Happy Friday to you, Followers. Hope you are doing great.
Tonight, your 3-0 Washington State Cougars will take the field in a not-sold-out LA Coliseum, where they will take on the always revered, but not necessarily now feared, University of Southern California, Trojans. With a win tonight, the Cougs figure to be an absolute lock for 6 wins and bowl eligibility. Lose tonight and the season continues to move on in earnest for the Cougs, with lots of potential wins remaining on the schedule.
In contrast, if USC loses tonight, well, the Men of Troy would fall to an almost unthinkable 1-3 to start the year (I emphasize almost here because as soon as they named that freshman the starting QB, I immediately wondered if a 1-4 or 2-3 start was coming, especially given Arizona’s pre-season hype).
And, while the Trojans certainly have enough talent to finish the year off in Grand Style, the fact of the matter is that teams that start 1-3 usually do not have the horse power to go 6-2 (or some such) the rest of the way.
Of course, that’s my typically long winded way of saying that the stakes tonight are HUGE for USC. And while a win would certainly be GINORMOUS for WSU, a loss just isn’t the end of the world for us. And so, the pressure is SQUARELY on USC in this one. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
And here are some reasons why USC fans should be nervous as all hell about this one.
1) The Trojans lack an offensive identity.
2) They’re banged up on both sides of the ball, but especially at OT and Running back.
3) Their D has been on the field for quite a long time the last two games and were completely GASSED by the end of the third quarter last week.
4) They have struggled with Defensive Lines that line up with odd fronts.
5) They don’t run the ball well.
6) Their Special Teams play has been horrible.
7) They don’t covert in the redzone.
8) They don’t score.
9) They give up lots of yards on 3rd down.
10) They don’t win without Sam Darnold.
11) The Cougs look pretty good.
And here are some reasons why USC fans should NOT be nervous.
1) The team has heard all week about how terrible and soft they are, and that kind of press usually serves to fire up underachieving teams.
2) The Trojans remain, top to Bottom, one of the most talented rosters in all of College Football.
3) Clancy Penderghast is a helluva defensive coordinator.
4) The Trojans have been NAILS defensively on 1st and 2nd down.
5) Clay Helton has an established record of rallying these Trojans when you think that they are down and out (see Arizona State game last year following their blow-out loss to Notre Dame in South Bend).
And in no small way, that ability to help his team Circle the Wagons makes him a near carbon copy of his predecessor: In no small way, Clay Helton is A LOT like SARK.
In any case, while there are good reasons to believe that this USC team is just not very good, there are also a slew of perhaps even better reasons to think that tonight could be the night where the Trojans decide to turn on the Rockets, and in so doing, blow the Cougs right out of the Coliseum.
But I don’t think that is going to happen. Here are the keys.
1) Don’t start the game off bad.
USC is going to come out of the gates in this one with their hair on fire. On offense, I expect to see SC try to get their young QB in rhythm early by throwing short before taking taking shots down field out of play action. The key for us, I think, is simply to keep the game in front until such time that we can make our adjustments. I do NOT think that we are going to start the game by putting 8 in the box, even if we give up some points early on.
I honestly think we’re gonna try to play them straight up. And if that works, our confidence is going to go through the roof.
Now, for Uncle Rico and company, well, get ready to feel the heat. Because if there’s one thing that USC doesn’t want to do in this one is fall behind early and/or allow Minshew to gain any sort of rhythm. So, I expect USC to bring LOTS of pressure early and to provide a whole lot of press coverage as well. The goal will be to shorten that clock in Minshew’s head early in the game and to keep his eyes from peering up field to Tay Martin.
The result, of course, is that there are going to be BIG PLAYS to be had early in this one if the O-Line can hold up and if Minshew can stay accurate with the deep ball.
2) Don’t turn the ball over.
In year’s past we needed to be uber aggressive offensively in games because (a) Our defense wasn’t any good and (b) we couldn’t punt. Well, when you’re facing an offense that’s really struggling what you don’t want to do is give them any short fields from which they might score and gain confidence. So hopefully, Minshew will forsake a wild throw or two in order to let our punter punt and allow the Claeys version of the Speed D to do their thing. If the Offense keeps it down to one turnover, I think we’ll win.
3) Run the Damn Ball
Both of our wins last year against the Division winners were accompanied by 20+ carry efforts by our running backs. And like I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter how those runs go–we just HAVE TO strike that balance. It would also be nice if the North-South version of James Williams that we saw last week shows up tonight. I know Max Borghi will. #MaxBoobie
4) Be Normal
We talked about this before last year’s game, but in big games like this one, the most important thing this team can do is just make routine plays. And that means catching the ball when you’re open for a first down on 3rd and 8, it means making tackles when you have a chance to wrap guys up, blah, blah, blah.
5) Win the Red Zone
Honestly, I have no idea how this game is going to be played tonight, I really don’t. But, if I was a betting man—and thank god I’m not—I’d bet that both teams are going to move the ball well in spurts. So, the big question in my mind is not whether we or they are going to score, its whether or not we can score touchdowns. And to that point, Tracy Claeys; Number ONE priority in the off-season was to improve our redzone defense. Well, with USC’s shaky special teams play (to this point) and freshman QB, tonight would be as good as any to show that prowess.
Prediction: I have NO IDEA what to make of this game, although I must say that I have been predicting an upset of the Trojans all through the early season because of their schedule and the short week. However, I’ve gotten a bit of the yips over the past day and half.
In the end, I think that their defense is better than ours, while I think that our offense is better than theirs. And while I would NORMALLY bet on the team with the better defense–all else equal– I think that the redzone is gonna be the difference tonight.
And because I think we have the more well-established identity, I’m sayin that the Cougs will beat the Trojans 27-23 in a game that is sure to have me hitting the hard stuff by midway through the second quarter of the Central Florida-FAU game.
That’s all I’ve got for today. Enjoy the game, it should be a good one!
All for now. Go Cougs.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
