Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the USC Trojans season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
– USC Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 5-7 overall, 4-5 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Clay Helton, 5th year, 32-17
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE USC OFFENSE
– Let’s just see if this thing works. It was supposed to be the Kliff Kingsbury offense, but now it’ll be up to former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell to change around the offensive attack. The former North Texas offensive coordinator cranked up massive numbers through the air, and now it’s time to see if one of the Pac-12’s least-efficient passing games something special. But …
– JT Daniels now gets to take the training wheels off. The superstar recruit in last year’s class should’ve been a senior in high school, but instead he was thrown to the wolves right out of the gate. Now he gets to unleash the fun in what should be a wide open passing game. With Matt Fink transferring out, sophomore Jack Sears is No. 1A with the shot to use his athleticism to potentially push out Daniels. No matter who’s throwing it …
– The receiving corps is fantastic. Six of the top seven receivers are back, starting with last year’s star recruit Amon-Ra St. Brown, who led the team with 60 catches for 750 yards and three scores.
Michael Pittman, though, is the most explosive playmaker – he’ll blow up in the new offense – averaging well over 18 yards per catch with six touchdowns. Tyler Vaughns was second on the team with 58 catches and should put up massive numbers on the outside.
The tight ends are just okay, but there are options with juniors Josh Falo and Erik Krommenhoek needing to find roles.
– The ground game that was non-existent for long stretches last season will change up a bit. Forget about any semblance of consistent power – it’ll be about being able to hit the open holes quickly, and finding the backs who can catch.
215-pound Vavae Malepeai made the most noise with 15 catches last season, and finished second on the team with 501 rushing yards with a team-high eight scores. Junior Stephen Carr can catch, too, but he was banged up a bit and underwhelmed with just 384 yards. 230-pound redshirt freshman Markese Stepp is a wee bit of a wild card after a great offseason – he’s the toughest blocker of the bunch.
– After a rough season without enough pop for the ground game and too many plays allowed in the backfield, the O line needs some retooling. The Trojans have two excellent veterans to work around with juniors Austin Jackson at left tackle and Andrew Vorhees – the team’s most consistently solid blocker – at right guard.
With the battle for the center job seemingly settled with last year’s backup Brett Neilon taking over for Toa Lobendahn, the fall camp fights will be to lock down the right tackle and left guard gigs.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE USC DEFENSE
– The defense that did a good job of getting into the backfield was a wee bit stronger than it might have seemed. The D allowed just 27 points per game, but struggled in key moments and couldn’t pick up the slack for the inconsistent offense. There’s work to be done in the back seven, but …
– The defensive line has the potential to be far stronger. Christian Rector has the talent to be a pass rushing terror, and now it’ll be his job to focus almost exclusively on getting to the quarterback. He’s set on one side, and then things get interesting with top recruit Drake Jackson more than playing up to the hype this offseason to push for the job on the other side. At the very least, he’ll work in a rotation with veteran Connor Murphy
The inside is solid with 305-pound sophomore Marlon Tuipulotu and 325-pound junior Brandon Pili two big options on the nose, and 6-3, 310-pound sophomore Jay Tufele a rising force at one tackle gig.
– Leading tackler Cameron Smith is gone, but it’s still a good looking linebacking corps with enough young talent to be stronger overall – with a little time. This group needs seasoning.
It starts with leading returning tackler John Houston, who came up with 67 stops, and now he’ll be working on the inside after spending last year on the outside. Sophomore Hunter Echols got his feet wet as a freshman, and now he’ll be asked to grow into a pass rushing star at one end, and with 6-2, 250-pound sophomore Palaie Gaoteote stepping up as the main man on the other side unless star recruit Solomon Tuliaupupu is ready to go right away.
– Can the secondary replace just about everyone? It’ll be a work in progress that won’t come together until the end of fall camp. The corners are talented, but sophomore Olaijah Griffin has to get healthy after suffering a shoulder injury, but 6-2, 205-pound redshirt freshman Isaac Taylor-Stuart looked like a keeper. Somewhere in the rotation is sophomore Greg Johnson, who’s experienced enough to be a decent backup option if he doesn’t rise up and take one of the starting jobs.
The safety situation is better thanks to the return of sophomore Talanoa Hufanga coming off a 51-tackle season, and with 6-4, 200-pound sophomore Isaiah Pola-Mao the main man at the other spot until junior CJ Pollard – who made just 12 stops last year – comes back from a foot injury.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP USC PLAYERS
Best USC Offensive Player
WR Michael Pittman, Sr.
Look … out. If you’re looking for a national breakout star with the changes in offensive styles, it’s likely going to be the 6-4, 225-pound all-around receiver who can work inside or out. A great recruit who was showed a deep burst as a sophomore, he averaged 18.5 yards per catch on 41 grabs with six touchdowns.
A matchup problem, he’s got the size and the toughness to go along with the deep wheels and skill to win the 50/50 battles. After catching over 90 yards or more worth of passes in each of his last five games, he started to come on late last year, and now he’s about to explode.
2. QB JT Daniels, Soph.
3. WR/PR Tyler Vaughns, Jr.
4. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Soph.
5. OT Austin Jackson, Jr.
Best USC Defensive Player
DE Christian Rector, Sr.
The 6-4, 275-pounder has the next level size and the athleticism to move like a big outside linebacker and the toughness to hold up on the line. He broke out as a sophomore with 7.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, but was held in check for stretches last year despite doing more against the run.
He made 48 tackles with 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss, but he didn’t get to the quarterback quite enough. That’s about to change as he grows into even more of a pin-ears-back-and-go pass rusher.
2. LB John Houston, Sr.
3. DT Jay Tufele, Soph.
4. LB Jordon Iosefa, Sr.
5. DE Drake Jackson, Fr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The USC Offense
Air Raid, Schmair Raid … be able to power the ball, too. Yeah, the North Texas offense under then-offensive coordinator Graham Harrell was amazing at winging the ball all over the yard, but the O could run a little bit, too. It was hardly a grinding ground attack, but it was effective in a different sort of way.
For the Mean Green – as well as for the Trojans now – yards per carry were the measuring stick over total yards. UNT was 5-0 last season when it ran for five yards or more.
Last year, USC ran for five yards or more three times and scored three touchdowns or more in each of the three games – and went 3-0 against UNLV, Arizona and Oregon State.
Biggest Key To The USC Defense
It’s time to start taking the ball away again. The Trojan defense had several issues compared how good they could’ve and should’ve been, but the lack of the big play turned into one of the biggest problems.
There weren’t enough third down stops, and the run defense was just okay, but the mere ten takeaways turned out to be one of the bigger problems when things were going bad down the stretch.
The USC D managed just four interceptions – just two in the first ten games – and came up with only six fumble recoveries.
The pass rush should once again be strong, and there’s experience in place to do more, but after the 2016 and 2017 defenses each managed to come up with two takeaways or more six times, this year’s D has to make up for the 2018 version generating multiple turnovers just once.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB JT Daniels, Soph.
Or Jack Sears … to a point. Daniels was the Next USC Superstar Quarterback Up as the mega-recruit who made last year’s class great, and he came up with a forgivably mediocre true freshman season.
Completing fewer than 60% of his passes with 14 touchdowns and ten interceptions was fine – he was (and is) REALLY young, and the team around him was just okay – but that was supposed to be a building year to be ready for a big jump as a sophomore.
Now he gets a higher-powered passing offense to play around with, and he needs to be able get it down right away and have a sharper fall camp after a decent-not-amazing spring. If not Sears is a good option who should be able to handle the work, but Daniels has the talent to be the franchise-maker.
Key Game To The USC Season
Utah, Sept. 20
When was the last time USC lost at home to Utah? Never.
The Pac-12 opener against Stanford is a massive deal for morale, and proving that 2018 really might have been an aberration, but to win the Pac-12 South, taking out the defending champ is a must.
What comes after the Utah game? Three road games in the next four, with just one game in LA before hosting Oregon in early November. Lose, and with a trip to Washington up next, and a trip to Notre Dame right after, there’s going to be a problem.
– USC Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 USC Fun Stats
– Penalties: USC 96 for 883 yards – Opponents 70 for 643 yards
– Interceptions Thrown: USC 10 – Opponents 4
– USC 2nd Quarter Scoring: 106 – 3rd Quarter Scoring: 48
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. USC WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Sort of lost in the weirdness of last season was how USC went on a 20-2 run before losing to Ohio State in the 2017 Cotton Bowl.
2018 was supposed to be a bit of a down season in several ways, but it’s USC – a rebuilding year is supposed to be 8-4.
It was a down year for the Pac-12 South, and it still didn’t matter – USC couldn’t come through with anything positive over the second half of the year.
On the plus side after dropping five of the last six games including a clunker to UCLA, each of the last four losses were by seven points or fewer. It’s possible that it might not take that big a pivot to suddenly be a player in the Pac-12 title chase again.
But a big pivot is what’s coming.
Head coach Clay Helton is only a year removed from leading the way to the conference championship and a second straight New Year’s Six bowl, but again, it’s USC – you don’t go 5-7 at USC.
Helton was able to keep his gig, but the change to a more open passing game and a higher-octane offense is supposed to reenergize the program. Considering that Urban Meyer guy is going to be in town working for FOX, anything less than something special from Helton will get the rumors flying.
The receivers are in place to make the O go, JT Daniels and/or Jack Sears are good enough to run the show, and the defense has the talent to be a whole lot stronger. Even so …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 9
The schedule is nasty, even with several of the bigger games at home.
The first six games and nine of the 12 are against teams that went bowling. The other three? Arizona, at Colorado, UCLA – not exactly a cupcake vending machine.
At Washington. At Notre Dame. At Arizona State. Home games against Utah, Oregon and Stanford – it’s all tough.
This year’s USC team should be four wins stronger and better, but even an improved squad will have a hard time coming up with anything more than a split against the Huskies and Irish away from LA, and beat the Ducks, and beat Fresno State, and win at BYU, and …
Whatever … it’s USC. Win the Pac-12 title.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
