In the last conference meeting between USC and Arizona, the No. 9 Trojans take on the Wildcats in a Pac-12 matchup Saturday at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
The Trojans (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) hold a 37-8 all-time record over the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) and have won the last six meetings in L.A. Last year, the Trojans won 45-37 in Tucson.
“We’ve played five of them; we’ve won five of them,” head coach Lincoln Riley told the Trojans Live podcast on Monday. “We’re going to make it six this week.”
USC is coming off of a 48-41 win against Colorado last Saturday after allowing the Buffaloes to score 21 unanswered points in the last 16:03 of the game. USC’s defense allowed 498 yards — 403 of them through the air.
USC’s defense has struggled with consistency at times this season. Against Arizona State, USC sacked their quarterback eight times, but only sacked Colorado junior quarterback Shedeur Sanders three times. Of course, Sanders is an extremely mobile and evasive quarterback, but he has been sacked a whopping 26 total times through five games, and USC’s second-half tackling was subpar against him.
“We played about two and a half to three pretty decent quarters of football,” Riley said, adding that his team needs to get more consistent on all three sides of the ball heading into the middle section of the season.
USC junior quarterback Caleb Williams has been nothing but extraordinary so far this season. Williams has gone 105 of 141 for 1,603 yards with 21 touchdowns and one interception through five games, having played just 16 quarters. Williams has also rushed for three touchdowns of his own.
Williams currently leads the nation in passing efficiency (217.7), passing touchdowns (21), points responsible for (146) and points responsible for per game (29.2). Last weekend, Williams tallied six total touchdowns against Colorado, making him the first FBS player in the last 25 years to throw for six passing touchdowns in a game for multiple schools.
Although the Wildcats do not have an unbeaten record, Arizona may have some momentum coming into Saturday’s matchup. The Wildcats took on conference foe No. 7 Washington in Tucson, Arizona, falling 31-24.
However, what makes Arizona’s narrow loss more impressive is that the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, junior Jayden de Laura, did not compete due to an ankle injury. Instead, backup Noah Fifita made his first career start. The redshirt freshman was 35 of 47 for 232 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Down two scores with time winding down, the Wildcats showed some perseverance in the final minutes of the game, driving the ball 90 yards for a touchdown to bring the game within one score with 1:08 remaining.
With Saturday’s starting quarterback still up in the air, Riley said the Trojans will “definitely prepare” to take on either quarterback.
Three current Trojans are also former Wildcats, which could be another possible weapon that the Trojans have in their preparation efforts. Junior receiver Dorian Singer, redshirt senior cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace and redshirt senior defensive lineman Kyon Barrs all played at Arizona before transferring to USC earlier this year.
Riley also commended Arizona for its development since both teams’ last meeting.
“I think (they are) an improved team from what we played last year up at their place,” Riley said. “Expecting nothing but a battle.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
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