Washington Defense Has Tall Task Vs. USC's Third-Down Success Rate

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The best third-down offense in the Big Ten is up against the worst in the conference as the Washington Huskies travel south Saturday to face USC. Through their first four games the Huskies' offense have managed to covert 17-of-50 attempts (34 percent) on the critical down.

After converting just 1-of-10 attempts on third down in last Saturday's 27-24 loss to Minnesota, which tied the 2025 game against then-No. 1 Ohio State for the fewest conversions in a single game under Jedd Fisch, UW is tasked with a quick turnaround this weekend with a much-needed improvement on offense against coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans.

UW's first trip to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum since Fisch took over as the program's head coach in January 2024 couldn't come at a better time to right the third down woes. The Trojans enter the Week Five matchup as one of four schools in the conference to allow 22 or more conversions on third down.

Defensively, second-year coordinator Ryan Walters has a tall task at hand with USC having the lowest three-and-out rate among Power Four offenses at just two percent. Walters noted a significant difference between Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsay and Trojans' fifth-year Jayden Maiava when it comes to play-by-play freedom to make a change at the line of scrimmage prior to the snap.

"You see him looking to the sideline for answers a lot more than Drake Lindsay," Walters stated when asked about the separation between the two. "But you do see sort of a check-with-me system more from USC and not as much as Drake making his own calls at the line of scrimmage. So, the cat and mouse game is more to the sideline than it is to the quarterback with SC."

Maiava wasn't under center when the Huskies defeated the Trojans 26-21 at Husky Stadium two years ago. Under then-DC Steve Belichick the defense forced Miller Moss into three interceptions and held Riley's offense to 8-of-16 conversions on third down.

What could prove to be the difference Saturday is whether or not the Trojans will be successful on fourth down if the Huskies are able to hold strong on third down. Riley has gone for it twice as much as Fisch through USC's first five games with 8-of-12 conversions, second most in the Big Ten behind Rutgers.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Defense Has Tall Task Vs. USC's Third-Down Success Rate

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