Game 13 Rose Bowl USC vs. Penn State Date - January 1st, 2009 Location - Rose Bowl Result - USC 38 - Penn State 24 This was a nice win for USC and a good way to end the 2008 season for the Trojans. Except for one annoying half up in Corvallis this was a good year for USC football. The defense shined most of the year but for a change of pace the offense got to lead the way in the Rose Bowl. Since the offense provided most of the highlights I'll recap that side of the game in particular. If time allows I may later go back and look at the defense but I did not see too much that I wanted to review upon first glance. Also USC will look pretty different next year in terms of personnel on that side of the ball. In terms of summary stats USC came out on top in just about every category. As is the case in most big games of the Pete Carroll era USC came out on top in the turnover battle and outgained the opponent in yardage. This game was also one of the few times this season where USC was less penalized than the opposition. USC produced 474 official yards in the contest with 413 passing and only 61 rushing. In reality though they had another 37 yards rushing that were erased on the final USC play of the game when an errant snap sailed over the head of punter Greg Woidneck. Adjusting for that special teams error USC put up 511 yards of total offense and gained 98 yards on the ground. Click here for a view of the rushing histogram (Link). Click here for the passing histogram (Link). As you can see there were 14 plays in the passing game that gained over 12 yards in the game for the Trojans. The big reason for the success in the passing game was simply due to the nature of Penn State's defense.  As I pointed out in posts leading up to the game the Nittany Lions basically play a Cover 3 defense scheme and a 1/4, 1/4, 1/2 Combo scheme to keep seven and a half to eight players in the tackle box. That leaves three defenders deep in their base coverage scheme (click for image from Penn State LB coach Vanderlinden's book). Every coverage scheme whether it be man or zone based has "holes" in it somewhere and Cover 3 has gaps in the places circled in red below. USC logically and skillfully exploited the Cover 3 seams and gaps throughout the Rose Bowl contest (examples down below). Of course with route combinations, etc. coaches can help create different holes or windows in other locations to some extent. The amazing thing watching the game on TV however was that Penn State *seemed* to vary their coverages very little in the game. That just made things too easy for Mark Sanchez and the USC receivers. The result was an impressive 80% completion (28 of 35) rate and lots of big plays in the passing game. Sample Penn State Cover 3 Scheme Sample Rose Bowl Alignment vs. I Formation Sample USC Pass Plays Most of USC's success in the game came on straight drop back passes of the 3 step and 5 step variety. Here is a sorted list of those passes from the game which made up the bulk of the pass attack for the Trojans. (Note: Some of the 3 step passes listed below were probably 5 step drops etc. I did not go back and re-watch that aspect very closely). (Note: Here is a link to all the plays. Below is just a partial sort of the data based upon type.) List of 3 & 5 Step Drop Back Passes A few other pass plays were designed on roll out type passes or play action drop back. A couple screens were used in the game as well. Below I'll highlight a couple of plays with images and the put all the pass plays in a short video clip for those interested in reviewing the plays. Damian Williams TD Here was the wider angle replay of the Damian Williams TD catch in the first quarter. USC keeps both backs in for seven man protection and releases three into the pattern. The protection holds nicely as Penn State only rushed the four down lineman. The two outer WR's run routes to occupy the corners isolating the inside Williams on the free safety. The free safety is a step late on the replay and the ball is well placed in front of Williams where only he can make a play on the ball. Touchdown for Damian Williams. This was one of about a half dozen different flavors of the post pattern that USC hit in the game for big yards versus the PSU secondary.   Pass Plays to the Flats: Hitch to David Ausberry When USC needed they were also able to pick up some short yardage in the flats. Here is a second and ten play where USC lines up in the I formation. The TE motions across the formation to the field to the right and focus attention more to the right. This play is basically a one step drop back pass play to the left from under center and a way to get the ball to the perimeter. With the corners off in Cover 3 it is an easy short pitch and catch. Some teams consider this part of the perimeter run game. The idea is to gain a few yards on the play and if lucky the corner will do a bad job tackling the WR. Here Penn State stops the play pretty well but it was still a five yard pick up on the play with very small risk.   Deep Roll Out Pass Play To Ronald Johnson I did not think USC would execute many roll out plays in the game since the DE's of Penn State both align outside and really get up the field. A couple times however USC was able to move the pocket for an effective change of launch point. One was for a big TD on a blown assignment by Penn State in the secondary. To aid the rollout USC starts by motioning the WR in to a winged position off the right tackle. The WR is partially there to help hinder the progress of the Penn State defensive end on the play and give the QB an extra step. Sanchez fakes the handoff to the RB to hold the linebackers and influence the rush players to the right. TE McCoy gets a chip block on the left DE for Penn State but not much... The blocks of the WR and TE though are just enough to give Sanchez a chance to roll out unhindered to his right. Sanchez is able to unload the ball downfield. Receiver Ronald Johnson was wide open. A replay showed how the Penn State free safety and corner that side were distracted by a player running a crossing route (not shown here). Mid-Screen TD Pass Play The other interesting TD play in the game came on a first and 10 situation on the PSU 19 yard line.  USC aligns in a 2x2 WR set. WR #18 motions across pre-snap to form a 3x1 set. The play is a designed screen however to the tailback and the offensive line carefully lets the PSU defensive lineman get by them (but not too fast to blow up the play) RB CJ Gable takes the screen and now has a lot of red shirts in front of him to block the remaining Penn State defenders. There is a nice open spot in the middle for Gable to run... He goes in almost untouched for a nice play to add to the Trojan lead before halftime. There was something for just about everyone in the passing game for all the WR's. In addition TE Anthony McCoy caught a nice TE seam / post route and a couple of TE stick routes. Adam Goodman had a nice catch in the flats at the end of the game, etc. Since there are so many highlights I just put all the pass plays into two video files broken up into first half and second half plays. All passes should be in the videos including a bubble screen ruled a run play, the incomplete passes, and a couple Penn State sacks of Mark Sanchez. Video Of 1st Half Pass Plays (9 Minutes) Video of 2nd Half Pass Plays (4 Minutes) Sample USC Run Plays Compared to the passing game the running game for USC was much less successful as I kind of expected. It is tough to run against a consistent eight man front as good as Penn State's front unit. In particular I did not think that USC would run the ball effectively outside with both DE's of Penn State playing outside in their "stack" alignment. And for the most part the Trojans did not have much success outside. Only one of five outside zone (OZ) plays really gained postive yardage. The other four were shut down as were a fly sweep and a bubble screen type pass play as well. I did think however that USC would find some success in running their inside zone (IZ) game in different ways. Five of the inside zone runs were successful and another big one was called back on a holding penalty. Other run plays had mixed results. Credit Penn State for keeping the USC running game mostly in check. Little success on outside zone runs... Some success on inside zone runs... Mixed results on other runs plays... Sample run plays Inside Zone Run Example Here was one of the several successful inside zone run plays by USC. This one is with Stafon Johnson in a single back alignment with a TE & Winged TE to the right side of the formation. The play started to the right at the 3 technique and 9 technique or strong side of the formation but Johnson elected to cut it back to the left side. The LT for USC had leverage on the PSU defender and this gave Johnson an opportunity to bounce the play outside. Once outside Johnson was able to pick up some nice yardage on the play. Outside Zone Run Example - 9 Yard Gain There was only one outside zone stretch play that worked for USC... Here is one with CJ Gable that started out of a single back 2 TE formation. On the replay with the switched viewing angle you can see USC gets outside leverage on the DE #59 for Penn State and has three bodies to block two for the advantage. Gable cuts the play inside the TE and eventually is brought down in the secondary for a nine yard gain. Every other OZ running play I observed was shut down however quite effectively by Penn State. Here is a different play in the game of the same outside zone type stretch run. This one is shut down on the perimeter by Penn State for no gain. QB Draw for TD Here was the Mark Sanchez TD run in the second quarter with the score tied 7-7. The play was a well designed and executed QB draw up the middle. USC let the DE's of Penn State penetrate while the inside lineman formed a blocking wedge up front. One of the DE's of Penn State got good penetration and probably did get a hand on Sanchez...fortunately he was already moving forward and stepped out of the grasp. Nice TD run for USC to counter the previous scoring drive of Penn State. Summary Observations The skill players will get all the accolades in this game but I think the offensive line and the protection they afforded QB Mark Sanchez  played a big unsung role in the game. In particular I was concerned about PSU's DT Jared Odrick going into the game but he was mostly held in check by the guards and center. The TE's and tackles did nice work on the DE's Maybin, Evans, and Gaines, etc. The RB's had several nice blitz pick ups as well. Most of the contest Sanchez had a clear line of sight and time to throw the ball. When given time to throw and faced with a consistent three deep zone look it turned into easy pickings for the offense in the passing game. I expected more pressure from Penn State from their front line. 2009 will be an interesting year for USC depending upon who declares for the draft, etc. There should be plenty of offensive firepower assuming Mark Sanchez returns for his senior year. A lot of talented performers on the defensive side however will have to be replaced. Thanks to the consistent recruiting efforts of Pete Carroll and staff there should be plenty of players ready to step up and take their turn.