TCBD, if you will. Unfortunately for the Trojans what most folks will remember of their season so far was a disastrous first half against Oregon State. But if you've been paying attention to the other 26 quarters it's been masterful defensive football.Consider: after blanking Washington tonight, USC has now posted three shutouts on the year. That's after holding Ohio State to three points and Virginia to seven which should have been a shutout if not for 30 yards of penalties literally marching the Virginia offense down the field in a way their offense couldn't.
Against Arizona last week, the Wildcats' only touchdown was on a 15-yard drive created by a USC offensive fumble.
Against Arizona State, the USC offense committed five second-half turnovers and still pitched a shutout. This is no ordinary defense.
Even against Oregon State, in the second half USC's defense went nuts forcing five consecutive punts while holding the Beavers to 110 yards on those drives. The game wasn't truly put away until the Beavers returned an interception to set up -- you guessed it -- another short-field touchdown drive of two yards.
The longest opponent touchdown drive this year is 70 yards.
Watching the Trojans' offense has been an exercise in frustration this year (what was with that scoreless first half against Oregon State? The five turnovers in the second half against Arizona State? The ineptness against Arizona?) and there's reason to keep them away from the BCS title game. However, there's no doubting the collective defensive performance by USC.
As each week passes, that Oregon State game looks more and more like a fluke as absolutely nobody from the big -- Ohio State -- to the explosive -- Oregon -- to the small -- Washington State, has figured out how to sustain any kind of offensive success against Pete Carroll's defense. Even the gimmes haven't been gimmes as the Trojan special teams have blocked several field goal attempts. USC has been stingy and deliberate through 0ver 90% of their quarters.
It hasn't been just short of amazing -- it has been truly amazing. The real McCoy. It's up there with the 2002 Ohio State defense, the 1997 Michigan defense and the 2004 USC defense as the best of this era.
The numbers back up the anecdotal.
7.1 points allowed/game and just 7 touchdowns over 100 opponent possessions
84 rush yards allowed/game at 2.5 yards/carry
128 pass yards allowed/game
20 turnovers forced
This is scorched Earth stuff, with little sign of relent in an offensive conference with games against Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and UCLA remaining.
Did I mention they've got that Rey Maualuga guy?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-02-2008 @ 8:13AM
ESther said...
Best defense in the country my behind. The Pac 10 is functionally craptastic. The only truly good team is USC while the rest are just cannon fodder. This is a team that loses to Oregon State and then barely pulls out a win against 'Zona and you claim this is the best defense in the country because they shut out teams like Washington State that is 0 - 8? USC is a tremendous team and have a powerful offense and stubborn defense, but they are not the best in the country. To be the best, you have to play the best and USC just has not had that opportunity, especially being in the pac 10. USC is a great team, it's just a shame they're in a sh&tty conference. Anyhow, if I had my pick of any defense in the country, I'd have to go with Florida's.
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12-07-2008 @ 6:32PM
dano said...
Wouldn't it be great if usc played" I'll give u that much" red hot florida.. so we could see once and for all if it the best defense.. But it's not going to happen this year because if usc doesn't go 12-0 they don't get looked at but florida could have a bad game but the pac can't . justg watch what we do to penn.....
11-02-2008 @ 12:45AM
John said...
No, USC does NOT have the nation's best defense. They're playing a bunch of junior high schools.
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11-15-2008 @ 7:19PM
rob said...
You're absolutely right. If USC played in the SEC or the Big 12 they wouldn't have such inflated numbers.
11-02-2008 @ 12:59AM
the jord man said...
They've had the pleasure to play Washington and Wash. St who have combined for 0 wins against IA competition. Any decent non PAC-10 team would hold Arizona to 10 points. Please stop the SC foolishness or I'll send another 5'7'' 165 lb running back to run over that overrated defense again.
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11-02-2008 @ 1:22AM
Yohncc said...
Be careful of what you say about the Trojans defense. They have been terrific.
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11-02-2008 @ 1:12AM
ashleigh said...
You guys crack me up!! You think the Pac-10 is a schlock conference? ALL Conferences have dog teams they have to play! ALL CONFERENCES!! The Pac-10 is no worse than any of them! Case in point:
The SEC East has only 2 good teams (Florida, Georgia), yet they play the high-school-like Vanderbilt, Tennessee, S. Carolina & Kentucky -- oooh!! so scary! The SEC West only has 1.5 good teams (Alabama, LSU), and they play the not-at-all-tough Mississippi & Mississippi State, Auburn, & Arkansas... Yawn.
The Big 10 has 2.5 decent teams (Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State), but they get to play such lightweights as Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, & Michigan... Puh-leeze!
The Big 12 North only has 1 good team (Missouri), and they play Colorado, Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas & Kansas State. Real tough, huh?! The Big 12 South usually only has 2 good teams, also (Oklahoma, Texas), but this year, surprisingly, they actually have 4, (with the addition of Oklahoma State & Texas Tech), yet their schedule plays Baylor & Texas A&M...
The ACC has 2 marginally decent teams (Florida State, Maryland), and all they play are Duke, Clemson, Boston College, N. Carolina State, Georgia Tech, etc...
And let's not forget the mighty Independent Conference, with Army, Navy, Western Kentucky and Notre Dame!!!
But you all just want to say that ONLY the Pac-10 is a piece of crap Conference??? That is so beyond bogus!! The Pac-10 is no worse than any other conference, and there are lightweight teams in ALL conferences... What I do know, is that USC, Cal, Oregon & even UCLA are all usually contenders, but you think all the other conferences are the only ones who are good & never play weak teams?!
Wake up, little know-nothings and do some homework!! ALL Conferences have their weak teams, not just the Pac-10!!! And based on all the snooze-fest teams in all the other conferences, the Pac-10 looks pretty good! And USC is indeed, an awesome team, and has the BEST defense in the country... Get over yourselves...
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11-02-2008 @ 2:22AM
bighecks said...
Play no one! Ohio St. 3points! yea no one! let me guess you guys are the typical west coast haters!
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11-05-2008 @ 12:30AM
TIM SCULLY said...
Once again, the USC bash types have great fun over a team with one lost. The SEC and Big 12 have the admission standards of public restrooms. The Big 10 is getting old. USC plays them and the score just gets higher and higher.The East Coast and Southern area turnout what appears to be this great brand of football. Problem is that not only are the admission standards low, the coaching staffs always have a Bubba, Dog, Meat Hook and the lot that cannot come up with either offensive or defensive game plans for any one outside of their somewhat incestual backyard. These teams seem to run the same offense and the same defense. It is classic Monkey See, Monkey do football.
Penn State could be 10 and O and would get routed and most probably shut out or shut down to near zero. Turtles just don’ make the plays.
Pac !0 is down, no doubt, but USC played Virginia and Ohio State up front, How are they doing? Not too bad.
A few more weeks will tell.
Build your big bonfires and yell like pigs, but USC can shut down the lot. BSC or no BCS folks know who is who.
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11-03-2008 @ 10:57AM
HSKRED said...
I'm not sure what the admission standards comment was all about, but there are a number of schools in the Big 12 (most) who have above average admission standards. Also, if you look at the graduation rates, etc., those are on the upside also. I would imagine that they are on a par or better than USC. I thought we were discussing wins/losses and rankings. You have a good team, but not a great team and based on who you play in the PAC 10 this year, you probably won't climb any higher in the BCS standings and that would probably be a fairly accurate representation of where you belong. The Big 12 South is strong this year and the rankings reflect that. It has nothing to do with admissions, but how you play on the field.
11-02-2008 @ 2:40AM
Ce Ce said...
I love to get on this site on Saturday night after USC plays to see the haters!! Or I should say the haters who come out and thank their lucky stars that their teams don't have to play the Trojans! FIGHT ON!!!!
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11-02-2008 @ 10:15AM
CDS said...
Teams like...Oregon State?
11-02-2008 @ 8:16AM
dbradley82 said...
Yeah, the teams they've shutout have a combined record of
3-22, that's real impressive!
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11-02-2008 @ 8:51AM
Jim said...
USC has not played the Florida Gators. The Gators have they best defence with Spikes and crew.
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11-02-2008 @ 9:10AM
Don said...
When was the last time an SEC or Big 10 school beat a Pete Carroll USC team? When was the last time either conference kept it within double digits? I am no fan but facts are facts.
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11-02-2008 @ 9:14AM
Al C. said...
Maybe they do, but they also live in a city of circus freaks and have to deal with Will Farrell's tired, unfunny schticks every year.
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11-02-2008 @ 10:36AM
Jim said...
How could anyone possibly know how good USC's defense is? They don't play anybody. The PAC 12 is a joke. Comparable to a bunch of junior colleges.
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11-02-2008 @ 11:24AM
TJ said...
Anyone who says USC's defense is bad is just ignorant. Maybe they wouldn't shut out some of the elite teams out there, but the opposing team wouldnt score over 20 points at the most. Once USC gets a challenge and destroys a good opponent maybe the haters will put down their hatorade and go back to Oregon.
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11-02-2008 @ 11:40AM
Roberto said...
Actually, USC, unlike many others schools, schedules teams from the SEC, BIG 10, BIG 12, ACC and so on every year. Well, until a couple of years ago it scheduled SEC teams, but now the SEC doesn't seem to want the Trojans on their schedules. And while the media may love other conferences, the pros love USC. And while USC has played, for instance, 3 SEC teams in the last 6 years and destroyed them by a total of 144 points to 31, the only teams to beat them during that time, except for Texas in the 2005 national championship game, are members of the Pac 10. Is it because the Trojans takes the Pac-10 lightly sometimes? Is it because the Pac-10 plays more of a pro-brand of football and understands complicated defensive schemes and offensive schemes? It's probably a bit of both. But USC's defense right now is stifling. And there won't be a lot of "gimme" points put up against them like, say, happens in the Big 12. The current BIg 12 reminds us of the old Southwest Conference. A lot of points and no defense. In fact, Tech's defense just as I suspected looked quicker than Texas' defense. So whoever USC plays in whatever Bowl they play in, better hope USC decides to take the day off like they did against Oregon State. Of course, in December and January a Pete Carroll team taking the day off - you gotta be dreaming?
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11-02-2008 @ 2:29PM
TrojanD said...
These USC haters always intrigue me. SC has been in six straight BCS Bowl games and won 5 of those. That is impressive. SC also destroyed Ranked AUBURN a few years ago twice in a Row, and did the same to Ranked Arkansas. SC's all time record against the SEC is 17-10 and 1, also impressive. These big Mouth SEC Teams need to put up or shut up, Schedule USC, not Arizona State, not UCLA ( Who is weak this year but beat a ranked SEC team in Tennesee). The SEC beats each other up because they are all mediocre! Look at their Non-league schedule: Arkansa State (Alabama), Tulane (LSU) ETC. GET REAL!