With an early loss on the season already dimming the lights of a potential playoff game for the Trojans, USC looks to put itself back on the map of serious contenders to the championship as they go against the Sun Devils in Tempe this Saturday night. Also suffering their own share of setbacks, ASU will look to perhaps put themselves back on the Top 25 list with a win against the Trojans.
Bercovici isn’t unknown anymore
Mike Bercovici had a tremendous performance last year against the Trojans when he led the Sun Devils to a victory. Throwing for 510 yards certainly makes that performance one that Bercovici would save the game ball for. However that means that that game is now on tape. It can be stated with clear cut simplicity that USC has been showing that game to their defensive unit all week long as they prepare to face off this week. It is unlikely that the Trojans give Bercovici the same kind of looks as they did last year in Southern California and look to make this battle of Pac-12 hopefuls the charm as the Sun Devils have taken this game two consecutive years. Common knowledge would say that the Trojans would send heavy blitz packages ASU’s way as they attempt to make Bercovici uncomfortable in the pocket and repeat a similar performance as Texas A&M gave as they got to Bercovici nine times in a win over the Sun Devils earlier this year. However Steve Sarkisian has said that they can’t keep calling blitzes as they still suffer from containment issues at Southern Cal. It will be interesting to see how USC intends to get pressure on Bercovici and still maintain enough man power to guard the passing lanes at the same time.
Get Richard going early
The best way to prevent a quarterback getting pressured is to create a run game that the opposing defense needs to respect. The Sun Devils have found that since their game against the Aggies in Demario Richard. The 5-foot-10 220 pound running back has perhaps staked his claim at being in the competition for best running back in the conference with his recent performances as both a runner and receiver. In their game against New Mexico last week he totaled 255 yards from scrimmage, 151 of those coming on just four catches which set a new ASU running back receiving yard record. It’s the first time a back had combined for a 100 yard rushing performance and 150 yards receiving since Lance Dunbar did it for North Texas in 2011. The Trojan defense has suffered quite a bit in regards to their defense as they rank 82nd in overall defense and 42nd in rushing defense. They may not give Richard a lot of room on the flats to catch balls on screens, but they could find themselves being gashed early and often up the middle in Tempe.
Will Kessler continue to be accurate?
USC quarterback Cody Kessler has taken a bite out of the ASU-USC matchup three times in his career as a Trojan. All three times he could not lead the team to a position in which they could win the game. Last year’s lost may yet be the worst as his team ended up taking the defeat on a hail mary at home. However, Kessler continues to improve himself and create a great name for himself among USC quarterbacks as he stands currently as the second most accurate quarterback in the entire nation. With all the weapons he also has to throw to he finds himself sitting at 14th in yards with 922 on the year just through three games. The one thing Kessler needs is to do is continue his managing of the game against the ASU defense and numbers would suggest that he will. The Sun Devils have only gotten to the quarterback seven times so far and only produced four turnovers. If Kessler can avoid any potential mistakes, he should put his team in a great position to win.
The kick off from Tempe will start at 10:30 PM ET on ESPN.