X's And O's
Even though Oregon State tailback Jacquizz Rodgers gained 186 yards, a West Coast head college coach who watched the game said the key to the victory was the Beavers' passing game.
``They schemed perfectly to USC's zone defense,'' the coach said. ``USC didn't seem to play any man-to-man. Or very little. That really hurt them.''
Defensively, USC stuck with the old "bend but don't break" style of zone defense. It worked in that they didn't give up any big plays but the Beavers did move the ball effectively and consistently. OSU methodically marched the ball downfield on 3 long TD drives. They converted on 3rd down more often than not.
OSU used a lot of bunch or stack type of formations with 3 or 4 receivers in close proximity and flooded one side of the field when passing.
USC lost because of three main reasons:
1. Poor tackling. I've never seen a Caesar led team with so many missed tackles.
2. Interior defensive line. Virtually non-existent.
3. USC didn't stretch the field offensively in the first half. Lots of short plays. The problem was that the Beavers had several defenders flying to the ball as soon as it was completed. I can't remember any first half plays that had yards after the catch.
PC IS NOT a good defensive coach but we already knew that. Back when he had a staff of good assistants he seemed to know that too. Being fired from the NFL made PC the perfect head coach- humble and hungry, looking for the best coaches and best players. Maybe he doesn't have the personality to be good with being a HC as exec and that's his strength before he went egomaniacal.
I wonder if the West Coast coach was DeWayne Walker?
Once teams "get to the top," it is pretty common to see them get stuck in their own belief systems and forget the risk taking that got them there in the first place... recruiting "talent" instead of character and conservative play calling, not to mention trusting your freshman players.
Everyone knows Carroll doesn't want his defense to get beat deep, but when was the last time a team successfully challenged the Trojan secondary on a deep route?
If USC has all the best athletes and the best strength & conditioning program, why not let the athletes match up one-on-one and bring the pressure? You can't bring the blitz and play loose zone. Heck, you have the biggest and fastest safety in the nation... let him stand 20 yards back in cover 1 and play some man... I don't know why Carroll waits until bowl games to play man coverage.