USCFootball.com - Shane's Words: Making sense

November 5, 2009

Shane Foley
Special to USCFootball.com

The PAC-10

The ninth week of the 2009 college football season is in the books. The reality came crashing down on the Trojans Halloween night in Eugene, Ore. last Saturday. The dominating victory by the Ducks, 47-20, clearly positions Oregon in the driver's seat going into the November schedule. There is still a lot of football to be played, and many scenarios can still play out. With the loss on Saturday, the Trojans dropped in Pac-10 standings from potentially first place and control of their destiny in conference to fourth place with a large mountain to climb. It will be imperative for the Trojans to get back on the winning track quickly by playing Trojan football and taking care of business one game at a time. As we know, they have been here before and many things can happen, but it will be crucial for them to take care of their business.

Although no games have been played in November, the Trojans will need a lot of help to have any shot at an eighth-consecutive Pac-10 Title. Every Pac-10 game in November will have big consequences, but one to watch for will be Oregon at Arizona on November 21st.

The National Title Picture

The national title race is starting to narrow to Florida and Texas. Florida demolished Georgia in the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" to make it 18-straight games, and Texas manhandled Oklahoma State 41-14. Alabama will have the best shot to alter this scenario if they earn a spot in the SEC Championship game to be played on Dec. 5. There are more undefeated teams this year than usual including Cincinnati, TCU, Boise State and Iowa, and this will make it tougher to get a second team into the BCS bowl game picture. Iowa at Ohio State on Nov. 14 will be a big matchup.

Going In

The Trojans came into last Saturday's contest at Autzen Stadium needing a huge game in all phases to get a win against the surging Ducks. This was the type of game that the Trojans have grown accustomed to winning. Winning big games has become a Pete Carroll trademark, and short of the 2006 Rose Bowl game and the 2007 UCLA game, there have not been any "must win" games in which the Trojans have come up short. They have lost games they were supposed to win, but it has been a rarity to see USC lose in a big game. There were other reasons for optimism entering this game, especially quality wins on the road in hostile environments against Ohio State, Cal and Notre Dame, all currently in the BCS top 25 standings.

USC's freshman phenom quarterback, Matt Barkley, had been making strides each week and had continued to show maturity, poise, and a pocket presence well beyond his years. The only loss going into Saturday was the ugly road loss at Washington, which was primarily the result of three lost turnovers and Barkley not being able to play. Oregon had rebounded mightily from their opening night debacle at Boise State to win tight games against Purdue and Utah before going on a rampage against the Pac-10.

The Reality

The aftermath was grim- a deluge of Duck offense with record setting numbers against the Trojans. If we take inventory, Oregon gained 613 yards of total offense, the second most in school history, 391 yards rushing, 31 first downs, two 100-yard rushers and scoring drives on 9-of-11 offensive possessions. This loss was especially painful because it did not come from the result of the Trojans beating themselves with turnovers and penalties.

This was the first game in Coach Carroll's era that the Trojans did not battle back and were not in the game at the end. For the record, it is only the second double-digit loss in the last eight-and-a-half years of USC football. No other team in college football can say that. In the last seven years, USC has been unparalleled with seven consecutive Pac-10 championships, seven straight 11-or-more win seasons, seven straight BCS games (6-1), seven straight top-four finishes, three Heisman Trophy winners, two National Championships and a 34-game winning streak from 2003-2005. The Trojans have reloaded year in and year out and have consistently been battling to be the best in the country.

I am not about making excuses, but let's take a brief inventory of this season's unfolding to date.

It has been well documented that the defense lost eight players to the NFL from last year's team, and last year's QB was the fifth overall pick in the draft and is now starting for the New York Jets. The offensive and defensive coordinators bolted for Washington, and there is a new quarterback coach and playcaller as well as a new defensive line coach. It is not to say that the coaches in place are not great coaches, but the point is that it is more change, which does affect the continuity of a team, especially when it is at the coordinator position.

Injuries have also played a factor in the season. Barkley did not play against Washington, fullback Stanley Havili has missed the last two games, Stafon Johnson had his freak accident and is out for the year, Armond Armstead and Ronald Johnson did not play until the sixth game and the linebacking core has been banged up all season. Anthony McCoy's absence was clearly felt against the Ducks.

Coach Carroll has created an expectation of being the best, always competing and winning forever. This is where we want our program to be- to be the best you need to beat the best. USC thrives on competition, in games, practice, recruiting and coaching. The Trojans have never padded their non-conference schedule with walk over teams. Carroll's Trojans are always competing and have never been afraid to play the best. Furthermore, the Trojans have played six road games in nine weeks against some of the best competition in the country and in some of the most hostile environments.

I realize that fans have short memories and it is all about "what have you done for me lately." Florida is on a good run right now, but it was only two years ago that they lost four games in a season, including a loss to Michigan in a non-BCS bowl game. LSU lost five games last year rebuilding, and you can look at Ohio State and Oklahoma as well. The landscape will change next year with the graduations of Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy. Just ask Bob Stoops if it makes a difference losing your marquee quarterback.

Offense

So what happened to the Trojans last Saturday night? They traded blows with Oregon in the first half, and it looked like it was going to be a fight that would go the distance. Barkley again showed why the coaching staff has been so high on him from the beginning. The offensive line did a solid job protecting the quarterback, and Barkley made the most of it. He showed poise and presence making his reads and utilized the full field to find the open receiver. Often, a quarterback will have a progression on one side of the field with two or sometimes three receivers. Barkley on several occasions came back to the other side of the field to find an open target. The crowd did not rattle Barkley, but it did create issues for the offensive line and tight ends. They were penalized six times in the game for procedure penalties. Overall, the offense finished with respectable numbers: 327 total yards, 187 in the air and 140 rushing. Not having tight end Anthony McCoy did affect the offense. Blake Ayles had an opportunity to make a big catch and gain that went off his fingertips in the first half, and Barkley had a sure touchdown that he overthrew Ayles down the right seam. Joe McKnight ran hard, but the running game was negated in the second half with the avalanche of scoring by the Ducks. The Duck defense started taking more chances in the second half by bringing pressure, and it got Barkley out of his rhythm. The Trojans could only muster one field goal in the second half and were forced to punt on three consecutive possessions in the third and fourth quarters that saw the Duck's lead increase from 14 to 21 to 24 in that time span. It was unacceptable for the offense to not stay on the attack, and they only converted on 4-of-14 on third down conversion for 29 percent. They will need to improve in November.

Defense

The defensive effort was certainly one to forget, and it was by far the worst game in the Pete Carroll era. There were many areas of the defense that had issues. The Ducks employed their spread offense and constantly utilized a base read option play that hurt the Trojans repeatedly. A lot of credit must be given to their quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, who executed Chip Kelley's game plan flawlessly. They had an effective scheme going into the game, and it looked like they were always one step ahead of the Trojans defense. On several occasions, Masoli hit a quick pass to his uncovered slot receiver whenever the Trojans walked the outside linebacker back inside the box. Oregon did a great job recognizing the Trojan's coverages and weaknesses, repeatedly exploiting them. The Trojans' defensive ends made continuous mental errors by looking in the backfield and following the back into the middle (who was not carrying the football). This is not how they are coached to play against that play, and it created huge holes for Masoli and running back LaMichael James to rip off big chunks of yards. A crushing blow was the 1:28 Oregon touchdown drive that took all of four plays and covered 80 yards with less than three minutes to play in the half that put the Ducks up 24-17 with them getting the ball to start the second half. This answered a solid touchdown drive by the Trojans that had tied the game 17-17.

I realize that the coaching staff had a plan going into the game, and it was evident early on that it was not working. I do not understand why the Trojans stayed with this defense throughout the entire game. It became abundantly clear that the only way the Trojans would be able to stop the Duck offense would be to bring the defense up and attack them. We were able to see Boise State stuff the Ducks in the first game by coming up and hitting them in the mouth. At some point, preferably in the beginning of the 2nd half if not sooner, the Trojans needed to get out of the zone gap defense that was getting killed and start bringing the heat. It certainly could not have been less effective than what was already taking place.

USC does not have lesser athletes than Oregon, even with some of the injuries that have depleted both sides of the ball. It was time to man up on the receivers and put eight in the box to neutralize the running game and GO AFTER THEM!

Trojan football is about attacking, gang tackling, running to the ball and creating tackles for losses and sacks. I have repeatedly said the best pass defense is a great pass rush and we had none. The final numbers showed no sacks, one tackle for loss and many missed tackles. I would rather take a chance on Masoli having to throw the ball accurately over the DB's heads with pressure in his face. I also believe that Taylor Mays could have been used to "spy" Masoli, which would have prevented him from breaking two 40-yard plays running the ball. One of the toughest tasks that a defense has is defending a broken play by the quarterback, and sometimes you will get burned. But playing up near the line of scrimmage, attacking the ball and playing with discipline would have given the Trojans a much better shot against their explosive offense. The linebackers were continually catching all night and could not get off of blocks because they were being attacked not attacking. Any time you don't have your linebackers leading the team in tackles, you know that you were either out-physicalled, out-schemed or both. The defensive backs were playing deep with Mays in center field and the corners playing off in zone coverage. At some point when they have gained 20, 30 or 40 yards on plays, it is time to adjust. Mays was extremely effective in neutralizing Jahvid Best when the Trojans played Cal by playing up closer to the line of scrimmage. The defense was dominant early in the season because they were bringing pressure and they were penetrating into the backfield. The linebackers are better equipped this year to run backs down with their speed verse overpowering you like last year's group. When the opposing running backs were forced laterally earlier in the year, Michael Morgan and Malcolm Smith had the athletic ability and speed to run these backs down. They are far less effective with a power game coming right at them, at least with type of defense the Trojans have been running.

Another huge factor contributing to the deterioration of the defense has been poor tackling. There were three missed tackles on Oregon's first kickoff return that went for 70-plus yards, which seemed to set the tone for the night. Tackling was atrocious against Oregon State, and the epidemic continued against the Ducks. I do realize that some of this has to do with being out of position, which has a tendency to create reaching and arm tackling but tackling is about attitude, an attitude of toughness, desire, and punishment. Football is a collision sport, and somewhere between game five and now, this has been lost. It is not a lack of ability or athleticism. These are the same players that were among the leaders in the country through five games. The coaches are going to have to make adjustments with the defense to put them in better situations to attack rather than catch in November, and they are going to have to improve on technique. I am seeing a number of players that are leading with their shoulder looking for a big shot rather than wrapping up and securing the tackle. This is not just an isolated incident, and it needs to be fixed right now. Also, the time to go for a strip on a ball carrier is when he is already secured or by punching it loose. It is not hopping on the back of a player and trying to strip while he carries you for an additional five yards.

Going Forward

So now the Trojans find themselves in unchartered territory. Yes, they have had two losses in conference before, but they have never experienced one quite like this. This is the bar that Coach Carroll has raised, and we are very fortunate to have that bar. Coach Carroll is the eternal optimist, and he will look to climb the mountain again. This is an opportunity to lift these young men up and to get them believing in where they can still go this season. We can acknowledge that the Trojans were outplayed and out-coached last Saturday in Eugene, but today is a new day with new opportunities. As the great Martin Luther King once proclaimed, "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at challenge and controversy."

There does not need to be any talk about Orange or Sugar Bowls or running the table but about getting back to playing Trojan football, pounding the Sun Devils, and getting to 7-2. It is not about looking ahead but rather making the most of today and taking one step at a time, starting with this Saturday. It is time to get to work, to prepare for battle, to rise back up and play like Trojans. As a Trojan, there is no surrender and no retreat. It is time to pick up the sword and to Fight On!

Beat the Sun Devils!

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