USC could have tried to have the other corners turn the routes into each other, which might have allowed someone to help Smith, but the Trojans didn’t even do that. It’s a coverage that invites disaster and Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman read it perfectly. So you aren’t pressuring the quarterback but you are leaving the defensive backs in man coverage with no help. To make matters worse, there is a blitzer who is late to rush the QB. If Calen Bullock had dropped deep, he could have intercepted the pass or broken it up. Jaylin Smith gave up the TD pass but he had no safety back to help him. The result is a 46-yard TD pass for Notre Dame’s anemic pass offense. There is no one deep to play center field. It put the corners in a funky situation and it’s no surprise what happened next. You won’t see other major college football programs run this coverage. This is literally the worst pass-route coverage to be in on this play. It then ran an inexplicable defensive coverage that was one of two plays that halted the Trojans’ comeback (the other play was the 99-yard kick return). USC had just cut Notre Dame’s lead to 24-13 and had plenty of momentum. Well, this video below offers an example of when the scheme put the players in a position to fail. One of the talking points this season is whether USC’s defense is a failure of scheme or the players?
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