How is the Duck's secondary? I've watched all the SC games and they like to fall way behind and then throw long bombs to win
#15 is a star on offense and so is #15 on defense
The rest of the team is pretty meh other than the wideouts. SC isn't smart enough to run the damn ball
Oregon will probably win based on muscle memory
Short version: Oregon’s secondary is not the problem. They’re decent and will be the best one USC has seen to date, which isn’t saying much.
The CBs #0 Lenoir and #2 Wright are pretty good. [/b] Deep safety #23 McKinley is decent. #15 Williams the freshman All-American who got kicked out of Illinois for reefer is decent. #7 Hill who took over for Jevon Holland and was supposed to be a star has been both terrible and good depending on the game. [/b]
If the team had a defensive strength this would be it.
The biggest problem has been the lack of pressure and the two four year starters at interior DL #3 Jordon Scott and #99 Austin Faoliu plus the rotation of guys who back them up. No pressure from them. Only #50 Popo and #97 Dorlus have been decent at beating pass pro. LB and nick blitz, other than Noah Sewell, have been shit.
Defensive backs and pass rush are the most symbiotic relationship on a defense. [/b] Can’t expect them to cover every time when the offense has a clean pocket for 6 seconds.
Thank god for Kayvon Thibodeaux. He’s amazingly good. [/b] Last year all he could do was rush the passer or accidentally run into a running back when rushing the passer. He’s gotten a lot stronger, and is playing incredibly well. Not as many sacks this year as he’s missed some, but he is eating as many double teams as everyone else is combined and is keeping this defense from being worse.
The combination of pressure and good enough coverage won this game. 50% own horn honking, 50% Yes, I know this was obvious.
Pressure was key. Slovis is a real QB. If he can sit back there with those WRs the ducks would have been in trouble.
And true to the reports SC can’t and couldn’t run the Ballz.
I’m on the record as being a shit evaluator of QBs, but Slovis is okay - most QBs would have been fucked even more by that pass rush. Slovis managed to slither away and come out with an incompletion or positive play a handful of times.
The two things that stood out to me:
* The bastardized air raid sucks. It’s inefficient and loses the good qualities of the Leach one.
* Maybe people were right about Oregon’s players being unmotivated and spoiled. Pass rush is a mix of talent, coaching, and effort. The cliche motor for DL to have. They have shown effort the last two games, but it was absent when they should have absolutely torn apart Beavlet.
The two Oregon losses were almost, ALMOST, all about not showing up and expecting to win, and then when things got hard lolz, having a QB who was the most afraid person on the field.
The Cal loss was like Washington's recent Cal losses. It's obvious which team is better and wins 8 out of 10, but you play when you play once and that's it. Cal was mostly on Shough and not protecting the ball. If he's just .01% less retarded in the Cal game they win.
Oregon State is another matter. He was shitty there, but Beav wants to beat the Ducks, so you're getting a good shot and they ran on Oregon ... a lot.
I can't tell whether those two losses are Shough, coaching, effort on d or what. But it was clear they showed up determined to get into Slovis' face from the opening snap and they did it all night long. I know SC can't run, but can they pass block? Or was Oregon overwhelming them by being better? IDK because I don't follow the P12 south at all.
USC has given up a lot of sacks this year - but sacks per pass attempt are decent. This was the most they had been pressured out of the three games I’d seen (ASU, Arizona, UCLA) and the problem with their offense is that it doesn’t utilize the quick check out. That’s why Leach’s teams had so few sacks per pass, and Graham Harrell is too dumb to understand that is a big part of it.
I’ve written before about the statistical impact of sacks, which are even better than most people think. Simple reason: if a team averages 10 yards per pass attempt and 15 per completion on a 60% completion rate you’re taking away what comes out to a minimum of 10 yards, a 60% chance of 15, a down, and whatever sack yardage.[/i]
You’re right. Both of those losses should have been wins if the effort was there. This Oregon team has plenty of flaws and is not head and shoulders above anyone, just like last years team wasn’t anywhere near a 2014 or 2012 Oregon. But they don’t lose to Beav if they try. Wilcox is a little different, he has a better team than Babushka.
Cal: last year’s game was eerily similar. Herbert threw a bad pick in Cal territory, Travis Dye fumbled twice in Cal territory. Jevon Holland, Troy Dye, and KT won that game.
Washington and Oregon fans know the Wilcox style of football. Slow it down and win it WWI attrition style. They want to make fewer mistakes and have that matter because there will only be like 6 possessions per half.
OSU: They wanted it more, Oregon didn’t think they needed to break a sweat. It should have still been a mostly easy victory, but Shough gift wrapped two picks and the Beavs managed to grind out 8 and 5 minute drives.
It’s not just the arrogance of Oregon players. The coaches have admitted that they’re surprised how few plays they get to run per game. No shit, teams figured out pretty early on that even with Shough then offense rips off 20 yard plays with regularity. So they’re going to run the play clock down almost every fucking time - even Chip figured that out.
Aside on Chip: way nice and thoughtful in human interaction. Surprises people. He gets too loyal to his players. I think he should be starting the little freshman Griffin over DTR, but QBs are not my forte.
If Oregon realized what they are they wouldn’t have lost to OSU and Cal. What they are is a team that’s nowhere near good enough to sleep walk to wins. As you said they don’t lose either game with one less retard play from Shough. I rarely mention refs because I’m not a bitch, but there were a few calls and non calls in both games that were just baffling. You should never be in a position where Pac-12 refs get to make or break you. It’s a frustrating season, because this wasn’t a general system failure - more like death by a thousand paper cuts.
