If you take a look at how 3-0 and 20th-ranked USC has looked thus far into the season, one team characteristic is obvious: the Trojans are out-performing their opponents late in games, especially the fourth quarter.
For Colorado, which has turned in back-to-back shaky second halves and fourth quarters in close wins over UCLA and Stanford, a win next Saturday on the road at USCS seems unlikely if that trend is not reversed.
In USC"s three straight wins to begin the 2020 season, the Trojans have outscored their opponents, 44-20, in the second half.
No matter how you spin it, in Southern Cal's 28-27 win over ASU, 34-30 win over Arizona and last night's 33-17 victory over Utah, the Trojans have won in large part due to being the better team in the final two quarters.
And with how poor Colorado has played late against UCLA and Stanford, the Trojans look like just the team capable of pulling off a win in such a manner and in doing so, wrecking the Buffs' very much valid hopes of claiming a Pac-12 South Division title by year's end.
For defensive coordinator Tyson Summers, tightening some bolts and making the most of this weekend's COVID-caused bye week are major points of emphasis as Colorado prepares for arguably its biggest game of the season in Los Angeles next Saturday.
"We’ve got to play better in the second half," he said. "We’ve got to be better in coverage, we’ve got to be able to play with a better rush overall and we’ve got to find a way to make plays."
Against UCLA, the Buffs fought off a late Bruins comeback thanks to an explosive offensive display and four equally as important turnovers (one pick, three fumble recoveries) generated.
The Buffaloes lost the turnover battle against Stanford, with Sam Noyer's early interception being the only turnover in the game.
During that game, the Buffs had an impressive nine pass breakups. But for Summers, the inability to come down with any of them for an interception plus drive-extending penalties made life a lot harder for the defense as a whole in the late stages of the 35-32 win.
"Last week’s a great example — you’re talking about a 15-play drive and a 13-play drive in the fourth quarter," Summers said. "We also had five missed opportunities (for an interception) in those drives and between that and the DPIs, we’ve got to cut those things down."
"If you cut those things down, then I think we played pretty good defense for two weeks in a row."
However, with respect to the PBUs, if you look at the glass half full, there is evidence that Colorado's DBs are getting in position to interrupt plays.
Now, those players just need to finish the play and make sure they come down with the ball, something that's been a point of emphasis for the DBs corps recently in practice.
"We've been doing ball drills every day after practice now," said senior safety Derrion Rakestraw. "We don't want to see that anymore — we want to try to eliminate that. We're going to keep doing these ball drills and start converting those (PBUs) for picks."
Heading into this Saturday, Southern Cal boasts the top pass offense in the Pac-12 with an average of 353 yards through the air through two games.
In Summers' eyes, the Trojans will be a good test for his defenders in gauging how well adjustments are being made and the overall in-season progression of his defensive backs.
“There’s a good bit of shuffling of the deck so to speak, but I think we’ve gotten to a place where (the DBs) are working their tails off and I think you’ll continue to see a large amount of improvement with them," he said.
Colorado is 0-11 all-time on the gridiron against the Trojans; last year's contest in Boulder was a close affair, with USC winning, 35-31.
In five straight matchups, the Buffs have played respectably, with three of the five games being decided by four or less points.
However, that elusive first program win over Southern California remains elusive.
If the Buffs are going to take down the Trojans this upcoming Saturday, they'll need to be much more stout defensively in the second half.
