Notes from the USC defense: Tackling, technique and inside linebacker talk

After three weeks of trending in a positive direction, the USC defense delivered a hit-or-miss performance against the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 42-28 win this past weekend.

On one hand, the Trojans got to Sun Devils’ quarterback Drew Pyne for eight sacks. USC recorded 14 tackles for loss and forced two turnovers. On the flip side, an Arizona State offense playing without its No. 1 quarterback and a majority of its starting offensive line put up 353 yards of offense, scored three touchdowns and produced a 100-yard rusher.

Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said all the stats were pointing the right direction except the one that actually matters.

“The concern is the scoreboard says 28 at the end of the game,” Grinch said after Tuesday’s practice. “I likened it to a pitcher where you got strikeouts, don’t have many walks, don’t have baserunners, but at the end of the game they have four or five runs.”

The specific play that stood out to Grinch and clearly bothered him was the 4th-and-7 touchdown Arizona State scored in the fourth quarter. Pyne hit running back Cameron Skattebo out of the backfield. USC linebacker Eric Gentry had an opportunity to stop him short of the first-down line but missed the tackle. Safety Max Williams then had a shot to bring him down but also missed a tackle. Skattebo went for a 52-yard touchdown that was similar to a score Utah had in the Pac-12 Championship Game thanks to two USC missed tackles down the sideline.

“Majorly disappointed in the final touchdown of the game,” Grinch said. “As many plays as we made in the fourth, which is a welcome change from some other weeks around here, to have one at the end like that on 4th-and-7 is really disappointing.”

Tackling was a consistent issue for USC last season. It wasn’t quite to the same degree through three games, but PFF credited the USC defense with 15 missed tackles against Arizona State. That’s a season-high for the Trojans after posting eight, eight and 11 in the first three game.

Grinch said the missed tackles against the Sun Devils didn’t come down to generic issues. Rather, they were each specific plays in those situations where technique or fundamentals failed. Linebacker Mason Cobb echoed those thoughts.

“I feel it’s a mentality,” Cobb said. “It didn’t look like guys were trying to wrap up and do the technique. Mentality. You’ve got to trust your training. Simple as that.”

Inside Linebacker Discussion

USC fans were buzzing about the inside linebacker position after the Trojans’ win at Arizona State. The consistent misdirection from the Sun Devils had the USC linebackers on skates at times. And Skattebo proved that he’s a very difficult tackle. But as Grinch mentioned, there were some highs with the lows. Gentry led the team with nine tackles. Tackett Curtis had seven stops, two sacks and earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley said it was the best game of the season for Curtis, who was able to “catch his breath” during the bye week after extensive playing time in the first three games of his career.

Cobb’s play came under scrutiny. He led the Trojans in snaps but finished the game with just one tackle. On Tuesday, he looked back at his performance, which came after sitting out the Nevada and Stanford games, plus the bye week. Cobb said he felt fully conditioned as he was able to run during practices while out injured. But the game felt different for him.

“Man, it was a little weird for me,” Cobb said. “I’m sure a lot of people saw it, but I just didn’t feel like myself. Maybe hesitating a little bit. But that’s just me knocking off the rust. Even in practice today, I feel a little different today. So just kind of taking it step by step. Try to kind of keep my head down and keep working.”

It’s clear the coaches have a ton of faith in Cobb in the middle of the USC defense. Riley again on Tuesday talked about how well they feel the defense operates when Cobb is in the game.

“He’s such a good communicator and knows our stuff so well,” Riley said. “He thinks fast on the run. He’s a good player, but he brings a lot of intangible benefits to it.”

The slight surprise at the position came in the form of neither Raesjon Davis nor Shane Lee taking a single defensive snap against Arizona State. According to Riley, that wasn’t the plan going into the game, but he said the linebackers who played got into a rhythm and stayed out there. Riley said this isn’t an indication of how things will play out in every game the rest of the season.

“Raesjon, Shane, guys like that are still a big part of what we do,” Riley said. “We’re gonna need all five of those guys to play at a high level.

“Listen, when you’ve got five guys in there that you feel like are good players, the margins are gonna be thin,” Riley continued. “The thing we tell guys about playing time…make it obvious. Make it where it is impossible for us to keep you off the field. That’s always been our message. Raesjon has improved drastically. Really proud of his progress. There’s a lot of confidence. There’s, quite franklin, quite a bit more confidence in him than there was 12 months ago…He really has grown up and progressed. And he’s gonna play a big part. Just watch and see. Just let it unfold. If he continues to keep the great attitude like he always has, he’s gonna play a big part, no question.”

Kyon Barrs’ Playing Time

Defensive lineman Kyon Barrs has seen his snaps decrease each game this season. He started the first three but came off the sideline against Arizona State.

Grinch sees it as part of the natural ebb and flow of the season in how players perform week to week.

“He’ll continue to be part of the rotation, continue to fight and scratch and claw to be a major piece of our defense,” Grinch said. “We expect him to and I think it’s probably more of a credit to maybe some of the other guys as opposed to a scarlet letter against him.”

Trusting Technique at Cornerback

Cornerback Ceyair Wright was in close coverage when Arizona State receiver Elijhah Badger hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass. There have been several plays this season in which USC cornerbacks have seemingly been in good position but the opposing receiver comes up with a tough catch.

“I just have to work on getting my head around faster,” Wright said.

Wright said he spent 30 minutes after Tuesday’s practice working on turning his head when the ball is in the air.

“I’m in position sometimes, but I didn’t get my head around in that situation,” Wright said. “You live and you learn. Next time I’ll definitely make the play.”

It’s a difficult decision for a cornerback to find the right time to turn. Wright talked about what goes into that.

“It’s definitely like a split-second decision,” he said. “And that’s also a way you don’t get PIs or anything like that…It’s just being comfortable in the moment, honestly, whenever the ball’s in the air.”

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