What Went Wrong For USC vs. Boston College

What Went More Wrong for USC

Run Defense

Sep 13, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive tackle

(99) on the sideline dejected during the fourth quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. The Boston College Eagles won 37-31. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

You would not believe that Leonard Williams and Antwaun Woods would be a part of a defensive line that gave up 452 yards rushing to Boston College. The line had a hard time keeping up with three running backs who amounted for over 50 yards rushing apiece.

Meanwhile, Murphy torched the Trojans defense for 191 rushing yards of his own. To make matters worse, considering Murphy only accounted for 13 pass attempts, it’s not like USC could not see the run coming. An unmitigated disaster.

Run Game

One (of many) things that make this loss so infuriating is the abandonment and ineffectiveness of the run game. The Trojans were intimidated and had their hand forced to give up on the run. USC is too athletic and talented at the running back position to stray from a huge part of what makes them successful.

Sure, there are other play calling factors that contributed to this, however, that should not be happening either! Stunts, rotations, draws, and pitches all seemed to be completely eliminated in establishing rhythm and momentum for the backfield to succeed. Perhaps coaching took the opposition lightly in their own right and made no plans to throw the kitchen sink at Boston College in case things got rough. And, how things did get rough.