USC’s defense collapses in Pac-12 Championship game
You know what they say — what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. For USC’s defense, that truism could be the most positive outlook from its 47-24 loss in the Pac-12 Championship game Friday night.
Behind a hobbled sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams, the Trojans struggled to give some hope to the offense, giving up 533 total yards. Utah was 5-for-12 on third downs and averaged 9.1 yards per pass with only one turnover.
The Utes’ 47 points were the third-most they’ve scored this season. Only Southern Utah and Colorado allowed more, two programs that are among the worst defensively in the country — the Buffaloes are second to last in the nation, the Thunderbirds 94th best in the FCS.
Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was unavailable for comment after the game. Head Coach Lincoln Riley pointed out some missed opportunities.
“I think tonight, defensively, we obviously played really well early, had a lot of momentum,” said Riley in a post game press conference Friday. “I thought really in the second half, it really changed. I felt like we were in position a lot defensively tonight. We dropped two or three very easy interceptions. I mean those are such big momentum plays.”
It was a dream start for the defense. Utah scored three points in the first quarter and fumbled early in the second quarter. The rest of the game evolved into USC’s worst nightmare.
The Trojans struggled to get to Utah’s junior quarterback Cameron Rising finishing with only one sack on the night. USC also had just three tackles for loss — a total that could have been increased as some tackles were missed in the backfield.
Over 20 missed tackles marred the Trojans ability to get stops. Most of them came at the worst moments, including a 57-yard touchdown by sophomore Money Parks on a key 3rd-and-19 in the third quarter.
“At the end of the game… We panicked a little bit. We got way too focused on trying to strip the ball or trying to make big plays as opposed to just getting them on the ground,” Riley said, “Our tackling was very poor at the end.”
Coming into Friday night, the Trojans were in the midst of strong performances on defense in back-to-back games.
USC held Notre Dame, who ran for 263 yards against then ranked No. 4 Clemson earlier in the season, to just 90 yards on the ground. The week before, a UCLA running attack that is statistically top five in the country had 204 rushing yards against the Trojans.
But, USC’s pass defense was still a step behind.
Notre Dame’s sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne threw for a career-high 318 yards on a 88.5% completion rate. Even with three interceptions, the Bruins’ redshirt senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 309 yards, his second most this season.
It was much of the same Friday night. Rising threw for 310 yards, the second most in his career, plus three touchdowns. His career high is 415 passing yards, which came against the Trojans in their earlier meeting this season.
Missed chances on both sides of the ball hurt USC. Riley pointed out two specific instances where the Trojans didn’t capitalize on snatching the momentum. One of which came after the offense turned it over on downs moments after the Utes fumbled.
“I mean just think how that game feels if offensively we go punch that in,” Riley said. “I mean those are big momentum plays that when you look back, so much can hinge on those. We drop a for sure interception and then I think they pop a score the very next play on a 3rd and long on a play we didn’t tackle very well. So I mean that’s the game right there.”
In the most important game of the season, the side of the ball with the most questions coming into the year became the Achilles heel of the Trojans — a fitting end to USC’s College Football Playoff hopes.
The Trojans will now turn their attention to what will likely be a New Year’s Six Bowl game.