WR in support. Dixon placed the ball perfectly over #58 Maualuga who had the TE in man coverage up the middle on the seam route. The play went for 35 yards and only worked once. The rest of the game I kept seeing a deep safety  in the middle after this play. Other Notes and Reflections After last week's big play performance spike on defense this week the USC defense was once again is back to its perplexing "dual" nature. On one hand it can effectively limit opponents below their season average for yardage quite well. Oregon the #4 offensive team in the nation was averaging about 550 yards coming into the game and yet was held to just 339 total yards in the contest. On the flip side however the USC defense did not produce any really big game changing plays. USC managed only one sack, and a few tackles for loss in the game. There was generally little ability to generate pressure just using the four down linemen on most plays. The Trojans did recover two Oregon fumbles but once again did not make any pass interceptions. With three USC turnovers on offense the Trojans once again lost ground in terms of turnover margin and now ranks 90th in the country.  Next week USC faces Oregon State and a defense that is #1 in the country in rushing defense. Conversely the Beavers are just #85 in passing defense so that leaves hope for the passing game. Oregon State however also ranks #1 in the country in sacks and will bring pressure. It will be key for USC to protect the quarterback on passing downs on offense and pressure the inexperienced Oregon State QB Canfield into errors when on defense. On the bright side he won't be nearly as mobile as Dennis Dixon so that should help the cause.