Thoughts from the underground

Fitting that the year USC’s strangle hold on the Rose Bowl in the Pac10 is over…the Pac10 representive will be decided in the state of Oregon….where USC is 0-4 in their last 4 games in Oregon.

Wow…I was really surprised as to the game between my Trojans and the cardinal. I never really thought I would see a performance like that from a Carroll coached team. The team looked lost..and confused. It looked as though they … gulp..gave up. I have a hard time writing that considering we have come to expect from a Carrol coached team. The team that would run on and run off the field. The team that would play hard all four downs….was simply going through the motions. Unfortunately I think that this falls squarely on coach Carroll’s shoulders.

It starts with coaching…I have been preaching for years that once the great assistents left after 2004 Carroll has not replaced them with quality coaches. I thought he made a step in the right direction this year with the additions of a special teams coach and coach Bates…sadly both have not performed well. I don’t know if Bates is even allowed to install his offense. I said he would learn and run USC’s offense. What is USC’s offense exactly? It seems that Norm Chow took that with him when he left because we have been searching for an indentity on offense ever since.  Most of  USC’s staff is home grown or were not well known when they got the USC job. Another sad note is that most of the outside hires Carroll has made lately have been NFL guys. I am of the opinion that the NFL and the college football are very different and you must learn to think differently. Carroll has not hired a coach with a strong college background since Tim Davis. He had inexperienced coaches at the most important positions…Offensive and Defensive cooredinators. Seto has never been this position. He has risen thru the USC ranks from a grad assistant to defensive coordinator. John Morton came to USC as a wide receiver coach and got the title as offsensive coordinator…having no play calling expereience. Bates called plays for one year in the NFL. So, who can Carroll turn to to help right the ship? He is too busy teaching his coaches how to be coaches.

All this trickles down to the players. Carroll has lost his way and forgot the mantra that gotten him where he is.” The best player plays”…this has not been true since 2004. Yes that long ago. It was masked by the succeess but Carroll has been playing favorites since then.  Please explain to me what McKnight has ever done to earn the starting job? I am not saying he has not grown somewhat into the position…but he was given chance after chance. It used to be that you would tell a great player..if you mess up there are other great players ready to take your spot. That is not the case anymore and McKnight is a glaring example. Fumble after fumble….missed block after missed block.(McKnight missed the block on the Barkley fumble on Saturday)…yet no benching….However, Carroll’s most blantant example of favorite players has to be Barkley. Carroll has been completely unfair to all the quartbacks including Barkley. I said before…an 18 year old …fresh out of high school should NOT start at the most important position on the team. He is too young to read the complex defenses that will thrown at him. He is adjusting to college life, being away from home, etc….I am not saying that Barkley has not performed well this year. The Ohio state game showed what a great quartback he can be. I just do not think he should start. He should be red-shirting..learning the game and learning to adjust to college life. Carroll put a tremendous amount of pressure on him…then conpounded it by saying that he is playing as well as anyone has ever played at USC…why make that comment? I am not blaming any of this on Barkley. I hope this experience does hurt his confidence in the future. I think he could be one the best if the best QB in USC history. I just think his coach has not put in the best position to succeed. Corp played terrible at UDub…no doubt. But he was prepared horribly..not given much of chance…In the fourth quarter Carroll had an INJURED Barkley warm up….How bad has Barley played in the last couple of games….He was responsible for 4 turnovers last saturday. Ill-advised passes, over and under thrown balls….Has anyone been warming up on the sideline when Barkley is struggling?? In the end the message is clear…some players cannot play poorly. You are given one shot to justify more playing time. Other players are given as much time as needed to justify their playing time…Their are two standards….I think the players see it and no longer believe the matra Carroll says but does not believe in himself.

Alot has been made about the defense the last couple of games and in particular the disaster in Eugene…This is my take on why the defense has looked so bad in recent games.

A defense has 3 layers…The DL line, the linebackers and the secondary.

DL

A good defense has a good DL that will hold their position and in essence pre-occupy the offensive lineman.  This allows the linebackers to clean up and pile up tackles. A great defense has a DL that not only hold it’s position but can penatrate the offensive line and create havoc.  Good backers will just add to the havoc…Think SC defense in 2004.  SC in 2009 …has a young DL and can hold their own at times but is inconsistent. Add to that…the ends, Griffin and Horton play undiscplined and often over pursue….Because of this more pressure falls on the line backers

Linebackers

Linebackers need a DL to be the most effective. Linebackers more than any other defensive position need to have good instincts and quick reflexes. They have to make the quick decisions of the field. This often comes with experience. The SC linebackers in 2009 are young, inexperienced and light. They can move great side to side to can also be pushed back when you run right at them.

Secondary

The best secondary can only cover a receiver for 7-10 seconds…after that the receiver has the advantage. That is why they depend on the first 2 fronts to do their jobs…This is where all the experience lies in the 2009 SC defense.

What’s wrong????

Knowing that the DL and the linebackers were not the strong point of the defense….Pete Carroll chose to keep Will Harris close to the line of scrimmage to help the linebackers. He used Morgan and Galipo to blitz and keep the offense on it’s toes.  He played a soft cover 2 with Mays playing in punt formation on every play… Bur teams got wind of this and started to make their tightend out wide…forcing Will Harris to cover him and thus no longer support the line backers. Then they ran straight at the defense. When Carrol moved in the linebackers…the teams started to throw wide to their backs. When Carrol adjusted they ran crossing patterns for the tight end…This was open all day..

The Fix

USC has experienced corners and an experienced strong safety. Why is Mays asked to cover them by playing so far back when it is clear that the ones that need the support are the linebackers. Move Mays up…play bump and run with the corners and blitz one of these  Smith/Morgan/Harris/Mays  on every play…To me it seems that the better players Carroll gets the more conservative he gets…If he cannot trust 6-year Pinkard and 2nd year starting Thomas at the corners to play tough man coverage…who can he trust? Your best player on defense lines up 15 yards off the ball?

…I ‘m not saying..I am just sayin’

My boys got smoked this weekend in Eugene. There is no other way to say it. The Trojans were completely out-schemed. They had NO answer to the Oregon offense.  Maybe Charlie Weis figured something out after halftime of the ND game because the Trojan defense has never been the same.  USC has never looked this bad on a big stage in the Pete Carrol era.

Although I have been a vocal critic of Pete Carroll in the recent past I will not take this opportunity to ponce on the greatest USC coach. This was bound to happen.  Credit Pete for rasing the level of competion in the Pac-X. For now, I will simply tip my hat to the Ducks for a great game and a well deserved win. The Trojans will be back….