A week ago, after USC's season opener, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando shared a pointed and blunt assessment about his linebackers.
"Eh, they were OK. We've got to get better," he said then.
By the eye test and the advanced metrics, that didn't happen in Week 2 as the linebacker unit as a collective remained arguably the weakness of the Trojans defense.
But Orlando struck a softer tone Wednesday in sharing his assessment and what needed to get cleaned up moving forward.
"It’s better angles to the football. They played a ton better in this game, the physicality part of it. Everything that went along with what we talked about beforehand. Really proud of what they did. But these minor things, if we can get them cleaned up, are the difference between first downs and non-first downs. They’re all correctable, that’s the really cool part about it," Orlando said. "This isn’t one of those ability deals, where really, at the end of the day we don’t have the ability to do it. It’s not that at all. They’re all correctable fundamentals and techniques. We’ve already started them this week, yesterday, in terms of our individual and cleaning these things up. When we get these things collectively done, we’re going to be in good shape."
RELATED: Full video and transcribed comments from Todd Orlando, Ralen Goforth and Drake Jackson on Wednesday
PFF marked USC down for a whopping 16 missed tackles Saturday in the Trojans' 34-30 win at Arizona, including 6 from the linebackers. (That was a sharp increase from 7 missed tackles in Week 1.)
More to the point, sophomore Ralen Goforth and redshirt sophomore Raymond Scott, who got thrust into a major role when starter Palaie Gaoteote had to exit the game due to concussion protocol, finished as the Trojans' two lowest-graded players, per PFF.
