USC vs. Oregon State Report Card: Grading the Trojan Defense

The USC Trojans put in a dominant defensive display over the Oregon State Beavers Saturday on the way to a 35-10 victory at the Coliseum.

After being embarrassed by Boston College before the bye week, the defense had plenty of ground to cover to make up for their pitiful display in the upset.

Sean Mannion and the Beaver passing attack presented a new challenge for the Trojans, but they proved more than up for the task.

Here’s our report card for the USC defense in week five.

Standout. Leonard Williams. DEFENSIVE LINE. B+.
Though the difference between BC and OSU’s offensive identity could scarcely be greater, the USC defensive line still needed to come out and prove that they could limit a team on the ground.
In response, they held Oregon State to a season-low 80 yards rushing yards (excluding sacks). Not that the Beavers were renown for their rushing attack, but this was still a team which averaged 145 yards per game. That same unit had also supplied seven touchdowns coming into the game against USC, but the Trojan front stopped Storm Woods and company from giving the Beavers an added dimension on offense.
Still, Woods and Terron Ward weren’t exactly stopped cold. Woods averaged 6.8 yards per carry and there was no long run padding that stat. Ward averaged a respectable 4.1 yards per carry as well.
As usual, Leonard Williams was the stand out player on the line with a sack and four tackles on the night, but Antwaun Woods also put in one of his more involved outings with a season-high four tackles as well

Su'a Cravens. LINEBACKER. A+.
Su’a Cravens performance at linebacker for the Trojans was so dominant, the unit almost gets the A+ on his contributions alone.

The sophomore provided the early spark with a 31-yard interception returned for a touchdown. He read the play perfectly and demonstrated once again what a game-changing player looks like. And of course he wasn’t done.

With another perfect read Cravens dropped Xavier Hawkins for a seven yard loss on an attempted fly sweep, then he sacked Mannion later that quarter for an eight yard loss.

By game’s end, Cravens led the Trojans in tackles as well.

Elsewhere in the linebacking corps, Hayes Pullard put in a typically good shift with a second-best five tackles on the evening, but he picked up two personal fouls and his facemask penalty wiped out a Trojan fumble recovery.

Anthony Sarao and Scott Felix both logged pass break ups with the latter also picking up a tackle for loss,

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A+

Su’a Cravens performance at linebacker for the Trojans was so dominant, the unit almost gets the A+ on his contributions alone.

With another perfect read Cravens dropped Xavier Hawkins for a seven yard loss on an attempted fly sweep, then he sacked Mannion later that quarter for an eight yard loss.

By game’s end, Cravens led the Trojans in tackles as well.

Anthony Sarao and Scott Felix both logged pass break ups with the latter also picking up a tackle for loss,

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