TrojanSports Roundtable: Staff perspective and predictions for USC-ASU

The Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12) will welcome a return to the Coliseum after a tense and dramatic 17-14 come-from-behind win at Oregon State last week in a very loud Reser Stadium. And the offense will relish the chance to return to form against a very susceptible ASU defense that has given up at least 458 yards in each of its three straight losses and is yielding an average of 235.7 rushing yards per game against FBS opponents.

The reeling Sun Devils (1-3, 0-1), meanwhile, get no relief.

The Trojans are the third opponent in the last four weeks for Arizona State that is ranked inside the top 12 of the current AP poll (No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 12 Utah being the others).

The Sun Devils have already moved on from Herm Edwards, firing the embattled head coach after an embarrassing 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan at home in Week 3 -- the one seemingly winnable game in that stretch -- while turning the reins over to interim head coach Shaun Aguano.

Arizona State's dismal start to the season feels like the inevitable outcome from all the turmoil within the program, with the cloud of a NCAA investigation into violations committed during the pandemic year recruiting dead period, the ouster of several assistant coaches/staffers as a result and the ensuing exodus of top talent through the transfer portal this offseason.

USC fans can maybe empathize with some of that, as this time last year the Trojans were the team reeling under an interim coach with nothing but questions about the program's future.

But, of course, USC fans aren't looking back at this point. They have Lincoln Riley, a (usually) high-powered offense, a (seemingly) improving defense and grand visions for what this season can become.

As the Trojans get set to host the Sun Devils in the Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. PT Saturday (on ESPN), our TrojanSports.com staff comes together for the weekly roundtable discussion/debate on the key storylines of the week.

Storyline of the week -- what do you think caused QB Caleb Williams' struggles last weekend and what do you expect of him this Saturday?

Ryan Young: "I think it was a combination of the environment -- a surprisingly loud and raucous Reser Stadium (despite one side of it being closed for construction) and the pressure he was under most of the night. I just don't think Williams was given a great chance to get comfortable in the pocket, and some early errant passes and a suddenly tense game on the road started to mount. I certainly don't think there is any physical issue with Williams, who threw an on-the-money rope to Jordan Addison for the game-winning 21-yard touchdown. Williams didn't talk to reporters after the game or after practice this week. It seems like he probably needed to clear his head and reset, which he should be able to do Saturday night in the Coliseum against a bad defense that ranks tied for 128th out of 131 FBS teams in sacks with only 2 on the year. Williams should have a clean pocket most of the night and a supreme talent advantage with his playmakers vs. this Sun Devils defense.

"It's the perfect get-right game for the star QB, and I think Lincoln Riley makes a point to rebuild his confidence (if that is even needed). I expect Williams to easily top 300 yards passing and rack up at least 4 touchdowns. I'd go even higher on those projections if not for how putrid ASU is against the run. Travis Dye, Austin Jones and the run blocking pose such a matchup advantage against that defense that it's going to have to be at least a balanced offensive attack. But Williams should thrive."

Tajwar Khandaker: "It’s hard for me to venture to guess here, and I don’t want to speculate too much. What did stand out to me was that the same problems that plagued Williams in the Oregon State game first emerged a week earlier against Fresno State. Particularly in the first half of that Week 3 game, there were notable lapses of both judgement and accuracy evident on the quarterback’s part. He largely played a good game that week, but the fact that the issues were showing up then tells me that there’s something deeper than a random and isolated off day that caused his troubles against the Beavers. If I had to guess I’d say that there’s been something more asked of him as a processor that he's working to get a handle on, as his reading of the field appeared to be the element of his game most out-of-sync. Lincoln Riley on Trojans Live alluded to the fact that Williams’ coaching had contributed to his poor performance last Saturday -- it might be that he was asked to change too much of his mental process in a way that messed with his ability to get the ball out on time. The accuracy issues are harder to guess at, but it does appear his throwing mechanics were a bit rushed and at times off-kilter last week. That might be a nerves/confidence issue, or a result of playing with a messed-up mental clock due to whatever processing changes he was having to make."

Jeff McCulloch: "It was a very strange week for Caleb Williams as so far this year he had been largely perfect (save for that first half vs. Fresno State) coming into the game against Oregon State. The main cause for Williams' struggles has to be the pressure he received from Oregon State and how the offense as a team struggled to pick up the extra rushers. Normally, this would be a blow against this great offensive line, but watching the game back, the tight ends and running backs really struggled blocking any sort of rushing defender. By my count, Williams was faced with 19 different pressures, including 6 scrambles. This makes it tough for a quarterback to get into any kind of rhythm as he only dropped back 44 times in the game. I expect a big-time bounce back game for Williams as this coaching staff knows how to make quick adjustments and will have the blocking figured out, as surely teams will throw more pressure after they saw that worked the week before. Also, it is hard to remember that Williams is only a sophomore. He isn’t this senior who is all polished -- Williams is going to have his ups and downs this year."