USC football scouting report: Northwestern offense and key matchups with Trojans' defense

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After a long, painstaking buildup to Saturday night’s win against Nebraska, it’s hard to believe that USC‘s next game against Northwestern is just a few days away.

But before we know it, the Trojans will be taking the field again Friday night at 6 p.m. local time versus the Northwestern Wildcats at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Trojan fans will be tempted to look ahead to more headliner matchups against Iowa or even Oregon, but USC should not underestimate Northwestern. The Wildcats are a scrappy, well-coached, improving team who will bring a good fight to USC like they have to every team in the Big Ten all season long.

So, here at Trojans Wire, we did our due diligence on Northwestern too, making sure to scout them just as heavily as we would Oregon or Iowa. Let’s start with Northwestern’s offense.

To set the tone defensively, the Trojans will need to directly build off of their defensive performance against Nebraska to ensure that they win this game. Here are the strengths and weaknesses of Northwestern’s offense, and how USC should attack them.

Northwestern is run-first, second and third

There’s no mystery about what Northwestern wants to do on offense, they want to run the football.

The Wildcats average over 38 rushing attempts per game, which is second in the Big Ten. They have rushed for 100+ yards in 7 of their 8 games and average 187.8 yards per game overall.

The running back duo

Northwestern’s offense features two main running backs, Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II. Komolafe has emerged as the starter and a future star after an early-season injury to running back Cam Porter. He is more of the every down back, and boasts good elusiveness and field vision.

Himon gets less rushing volume in this offense, but he is a good pass catcher out of the backfield. He is second on the entire team with 19 catches on the season. He often serves as a good change of pace for the Wildcats’ offense, averaging more yards per carry on less attempts while Komolafe handles the volume.

The success of both backs will allow Northwestern to keep both guys fresh and have a lot of variety in their run packages against the Trojans.

Quarterback Preston Stone is limited

There were high hopes for SMU transfer Preston Stone in Evanston, but he has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the Big Ten in nearly every statistical category.

He leads the conference with 9 interceptions thrown and has the second-worst yards total of any full-season Big Ten starter with only 1,372. He’s also 14th in yards per pass attempt (6.4) and 17th in completion percentage (58.3%).

His season-high in yards against a Big Ten opponent is 163. Remember, this is his fifth season of college football. He’s just not very good at the Big Ten level. He doesn’t have a great arm, he struggles to make throws into tight coverage, makes bad decisions that lead to turnovers, and is not a consistent threat to scramble.

The ideal game for Preston Stone is that his receivers get open a lot and he makes those easy throws, doesn’t turn the ball over, and keeps the opposing defense honest enough that Northwestern can be effective in the run game. He is not looking to torch USC for 400 passing yards, and Northwestern Head Coach David Braun knows he can’t do that either. His ceiling is to be just okay.

Griffin Wilde is the clear go-to receiver

Wilde, a transfer from North Dakota State, is a big reason why Stone has been even serviceable in Northwestern’s wins. He has 39 catches on the season, more than double Northwestern’s No. 2 receiver, and has amassed 570 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He has been Northwestern’s leading receiver in every game except their victory over UL Monroe. If Stone and Northwestern need to go to the air, especially in a high-stakes situation, they will almost certainly throw to their go-to receiver, Griffin Wilde.

Northwestern’s offensive line is solid

The Wildcats have allowed only 10 sacks on the season and 30 tackles for loss, 4th least in the Big Ten.

Komolafe’s ability to step in and have success has been largely fueled by Northwestern’s success in run blocking.

The Trojan defensive line has shown flashes of excellence but they have put up some of their worst performances against offensive lines that are not very good on paper (Illinois, Nebraska). So they Trojans can hope for another big game from the d-line, especially in the Coliseum where USC seems to have a much better time of establishing itself in the trenches, but they can’t confidently expect it.

Entire offense is turnover prone

The Wildcats are second-worst in the Big Ten with 13 turnovers on the season. I watched them earlier in the season play a game against Purdue where the teams combined for five turnovers in the fourth quarter. Things can get messy.

What are the keys to the game for USC?

So with all of that in mind, here are the keys to success for the USC defense.

• The linebackers need to play downhill, aggressive football like they did against Nebraska
  • Trojans can sell out for the run against a team that is clearly limited throwing the football
  • May not be able to rely on consistently dominant d-line, so linebackers need to help out especially in run defense
• They need to focus on Griffin Wilde in coverage
  • Make someone else beat you as a receiver. Wilde is Stone’s security blanket, and USC needs to make him a non factor
• End drives early with aggressive third down defensive playcalling
  • Northwestern is second in the Big Ten in time of possession. They love to go on long, methodical drives. Get the defense off the field and put the ball back in the hands of the USC offense
• Take advantage of mistakes
  • USC needs to be opportunistic, force turnovers and cash in with points off of those turnovers

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: How USC football defense should attack Northwestern offense in Week 11

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