Lincoln Riley Talks Tackling, Pass Rush Struggles at Utah
The USC defense has had its share of successes and struggles this season. But it had played well enough to win every one of the first six games and was allowing fewer than 20 points per game going into Utah. The Trojans caught a big-time cold streak in the second half of that game, however. They were one forced fumble away from allowing the Utes to score touchdowns on their final six drives of the game. Head coach Lincoln Riley was asked about the struggles on that side of the ball during his Monday night appearance on the Trojans Live radio show. He pointed to tackling and pass rush as two big components of the loss.
“The number one thing is we didn’t tackle well,” Riley said. “The unfortunate thing, that’s been a strength of our defense in the first six games. There has not been a lot of yards after contact.”
Riley credited Utah quarterback Cameron Rising and tight end Dalton Kincaid for their tremendous performances against the Trojans. He said good players are going to make good plays. But what can’t happen is a play generating extra yards when the Trojans should be able to stop it dead.
“The thing you can’t do is you can’t give them the five-yard completion that turns into 18 yards, right?” Riley said. “The most disappointing thing was the tackling. Because we were in position to shut down a lot of those plays, for those plays to be minimal yardage. And then, instead of getting a third-and-one, all of a sudden it’s third-and-six. Instead of third-and-four, all of a sudden it’s third-and-nine.”
PFF credited USC defenders with 18 missed tackles against Utah, and gave the Trojans their worst team tackling grade of the season. It’s the fourth-straight game that number has fallen.
USC’s Pass Rush Struggled as Well
USC came into the game leading the nation in sacks and got shut out in that category. The Trojans had also piled up tackles for loss all season but recorded just one against Utah.
“Weren’t good enough,” Riley said. “We didn’t get in the backfield enough. And some of the nature of that is all the play-action throw game and max protect. You’re not always going to get somebody there every single time. But you’ve got to affect the passer more.”
Riley again lamented the two times USC really did get pressure and put hits on Riley. Those both should have resulted in changes of possession. The first was intercepted by Calen Bullock. The second forced an incompletion on third down and very likely would have resulted in a Utah punt.
“Listen, they did a good job in protection against us,” Riley said. “We didn’t get in the backfield enough. For us, regardless of what scheme we play against, getting TFLs and sacks are a big part of who we are when we’re playing at an elite level.”
The next challenge for USC is the Arizona Wildcats. And while the Wildcats are just 3-4 with one of the worst defenses in the country, the offense and offensive line will again test the Trojans. Arizona has allowed just nine sacks this season, with four of them coming last week against Washington. They’ve also allowed 30 tackles for loss, just one more than the Trojans have through seven games.
The USC offense is more than likely going to put up big numbers against the Arizona offense. It’ll be very interesting to see how the USC defense responds against what will be a somewhat challenging group of Wildcats that has moved the ball this season to the tune of 466 total yards per game.
