USC Pass Plays vs. Oregon State
For those interested here is a closer look at the USC passing game versus Oregon State. Overall USC completed 20 of 34 passes in the game for just 187 yards. However as has been the case in several previous games the team seemed plagued by dropped balls and incompletions at key times. Here is a closer look at the passing grid and the USC passing attack in the game.
USC Passing Grid
Ideally I'd like to breakdown the passing game into 9 boxes (Short, Medium, Long / Left, Middle, Right) but I didn't have the time to do it. Zones 1, 2, & 3 represent passes under 10 yards in length. Passes anywhere over 10 yards are put into zones 4, 5, and 6. Even though pass plays may go for big yardage they are not necessarily in zones 4, 5, or 6. The mid-screen to Chauncey Washington is a good example of a two yard pass that went for 26 yards. It is listed as a Zone 2 pass play.
If anyone wants to look in more detail here is a breakdown of passes in OSU game for all 34 passes. For simplicity in comparing to the above chart the passes are sorted by zone and not in the order they occurred in the game. Names of the pass routes are best guesses given the limited viewing angle of TV and not all correct.
| Drive | Play | Qtr | Down | To Go | YL | OP | Off Form | WR Form | QB Drop | Pass Route | Play Dir | Pass Zone | Yds | Comment |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 49 | 11 | 3WR | Trey L | 1 | Screen | l | 1 | -1 | Complete to TE Davis |
| 4 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 40 | 5 | 5WR | 2x3 | SG | Busted | m | 1 | 0 |
Incomplete thrown away Booty foot work stumbles |
| 14 | 59 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 26 | 12 | 2TE | Split | PA Roll | Swing | l | 1 | 2 | Swing to HD. Well defended |
| 10 | 48 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 2TE | TW R | 1 | Screen | l | 1 | 3 | Comp Screen VH |
| 10 | 49 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 3WR | TE TR L | 3 | Turn | l | 1 | 4 | Comp Slant/Turn VH |
| 5 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 43 | 12 | 2TE | Trey L | 3 | Slip Screen | l | 1 | 6 | Comp TE Davis / Counter Play |
| 5 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 5WR | 2x3 | SG | Out | l | 1 | 8 | Shotgun complete to DA |
| 4 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 40 | 11 | 3WR | DL | 3 | Slant | l | 2 | 0 |
Incomplete well defended / could have been caught |
| 13 | 58 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 23 | 11 | 3WR | TE TR R | 3 | Screen | m | 2 | 4 | Screen complete to JM.( #68 BL missed block?) |
| 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 45 | 5 | 5WR | 2x3 | SG | Slant | m | 2 | 5 | Complete to VH |
| 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 40 | 12 | 2TE | Trey R | 3 | Mid Screen | m | 2 | 5 | Screen to CW |
| 1 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 35 | 11 | 3WR | DR | SG | Mid Screen | m | 2 | 5 | Mid Screen TE Davis |
| 8 | 42 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 25 | 11 | 3WR | TE Tr L | 3 | Screen | m | 2 | 11 | Short release to JM |
| 40 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 11 | 3WR | DL | 3 | Mid Screen | m | 2 | 26 | TD CW Mid Screen (17-3) | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 35 | 11 | 3WR | DR | 3 | Out | r | 3 | 0 |
Incomplete overthrown to Turner |
| 2 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 35 | 12 | 2TE | Split | 3 | Hitch | l | 3 | 0 |
Incomplete overthrow to Turner |
| 11 | 52 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 21 | I Str | Split | 3 | Flare | l | 3 | 0 | Complete no gain to Havili |
| 5 | 32 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 2TE | Twins R | PA Roll | Cross | r | 3 | 5 | Comp TE Davis / Y Cross Under |
| 5 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 46 | 21 | I Str | Twins R | 3 | Swing | r | 3 | 11 | Bradford
swing pass / Counter play to zone L |
| 2 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 35 | 12 | 2TE | Split | PA Roll | Wheel | l | 4 | 0 | Incomplete deep wheel route McKnight |
| 6 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 43 | 12 | 2TE | Twins L | 5 | Bench | l | 4 | 0 | Incomplete dropped by Davis |
| 6 | 36 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 43 | 5 | 5WR | 3x2 | SG | Out | l | 4 | 0 | Incomplete dropped DA / Ball misplaced |
| 12 | 54 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 2TE | WR Split | 5 | Go | l | 4 | 0 | Incomplete PT sideline go route not open |
| 12 | 55 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 21 | I King | 3WR | 5 | Busted | l | 4 | 0 | Almost sacked threw away |
| 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 45 | 12 | 2TE | Split | 5 PA | Z Cross | l | 4 | 11 | Complete VH |
| 8 | 43 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 3WR | DL | 3 | Fade | l | 4 | 13 | TD PT (24-3) |
| 5 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 11 | 3WR | Trey R | 3 | Wheel | l | 4 | 23 | Wheel route sideline JM |
| 3 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 37 | 12 | 2TE | Twins R | PA 7 | Post | m | 5 | 0 | Incomplete Turner. Thrown too high |
| 14 | 63 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 42 | 21 | I Str | Split | PA 7 | Go | m | 5 | 0 | Incomplete deep middle Rojo - open but overthrown |
| 14 | 64 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 42 | 21 | I Queen | TW R | PA 5 | Seam | m | 5 | 0 | Incomplete middle dropped by Havili |
| 15 | 68 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 42 | 11 | 3WR | Trey R | 5 | Seam | m | 5 | 30 | MS - Comp over middle to VH / Thrown high and behind |
| 7 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 47 | 21 | I Str | Split | 5 | Go | m | 6 | 0 | Incomplete deep to VH. Overthrown / Well covered |
| 13 | 56 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 20 | 11 | 3WR | DR | 3 | Fade | r | 6 | 0 | Incomplete DA turned wrong way |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 35 | 11 | 3WR | Trey R | 5 | Out | r | 6 | 16 | Complete to TE Davis |
The 14 incomplete passes represent about 150 yards of passing offense (and probably more) since most of them were on deeper routes. The incompletion over the middle to Havili (dropped) and the deep ball to Ronald Johnson (overthrown) just by themselves are about 70 yards of offense. It is not reasonable to expect every pass play to be completed but it seems like half of these incompletions (some of the drops and overthrown balls) should be completed. Fix these problems in the passing game and the offense is automatically better and more consistent. Let's hope for better route running, QB-WR timing and ball placement versus Cal.