FILM ROOM: Breaking down USC CB Olaijah Griffin's lockdown performance

**Each week, Tajwar Khandaker is going into the film room to dissect a key or pivotal aspect of USC's last performance.**

It had become clear early in camp that sophomore Olaijah Griffin was emerging as USC's top cornerback, but it wasn't truly until his performance Saturday against Stanford that it started to look like he might be well on his way to becoming a No. 1 corner in the truest sense.

Griffin notched 4 pass break-ups and twice denied 6-foot-7 Cardinal tight end Colby Parkinson in the end zone during a pivotal series in the second quarter that helped spark USC's turnaround on the way to a 45-20 win. The 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore was also aggressive in the run game, throwing his body at larger players for key stops.

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We go inside the film room to further break down Griffin's breakout performance.

Result: Griffin helps linebacker Palaie Gaoteote finish off a tackle to hold Stanford running back Cameron Scarlett to a 1-yard gain on first-and-13. Stanford would score on the next play, however.

Inside the play: With two tight ends lined up on the right side of the offensive line, Stanford runs inside zone behind the right guard. Griffin is in man coverage on the tight end, and before the play starts he creeps up near the line of scrimmage. After the snap, Griffin watches the quarterback as he moves to make the handoff, but he doesn’t shoot into the backfield too early. When he realizes that the tight ends are run blocking, Griffin shoots the edge, waits, and wraps up Scarlett cleanly for the quick stop.

Result: Stanford was already up 14-3 and had just recovered a fumble on the kickoff, taking over at the USC 21-yard line while looking to create further separation. Griffin breaks up a pass in the end zone intended for 6-foot-7 tight end Colby Parkinson on first down.

Inside the play: Stanford motions Parkinson to the right side to create a trips formation. Griffin is the outside corner on that side of the field and is lined up 8 yards deep across from the outside receiver. After the snap, the receiver across from Griffin runs up the seam while Parkinson runs a wheel up the sideline. Griffin drops deep, keeping his eyes on both receivers. Griffin tracks Mills’ eyes, and when he sees him looking toward Parkinson, Griffin does an excellent job breaking away from the receiver on the inside and getting to the outside to play the ball in the air in the end zone. Griffin tracks the ball, times his jump correctly and breaks up the deep ball with an outstretched hand. What makes this play most impressive is that Parkinson has 7 inches of height on Griffin and the ball is very high over his frame. Making the play he did required a perfectly timed and positioned jump -- which Griffin managed.

Result: Mills goes back to Parkinson on third down. Griffin again makes a pivotal PBU to force a field goal and make it a 17-3 game, giving USC some momentum as it mounts its ensuing comeback.

Inside the play: Two snaps later, Stanford is in the same position, now at third-and-3. The Cardinal line up in trips to the left, with Parkinson split to the right as the lone receiver. Griffin walks straight up to him and lines up with his arms up in a press position -- he looks to be in press-man. After the snap, Griffin gets his hands squarely on Parkinson’s shoulder pads, and although Parkinson is too big for Griffin to jam him, he manages to obstruct the route effectively. Griffin remains too handsy through the route, however; it could have very possibly been called for pass interference.

As the ball leaves Mills’ hand, Griffin gets his hands free of Parkinson and does a good job of locating the ball in the air. Unlike the last PBU where he was able to play the ball with his face towards it, this time Griffin has to play it in stride. His body positioning is excellent, blocking Parkinson off from the ball completely, and once again he correctly times his jump to go for the pick. He gets both hands on the ball, but contact with Parkinson and the height of the ball make it a PBU instead. Griffin would say later that he wasn't supposd to be on the field as USC had a larger redzone package in place for those moments, but he couldn't be subbed out from the far side of the field. It works out in the end for the Trojans.

Result: Griffin stops Dorian MAddox for a 2-yard gain on second-and-12, but a personal foul on Kana'i Mauga gives Stanford a first down anyway.

Inside the play: On another inside zone run to the right, Griffin watches the play develop and slides up closer to the line of scrimmage. Once he is completely sure that the running back is carrying the ball, he shoots the B-gap to meet the ball-carrier in the hole. Griffin gets low -- something he does consistently well in his tackles -- and wraps up the legs of the back to bring him down for a quick stop.

Result: Griffin is flagged for a pass interference penalty -- the lone blemish on his night -- on a first-and-10 play from the USC 17.

Inside the play: Stanford is lined up in trips to the right, and Griffin is matched up with the outside receiver. He’s once again in press-man and very quickly gets his hands on the receiver after the snap. Griffin does a good job of slowing him up at the stem of the route, but after the receiver makes his cut for the slant route, Griffin gets too grabby. He seems to have his right arm around the receivers back, and although he manages to break up the pass, he’s called for PI. Although the initial press is good and he does a good job reading and breaking on the route, the physicality down the field and the grabbing are a surefire way to get called for PI. That aggression is an integral part of Griffin’s game and part of what makes him so effective, but plays like this show the consequences of getting carried away with that approach.

Result: On the next play after the pass interference, Griffin and Gaoteote combine for a 5-yard tackle for loss on Scarlett. But Stanford is also called for offensive holding and USC accepts the 10-yard penalty, officially resulting in no play.

Inside the play: On the USC 8y-ard line, Stanford lines up with two tight ends to the left. Unusually, Griffin is playing on that side for this snap, lined up against the flanker tight end. The tight end crashes for the run block, and Griffin has an unimpeded line to the running back from the edge. The running back, seeing Griffin and the wide lane to the end zone outside of him, tries to bounce the run wide, but Griffin does an excellent job squaring up and holding the edge, closing on the back and wrapping him up for a loss of 5. A Stanford holding penalty negates the TFL, so it won't count on the stats, but it does remain on film.

Result: Griffin comes up with another PBU while pushing receiver Simi Fehoko out of bounds on a third-down catch before he can get his feet down.

Inside the play: Fehoko, a 6-foot-4 wideout, is the lone receiver wide to the right side, Griffin moves up into his press stance, hits Fehoko with a hard jab and manages to land it, momentarily knocking the big target off his route. Fehoko quickly adjusts and starts streaking downfield, and Griffin has to quickly flip his hips 180 degrees inside and catch up. He shoots back into the correct position as he tracks Fehoko down the sideline, but the spin he used forces him to stare at the receiver through most of the route instead of the ball.

Unlike the prior plays, Griffin never finds the ball; in fact, he never even looks for it. Instead, he watches Fehoko carefully, and when the wideout leaps to make the reception, Griffin drives into him with the sole intent of forcing him out of bounds without letting his feet touch the ground. It works as Fehoko lands outside of the field of play, and the pass is incomplete, forcing a fourth down. The decision to push him out of bounds is a high IQ play, and Griffin executes it well. However, the lunging jam at the start of the play is a risky gamble, and had the receiver been faster, might have resulted in Griffin getting burned down the sideline. This play simultaneously shows Griffin’s tremendous football instincts and the kind of trouble his uber-aggressive style of play can create for him.

Result: Griffin notches yet another PBU, on Fehoko on a second-and-8 play. Stanford would punt two plays later.

Inside the play: Stanford is in tight end trips to the right, and Griffin is lined up 8 yards off from the outside receiver. Fehoko runs a slant while the slot receiver runs a corner route, and Griffin reads this from his cover-2 zone in the flat. Watching the quarterback’s eyes, Griffin falls off from the slant and sinks deeper to play the corner route. Griffin plays it perfectly and jumps at the correct time to break up the pass with one hand. This is Griffin’s best play of the day to me -- he plays his zone perfectly, reading the quarterback, diagnosing the route pattern and adjusting his position before making an excellent play to break up the pass.

Result: Stanford is facing a third-and-3 on a last-gasp drive down 18 points midway through the fourth quarter when Mills completes a short pass to fullback Houston Heimuli. Griffin sticks Heimuli for a hard tackle just short of the first-down marker, and the Cardinal then get stuffed on fourth-and-1 to turn it over on downs.

Inside the play: Stanford lines up in tight end trips to the right, and per usual, Griffin is matched up with the outside receiver on that side. His man runs a slant, and Griffin runs with him. Mills throws a pass to his fullback, leaking out of the backfield, who then attempts to turn upfield to gain the first. Griffin sees this and quickly breaks off from his coverage to make the tackle. He takes a perfect angle to the ballcarrier, gets low and makes a secure tackle, forcing a fourth down.

Griffin played a fantastic game -- perhaps the best of any USC corner over the past two seasons. He didn't allow a completion on five targets (including 4 pass breakups and an overthrow to Fehoko down the sideline), although he did have the pass interference penalty. Griffin is an incredibly aggressive corner, showing a good understanding of press mechanics and usually impeding a receiver’s route successfully without losing proper position. However, his aggression can make him too greedy at times, over-lunging in his jam attempts occasionally and being physical too far along the route.

Where Griffin truly excels is in his ability to play the ball in the air. He tracks the football very well and doesn’t mistime his jumps. Griffin manages to avoid one of the most common mistakes made by young cornerbacks in trying to go for the pick on every target. Instead, he looks first to break up the pass -- usually with one hand. Making that decision early allows Griffin to extend his reach further than he would otherwise, leading to a larger radius of coverage.

Griffin is also an excellent tackler as far as corners go, with great instincts for pursuit angles, breaking down and wrapping up ball carriers low. He might genuinely be one of the best tacklers on the team through two games so far. However, his instinct of sliding up on running plays has the potential of getting him in trouble, especially on long developing play-action passes. Griffin’s aggression and instincts are both top notch. He puts himself in position to make plays all the time, and he makes them far more often than not. His aggression often overflows however, and until he manages to refine his control of it further, he’ll be prone to the occasional coverage bust or penalty.