Reporter Roundtable: Staff perspective and predictions for USC-Iowa

SAN DIEGO -- It's been more than a month since USC last played a football game and several weeks since the speculation about coach Clay Helton's future fully boiled over into abject acrimony among a frustrated fan base.

It has been a very, very long month for the Trojans.

Their string of victories to close out the schedule, and whatever good feelings might have been engendered by rolling over rival UCLA, have given way to persistent vitriol on social media and fan forums in response to the USC administration deciding to sustain the status quo with Helton.

Which has all made for an awkward build-up to this bowl week, as No. 22 USC (8-4) takes on No. 16 Iowa (9-3) in the Holiday Bowl on Friday evening in San Diego.

Senior team captain Michael Pittman felt the need to address it head-on this week with his own message for the fans and a hope that the focus can return to football.

"It is a little frustrating because you see that your fans are saying so many negative things about you, and it's just like, wow, I thought you guys were our fans and supporting us. They're not doing a lot of supporting right now," he said. "But that's all right because we're going to go out there and we're going to play hard and hopefully we can reel those fans back in. That's the plan."

Helton, a relentlessly nice man despite what critics may feel about his coaching acumen, has maintained an even-keeled handling of the harrumphing from the fan base. He is well aware of the commentary surrounding his program, but he has remained deft at deflecting any questions about it.

"I love our fan base, and I love them because they hold our expectations high," Helton said this week when asked about Pittman's comments. "It's why we all came here. We've got a tremendous opportunity -- I think we all feel it -- to really finish strong, the opportunity to win six out of the last seven games and to finish against a top-25 opponent, the 16th-ranked team in the country in Iowa. So our kids see that opportunity."

Another opportunity they hope exists Friday is to remind the fan base of the potential of this team leading into next year. The loudest critics seem too dug in about the broader direction of the program -- especially in the wake of an early signing period that passed with the Trojans' 2020 recruiting class presently ranked tied for 83rd with Liberty -- to be swayed at this point.

But that is the hope, as Pittman explained.

"It would just get our fans back into it, I guess, because they're acting a little cold toward our program right now," he said. "... But that really doesn't affect our football team, it doesn't really affect us because we just keep playing anyway."

Perhaps another way to look at it is what a bowl loss would mean for USC. It would only further amplify all this noise around the program, would only further incite the already-triggered Twitter thumbs and crescendo the critics against the decision made earlier this month.

Can USC assuage the agitated overnight Friday? No, but this game does mean plenty when considering that alternative and that it is the last opportunity to impact the conversation -- on the field, at least -- for the next eight-plus months.

Iowa is a good football program -- a team that went 9-3 and endured its only losses by 7, 5 and 2 points, all to ranked teams.

A win for USC would indeed be a nice statement for a team expected to return the bulk of its starters on both sides of the ball.

That's the narrative Helton would like USC fans to see, but he's knows the reality -- a win Friday night is more essential than it would be pacifying, and it's merely the beginning of a long road for the Trojans to truly turn the tide of opinion.

"I've always told [the players] we all have roles, and I've said this to you all before," Helton said. "Our role as a team and as coaches and as players is to go out and win football games and do our absolute best both on and off the field to represent our university. The media's role is to report and have opinion. And the fans' role is to bring the passion. And when you're living up to expectations, it's usually good passion in my 25 years of experience in coaching.

"And if the expectations aren't quite [met], then you're going to feel it. You're going to feel it as players, you're going to feel it as coaches. The beauty for us is we try to live up to those expectations each and every day, and we've got another opportunity here come Friday to come out there and show what Trojan football is."

As usual, the TrojanSports.com staff debates and discusses the storylines surrounding the game and gives its predictions for Friday night:

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1. This matchup pits one of the top passing offenses nationally against one of the top pass defenses. What's your expectation for that facet of the game?

Ryan Young: "I do believe this will be the toughest defense USC has faced this season, but I don't believe QB Kedon Slovis and this passing attack can be effectively shut down. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz acknowledged this is a different challenge than any his Hawkeyes have faced this season, with USC's depth of wide receiver talent and Slovis' rapid maturation into a star in the making. I can see Iowa and standout defensive end A.J. Epenesa making some big plays in the backfield with their physicality up front and throwing the high-flying Trojans a little out of sync. I can see Slovis making a mistake, though he cut way down on his turnovers late in the season. But I can't see Iowa totally stifling USC's aerial attack. That's the biggest reason why I give a slight edge to the Trojans in this matchup. I simply believe they're going to score, and the question will be whether Iowa can do enough offensively to match it. I will say, I'm not expecting another 400-yard game from Slovis, or for this to resemble the romps over Cal and UCLA. But Slovis and Co. are too good to be taken out of this game."

Tajwar Khandaker: "There’s no question that the Hawkeyes are an imposing bunch against the pass. Their pass rush is led by superstar and soon-to-be first round pick A.J. Epenesa, and on the back end they sport a bevy of talented DBs -- including the supremely underrated Michael Ojemudia at cornerback. Nonetheless, the unit hasn’t faced an offense nearly as explosive as the Trojans. The closest they’ve seen are the likes of Minnesota and Penn State. Despite Epenesa’s brilliance, the rest of the Iowa pass rush isn’t nearly as imposing; USC’s solid pass blocking should allow it to focus on Epenesa and give Slovis enough time to work. The Trojans' group of receivers is also unlike any the Hawkeyes have encountered; it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to corral them in the way they’ve done against Big-10 opponents. USC probably wont manage 52 points or 515 passing yards like it did against UCLA, but the Trojans will put up more than Iowa is used to handling."

2. What is your biggest concern for USC going up against this Iowa team?

Ryan: "To me, it's just the contrasting traits of the two teams. Namely, that Iowa is one of the most disciplined, least-penalized squads in the country with a plus-turnover margin for the season and a consistent knack for doing the little things well that can sway games. And USC is ... none of those things. The Trojans are one of the most penalized teams in the country, they aren't always disciplined, they have a negative turnover margin, and the fear is always the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that can quickly negate whatever talent advantage they have. That concern is even more pronounced against an Iowa team that knows what it has to do to win and sticks to that formula year after year under Ferentz."

Tajwar: "Iowa’s style of clock-munching, ball control offense might not be the most exciting, but it could end up being a nightmare for the Trojans if their defense allows the Hawkeyes to grind out the clock. The nature of this USC squad makes it more well-suited for a shootout; as long as Slovis and the offense get opportunities with the football, the Trojans can hang. The problem is that Iowa prefers to take its sweet time getting downfield, leaning on a steady running game and trusting Nate Stanley to make good reads in the short to intermediate part of the field. It’s not especially successful on paper; the Hawkeyes haven’t cracked 30 points once since their fourth game of the season. However, what the glacial Iowa offense does do well is manage to keep the ball out of the hands of the opposing offense. They’re 24th in the country in time of possession, and paired with a stout defense, that allows them to stay in tight, low scoring games of the kind for which they’re best suited. USC’s defense has been inconsistent at each level all year long; whether or not the Trojans will be able to force the Hawkeyes to give up the ball often enough is a shaky bet."