Keith’s Keys: USC must learn to stop the pass game

Senior linebacker Cam Smith recorded a season high 15 tackles against the Washington State Cougars on Friday. (Tal Volk | Daily Trojan)

There is always someone who says this phrase. My grandma says it. My father says it. Even people I am not related to say it. There is always someone.

Even that one guy who, while watching the NFL highlights from the 1980s plastic table at the local public golf course and munching on a delectable assortment of overpriced and underfilled Cheddar Cheese Ruffles, a Snickers bar and a well, well-done hot dog, shouts this phrase from the back of the room for everyone to hear.

And while I might be inclined to agree with his surprisingly good choice in chips, I almost despise myself for agreeing with the phrase that dribbles off his cheese-stained lips quicker than the slightly-too-sugary original Coca-Cola he has been slurping down.

I sigh, but it’s true: “Defense wins championships.”

Although the old adage might sound like nails on the chalkboard or Katy Perry’s overproduced fifth studio album to some, it is nevertheless true. Championship winning teams need a solid defense, and not just one that’s going to show up for a couple of quarters.

The funny thing is that USC should know how important defense can be. After all, wasn’t it the crucial last-second Vince Young touchdown in the 2006 BCS National Championship that sealed the Trojans’ fate?

It is unbelievable how easily we can forget how important containing the opposing defense can be in winning titles. For the weak 52,000-plus fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Friday night — the lowest attendance for a USC game since 2002 against Oregon State — the 2018 Trojan defense did what they unfortunately do best: allow opposing offenses to execute their game plan to perfection.

Interestingly enough, I was clamoring to USC football fans two weeks ago about how offensive coordinator Tee Martin’s job could potentially be in jeopardy. Now, 14 days and 73 points later,  I’m here not to call for defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s job, per se, but to proclaim that this USC coaching staff is one of the most inconsistent that we’ve seen in recent years.

Every year, USC has been defined by one trait. Last year, USC was a sack-happy, option-heavy, Sam Darnold-loving  team that could do it on both sides of the ball.

This season, it seems that this team forms a new identity every week. One week, the offense can’t seem to complete a pass. The next week, the defense can’t seem to stop a pass. The inconsistency needs to stop because I can’t keep changing which coach’s picture I staple to my dart board.

Aside from the expensive costs of printer ink, the football team deserves better because it has the potential to be a top-10 defense, especially in the secondary. Upperclassmen cornerback Iman Marshall, nickel cornerback Ajene Harris and free safety Marvell Tell III  have played under Pendergast’s system before and succeeded.

Why is it that the team cannot seem to stop big plays from Bryce Love, Lil’Jordan Humphrey or Easop Winston Jr. this season?

While coaches cannot be blamed for the unfortunate injuries or departures of Jack Jones, Isaiah Pola-Mao, Ykili Ross or Bubba Bolden, they can be responsible for the lack of development from the rest of the secondary that is healthy, including a boatload of top recruits.

How is it possible that five-star shutdown corner Isaac Taylor-Stuart can sit idly by as his team’s defense gets destroyed play after play?

The fact that the Trojans’ secondary has yet to record a single interception in four games is no accident. It is definitely no accident that K.J. Costello and the Cardinal’s big tight ends were so effective in that 17-3 loss against Stanford. The Trojan linebackers simply cannot compete when it comes to covering bigger targets like Stanford’s Kaden Smith.

Surely, they can stuff the run better than most teams in the Pac-12, but the linebacking corps pass-stopping abilities are a defensive liability. Time after time against Washington State, Gardner Minshew threw darts all over the field with little to no resistance from the porous USC zone scheme.

If USC wants to even think about sniffing a Pac-12 Championship, its secondary and linebacking corps must find a way to stop the pass. Otherwise, those golf course hot dogs will never hear the end of it.

Keith Demolder is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. His column, “Keith’s Keys,” runs every other Tuesday.

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