Alabama vs. USC Discussion

Redshirt junior Max Browne has been named USC's starting quarterback, coach Clay Helton announced Saturday.The decision gives Browne two weeks to prepare as the starter in anticipation of the Trojans' opener against defending national champion Alabama on Sept. 3 in Arlington, Texas.
"At this point, we feel that it is in the best interest of our football team to lean on the veteran experience that Max Browne has, so we have named him the starter going into our opening game against Alabama," Helton said in a statement. "With our experienced offensive line and the weapons at our skill positions, we as a staff are confident that Max's ability will help guide a very successful offense."

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[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)]“Biggest worry is probably the thinness a little bit at defensive line,” coach Clay Helton admitted [/COLOR]at this year’s Pac-12 media days[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)]. “We’re going to be a little thin there, a little bit inexperienced. … It doesn’t mean that they’re not talented, they’re just inexperienced.”[/COLOR]

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[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)]Pendergast runs a 5–2 defense, which isn’t too dissimilar from the 3–4 USC ran last year — both feature three down linemen, though the 5–2 is more aggressive at the line of scrimmage. It should give players like Porter Gustin and Jabari Ruffin, outside linebackers in last year’s scheme, more time in a hybrid role that will allow them to function like defensive ends. Though they’ll stand up on the edges of the line, they’ll rarely drop back into coverage, focusing instead on rushing the passer. That especially benefits Gustin, who played in all 14 games as a freshman and racked up 5.5 sacks. Both players have been reclassified as defensive ends on the roster.[/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)]“We’ll do things as coaches to be able to help us help a young [defensive] line,” Helton said at media days. “Load the box, there’s going to be more pressure put on our defensive backs to play some man coverage and to help a defensive line whether it’s pressures or dropping a safety in the box, whatever it might be, we’ll do those things to help them.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8)]Behind talents like Adoree’ Jackson and Iman Marshall, USC’s secondary should be able to hold its own when teams stack the box, but no matter how the team arranges the front seven, there’s no disguising how many underclassmen the Trojans are relying on up front.[/COLOR]

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Justin Davis flitted to his left on a third-down run Wednesday, probing for the edge. It was in vain: Outside linebacker Porter Gustin had rammed his blocker two yards into the backfield.Davis stuttered and scanned. Behind him, the offensive line had paved a hole through the defensive front, so he turned and burst toward it. That was a mirage, too: The other outside linebacker, Uchenna Nwosu, was stalking, ready to close the gap.
Davis had nowhere to go, his would-be first down snuffed out by USC’s linebackers.
That group, with Gustin and Nwosu on the outside and Michael Hutchings and Cameron Smith on the inside, has made the Trojans’ run defense less of a liability during training camp, despite a young, thin defensive line.

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[FONT=&quot]Clay Helton has stressed that he wants to make USC a ground pound rushing team again, with the ability to wear down opponents and close out games in the 4th quarter. This strategy shift from prior regimes may just be the perfect match with our #1 rated offensive line in America, along with our top rated tackle Zach Banner. In fact, the entire starting 5 returns intact. 3 of the other 4 linemen are also deserving of all-conference hype. I fully expect this unit to open up holes for the star running backs, and protect new starter Browne until he is at a level of experience and comfort to be on par with the other household names.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Clancy Pendergast returns to USC after coaching a Top 15 defense here in 2013 (the unit fell out of the top 50 after his departure). After two seasons with the 49ers, he is back and will bring a scheme that will actually utilize the star players effectively, unlike what we saw from the Justin Wilcox defenses in 2014 & 2015. He refused to blitz enough, was mostly 2-gap, and simply didn’t maximize the potential of his talented roster. Pendergast wants to bring back the 5-2 scheme, and wants to turn loose all of his highly-rated prospects. While just one starter returns in the front seven, it is basically a “who’s who” of the 2014 & 2015 National Signing Day shows, where these 4 and 5 star guys all put on Trojan hats on live TV. Rasheem Green, Noah Jefferson, Porter Gustin, Osa Masina, John Houston, Jack Jones – the list goes on and on. Even though most lack starting experience, there are too many weapons here to not find a starting lineup that works. When Alabama and Ohio State lose starters, they are given the benefit of the doubt because they recruit at an elite level at the top of their conferences. Yes, USC doesn’t have Saban or Meyer on the sideline, but they are in a similar recruiting situation where over the past 5 years they rate as our #1 weighted average recruiting rank in the Pac-12 (8th nationally), so the pieces are certainly there for Pendergast.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]I am not explicitly calling for the upset over Alabama, but also think the blowout Vegas lines are ridiculous. Not many teams can match up with Alabama in the trenches, but I think USC comes close, especially on offense. [/FONT]

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PepsiTrojan said:

Hi guys - Having watched almost all of your 2015 games on YouTube so far, here are a few observations:

- USC's OL was coached by the worst OL coach in the history of the sport (Bob Connelly). I know y'all are familiar. He was replaced by Neil Calloway who is significantly better. The OL is talented - they needed a better coach
- USC is going to have to get creative with the run. Smashmouth running against Alabama is going to fail miserably.
- USC needs to get their playmakers in space. USC has as much speed as Alabama will see all year. These guys are track stars
- If Browne hangs on to the ball to long he's going to get killed. USC needs to find a way to consistently get 3-5 yard chunks.
- USC brought in a an outstanding defensive coordinator who brings an attacking style defense. Our hope is that the defense can frustrate/confuse the new QB . . . whomever that turns out to be

Our questions about Bama are these:
- Will the new QB (Bateman?) be ready to go against a pretty fast defense?
- Scarborough is a beast but is he Derek Henry?
- Pruitt is a good DC but he's replacing a legend - how will that affect Bama's D?
- Will Kiffin try to get too cute with the offense? He's obviously looking forward to crushing USC.

USC can win this game if they win the turnover battle (+3), the special teams battle and keep from getting penalized. I give USC about a 10% chance of winning the game. At the end of the day, Bama's coaches and players have a lot more experience being in big games and are much more of a finished product. I think Alabama wins 31-14 breaking the game open in the 4th quarter.

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Crimson Flyboy said:

I'm guessing Marlon Humphrey will be covering Juju Smith-Schuster most of the night, and that looks like an interesting match up. What do y'all think of this match up? Do y'all think Marlon will be able to limit this guy most of the night?

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