Roll through USC's scores last year and you'll notice that in games in which the Trojans won by a comfortable margin, none topped 60 points. In blowout victories over UCLA, Washington, Colorado, Cal and Syracuse, USC jumped out to first half leads of 29-0, 23-3, 28-10, 20-0 and 17-3. They often put the game out of reach in the third quarter and never scored more than a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Keep in mind that was with a defense that was slightly above average by PAC-12 standards. This year's unit is projected to be much stronger.
Hawaii is noted for not having much of a defense and with only four returning starters, if USC wanted to score 50+, it probably could. But there is an interesting storyline here with first-year head coach Norm Chow very familiar with the Trojans having coached at both UCLA and Utah. And perhaps more important is Chow's
that is expected to feature much more balance compared to the pass-happy ways of June Jones and Greg McMackin.
“The run-and-shoot is a tremendous way and a very effective way to move the ball, but we just feel like we have the kind of people that we need to run the ball with,” said Chow.
“Coach Chow is kind of known as an offensive genius in the college football world,” Schroeder said. “He knows how to create mismatches on the outside and establish the running game, and just put the whole team in great situations to win football games with moving the ball and getting first downs.”
Learning a new system and being asked to make a massive step up in class leaves Chow with little option but to try to play things conservative and keep his defense off the field as much as possible. As for Kiffin, he gets labeled as a hardass but last year showed the he didn't have too much interest in rubbing it in. I'm playing the one UNDER.
