USC DC Todd Orlando shares insight on the Trojans' pivot to Oregon prep

USC defensive coordinator Todd Orlando shared a humorous anecdote that both encapsulates the unique challenge the staff has faced this week, with the Pac-12 switching the Trojans' championship game opponent from Washington to Oregon on Monday, as well as the attitude with which they're approaching it.

"The week itself has been strange, absolutely. I mean, we were kind of laughing about it yesterday because we got back into the room and started doing the Oregon stuff. You know, if they run this route concept, what do we do? And it was actually a route concept from Washington that was still stuck in our brains from the morning," Orlando said.

"So we caught ourselves a couple times talking about plays that we already had kind of in our head. But this is gonna be a championship game and we're all excited about it. ... It's been a grind, but it's what you want. You're playing relevant games in the middle of the month in December, you're doing something right."

The Trojans (5-0) were already facing a short week leading up to the Pac-12 championship game on Friday, so it certainly didn't help that they spent all of Sunday and the first hours of Monday focused on game-planning for Washington.

It was then determined that the Huskies (3-1) would not be able to overcome their COVID-19 situation, including having zero available offensive linemen to even stage a practice, so Oregon (3-2) was subbed in as the replacement representative from the North division. What's worse for USC is the Ducks didn't have a game last weekend -- their scheduled game with the Huskies was cancelled -- so it's likely they were already preparing for this very scenario and getting a jumpstart on scouting the Trojans.

USC coach Clay Helton has consistently downplayed any opportunity for excuses or frustration over this latest curveball in this pandemic-disrupted season, and Orlando furthered those sentiments Tuesday when asked how much that switcheroo set the staff back.

"When you play on Saturday, you go into Sunday and you look at the tape from the day before and then you kind of start the process with it. So me personally, you probably go about eight hours on Sunday and then in the morning for about three. So you're looking at about 11-12 hours, so it's not one of those things like you lost 36, you know what I'm saying? You still gotta sleep. So probably about 12 hours," Orlando said. "You end up instead of going home at 9, you go home at 12. You wake up earlier. So you catch up, so it's not a big deal."

USC, of course, played Oregon last season -- not that the Trojans or their fans want to spend much time reflecting on that 56-24 thrashing by the Ducks in the Coliseum.

This is a much different Oregon team, though.

QB Justin Herbert is gone to the NFL, the entire offensive line is new -- including losing star left tackle Penei Sewell, who opted out of the season -- and three key members of the defensive secondary opted out as well.

Offensively, the Ducks are still averaging 34.2 points per game (down just a tick from their 35.4 last season), as QB Tyler Shough has passed for 1,389 yards, 11 TDs and 4 INTs and rushed for 256 yards and 2 TDs. Travis Dye (336 rushing yards, 1 TD, 7.5 yards per carry) and CJ Verdell (285-3-4.4) have led the backfield.

But the drop-off on defense has been significant as Oregon is giving up 28 PPG (up from 16.5 last season) and 419.8 yards per game (up from 329.1 last year).

The Ducks lost their top four tacklers from last season in linebacker Troy Dye, safety Jevon Holland, cornerback Thomas Graham and safety Brady Breeze.

Holland (66 tackles, 4 INTs, 4 TFLs), Graham (64 tackles, 2 INTs, 10 PBUs and 5 TFLs) and Breeze (62 tackles, 2 INTs) were set to form the core of a strong secondary before each deciding to opt out. Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir also initially opted out before choosing to return and play. Consequently, the Ducks have only 2 interceptions after ranking second nationally last year with 20 in 14 games.

USC cornerbacks coach Donte Williams was the position coach for that unit at Oregon last year and his knowledge of the personnel has been an asset for the Trojans in this short week of prep.

"You go in there and ask and having someone that was in the building last year, who knows all the ins and outs of every kid, how they work, how they process, what kind of athlete they are. Absolutely. That process started yesterday, the second we got to work," Orlando said.

Meanwhile, the players certainly remember the feeling walking off the field at the Coliseum last November after that deflating loss to the Ducks -- the Trojans' only defeat over the second half of the regular-season last year.

"I think we’re pretty excited to play them. We know the outcome last year, so we’re just going to try and go out there and play the ball we’ve always loved, the ball we’ve played this whole year. We’re pretty excited about that," nose tackle Marlon Tuipulotu said.

Added safety Talanoa Hufanga: "We just have to play our game, as much as we can. It’s a great team in Oregon, but at the same time we have to compete against ourselves the most. We just have to be 1-0 on the week, like coach preaches. If we do those things, the outcome will be great."

Meanwhile, wide receiver Tyler Vaughns was a little more blunt on that matter while joining the Trojans Live radio show Monday night.

"Can't lose. We're not going to lose. That's the whole talk. There's nothing more to be said about it. We're just not going to lose to them," Vaughns said.

As for the preparations from the players' perspective, it sounds like the last two days were going to be lighter anyway coming off a grueling back-and-forth rivalry game with UCLA just six days after hosting Washington State.

The Pac-12 championship will be USC's third game in 13 days.

"Coach has done a great job of taking care of our bodies throughout this process. We’ve had a couple lighter practices, just to get our feet back underneath us. We’ve gone through a couple hard weeks right now," Hufanga said. "Just try to utilize this time and get back going and get ready for a great Oregon team. We want to do our best to prepare mentally and physically. Our coach has done a great job to utilize this time to help us do our best."