In the week leading up to Saturday’s matchup between No. 1 Oregon and No. 24 USC, much has been made of the respective offenses. Oregon features the top-ranked scoring attack in the country, while USC is getting back on track after a 48-14 win over Cal two weeks ago.
Overlooked, however, has been the quiet play of a talented USC defense.
In seven games in 2010, USC has given up 30 points or more three times — Hawaii (36), Washington (32) and Stanford (37) — coming out on the losing end of both the Washington and Stanford matchups in back-to-back weeks.
This week, assistant head coach for defense Monte Kiffin acknowledged that his illustrious Tampa 2 defensive scheme does not bode well against an attack like Oregon’s.
“The Tampa 2 isn’t exactly what you shut down the triple option with,” Kiffin told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s for a whole different deal.”
The Trojan defense took several hits this offseason, most notably the NFL departures of senior safety Taylor Mays (now with the San Francisco 49ers) and junior defensive end Everson Griffen (now with the Minnesota Vikings).
In their absence, a few lesser-known faces have emerged at the Trojan defensive front. Sophomore safety T.J. McDonald leads USC with 49 tackles and three interceptions this season. Ranking 11th in the Pacific-10 Conference in tackles, McDonald draws physical comparisons to that of Mays as the sophomore stands 6 feet 3 inches and weighs in at 205 pounds.
“When I’m running those sprints, I’m going hard because I know I won’t have that feeling of being tired in the fourth quarter,” McDonald told the LA Times. “That’s when the biggest plays are made because of the fatigue level.”
McDonald graduated from Edison High School in 2008 with Oregon sophomore cornerback Cliff Harris, and spent his true freshman season as a backup strong safety and special teams commodity. He saw time in all of USC’s 13 games, recording seven tackles on the year.
Another lesser-known Trojan sophomore having a breakout season is linebacker Devon Kennard. Kennard, a Phoenix, Ariz., native, was originally recruited as a defensive end, but was used primarily in pass rushing situations before making the move to strong side linebacker late in the year, starting at the position in USC’s final four contests.
The Trojans returns eight starters on the defensive side of the ball from 2009: linebackers Chris Galippo, Malcolm Smith, co-starters Kennard and Michael Morgan, tackles Jurrell Casey and Christian Tupou and co-starting ends Wes Horton and Armond Armstead.
Casey led USC with 11 tackles when the teams met last season. He and Horton are tied for the team lead with 4.5 tackles for loss in 2010.
When USC lost 47-20 in Autzen Stadium last year, the senior-heavy defense allowed 613 yards of Oregon offense with 31 first downs, while forcing the Ducks to punt just one time.
Despite the thought of USC being in a down year, none of the Oregon staff is taking the Trojans lightly.
“I keep hearing that USC’s down,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said. “In their two-deep, out of their 44 players they have 12 five-star recruits and 26 four-star recruits. I don’t know if there’s anybody in the country that has that.
“We have zero five-star recruits in our top 44, and we have 11 four-star recruits.”
The Trojan defense has been largely underrated in 2010, but statistically, it floats around the middle of the Pac-10.
USC ranks fourth in scoring defense (24.3 points per game), fifth in rushing defense (128.4) and seventh in total defense (402.4). The one area greatly lacking has been a strong presence in the secondary, which is the ninth-worst pass defense unit in the conference, allowing 274 yards through the air each contest.
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