USC will take on Arizona this Saturday in what should be a high-scoring battle between two strong Pac-12 South offenses.
It will be the Arizona Wildcats' first matchup of the season after its Week 1 game against Utah was canceled after the Utes didn’t have the minimum number of players available because of COVID-19 cases.
The Wildcats will be starting sophomore Grant Gunnell at quarterback. In the 2019 season, Gunnell threw for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns in his split role with mobile quarterback Khalil Tate. This season, Gunnell will have the reins to himself and will need to produce far greater numbers if the Wildcats are to have any chance against No. 20 USC.
Although Gunnell hasn’t played a game this season, USC head coach Clay Helton had high praise for the quarterback Gunnell’s play last year.
“He is elite when it comes to the [run-pass option] game outside,” Helton said in a press conference Thursday.
As part of Arizona’s run-pass option scheme, the Wildcats are starting a new lead back.
Veteran running back J.J. Taylor parted for the NFL, leaving senior Gary Brightwell to fill his shoes. While on limited carries, Brightwell still managed to run for 390 yards and five touchdowns last season. There will be plenty of opportunities for Brightwell to improve these stats with more handoffs to Brightwell and fewer quarterback runs this season.
The new starters for Arizona will be facing a tough USC defensive front.
Marlon Tuipulotu anchored the Trojans' strong defensive line in Week 1, posting eight tackles and one sack against Arizona State. Arizona’s offensive line is not expected to be as talented as ASU’s, so this game could get ugly if the pressure starts to break into the Wildcats' backfield.
Although USC’s defensive line showed a lot of promise in the team’s opener, the defense didn’t play a flawless game as a whole.
The Trojans gave up 258 rushing yards to the Sun Devils with 111 yards coming from quarterback Jayden Daniels. Poor tackling from USC’s corners and linebackers was the main cause of this solid rushing performance and with a talented back in Brightwell, Arizona’s running game could easily explode for big gains once the rusher gets past the defensive line. The tackling in the secondary will need to improve for the Trojans to prevent the Wildcats from scoring in bursts.
On the offensive side of the ball, USC should be feeling confident against an Arizona defense that allowed 35.8 points per game and 471.4 yards per game a season ago, both being the most of any Pac-12 team. When the two teams met at USC in 2019, the Trojans won 41-14 and then-freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
A year under Slovis’s belt and a young secondary facing him from Arizona suggest that Slovis will be even more electric this time around.
After the Week 1 performance, Helton has a reserved confidence in his offense but realizes that side of the ball will have to improve for the Trojans to have a chance at a special season.
“I know our offense is always going to be able to move the ball,” Helton said. “It’s really about not getting stopped via turnover, via third down or via penalty.”
USC had three fumbles and the team only converted 7-of-19 third downs in its season opener. A performance like that will not do the Trojans many favors and these areas on the stat sheet definitely need to be cleaned up for USC to have a comfortable victory over the Wildcats.
The key to USC’s success this weekend lies in the passing game. Slovis and his receivers started off very slow against Arizona State and will need to prove they can put together a complete game from start to finish.
Slovis had several exceptional throws in the waning minutes of the game, but the Trojans cannot continue to rely on late-game miracles. Wide receivers Drake London and Amon-Ra St. Brown put up impressive numbers, with London posting 125 yards and one touchdown on eight receptions and St. Brown bringing in seven receptions for 100 yards. Any other week, these would be incredible individual showings, but a large portion of these yards came in the form of shorter passes that didn’t give the team the explosiveness it needed.
If USC’s offense can get more deep throws to be completed against Arizona than the offense completed against Arizona State, the Trojans will almost certainly run away with the win in Tucson, Arizona.
At the end of the game, USC should be adding another win to their record. The Trojans are the 14-point favorite heading into Saturday’s bout, but the Wildcats have yet to play a game in 2020 and may be this season’s surprise team in the Pac-12.
Without a question, this 2020 season has seen more improbable things occur.