Before every game, I ask a reporter who covers the Gophers upcoming opponent to give us a view from the opponent’s perspective.
I asked Matt Zemek from Trojans Wire five questions about the USC Trojans.
The Trojans travel east to take on the Gophers in Minneapolis for the first time as a Big Ten member.
This will be the ninth meeting between the two programs. USC leads the all-time series 6-1-1.
Huge thanks to Matt for giving us his thoughts!
1. In their last year in the PAC-12, USC finished 8-5 overall with a 5-4 conference record. They would go on and defeat No. 16 Louisville in the Holiday Bowl. The 2024 campaign begins a few new eras for the Trojans. It’s their first year in the Big Ten and a season without a Heisman winner as the play caller. In your opinion, what were the expectations for this Trojans team heading into this season? Have they matched expectations so far?
Expectations for this team were 9-3 or 10-2. Have expectations been met? To a degree. The defense was expected to be much better, and it has been. D’Anton Lynn and the other defensive assistant coaches have done a great job of teaching technique in tackling and reading plays before the snap. Guys are making the fundamentally sound plays they did not make under Alex Grinch. There were a few huge missed tackles against Michigan, and USC paid dearly for those lapses, but on 85-90 percent of snaps within games, USC is finishing tackles that weren’t made in 2023. On offense, the whole key is the offensive line. Miller Moss needs time to throw. When he does get time, he delivers big plays. When he gets pressured, he makes mistakes, at least enough of them to make life difficult for USC. The offensive line has been inconsistent, and people who cover the team would tell you that offensive line coach Josh Henson isn’t measuring up so far this season. There are some young players on this line, but improvement is definitely needed, and with some really tough games coming up on the schedule, a failure to improve this position group could prove fatal to USC’s hopes for a successful season, which would be 10-2.
2. It appears that Miller Moss is doing a pretty good job of filling the shoes of Caleb Williams. Moss enters the game this Saturday, leading the Big Ten Conference in passing with 299 yards per game. That ranks twelfth overall in the country. What makes Miller Moss so special as a quarterback? Does he have any weaknesses?
Miller Moss, if you have watched him at all, can and will telegraph a few throws, specifically short out routes. Defensive backs have jumped routes. Will Johnson of Michigan collected a pick-six by jumping a route against Moss and USC. Moss has to be better there. He also has to secure the ball under pressure. He fumbled this past weekend versus Wisconsin. Moss took a lot of hits against Wisconsin. He had to go to the medical tent but apparently avoided suffering a concussion. He is not as physically strong as Caleb Williams and is also not as fast. If opposing teams can cave in the pocket, they can make him very uncomfortable.
3. The USC offense averages 469 yards per game, which is good for fifth in the conference. They lead the conference in passing, where their rushing attack is 13th best. What weapons does Miller have to make the passing game so effective? Who should Minnesota fans know about this coming Saturday when the Trojans have the ball?
Two guys really stepped up for USC and its passing game against Wisconsin in Week 5: Ja’Kobi Lane and Duce Robinson. Those are both big, tall guys. Lane is faster, Robinson is thicker, but they both can go up and get a 50-50 ball in the air. They are long and have a large wingspan. Miller Moss trusts them to go up and get the jump ball, though USC probably shouldn’t be throwing those jump-ball passes quite as often as it does. Lane and Robinson both had their best game of the year against Wisconsin. Tight end Lake McRee had been a very important part of the offense in the early weeks of the season, but he is injured and unavailable for this game. Woody Marks is a very smart, tough running back, but USC’s offensive line has not been able to run block with any consistency, which has limited the scope of Marks’ impact on the USC offense and on games in general.
4. The 2023 campaign wasn’t too nice to the Trojan defense. They were near the bottom in the conference in yards allowed, points given up, and rush yards allowed. The hiring of DC D’Anton Lynn in the off-season has seemed to be a hit so far. The defense has greatly improved in every area so far this season. What has been the biggest difference in this defense compared to last year? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Trojan defense so far this season? Any impact players Minnesota fans should know about?
It starts with teaching technique for D’Anton Lynn and the USC defense. The Alex Grinch groups of 2022 and 2023 could not tackle. They didn’t finish plays. They were soft. This group is tough, more physical, and more consistent. Grinch also had problems playing the right players. He had his own “favorites” and did not play the guys who were objectively better. Grinch also used a confusing scheme in which players were very obviously confused at the snap and didn’t know where to go or what to do. The bar was so low for this defense that any generally competent coordinator was going to fix a lot of problems. Lynn is probably as good a coordinator as USC could have hoped to have. You guys at Minnesota are playing UCLA the week after you play USC. Remember that Lynn greatly improved an average UCLA defense last year, much as he has greatly improved USC’s defense this year. Previous coaches at both UCLA and USC were so bad that Lynn had a lot to correct, but he has shown he can take a bad product and make it into a very good product. The best player on USC’s defense thus far has been linebacker Eric Gentry, who struggled under Alex Grinch but has come alive under Lynn and linebacker coach Matt Entz. However, Gentry got injured last week against Wisconsin. If he can’t play against the Gophers, that’s a significant loss for USC.
5. The Trojans lead the all-time series against Minnesota with a 6-1-1 record. It’s been over 10 years since these two programs faced off. This will be the first time they face off as Big Ten members. The No. 11 USC Trojans travel to Minneapolis as eight-point favorites. What does USC need to do to leave Minnesota with a victory? What is your prediction for the game?
It all comes back to USC’s offensive line, and Minnesota has a good pass rush. This is exactly where the Gophers can make life difficult for Miller Moss and the Trojans. One thing USC’s offensive linemen have struggled with is crowd noise in road games. Guys were not responding at the snap. Michigan defensive linemen blew by them at the start of a play. If this problem isn’t handled well, the Gophers can handcuff the Trojans’ offense and make this game very uncomfortable for USC. Prediction: USC 23, Minnesota 20. It won’t be easy for the Trojans.