Week 9 Matchup USC Offense vs. California Defense

USC Offense vs California Defense

Chart reflect ranking percentile for Offense or Defense vs NCAA 
0 is worst unit in NCAA 100 is best

The USC offense (#21) is a whole new man after the Sam Darnold shave and haircut. USC crushed Arizona's torpid offense and then took the Larry Scott cruise and vacation to get ready for Cal. USC has played a very tough schedule up to this point so Cal isn't going to be something they haven't seen before, but the Bears have managed to hold on enough at home to win some games.

USC is fantastic at avoiding Negative Drives, extremely good at Play Efficiency, and pretty good at Explosive Drives. USC still has an absurdly talented roster of players and they excel at the per play metrics. USC is really good on 3rd Down and at preventing D-plus plays.

USC is awful at Drive Efficiency. This offense, like their defense, lacks consistent play. This probably seems like a broken record to Trojan fans, but this team is standing in their own way of being really good.

Cal's defense (#99) managed to do just enough to beat Oregon at home, which along with their Utah win, is about the best thing you can say about Cal's defense this year. Oregon is a far better offense than the Utes so Cal should give themselves an extra pat on the back on their extremely short rest this week.

Cal is ok 3rd down.

Cal is really bad at Drive Efficiency, Play Efficiency, Explosive Drives, Negative Drives, and D-plus Plays. This USC offense is going to be a challenge.