The Penalty Game

Pictured above was a rare play from Saturday. A play where we ran into the end zone and were not called back for a yellow marker. It was a tale of two halves under the lights and in the dry heat of the Arizona desert, but there was one theme that transcended the night, penalties.

Our Trojans came out in solid form and asserted themselves early in the contest. A consistent and powerful ground game was established and led by a now healthy Aca’Cedric Ware. There wasn’t anything too flashy about our offense in the first half, but by the close of the second quarter, we had put 17 points on the board. Our defense came to play and on the first 7 Arizona drives we forced 5 punts, 1 interception, and 1 turnover on downs. Well done by Clancy Pendergast and his unit as they faced a salty Wildcat team with a dangerous albeit injured quarterback.

The second half opened much the same with us regaining the ball after four plays and mounting a 4 play 70-yard response for another touchdown. This time on a long run by Ware. It was right then, with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter, that we would score our final points for the night and the bleeding would begin. We thought we watched some tough second half football down in Austin? This display in Arizona was well beyond the Texas blowout. We knew Arizona would score a couple points, any reasonable fan could understand that. What we can’t understand is why we seem so completely incapable of burying opponents when we are ahead. We are supposed to be an elite program, and I firmly believe we have elite although young talent.

So why is it that we cannot pull away from teams and keep the pedal down? Wouldn’t it be so nice to build up a 35-45 point lead and protect our starters by taking them out for the second team in the fourth quarter? It seems we are finding some offensive life more and more each week so why not keep pressing as hard as possible and put some serious points up? It’s not like we were facing one of the toughest defenses in the country. Arizona ranks 90^th allowing 28 points per game. We did not even meet their average allowance and we all agree we have above average players. Sadly, the answer lies right in front of us.

I’ve defended Helton and his staff in nearly every edition of this site since its inception, but there are problems that need to be addressed. While Helton is a phenomenally good man and truly a leader of young men, he may lack the discipline and techniques found in the nations’ best coaches to take us where we want to go. It’s such a conundrum for us fans, because on paper, he wins. Plain and simple. He is undefeated at home and 24-8 as our head coach. Below are a couple issues I take with our program that I believe fall on the coaches’ shoulders.

• Penalties – USC penalties this year 9.2/Game, Alabama 6.8/Game, Georgia 6.0/Game, Ohio State 8.4/Game, Clemson 5.0/Game. I use these schools for example because they are the AP top 4 currently, and in the Playoff era, top 4 is where we want to be. To me, this is a discipline issue. Our players clearly do not play with the every down fear of being benched if they amass penalties. Helton needs to make it clear that if you cost us yards, you won’t be in the game to repeat your mistakes. This point is not to say bench a guy every time a flag is thrown but assert a precedent that undisciplined football is not acceptable.
• Establishing an in-game rhythm – So many times it seems like we don’t get the play call in until late in the play clock. Scramble to get set and make quick audible reads and then snap the ball. This is one of my biggest points for us not passing the “eye-test” each week.
• Winning ugly – Sure it is winning, but as I mentioned above we are not seeing any of the big blowout wins we came to know in the programs history.
• Losing on the national stage – It seems every time we get the bright lights and big TV ticket, we underperform and leave the nation with no reason to respect our arguments for a playoff berth. Big losses to Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Texas are not helping our national image.

The good news in all of this though is that we have plenty of opportunity to correct our issues. We have our bye week, then 7 games left and a good road toward the Pac 12 title game. We will play teams that we should dominate, and we will be tested yet again by others like Utah and Notre Dame. I am hopeful that these analytical rants become rave reviews about the program we know and love. If and when the time comes to publicly cast a vote (not that we get one) about our coaches, I will make that decision well known. Until then I will continue to FIGHT ON and support our coaches and of course, our players, who makes 12 Saturdays a year a lot better for me and so many others.