USC creative and resilient in best defensive performance of the season
It was a no secret that the USC defense had struggled mightily against mobile quarterbacks so far this season, and whatever the Trojans had tried to do previously to correct that had failed.
So with one of the most athletic QBs in the country visiting the Coliseum on Saturday night, USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and his staff got creative.
"I credit Clancy, I thought he did a tremendous amount of study along with the defensive staff, Johnny Nansen, and those guys. They went out and studied NFL teams and teams that had played Deshaun Watson and [Patrick] Mahomes and some athletic quarterbacks, Baltimore Ravens, and really seeing what others are doing to defend it," head coach Clay Helton shared afterward. "[We] put in some of those things this week. I thought our kids thrived off of it."
To the tune of 7 sacks overall and a net of negative 27 rushing yards for Arizona QB Khalil Tate, who had rushed for 161 yards against the Trojans in his last visit to the Coliseum two years ago.
In fact, after Tate was sacked for the sixth and final time to end the opening series of the second half, the Arizona coaches took him out (perhaps mercifully) and the Trojans would tack on one final sack against backup Grant Gunnell on the way to a dominant 41-14 win.
This by the same defense that struggled to contain Fresno State QB Jorge Reyna (88 rushing yards), Utah's Tyler Huntley (60 rushing yards) and Notre Dame's Ian Book (49 mostly late and crucial rushing yards).
"I don't want to give game plan away, but one of the things you did see, you had the opportunity for a lot of upfield twist games. A different package came in on third down on passing situations and different personnel," Helton said. [Abdul-Malik McClain] was a part of that … and he really did a nice job of creating pressure along with Hunter Echols. Drake [Jackson] was inside -- he's normally not inside -- he was at the 3 [technique]. Caleb [Tremblay], who is usually outside, became a 3.
"You really had an extremely fast group that was not only penetrating, but with the twist games really controlling the line of scrimmage. It was a nice package that was put in this week and very effective."
So effective that the Wildcats -- who came into the night ranked No. 9 nationally in total offense at 509.3 yards per game -- managed just 167 yards through three scoreless quarters until the game was effectively out of reach.
Linebackers Kana'i Mauga and John Houston finished with a sack each, defensive linemen McClain and Nick Figueroa also had sacks and Jackson, Marlon Tuipulotu, Juliano Falaniko, Jay Tufele and safety Isaiah Pola-Mao all had half a sack each.
The Trojans' success against Tate was a big part of the story, but just as significant was the collective resilience of a unit that entered the night already down four starters and would then lose perhaps its two best players to injury later in the evening.
Defensive end Christian Rector (ankle), cornerback Olaijah Griffin (back), nickel Greg Johnson (shoulder) and linebacker Palaie Gaoteote (ankle) were spectators when the game began. Safety Talanoa Hufanga would join them after sustaining a painful-looking shoulder injury at the end of the first quarter and standout freshman defensive end Drake Jackson limped off with an ankle injury early in the third quarter. His replacement, McClain, would later be carted off the field with a shoulder injury.
That left the Trojans scrambling to fill positions across the field.
None manned more impressively than Mauga's work at linebacker, filling Gaoteote's void.
A limited sophomore reserve and special teams stalwart through the first six games of the season, Mauga turned into the tone-setter Saturday night for the Trojans with a game-high 13 tackles, a forced fumble, an interception, 2 tackles for loss and a sack. His forced fumble late in the first quarter set USC up at the Arizona 34-yard line and led to the Trojans' first touchdown as they started to assert control.
It was a simply masterful performance overall by Mauga with the only real blemish a 15-year unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for heaving the football high into the sky after his third-quarter interception (which was set up by Pola-Mao's blitz on Gunnell).
Honestly, who could blame him? A guy who had 9 tackles all season blew past that in his first extended opportunity to prove that maybe he deserves larger role.
Asked what he hoped to show Saturday night, Mauga said, "Just to prove that I know my stuff" and to show the depth the Trojans have at the position.
Check and check.
"You know, he reminds me a lot of what [Michael Pittman] did when he was a young person. This is kind of our special teams captain and a guy that's sitting right behind EA and getting those reps each and every day," Helton said of Mauga. "He's played SAM backer for us in the base front vs. 12 and 21 personnel, and just a guy that we can count on day in and day out. I remember that with Pitt, he was waiting for his time and meanwhile he was just being so special on our special teams. And that's what Kana'i has been -- just a true teammate doing whatever is called upon to help the team win.
"And then he's called upon to be the starter tonight, and lo and behold, I mean interception, forced fumble, tackles everywhere. It was like unleashing somebody that was just waiting for his chance."
It was … yeah, exactly like that.
This coaching staff hasn't always shown to be reactive to potential personnel changes that present themselves, so who knows the lasting impact of Mauga's incredible fill-in performance.
An objective observer who has witnessed the Trojans' inconsistencies at linebacker this season might deduce that he needs to be on the field more moving forward. But that's a question for another day.
On Saturday night at least, the USC defensive coaches deserved acknowledgement for a job well done.
Freshman Dorian Hewett had made his USC defensive debut, starting at cornerback opposite fellow freshman Chris Steele before eventually ceding most of the snaps to starter Isaac Taylor-Stuart as his own injured ankle proved up to the task. Freshman Max Williams started at nickel while playing in only his second game of the season.
And by the end of the evening freshmen cornerback Jayden Williams (4 tackles), linebacker Ralen Goforth (3), linebacker Maninoa Tufono (2), cornerback Adonis Otey (1) and defensive tackle De'jon Benton (1) had all seen their first defensive snaps while nickel Kaulana Makaula (3) played for the second game in a row.
A lot of that playing time was the product of opportunity -- being up 34-0 and then 41-7 in the fourth quarter -- but in some other cases expanded roles were out of necessity.
And, in the case of Mauga, proved to be revelatory.
"I believe that our defense is all together so when one [guy] makes a play everybody makes a play, so everybody was hype on the sideline. It was just a great atmosphere," he said afterward.
It just so happened, more often than not, he was that guy Saturday night.
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