What We Learned: Utah is 'a defining game' for USC

Clay Helton, who’s split his four meetings with Utah as a head coach and has faced the division foe every year since 2011, said Kyle Whittingham's current squad is the most complete iteration he’s seen on film.

To that point, cornerback Olaijah Griffin said the Utes' receivers are the best he’ll have faced to this point. Defensive end Christian Rector said their "big, physical" offensive line will present a great test for the Trojans. Offensive line coach Tim Drevno said their front seven and secondary will pose a tougher challenge than USC has seen previously.

Need any more convincing?

If the Trojans overlooked BYU in the slightest, it’s safe to assume they won’t make the same mistake this week against the school that delivered their most demoralizing defeat last year, despite the fact Utah has yet to win in the Coliseum.

USC has played just one Pac-12 game to date but knows that losing to the conference favorite means it no longer controls its own destiny, and might not again this fall. Consider the rhetoric emanating from Tuesday’s practice.

Defensive tackle Brandon Pili: “This is definitely if not the biggest, one of the biggest games of our season. How we respond to that (BYU) loss is going to determine what kind of team we’ll be this season.”

Griffin: “This is kind of like a Pac-12 championship. How we’re looking at it, we’re going to play it like a Pac-12 championship. And we don’t want to take any more losses, so we’re going to come hard.”

Rector: “This is a defining game for us."

USC would appear to have many issues to tackle as it prepares for what might be its toughest opponent of the season. Chief among them is tackling.

"We got to do a better job of tackling," defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast said, and that just about sums up USC's defense through three games in nine words.

For at least two weeks now, the Trojans haven’t tackled in practice. But they drill it. As for whether there’s been more emphasis on it this week, it depends on whom you ask. But it's clear the staff doesn't believe it to be a physical matter.

“It’s a fundamental issue," Rector said. "We got to work on tackling in space, gang tackling, pursuing to the ball, all of it is important.”

Even more so against Utah running back Zack Moss, who Helton appropriately deemed one of the top backs in the nation. His numbers back that up, but he’s not merely the product of a well-oiled machine. Moss is the machine.

“He’s a back that can hurt you in a lot of different ways,” Pendergast said. “He’s very powerful running in between the tackles, he likes to be patient when they run him on the perimeter and when they match him up with defensive backs, and he’s very hard to get down, the first guy on contact very rarely gets him down so we got do a very good job of being under control and bringing our feet when we do tackle.”

Pendergast didn’t say “when we do tackle” to be ironic. But through three weeks the Trojans haven’t always done it. As Antonio Morales of The Athletic noted, they’ve allowed 270 yards on runs outside the tackles. That’s the second-worst figure among Power Five programs.

USC's DC has proudly pointed out how his unit has been stout on inside runs, only opposing teams are attempting less of them because of their success rate elsewhere, including QB scrambles. Tyler Huntley (5.8 yards per carry) can be a problem in that way, but Moss (6.5 ypc) is the offensive engine. USC knows this firsthand, as the senior has run for 281 yards (6.2 ypc) in the past two meetings in the series.

“He’s a great runner, a great downhill guy and can run pretty much anywhere -- outside, inside, between the tackles, do everything,” linebacker Palaie Gaoteote said.

Defensive backs coach Greg Burns asserted that tackling always improves later in the season. That could prove to be true for his young secondary, which will have to be better this week after allowing several big plays against BYU and has contributed to USC’s poor perimeter run defense.

He expects the Utes to take their fair share of deep shots as well. Ask USC’s D-line what’s most important and they’ll point to themselves getting off the ball. Utah being so well-rounded, coupled with USC coming off a loss, seems to have all of the Trojans’ attention.

“Every possession matters,” Rector said.

They probably will Friday.

FOOTNOTES

Rector, who missed the BYU game, said his ankle is about 100 percent.

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown and CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart did not practice. CB Greg Johnson (concussion) remained out.

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