USC Football Mailbag: Who Will Step Up To Beat Alabama?

How will the Trojans match up against Alabama’s offensive front? Who needs to step up to ensure a victory against the Tide?…Our weekly USC football mailbag seeks the answers.

Welcome to the Reign of Troy mailbag. This mailbag is a weekly feature, where we will answer your questions related to USC football.

If you have a question for the mailbag, send it in to @ReignOfTroy on Twitter or via email to reignoftroy@fansided.com.

Let’s get started:

How do you see the defensive front matching up against Bama?— Sean

For starters, this should be one of the biggest fronts that USC has had in recent memory; they have the size to play in the SEC which is saying something in the Pac-12.

However, most of the front seven will have limited experience; the defensive line will be completely new, although Noah Jefferson did get one start last year.

Also, the linebackers will be mostly new and we do not know exactly how healthy Cameron Smith is at this point; he will be crucial to slowing down Alabama’s running game.

Given the talent that is there and new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s attacking philosophy, expect the front seven to hold their own and perhaps even surprise against Alabama.

Who is the one player who has to step up between now and Bama for USC to win the game?— Rocky

Whoever Clay Helton names as the starting quarterback, which most likely will be Max Browne.

More from Reign of Troy

• 3 biggest takeaways from USC football’s win over UCLA
• USC football to play Oregon in Pac-12 Championship Game with Washington out
• USC football’s postgame locker room after beating UCLA was absolutely lit (Video)
• USC football’s studs and duds from a wild rivalry win over UCLA
• USC Podcast: RoT’s Carcast reacting to the comeback win over UCLA

The strength of Alabama will be their front seven; the back four will be their weakness. This means that the starter for USC will need to take advantage of the talented receivers and tight ends in order for USC to be successful and be in a position to walk away victorious.

This is not to say that USC won’t run in this game; they will. But Max Browne or Sam Darnold will have to lead the team to victory in the end.

Who will start opposite Cam Smith at the Will spot?— Meg

The 5-2 works best with bigger inside linebackers, so this would be a good time for former five-star linebacker Osa Masina to step up.

With his side and speed, he and Smith would have the potential to shut down most teams inside running games, which will be crucial against Alabama and Stanford.