USC junior defensive end Leonard Williams runs with the ball. (Photo Courtesy of Ralf Cheung/The Daily Trojan)
ASU and USC will meet in Los Angeles on Saturday night, in a homecoming of sorts for Mike Bercovici. The Sun Devils are coming off a 62-27 loss at home to UCLA, while the Trojans gave a 25-point whooping to Oregon State. ASU is hoping its fate is different against the other LA school.
The State Press exchanged questions with USC's student newspaper, The Daily Trojan, in advance of Saturday's game.
The State Press: USC has had its ups and downs the past few seasons. What do you attribute that to and do you feel that culture is being eviscerated under Steve Sarkisian?
Daily Trojan: It's hard to say what on earth has been going on here — on and off the field — over the last few years. I want to believe, though, that all of the controversies USC has had lately have been due to the actions of individuals, rather than the program as a whole. I do think Steve Sarkisian has done his best to be a steadying force, but this season we've still seen our fair share of chaos: Josh Shaw lied, Anthony Brown quit and alleged that Sarkisian was a racist, the team was demolished by an unranked Boston College squad, and now Victor Blackwell is refusing to show up to practice. Hopefully Sark can right the ship going forward.
SP: Su'a Cravens was highly sought after as a recruit. After one-plus seasons, how has he looked? He was recently moved to linebacker and I've heard comparisons to UW's Shaq Thompson. Are those accurate?
DT: Cravens has exceeded all expectations so far at USC. After earning Freshman All-American honors last year, he is flourishing this season in a hybrid safety-linebacker role. Cravens had a huge game against Oregon State last weekend, recording two tackles for loss, a sack and a 31-yard pick-six to get the ball rolling for the Trojans. USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who coached Thompson at UW, does seem to be molding Cravens in a similar fashion, and he is definitely stepping up and making plays.
SP: It seems the Trojans haven't really established an identity on offense, using a plethora of running backs and moving at different paces. What can we expect from the USC offense on Saturday?
DT: Sarkisian came into the season with a run-first attitude, but seems to be placing more and more faith into quarterback Cody Kessler. This makes sense for Sark considering the success he had with Bishop Sankey at UW, but Kessler has emerged as a viable option (he hasn't thrown a pick all season), so USC is beginning to present a much more balanced attack. Running back Javorius "Buck" Allen has shouldered most of the load on the ground, but Justin Davis is starting to get back in a groove following last season's ankle surgery, so the Trojans' run game will be one to watch out for going forward.
SP: Everybody knows Leonard Williams, projected top-10 NFL draft pick, but who's a difference-maker on the defense that is less well-known?
DT: Williams is definitely the biggest name on defense this season, but has been slightly underwhelming so far. Though he leads the team in total tackles, he hasn't made the same number of big plays that we expected from him this season. Senior linebacker Hayes Pullard is definitely the emotional leader of the defense. Pullard has consistently produced for USC, having led the Trojans in total tackles for two of the last three seasons. Hopefully his emotions don't get the best of him in the grudge match this weekend — you can bet on the fact that he'll be the one pumping up the Trojan defense to not let the game get out of hand last year like it did in Tempe.
SP: What kind of preparations are the Trojans taking for ASU? See a lot of stacking the box to prepare for a run-heavy, Taylor-Kelly-less attack, or are they putting value into Mike Bercovici's number of pass attempts from UCLA?
DT: The Trojans have (hopefully) learned their lesson from Boston College: don't underestimate any team or player. Because of that loss at BC, I can't imagine Sark letting USC overlook Bercovici just because he's a backup. I can assure you they've been preparing for him just as hard as they would any other starting QB in the Pac-12, especially with a weapon like Jaelen Strong at receiver. That being said, Sark has also acknowledged how dangerous D.J. Foster is and will likely place the most emphasis on stopping ASU's run game.
SP: And your prediction?
DT: USC 35, ASU 23
Photo Courtesy of The Daily Trojan
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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