USC fans have spent the week trying to figure out what to make of the Trojans' defensive performance last Saturday at Washington State.
On the Cougars' first and third drives of that game, they had their way on the ground and through the air against USC, going 12 plays for 89 yards and a touchdown and 7 plays for 58 yards and another score to take an early 14-0 lead.
By the third quarter, though, WSU quarterback Jayden de Laura was out of the game (with exception to a brief return) for a knee injury, leaving the offense to be led by walk-on Victor Gabalis and inexperienced Cammon Cooper.
And the Trojans' defense feasted. Going back to late in the second quarter, USC limited Washington State to eight straight series of no more than 5 plays or 18 yards, including five three-and-outs, a fumble, an interception and a turnover on downs, helping spur the Trojans' run of 45-straight points to close out that lopsided 45-14 win.
There was also a goal-line stand between those two early touchdowns to factor in.
So did the Trojans truly clean up whatever they were struggling with early, or did they simply overpower an unprepared quarterback for most of the game thereafter?
Perhaps the answer will become more clear based on how USC follows it up this weekend vs. Oregon State.
In the meantime, the coaches weighed in with their takeaways from the performance.
"I thought that there were some critical things. The goal-line stand was pretty elite by the guys. ... And then coming out of halftime I knew it was going to be a critical series. We were out first because they deferred and then our kids, Micah [Croom] and Juliano [Falaniko] did a great job [forcing a fumble on the kickoff], got the ball out and then it kind of snowballed from there," defensive coordinator Todd Orlando said. "But we started making plays and the guys we expect to make plays showed up big and had a lot of momentum going in the third and fourth quarter. ...
"We just settled down a little bit. Like I said beforehand, this system's about players. I think that any coordinator will tell you that. There's no magical calls. [It's about] your really good players stepping up and making some really good plays."
USC got that with outside linebacker Drake Jackson's strip sack in the end zone that Tuli Tuipulotu recovered for a touchdown, along with interceptions by Calen Bullock and Jayden Williams among other highlights.
All told, they held Washington State to 279 yards (180 passing, 99 rushing), notched 3 sacks and forced 4 turnovers (including the fumble on special teams).
The Trojans also relied heavily on a seven-DB package that suited that matchup and won't be how they play most weeks, so how much can carry over?
"Washington State has smaller, quicker type slots, and a lot of Oregon State's receivers are on the smaller side and extremely quick and extremely fast. So I think that for one would be a carryover. Some of their 11 personnel run game is the same when it comes to the read zone and how they like to pretty much expand and open gaps, in the middle of the field put a linebacker one-on-one with a running back -- I think that would be a little bit of a carryover. Other than that, it's kind of extremely different," interim head coach Donte Williams said. "Because Washington State, they're a 10 personnel team and they don't use a tight end. Oregon State is the majority of the time they're in 12 personnel, so that in itself is a little different to where you've got to match up personnel-wise and probably put some bigger bodies on the field. Last week we had seven DBS. That won't happen this particular game."
As much as anything, the Trojans should hope they can at least carryover the momentum they created on the defensive side last week.
Meanwhile, here is a look at what the PFF grades, snap counts and advanced stats revealed about their performance.
RELATED: Inside the PFF grades and snap counts for USC's offense vs. Washington State
(Note, grades are on a 1-100 scale with grades in the 90s limited and considered elite, 80s very good with the line between average and above average falling somewhere in the 70s.)
