USC Defense
As good as Darnold and USC’s offense was last year, they owe a lot of wins, including against UCLA, to the defense.
They were clutch when they had to be – the Trojans’ opponents only had a 35.8% third down conversion rate and an even worse 19.2% red zone conversion rate.
Even if they were good when it counted, the defense’s struggle with consistency should be concerning for USC. They gave up 75 plays of 20+ yards and 19 that were 50 or more.
Losing four of their top five pass rushers won’t help either. They’ll bring back senior Cameron Smith, who led the team in tackles, and Christian Rector, but Porter Gustin will miss the beginning of the season again with a torn meniscus.
Aside from that, there are still a lot of very good defenders on this team. Up front, we will see Malik Dorton, Brandon Pili, and Rector. Dorton, and Pili were not in every game last season but made strides to make it to the top of the depth chart. Though they will be a force, they will follow by the example of Rector who was quite the active end for USC in 2017 as he had 35 tackles, 11 of which were for a loss and 7.5 sacks.
USC 2017 Defensive Stats
| Total Defense | Passing Defense | Rushing Defense | Scoring Defense |
|---|---|---|---|
| 395.6 (5th) | 237.0 (5th) | 158.6 (5th) | 26.1 (5th) |
( ) – denotes ranking in the TEAM CONFERENCE
Once Gustin returns from injury, this linebacking corps will be very, very good. For now, they just have to deal with being very good. Until then, Smith will be the go-to guy in the middle. He returns with 112 total tackles from last season (most on the team), 11 for a loss, 3 breakups and one interception. He will be supported by John Houston and Jordan Iosepha, both of who are upperclassmen and bring a lot of experience with them. Needless to say, this linebacking unit will be deadly.
It doesn’t get any easier once we look at the secondary which is also loaded with talent. Iman Marshall, Arjene Harris, and Marvell Tell III return to give the Trojans one of the deepest and most talented defensive back groups in the conference. Together they accounted for 195 tackles, six interceptions and 12 breakups (10 of those came from Marshall alone).
So how is UCLA going to get around all of this? Kelly is going to have to really pull out the playbook to keep USC on their toes. The Bruins are naturally going to run, but it seems that they are going to have to balance this game out as much as possible and take advantage of their passing game. Though it will be a tough task, the Bruins nearly pulled out a win last year, so it is not out of the question for them to do it again this year, especially with an offensive mastermind like Kelly running the program