USC Preview
The gauntlet of the 2022 schedule continues for the Sun Devils as ASU travels to Los Angeles to face a No. 6 USC team that has thus far lived up to the high bar of preseason expectations. Here’s a detailed look at a squad that has already posted impressive stats on both sides of the ball.
USC Offense
The generally shocking hire of head coach Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma late last year created an avalanche of personnel benefits for the USC football program moving forward, first and foremost in the form of former Sooner quarterback Caleb Williams who opted to leave OU and follow his head coach to USC.
Williams, the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback of the 2021 class, shared time with Spencer Rattler at Oklahoma in 2021 but still had an outstanding season with 1,912 passing yards with 21 touchdowns to just four interceptions with, 442 net rushing yards with six scores.
Now the unquestioned starter for USC, Williams has continued to shine as the leader of a highly potent Trojan offense as he averages 263.5 passing yards per game, completing 65.6% of his passes with nine touchdowns and no interceptions, adding 100 net rushing yards with two scores.
A highly efficient passes thus far in his college career, Williams, a strong preseason candidate to win Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2022, has 30 touchdown passes with just four interceptions.
The Trojans acquired a one-two punch this offseason at running back from what used to be the Pac-12 North, as Travis Dye (Oregon) and Austin Jones (Stanford) swapped jerseys to play for USC.
Dye is on pace for a 1,000-yard season as he has 360 rushing yards with three touchdowns and eight catches for 85 yards. From 2018-21 with the Ducks, Dye rushed for 3,111 yards (including 1,271 last year) and caught 83 career passes (including 46 last season).
In three seasons with the Cardinal, jones tallied 1,155 rushing yards and caught 67 passes. Through four games this season, he has 207 rushing yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns and has caught six passes for 68 yards.
Both Dye and Jones have been exceptionally efficient this season as both players average more than seven yards-per-carry as Dye averages 7.3 and Jones averages 7.1.
Elite 2022 recruit Raleek Brown, a five-star prospect rated the number one all-purpose back in the nation, was yet another spoil of victory for the acquisition of Riley as he flipped his commitment from the Sooners to the Trojans in early December 2021. Brown has 13 carries for 63 yards with a touchdown and has three receptions for 48 yards.
USC typically starts in a four-receiver set, almost exclusively with players that started their collegiate careers elsewhere as Pittsburgh transfer Jordan Addison, Oklahoma transfer Mario Williams and Colorado transfer Brenden Rice have started all four games, while former Memphis transfer Tahj Washington has started two games.
One of the most notable and even potentially controversial NIL-based transfers across the college football world this past offseason, Addison came to USC after winning the 2021 Biletnikoff Award at Pittsburgh while also being named a Consensus All-American after catching 100 passes for 1,593 yards with 17 touchdowns for the Panthers.
Now in Los Angeles, Addison is trending toward another 1,000-yard season with a high touchdown total as he has 21 receptions for 337 yards with six scores thus far.
Williams, a five-star recruit and the second-ranked wide receiver of the 2021 class, like Williams followed Riley from Oklahoma to USC this offseason. So far, he is USC’s second-leading receiver with 13 catches for 216 yards and a touchdown.
Washington has 11 receptions for 153 yards so far, while Rice, a former standout of Chandler’s Hamilton High, has nine catches for 71 yards.
Tight end Lake McRee has started a pair of games this season and has four catches for 30 yards with a touchdown.
Along the offensive line, Andrew Vorhees (left guard), Brett Neilon (center), Justin Dedich (right guard), and Jonah Monheim (right tackle have started all four games thus far, while Courtland Ford and Virginia transfer Bobby Haskins have split the first four starts at left tackle.
Neilon and Vorhees are two of the better linemen in the conference, as each earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 recognition in 2021.
USC Offense Summary
The offensive side of the NIL All-Star Team formed by the USC football program this offseason certainly hasn’t disappointed thus far, as transfers from the likes of Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Pittsburgh, and Colorado have quickly become both key contributors for the Trojans as well as high-level all-conference honors candidates.
USC truly has become a ‘pick your poison’ type of offense, with a future first-round pick at quarterback, an already nationally elite wide receiver, and others who have all-conference talent as well as a pair of vastly experienced and capable running backs.
ASU, like all schools USC will face this season, will be heavily tested in a variety of ways by the Trojans, who tie for 17th in the nation averaging 42.2 points per game. On top of the offensive firepower, USC has not committed a single turnover in the first four games of the season.
USC Defense
On the defensive line, USC figures to start Tuli Tuipulotu at end, with either Stanley Ta’ufo’ou or Brandon Pili at nose tackle and either De’jon Benton or Tyrone Taleni at defensive tackle with Solomon Byrd at the rush position.
Tuipulotu, a First-Team All-Pac-12 honoree last year, is continuing to be a menace in the trenches as he already has 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in just four games in addition to 13 total tackles.
Byrd ties Tuipulotu for the team lead with 3.0 sacks and has 4.0 total tackles for loss as part of his 11 total tackles. Ta’ufo’ou has eight tackles, including 3.0 for loss with one sack, while Benton and Pili both have seven tackles on the year. Taleni has only appeared in two games and has four tackles, including 2.0 for loss with one sack.
At linebacker, former Sun Devil Eric Gentry starts at Mike with either Shane Lee or Ralen Goforth at Will.
It likely makes Sun Devil fans cringe to read it, but Gentry leads the Trojans with 32 total tackles, one of which for loss with one-half of a quarterback sack, two quarterback hurries, two pass breakups, and one interception.
Lee ranks second n the squad with 30 tackles, including 3.0 for loss with a sack and an interception, while Goforth has seven tackles and one interception.
Mekhi Blackmon and Ceyair Wright are poised to start at cornerback, with Max Williams at free safety, Calen Bullock at strong safety, and Jaylin Smith at nickel defensive back.
Williams, the brother of ASU’s Macen Williams, ranks third on the team with 23 tackles and has a tie for the team lead with two interceptions.
Blackmon, a transfer from Colorado who earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 accolades in 2021, has 15 tackles and ties Williams for the team-high of two interceptions.
Bullock has 14 tackles and an interception, while Smith has 12 tackles on the year. Wright has posted six tackles with an interception.
USC Defense Summary
An incredibly opportunistic defense, USC is the head-and-shoulders national leader in turnover margin as the Trojans have forced 14 turnovers without committing a single such error through four games. USC also ties for the national lead with the 14 forced turnovers as well as the national lead with 11 interceptions and is tied for fifth in the nation with 14 sacks on the year.
That said, USC has allowed some
success on the ground as teams average 171.0 rushing yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry with eight rushing touchdowns.
Strategically, ASU would be wise to focus on the ground game – and, for once, use Emory Jones in such a role – as the nationally elite playmaking of the sacks and interceptions make the pass game a potentially challenging proposition for the Sun Devils this Saturday.
USC Special Teams
In the kicking game, Denis Lynch has connected on 5-of-7 attempts, including 4-of-4 from between 40-49 yards. Aadyn Sleep-Dalton, the younger brother of former ASU punter Michael Sleep-Dalton, averages 37.1 yards on nine punts.
Gary Bryant, Jr. has two punt returns for four yards and 30 yards on two kickoff returns, while Brenden Rice, an accomplished returns specialist, averages 16.3 yards on three kickoff returns.
Overall Summary
The early onset of the NIL and new age Transfer Portal era has been quite kind to USC, as, since the arrival of Lincoln Riley, the Trojans have assembled just about the best college squad money can buy.
USC, now 4-0 and ranked No. 6 in this week’s AP Poll, has earned a legitimate right to be a favorite not only to win the Pac-12 title but also to have a viable chance at a College Football Playoff appearance if the offense continues to roll as it has and the defense keeps making a bounty of major plays in terms of sacks and forced turnovers.
That said, the Trojans survived a major scare in Corvallis last weekend by narrowly escaping with a 17-14 win over Oregon State, in which USC scored the go-ahead touchdown with just 1:13 remaining to play. Prior to that, the Trojans had scored 152 points in their first three games and won the three by an average of more than 30 points per game.
In the preseason, many skeptics wondered if Riley could ignite an immediate turnaround back to the Pete Carroll days at USC or if the reloading process would require more patience.
If the early returns are any indication, the Trojans, who along with UCLA are set to bounce to the Big Ten for the 2024 season, have the distinct potential for at least one more run in the Pac-12 Conference.
For this game specifically, ASU has to play mistake-free football on offense – meaning both ball control and a lack of penalties – while finding a way to attack Williams and disrupt the Trojan offensive game plan, a challenge that figures to be a significant one for interim head coach Shaun Aguano.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Enjoy a 30-Day FREE trial by signing up today here and get all the latest Sun Devil news!
