SCliff Notes: Should Justin Wilcox Nix the Prevent Defense and More USC Football news

Can’t get enough USC football? We’ve got your morning dose of all the best content from around the web concerning the men of Troy.

1st & 10:

How to stop a game-winning drive… Justin Wilcox could learn something from Monday Night Football’s contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins.

That’s what Max Meyer of Neon Tommy pointed out last night while watching the game.

In case you missed it, in a tie game late on, Dallas received the ball with just over a minute remaining. It was up to Washington’s defense to keep them from scoring. So what did they do? They brought the heat. Every play.

And it worked.

When the game went into overtime and the Cowboys tried to mount a response to Washington’s first possession field goal, they brought the heat. Every play. And it worked again.

As Meyer points out, it would be nice if USC employed a similar strategy. Especially when you consider how the Trojans have lost two games in the final ten seconds of the game, allowing both ASU and Utah (and Arizona) to mount long drives against the prevent defense.

You live and die by the blitz. Yes, you risk blowing it, but you also take matters into your own hands. College quarterbacks are rarely unflappable, even less so when there’s the promise of a man in their face.

In Other News…

• The Trojan offense continues to struggle with inconsistency. Here’s our report card of their performance against Utah. (Reign Of Troy)
• As for the defense, they’ll get criticism for another late scoring drive conceded, but the overall performance wasn’t half bad. Here’s our grades. (Reign Of Troy)
• Steve Sarkisian is using Chad Wheeler’s mental toughness as a motivating factor for his team. (OC Register)
• Greg Katz wonders if USC will end up bowl eligible this season, with tricky games against Washington State and Cal remaining, before the big contests with UCLA and Notre Dame. (ESPN)
• Meyer raises some interesting comparisons between Pete Carroll, Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian’s debut seasons as the Trojan head coach. “All three coaches lost two games in the final 12 seconds in their first season. All three coaches lost their fifth game that season on the final play.” (Neon Tommy)
• In the lastest USC recruiting notebook, Johnny Curren looks as Dominic Davis’ flip from Wazzu to USC and legacy C.J. Pollard’s newest offer. (ESPN)
• As always, Kyle Kensing has a complete preview of USC’s upcoming game, this time against Washington State. (Bleacher Report)
• David Lombardi dubs USC vs. Washington State as the appetizer for a stacked Pac-12 plate this Saturday. (ESPN)
• Want to go back down the NCAA sanctions rabbit hole? Dan Weber has a break down of the latest updates from Todd McNair’s lawsuit. (USCFootball.com)
• The Pac-12 has followed USC’s lead, passing major reforms which include the implementation of four-year scholarships. (RipsIt Blog)

Stat of the Day:

USC has outscored opponents 94-20 in the first quarter this season. They have been outscored 57-52 in the fourth quarter.

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