USC vs. Virginia Date - August 31, 2008 Location - Charlottesville, Virginia Result - USC 52 - Virginia 7 Note: I won't have a lot of time this season to compile stats and figures on USC but I will post some  things as time allows. Some weeks it will probably be nothing. Rather than look at entire games I think I will just look at selected plays each week and then perhaps go back for a more detailed look once the season is over. A 52-7 victory on the road in Virginia is a nice way to start off the season and puts USC squarely in the thick of the BCS national title discussion. Of course that sort of talk is premature after week one and Ohio State will be a much tougher test for USC on September 13th. However head coach Pete Carroll had to be pleased with the way the 2008 Trojans came out and competed in week one. Scoring Breakdown Drive Starting Point Points Comment Long field scoring drives 24 3 TD Drives (56, 80, 82 Yards) and 1 FG Drive (85 Yards) Short field scoring drives 28 4 TD Drives (11, 42, 46, & 47 Yards) Scores directly by the defense or special teams 0 No points by the defense in this game Totals 52 7 TD's and 1 FG in the game. This was a good start for USC on offense indicating that the squad can both travel the length of the field and convert after the defense or special teams creates a short field to work with. Of the total 52 points 24 came on drives of over 50 yards which is right at the USC average the past couple of seasons.  28 came on drives of under 50 yards. The offense always gets the credit but in high scoring games the defense and special teams normally also contributed in the form of creating turnovers, returning kicks, and winning the overall battle of field position. USC Overall Offensive Stats Plays Number Yards Average Run Plays 41 218 5.3 Pass Plays 27 of 37 340 9.2 Total Plays 78 558 7.2 Overall Offense Histogram In terms of offense USC had a big game with 22 plays gaining ten yards or more. Eight plays gained more than 16 yards. Only 16 plays went for zero yards including incomplete passes. Below I will select a couple of plays for a closer look. Selected Plays of the Week C.J. Gable 14 Yard Gain On the first drive USC is faced with a 2nd and 10 in Virginia territory. USC lines up in a single back doubles formation with twin receivers to the wide part of the field and a TE and flanker into the boundary. The play looks designed to stress the outside LB of Virginia (circled in red) aligned at the apex between the insider receiver and the end man on the line of scrimmage. The outside linebacker is in a tough spot for this play. First he has to read and determine run versus pass. If pass then he he has to watch for slant routes in front of him. If a run play then he probably is the force player and must help take on any plays in the C gap off the USC left tackle. The LBer appears to correctly read run on the play but is caught looking at the motion of Joe McKnight coming across the formation and CJ Gable coming forward. The play up front looks like a simple inside zone right play. The motion makes it look complicated. Here you can see pretty clearly how distracted the LB became with the motion of McKnight. Gable starts right, however as is often the case on zone runs the backside opens up as the LB gets caught in no where land by the motion of McKnight. The LB never recovers position and CJ cuts up field through a huge hole in the C gap. The LT Charles Brown did a good job of holding up his defender just long enough on the play. There was some nice downfield blocking by the WR's as well which helped the play. The run resulted in a nice 14 yard gain and helped set up the Trojans first touch down. Video of C.J. Gable Run Play Toss Play 1 to Joe McKnight There were two big toss plays in the first quarter for USC. Here is the first one out of the I formation with the tight end left and WR's in medium splits. The FB is off set to the weak side of the formation. The play is a simple toss play to the tail back Joe McKnight in the back field. There was no pulling on this play by the guards just an attempt to get McKnight outside behind the fullback Havili. Here you can see in the blurry image that a Virgina defender did get through the line and close to McKnight. McKnight gets through the hole quickly and untouched. McKnight is run out of bounds after about a 12 yard gain. Video of Toss Play to McKnight Toss Play 2 to C.J. Gable (4th and 1) The next toss play came a few plays later in the game on the next drive on a 4th and 1 play in Virginia territory. USC is in the I formation with the tight end right this time and the FB off set right as well. On this toss play USC's runs something similar to student body right. The flanker #7 Hazelton cracks down on the outside defender. The TE blocks down while the play side guard and tackle both pull. In the previous picture and this one you can see again that a Virginia defender almost shot through a gap to blow up the play. However CJ Gable managed to escape the defender with several blockers leading the way. Once clear of the corner no one was going to catch Gable. Video of Toss Play to C.J. Gable Double Slant Pass to Turner - 42 Yard Gain Here USC aligns in a 3x1 Trey formation to the wide side of the field with a single running back. The TE motions across right to make it more of a doubles formation. No Virginia defenders move so the coverage is likely some sort of 2 high (Cover 2 or 4) zone scheme?? USC runs double slants to the left with #18 Williams breaking inside and #1 Turner breaking in from the outside. Both appear open and Sanchez just reads the more open of the two and makes his throw. This slant route was nice as it caught Turner just in stride and he was able to cut inside the first defender. The second defender missed as well as Turner shows some nice running ability after the catch. Finally Turner is brought down after a 42 yard gain for a nice catch and run. Video of Double Slant to Patrick Turner 20 Yard TD Pass to Patrick Turner Several plays later on the same drive USC lined up in an empty set (3x2) with the QB in the shotgun. Virginia dropped eight men and only rushed three which did not create much pressure. This does leave Virginia with eight men to cover 5 Trojans in the pattern. However with all this time Sanchez was able to find and select an open receiver Patrick Turner. Unfortunately we can't tell what type of routes were run due to the TV angle. Turner wound up with a 20 yard catch for TD. Video of TD Pass to Patrick Turner Check Down to Stanley Havili Here was a simple play that caught my eye in the game. It came on 3rd and 3 yards in the second quarter. USC was in 21 personnel with twin receivers right and a tight end left. FB Havili motions to a winged position off the TE. Here you can see part of the route. The twin receiver ran some sort of clear out route to eliminate some of the defenders. The back swings out to the right. TE McCoy runs a shallow cross and FB Havili runs a little angle route coming behind the TE. All three players underneath were open it appears. Havili made a nice catch and run for about a dozen yard gain on the play and a first down.   48 Yard TD Pass to Ronald Johnson Here was the big play that brought a smile to everyone's face. USC aligns in a single back 2 TE set with the second TE winged to the left. WR Williams motions in giving this the appearance of a run formation. Sanchez fakes the hand off to Gable and does a nice job of hiding the ball it appears. The play could have been a bust as one Virginia defender was not faked by the play action and roll out. Sanchez made a nice move though with his feet to avoid the pressure and stepped up to plant and throw. Ronald Johnson was wide open deep having beat either his man in single coverage or the deep free safety on the play. Video of the Ronald Johnson Catch