USC football scouting report: Northwestern defense, key matchups, who has the advantage

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USC cannot make the mistake of underestimatingNorthwestern this week, and that is especially true against a tough Wildcats defense.

The Trojans have struggled to get their offense firing on all cylinders the last two weeks against Notre Dame and Nebraska. To be ready to compete for a college football playoff berth during the home stretch of the season, the Trojans must figure out how to put on a well-rounded performance against tough competition.

So who and what are the keys to success for Northwestern’s solid defense? And how can USC beat the Wildcats with smart offense?

Let’s break it down.

A winning coach

Northwestern’s defense is in their second season under defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle.

McGarigle is also the linebackers coach, and has served in that role for six seasons. He knows what it takes to have a strong defense at Northwestern because he is a legend on the playing side. He’s a Northwestern alum who is the school’s all-time leader in tackles with 545.

Under McGarigle’s leadership, the Wildcats have held every opponent to 28 points or fewer this season except for Oregon, who scored 34.

A star linebacker

Northwestern’s best defensive player is probably Mac Uihlein, who is second on the team with 58 total tackles and first on the team with 4 interceptions. He also has a forced fumble. He’s just a very opportunistic, well rounded player who thrives in both run defense and coverage.

Makes sense given the defensive coordinator has plenty of expertise at the linebacker position.

Dangerous veteran on the defensive line

Another key player for the Trojans to be aware of on the Northwestern defense is Aidan Hubbard. Hubbard is a 2-time All-Big Ten Honorable mention defensive lineman who leads the Wildcats in sacks with 3.5.

He’s the kind of experienced player who could be a handful for USC’s young offensive line.

Shutdown pass defense

The highest total passing yards that Northwestern has allowed to any team this season was Purdue with 218 yards. No other team has recorded more than 200 passing yards against them. On and by the way, it didn’t matter because they shut out the Boilermakers 19-0.

Like Nebraska, Northwestern has been able to run up their defensive stats with games against bad QBs. But they come into this game far more battle tested than the Huskers: they played Dante Moore and Oregon, Drew Allar when he was still healthy at Penn State, and Nico Iamaleava at UCLA.

The Wildcats have 25 pass breakups as a defense and are led by Robert Fitzgerald who leads the team with 69 tackles.

The turnover battle

Northwestern has only forced 9 turnovers on the season while coughing up 13. By contrast, USC has forced 13 turnovers and only had 11 giveaways.

Keys to the game for USC

With that in mind, here are the keys to the game for the USC offense:

  • Establish the run and stick to it
    • USC hasn’t been able to count on the passing offense against good Notre Dame and Nebraska secondaries. That may be the case again
  • Win the turnover battle
    • Northwestern will likely be vulnerable to more turnovers against USC. The Trojans need to take those opportunities when they present themselves, and not give the football right back to the Wildcats.
  • Find ways to get Makai Lemon, Ja’Kobi Lane involved
    • Because Lemon and Lane could struggle to get open downfield again in this game, USC needs to find ways to get them short throws in space and allow them to rack up the yards after catch to reestablish them as main featured pieces of this USC offense.
  • Keep the Northwestern defense on its heels
    • USC doesn’t want to get too cute (at least not until after the run is established) but it did have some of its most successful plays versus Nebraska by going to unexpected targets (Jaden Richardson, Tanook Hines) and running trick plays. Make a defense that’s been in a good rhythym all season uncomfortable

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football’s ideal offensive game plan against Northwestern defense

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