Trojans ready to tangle with the Cougars

USC will attempt to bounce back from a tough loss for the third time this season on Saturday afternoon, when the team is set to face the high-flying Washington State Cougars in Pullman, Washington. The Trojans (5-3, 4-2 Pac-12) fell to No. 18 Utah in devastating fashion last week, while the Cougars (2-6, 1-4) have lost three straight games since a one-point win over the Utes on Sept. 27. Though Washington State must win out to match its six-win 2013 output, USC head coach Steve Sarkisian has been impressed with what he has seen of the Cougars’ unique offense.

Under pressure · Sophomore linebacker Su’a Cravens and the USC defense will try to put pressure on Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday. Cravens has picked up 11.5 tackles for loss this season. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

“Their passing game is their running game — it’s both,” Sarkisian said. “It’s all about the numbing repetition of the same plays over and over again, and their quarterback’s comfort with those plays and his receivers. They’re a talented group and it’ll be a great challenge for us.”

Washington State’s offensive success begins and ends with quarterback Connor Halliday, one of the most prolific passers in college football history. Halliday, who set an NCAA record with 734 passing yards in a single game earlier this month, leads the nation by a wide margin with 3,833 yards through eight games. The redshirt senior’s 32 touchdowns are also tops in the country. USC sophomore linebacker Su’a Cravens addressed the challenge that Halliday presents.

“Their quarterback throws the ball a lot,” Cravens said. “We’re gonna get pressure on him, I’m confident in our D-line. You grow up [and] do your job, that’s all you have to do. We’re real confident in our abilities and we feel confident that we match up well with these guys.”

Though Washington State wide receiver Vince Mayle leads the Pac-12 with 926 receiving yards, Halliday has managed to spread the wealth to a variety of targets thus far. Including Mayle, seven Cougars have more than 20 receptions. Even more impressively, Mayle and fellow wideouts River Cracraft, Isiah Myers and Dom Williams all have over 500 receiving yards. Limiting this talented group will be a difficult task, a fact that USC senior safety Gerald Bowman and the rest of the Trojans’ secondary has recognized.

“We have to make sure we’re tight in coverage and be tight on the ball,” Bowman said. “They do a pretty good job of spreading it out, so we gotta execute on the ball when its thrown. Obviously we don’t want to get beat deep.”

Through all their offensive brilliance, the Cougars have been less than spectacular on the other side of the ball. The team is tied for 94th in the country in total defense, allowing 444.6 yards per game. Head coach Mike Leach’s squad has given up over 30 points five times this season, including in each of its last three games. Continuing to expose this weak unit will be crucial for Sarkisian and USC.

“They have a very aggressive front,” Sarkisian said. “They’re good at trying to get after the quarterback and stop the run. They play a lot of plays; when you have an offense that throws the ball 75-80 times a game the clock stops. That means the defense is on the field a lot. So hopefully we can take advantage of some of those things.”

The injury bug bit the Trojans hard against Utah, with redshirt sophomore left tackle Chad Wheeler falling to a torn ACL and senior linebacker J.R. Tavai suffering a sprained knee. Wheeler will miss the remainder of the season while Tavai should be out for the next two games.

Freshman Toa Lobendahn will slide over from guard to tackle to take over for Wheeler, opening up a spot for freshman Damien Mama. Redshirt sophomore Scott Felix will start in place of Tavai, a move that Sarkisian feels could benefit the team against Washington State’s prolific aerial attack.

“[Felix] is a little more athletic, but he’s not as big or as physical as J.R. [Tavai],” Sarkisian said. “Scott’s [Felix] a little better when we ask him to drop in coverage. It’s all about just continuing to fight for consistency with him. He’s going to make good plays because he’s a really good player.”

USC leads the all-time series 58-9 with four ties. Last season, the Cougars picked up their first road win against the Trojans since 2000, prevailing in an ugly 10-7 slugfest. Sarkisian is confident that this year’s contest will be different.

“We’ve got an extremely resilient group,” the first-year coach said. “We’ve got great leaders. It’s really a great group of guys.”

The game kicks off from Martin Stadium this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and can be seen on the Pac-12 networks.