Utah loss to Florida and Anthony Richardson shows why USC can win Pac-12 this year
There are a few themes we pounded and pounded in the offseason here at Trojans Wire. One of them is that in a quarterback-centric sport, noticeable differentials in quarterback quality matter.
This is why Bo Nix and Oregon never should have been ranked above Caleb Williams and USC.
This is also why USC has such a good chance to win the Pac-12 now, and doesn’t have to wait until 2023.
Yes, we know how weak the USC defense is, and we know that could sink the Trojan ship before this season ends. We’re mindful of that. We’re certainly not ignoring that. In our report card for the Rice game, we did not give a good grade to the USC defensive line. We know what the state of play is in the Pac-12.
We’re not going to give USC’s defense a pass. We’re going to be tough graders.
That said: College football is an offense-first game. It is a quarterback’s game. Alabama won the 2020 national title because it could score. The Tide gave up 46 points in the SEC Championship Game that year. It didn’t matter. They scored 52.
Joe Burrow and LSU didn’t need a great defense when they were lighting up everyone they played in 2019.
Lincoln Riley had some bad defenses at Oklahoma, but with Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray torching opponents in 2017 and 2018, it didn’t matter in the regular season. Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff in both seasons. (The lack of OU defense mattered in the playoff semifinals against SEC powers, but not before then.)
Elite teams almost always require great quarterbacks in the modern age.
Back when USC dominated college football in the 1970s, the sport belonged to running backs and defenses. Offenses had not evolved. Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler played “three yards and a cloud of dust” football where field position was king. USC cranked out Heisman Trophy running backs and Rose Bowl victories.
Today, it’s a quarterback’s game. Weakness at this position carries a lot of weight most of the time. There can be rare exceptions, but we emphasize “rare.” Usually, flaws at QB get exposed.
Conversely, having an excellent QB who is well-coached means a lot.
Look at Florida’s 29-26 upset of Utah, the preseason Pac-12 favorite.
This goes back to what we pounded home in the offseason on our YouTube shows with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football.
Pac-12 quarterback play was really bad in 2021. Oregon was the second-best team in the conference, and Anthony Brown was the Ducks’ QB. Cam Rising of Utah was the best quarterback in the conference, and you saw against Florida that he’s not as good as he could be, and certainly not as good as he needed to be.
The much bigger QB story from Utah-Florida, however, is that Anthony Richardson dominated Utah’s defense. Kyle Whittingham is an excellent defensive coach, and yet Richardson made Utah pass rushers look foolish. Utah rushers went upfield on the edges, leaving wide-open running lanes for Richardson. Utah needed to force Richardson to throw down the field and beat them with his arm. The Utes allowed Richardson to beat them with his legs.
Richardson’s quality as an athlete is something Utah and other Pac-12 teams didn’t often face last year. The two obvious exceptions: Jayden Daniels at Arizona State and Dorian Thompson-Robinson at UCLA. Yet, Daniels and DTR didn’t receive coaching nearly as good as what Anthony Richardson received from Billy Napier and Florida. Napier looks like the real deal as a coach. Richardson’s talents are being realized under the new Swamp Fox in Gainesville.
Pac-12 defenses don’t know what it’s like to face elite QBs who are coached well.
Cough, cough.
This is exactly what USC brings to the table with Caleb Williams being coached by Lincoln Riley. This is precisely why — even though USC’s defense is a major point of concern and worry for the Trojans — the Men of Troy have an offensive ceiling no other Pac-12 team can reach. If USC reaches its offensive ceiling this year, the defense’s many warts and scars and limitations might not matter.
Anthony Richardson and Florida showed why Caleb Williams and USC could make 2022 a special year for the Trojans.
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USC and Rice are 2 of only 13 FBS programs with a special place in football history
