42 points with only 22 first downs means that there are a lot of big plays going on.
He acknowledged that they missed a lot of tackles.
Whittingham thought the offense did well for the most part. Although, you’d expect more points with their high amount of yardage. They were 3-4 in the red zone and still only scored 25 offensive points with all of that yardage.
They only had 10 possessions and didn’t maximize them.
Special teams, the kickoff coverage was a negative. Gave them good field position, which had been a big negative this season.
USC will be a big challenge. They’ll come at Utah with a lot of 4 wide receiver sets.
Utah went with a Cover 2 hybrid that they thought would be effective against UCLA—trying to confuse DTR, give him different looks, and ores-snap false indicators.
The team is in a similar situation to last year at this point in time, so he’ll see how this group responds.
Run defense has been the issue this season, not pass defense.
They went away from Tavion in the second half because they were playing catch-up and also because Tavion was a little tired, because he’s still out of shape. He’s been much better with his accountability. This time last year was when he really started to break out.
Whittingham shot down the idea that this defense isn’t what they’re used to. He mentioned they’ve had two really bad games and four really good ones.
Whittingham likes USC's front four on defense. They’re leading the nation in sacks and can really get after the quarterback. Secondary is athletic.
Whittingham won’t say if Yassmin is good to go or not. It’s a day-to-day thing.
Four catches by Kincaid is not enough. He hasn’t been as big of a focal point of the offense as he needs to be. Vele is another that needs more targets. However, he was happy with the production of Cope, Parks, and Bernard.
Whittingham is happy that the offense is fourth in the Pac-12 in total offense.
Whittingham wants every kickoff to be a touchback. Said they way they’re doing it now, they’re better off kicking it out of bounds and letting opponents start at the 35. (He doesn’t mince any words about it. You can tell he’s not happy about it.)
He gave the offensive line a B+ grade on the season. Been pretty productive so far.
USC had a deep and talented WR corps. Maybe the best in the country.
The lack of pressure from the Utah defense is concerning.
Ja’Quinden is still in the top 4 RB mix. As things progress, he hopes JJ can be much more of a factor. Tavion is back to getting the bulk of the Carrie’s.
Talking about penalties, Whittingham freely admits the roughing the passer penalty killed the momentum they had. He’s quick to acknowledge that it wasn’t the sole reason they lost.
The USC success is showing how important the transfer portal is. It’s either a quick fix or a quick deterrent for teams.
Whittingham made a comment that the top 25 NIL schools (money wise) will start mirroring the top 25 teams on the field in the country.
trojanswire.usatoday.com
