FILM REVIEW: Breaking down USC's OL struggles, what it means going forward

The PFF grades can be hit and miss and shouldn't be taken as definitive word on anything, but ... when three of a team's primary offensive linemen register a 0.00 pass-blocking grade (on a 0-100 scale!) that's pretty telling.

That was the case for USC last weekend at Michigan, as the Trojans were forced to make major changes along the line mid-stream with redshirt freshman Tobias Raymond seeing his first significant action at right tackle, sliding Mason Murphy to left tackle in place of Elijah Paige, while redshirt freshman Amos Talalele worked in at right guard for Alani Noa.

Ultimately, none of USC's linemen outside of perhaps left guard Emmanuel Pregnon performed especially well against Michigan's tough defensive front, combining to give up 21 pressures and have quarterback Miller Moss under duress most of the day.

Despite the ugly numbers -- and the eye test! -- coach Lincoln Riley was outspoken in his confidence in the unit this week.

"We all have to be better there. I have to put them in better position. We certainly have to play better there. There’s plenty of opportunities in that game where we’re blocking just fine, and we miss several opportunities that way too. The reality is we all have to be a little bit better. There’s not any group that needs to be massively better -- the O-line included," Riley said. "We all gotta take steps, coaching, the players around them, to get it going, to play at the level we want to. And frankly, within the first couple of games this year, there’s been a ton of positive signs. We’ve got to get back on track that way, and I’m confident we will."

Riley suggested that as things started to break down up front, the problems compounded as the line started playing less as a cohesive unit and more as individuals.

"Sometimes when you get in a game and you don't have success or you get beat or you lose a rep, sometimes you can go away from some of the things that you know you need to do anyways. Within a moment there could be a sort of panic that can happen. And listen, a lot of young players go through that. I mean, quarterbacks go through it, young everybody goes through it," Riley said. "You get in those moments and you get tested in a little bit of a different way, so I think it will be a great lesson for a lot of our players on the roster, including some of our offensive linemen that when things get tough or when things don't go your way, that's when you've got to stick with it even more and your trust has got to be there.

"Sometimes being in those situations like that and having to feel like those emotions and those competitive juices firing and you're wanting to get it done, you've got to go back to your basics, you've got to go back to your fundamentals and you've got to be incredibly trusting in that moment. It's not easy to do Even for older players, that's not easy, and a lot of times these guys want to get it done so much that they sometimes can lose sight of that, especially in the heat of a competitive environment. So I think we'll learn from it, be better for it, and very excited to watch our group play this week."

The question remains, what group will he be watching?

Paige, the young left tackle, had an especially rough game, giving up 4 pressures (including a sack) and drawing a penalty while logging just 31 snaps before being subbed out. Riley has said Paige was battling cramps and that prevented them from putting him back in the game later.

Murphy, in taking over at left tackle, didn't have a great game either, allowing a team-high 6 pressures while drawing a penalty. And Raymond wasn't exactly a clear upgrade from either while giving up 3 pressures and drawing a penalty. Those three were the ones with the glaring 0.00 pass-blocking grades from PFF.

Riley didn't offer any specifics to his plan for the unit this week, though it sounds most likely that the usual starting five will be back in position.

“I think we have a few guys that are pretty entrenched right now. But certainly, kind of like we did during the game some too, if a lineup is not playing the way that we need to, and if there’s an adjustment, tweak that we can make, we’re certainly not gonna ignore that as well," Riley said. "So, with the number of guys that we have practicing right now, I mean, all of these guys are getting a bunch of reps, and we’re going to do our best to find the best combination that gives us the best chance to win and move the ball, score points against Wisconsin.

"I think they’ve responded just to a very spirited week of practice up front, those guys have practiced well. And again, we have the added benefit of being able to practice against a pretty good defensive line. So they’re getting tested. But, these guys are going to respond. You’ll see. They’re gonna respond.”

With that, let's take a deeper look at what the film from the Michigan game revealed about the USC offensive line ...

(Game grades per PFF on 0-100 scale where grades in the upper 70s and 80s are above average and the 90s are rare.)

LG Emmanuel Pregnon (76 snaps)

54.5 overall, 42.7 run-blocking, 77.7 pass-blocking, 1 pressure allowed, 0 penalties

This was a bad game overall for the entire offensive line. Pregnon was clearly the best lineman out there for USC, though. Some of his bad plays were just great plays by the defenders and that's going to happen against one of the better defensive lines they will play. As long as the bad doesn't overpower the good, that's all they need. The majority of Pregnon's defenders don't make the play. If he can clean up some issues with the offensive line as a unit and bring this team up to his standard, they can bounce back.

The Good:

0:11 left in the second quarter, Elijah Paige gets beat to the outside again, but Pregnon was able to come help and delivered a nice hit to the defender, keeping him out of the play that ends in a completion to Jay Fair for a 2-yard gain.

13:16 left in the fourth quarter, Pregnon goes to the second level and has a very nice block on the linebacker. Woody Marks gets tackled before being able to utilize that block, but was still able to gain 5 yards.

The Bad:

11:32 left in the second quarter, Pregnon pulls to the right to block the edge rusher but he is waiting for him. The defender was able to close the gap and make it impossible to be moved off the line of scrimmage. The defender bounces off the block to make the play, stopping Marks at a 1-yard gain.

12:01 left in the third quarter, Pregnon gets beat to the inside, allowing the defender to get a lane on Miller Moss. It doesn’t end up affecting the play as Moss is able to get the pass off to Kyron Hudson for a 15-yard gain.

3:23 left in the third quarter, Pregnon pulls to the right and meets his defender in the backfield, causing the pulling Kade Eldridge to run into him. When Eldridgee runs into Pregnon, Pregnon loses his footing, which causes him to lose his defender, who makes the play for only a 1-yard gain.

7:51 left in the fourth quarter, Pregnon doesn’t get any drive off the line of scrimmage, which allows the defender to look in the backfield and react to the shovel pass and make the play for only a 4-yard gain.

C Jonah Monheim (76 snaps)

49.6 overall, 54.5 run-blocking, 34.2 pass-blocking, 4 pressures allowed, 0 penalties

While Monheim has been the best lineman on this team overall, his was a sneaky bad game for him. He got caught time and time again just leaning against his defenders. That works against a bad Utah State team. That doesn't work against the likes of Mason Graham. They feel that and side-step it. It is one thing to be engaged with the defender and get driven into Moss, but when you fall and lose contact, Moss is in trouble. It at least seems like his issues throughout this game were consistent -- Monheim needs to get more balance and not rely on his body weight against the defender.

The Bad:

6:37 left in the first quarter, Monheim engages with defender initially but doesn’t move his feet and ends up just getting tossed which allows his defender to make the play after Marks gained 5 yards.

5:36 left in the first quarter, Monheim pulls to the left for the screen pass to Lake McRee. Monheim is late to get to his defender, who ends up making the play for no gain, forcing USC to punt.

12:07 left in the second quarter, Monheim turns his hips almost instantly, allowing the defender to have a lane to get to Moss. Moss was able to get rid of the ball quickly for a 10-yard gain to Duce Robinson.

2:44 left in the third quarter, Monheim gets completely manhandled and tossed to the side. The pressure from his defender causes Moss to throw the ball early and throw it out of bounds.

4:19 left in the fourth quarter, Monheim leans too much on his defender, who side-steps Monheim, making him fall. The screen play was blown up because of that so Moss throws the ball away.

RT Mason Murphy (76 snaps)

27.3 overall, 59.7 run-blocking, 0.0 pass-blocking, 6 pressures allowed, 1 penalty

Surprisingly enough, Murphy had a pretty good three quarters in this game. He was keeping his defenders away from the quarterback and the ball-carriers. Murphy didn't do anything special, but he did his job. The fourth quarter was an absolute disaster, though. He got beat almost every way possible. He got driven back, beat to the inside, beat to the outside, and in general he doesn't get to the second level fast enough.

The Good:

6:58 left in the third quarter, Murphy pulls to the left and makes a nice block on the cornerback, taking him completely out of the play for Marks to gain 6 yards.

The Bad:

1:25 left in the second quarter, Murphy does a chop block but doesn’t connect with his defender, causing him to be able to put his arms up and bat the ball down.

0:06 left in the second quarter, Murphy gets beat to the outside, causing Moss to step up. At that point, Amos Talalele loses his footing, which allows his defender to get off the block and sack Moss.

13:16 left in the fourth quarter, Murphy isn’t quick enough to get to his linebacker, who ends up making the play after Quinten Joyner gains 7 yards.

8:48 left in the fourth quarter, Murphy gets pushed back then beat to the inside, making Moss run around almost immediately. That pressure caused him to get rid of the ball much earlier and throw an incompletion.

7:08 left in the fourth quarter, Murphy lets the defender cross his face and beat him to the inside, forcing Moss to throw an incomplete pass as he gets hit.