After an offensive masterclass and defensive struggle, the Trojans will look to be consistent on both sides of the ball against a lowly Colorado team.
Last Saturday, the Trojans pulled out an ugly 41-35 victory over Cal behind the wizardry of sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams once again played a phenomenal game with nearly 400 total yards and five touchdowns. Down his top two receivers in sophomore Mario Williams and junior Jordan Addison, Williams made due, and his other targets took care of business. Sophomore wide receiver Michael Jackson III showed off his potential by catching a pass and scampering 59 yards down the field.
The defense, however, needs to improve. Cal got whatever it wanted against the USC defense in the second half, and the Trojans allowed the Golden Bears to score three fourth-quarter touchdowns to crawl their way back into the game. Nonetheless, the Trojans pulled out the win and are already moving on.
Colorado’s season has been disappointing to say the least. The Buffaloes are 1-8 with their one win coming over Cal. They have been dominated in virtually every game this season, allowing 40.2 points per game to opponents which is 130th in the country. Offensively, Colorado scores 15.6 points per game, – 129th in the country.
The Buffaloes are last in the Pac-12 in passing yards and have had three different quarterbacks throwing the ball this year. Although Friday’s starting quarterback is up in the air, it seems Colorado is sticking with sophomore J.T. Shrout. Against Oregon last week, Shrout threw for one touchdown and 247 yards, much of which came from an 81-yard bomb to freshman wide receiver Jordyn Tyson.
Colorado’s run game is the best aspect of the team’s offense, but it’s still subpar. The Buffaloes average 113.7 rushing yards per game which is 10th in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes have four running backs who have rushed for over 100 yards this season with the backfield leader being junior running back Deion Smith with 381 rushing yards.
The Trojans’ defense was missing key defensive players last week against Cal and may be missing them again against Colorado. It is still unclear whether sophomore linebacker Eric Gentry, sophomore defensive end Korey Foreman and senior linebacker Ralen Goforth will play after being out for the Cal game. It could be that all of them are being rested before UCLA and Notre Dame, although the USC defense will need to have other players step up in a major way if the team wants to look impressive.
The team’s poor run defense continues to ravage USC. The Trojans need to stop the Buffaloes from bursting out into big run plays, which USC has let other teams do way too often this year. Ralen Goforth will be available for this week’s game, which should help the Trojans run defense, while Eric Gentry is still a game time decision. USC’s hope should be to go up early and force the Buffaloes to throw. After that, the Trojans should look to shut down the Colorado pass game and do what they do best – force turnovers and sack the quarterback.
Injuries also have been plaguing the offense with both Mario Williams and Addison missing the last two games. Additionally, redshirt senior offensive tackle Andrew Vorhees has missed the last two games. While it has been reported Addison will be available for the game, it is still unclear if Williams or Vorhees will play. The Trojan offense, however, has still averaged a hefty sum of 43 points per game over its last two games and should continue to roll against Colorado.
Realistically the Trojans should be able to move the ball at will on this meager Colorado defense. USC should look to build off redshirt senior running back Travis Dye and the rest of the running back corps. The Buffaloes give up the second most rushing yards per game in the country, and Dye’s hard running should steamroll Colorado’s defense, allowing the offense and Caleb Williams to potentially move with ease on the Buffaloes.
Though Colorado is arguably the worst Power Five football team, the Trojans’ defense has been unimpressive in the past few games. If USC is to gain any ground in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Trojans will need to embarrass the Buffaloes.
Catch the Trojans taking on Colorado at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Coliseum.