USC Football: Writer Wonders If Big Stat Change Responsible For Struggles

Interesting thought here...

Through seven games of the season, the USC Trojans are showing signs that things didn't really change over the offseason from last year. The defense is still a significant problem, and it has already put the team into some precarious situations this season.

USC dropped their first game of the year to Notre Dame last week, and now their margin for error is massively tiny. They can't afford any more slip-ups if they want to stay on the path to compete for the National Championship.

One aspect of this team that could be seen as a problem is the lack of turnovers being created by the defense. Even last year, the team was good at taking the football away from the other team, but so far this season, it's anything but that.

Scott Wolf of InsideUSC looked into this and thinks that it could be a reason for the Trojans continued struggles on the defensive end of the football and beyond.

“One thing I wrote about several times was how hard it would be for USC to replicate last year’s turnover margin, which was +1.5 for the season. Let’s check USC’s turnover margin through seven games: 2022 +15, 2023 -1”

Per Scott Wolf of InsideUSC

If the Trojans' defense can't take the ball away, they aren't going to be very successful. And the offense needs to make sure that they don't beat themselves, either.

“It was always sort of an articifical stat last season because the Trojans had miraculous luck with only two lost fumbles in 14 games. But the defense also intercepted 19 passes. So far this season, the defense has four interceptions in seven games.”

Per Scott Wolf of InsideUSC

If things don't change for the Trojans quickly, it will end up being another lost season. They can't have that and will need to clean things up moving forward. They get another chance to prove themselves this weekend when they welcome in Utah to the LA Coliseum. 

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