This spring showed USC’s defense often at its best, whether or not the offense posed much of a challenge. But the bigger question is how the defense will perform in the Pac-12. Not against the Minnesotas of the world, but the spread offenses that you need to stop to win titles.
Again, I will point to a question posed by an NFL coach who watched USC on film last season: “Does the defense account for the quarterback? It didn’t last season.”
We won’t know until the fall.