USC Football: 3 reasons Trojans will win the Pac-12 title in 2020
2. Defense is loaded with experienced players
On the surface, a look at USC’s 2019 defensive stats suggests the Trojans are simply an average unit. However, upon deeper examination, Todd Orlando could be poised to have one of the better groups in the country when 2020 rolls around.
The Trojans have ten starters back on this side of the ball this season. On its own, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, but it’s a great indicator with this defense. Of those ten, seven will be juniors in 2020, and three will be sophomores, meaning a year ago, this unit was full of freshmen and sophomores.
That extremely young defense ranked in the middle of a Pac-12 that featured some solid defenses in 2019, finishing sixth in scoring, fourth in passing, and sixth in total defense. If that was the performance of a group of almost entirely underclassmen, they could be poised for a huge leap in 2020.
The architect of that leap will be the former Texas defensive coordinator Orlando, who held the same position at Houston in 2016. That was the season in which the Cougars held Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma to just 23 points in an upset win.
The Trojans return their sack leader in Drake Jackson, as well as their interception leader in Isaiah Pola-Mao. The entire secondary is back along with Pola-Mao, a group that includes strong safety Talanoa Hufanga and cornerbacks Chris Steele and Olaijah Griffin.
The experience doesn’t end with just returning starters. USC’s defense is loaded with upperclassmen ready to take on starting roles, with players like Caleb Tremblay up front, as well as linebackers Jordan Iosefa and Hunter Echols.
This defense also has the luxury of the aforementioned Slovis. There won’t be huge pressure on this unit to hold opponents under 20 points. If Orlando’s unit can simply improve upon last year’s numbers and make plays in key situations, they’ll have done their job.
What makes USC truly exciting, however, is that this unit is poised to do more than just improve.