Welcome Relief
One reason Sedrick Ellis' return will be important this week is because Lawrence Jackson went 73 plays against Washington State, Chris Barrett went nearly 70 and Fili Moala went more than 60. Those numbers can come down with Ellis back at nose guard.
The D-line needs to step up plain and simple. A 2-deep system won't work if the front 4 isn't creating disruption.
The secondary may have been "exposed" somewhat in the WSU game but WSU is a tough team to face with all their multiple WR looks. If you are not getting pressure, you simply can't cover the whole field against them. Also, with the running game going too, they stayed in favorable down-and-distance situations which kept the Trojans from blitzing or taking many chances.
It all gets back to the D-line in my opinion and we've seen this same scenario several times in the Pete Carroll era. The 2-deep system will limit big plays and make teams work to move down the field. But if you are not getting a good push up-front and the QB has that extra second or two, teams can dink and dunk it all afternoon.
I think Davey has it right. Instead of bemoaning the loss of Norm Chow like so many around here do and bashing Kiffin, maybe we should be bemoaning the loss of Ed Orgeron. The D-line has never been the same since he left.