USC Embarassed by Stanford

For the second time in 3 games, the USC Trojans were completely dominated by a Pac 10 foe. First it was the spread attack of Oregon and now the power attack of the Stanford Cardinal. I really thought that the USC defense would match up well with the Stanford attack. I could not have been more wrong. Toby Gerhart, in what is becoming typical fashion, ran over and through the Trojan defenders all game long. Having a down season every 8 years or so is nothing to be alarmed about. USC is fielding a team that is young at virtually every key position, so you have to figure they are only going to get better and more disciplined. The frustrating thing is to see them getting beat the same way over and over. Pete Carroll is obviously a much smarter coach than I, especially since I am not a coach, but he continually plays a deep safe defense despite its failure. The Trojans consistently play deep to prevent the big play, but they are allowing every offense to establish and maintain a rhythm against them. Teams are too easily allowed to gain six and seven yards and march their way down the field. The defensive philosophy is predicated on being able to create a turnover before the opposition can complete its drive. The problem is this group is not creating turnovers, so a change needs to be made. Their best defender, Taylor Mays starts virtually every play 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. It would seem to me that you would like to give him an opportunity to make a play before the opposition gains 10 yards. It is very odd to see a Trojan team get pushed around like they did today and not respond. The effort from both players and coaches did not seem to be there, and that makes losing all the more frustrating.