Trojan Talk Podcast: Max Browne dissects USC's new offense, QB transition
**Former USC quarterback Max Browne has joined TrojanSports.com for the 2019 season to provide analysis and commentary on the Trojans from his unique and informed perspective.
Browne can be heard on the Trojan Talk podcast on Tuesdays and Fridays and does a live chat for subscribers on the message board every Thursday evening.**
In the latest edition of the Trojan Talk podcast, Max Browne and co-host Ryan Young break down USC's season-opening 31-23 win over Fresno State, the first impressions of the Trojans' new Air Raid offense, and of course, the news of the week regarding QB JT Daniels' season-ending knee injury and freshman Kedon Slovis now taking the starting job.
Here's an excerpt from Browne's dissection of the new offensive scheme:
"Obviously there was a lot of short, underneath passes, and that could very well be the case the rest of the year, but I think that's a byproduct -- I mean Fresno State's corners were sitting 8-9-10 yards off early on, probably with the mindset and I would do this if I was a defensive coordinator going up against USC, is let's force them to work their way down the field in 12, 14-play drives with 5-yard out routes and 5-yard hitches because you're bound to make a mistake eventually. If I'm Fresno State and I know I'm outmanned on the outside, I'm not necessarily going to press right away. So I thought that was a little bit of the byproduct early.
"And a lot of those quick passes did have run options, so it is a, if the quick-hitter pass game's there take it, if not hand the ball off type thing. And the concept I did love that was new and was not there when I was there was the quick route to one side -- whether it's a hitch or a slant or what not -- and then you roll out to a more deeper concept on the other side. if they take the front side away. And early on, Fresno State was not taking that front side away, which that's a unique concept. The first I ever saw that was with Marcus Mariota at Oregon. And that was some cutting edge stuff back when he was there obviously. But I love that concept and I would not be surprised if they do those similar concepts with Kedon moving forward because it is kind of one receiver, if he's there [take it], if not you're rolling outside and you're cutting the field in half so his read's a lot simpler. I would expect those concepts to continue."