USC coach Clay Helton knows the pressure is on this fall. After going 5-7 in 2018, there is some extra urgency to bounce back immediately and restore the Trojans to their place among the Pac-12 title contenders.
The Trojans were just there, winning the conference in 2017 and finishing the prior year with 10 wins and a Rose Bowl victory. Helton's 32-17 overall record carries its fair share of weight, but that lessens with each loss and last year's finish -- falling in five of the final six games, including losses to UCLA, Cal and Notre Dame -- was unacceptable. Staff changes were made, and now it's all on the line for Helton and this Trojans group as they prepare to face a vicious schedule.
The win total for the Trojans is set at 7.5. The oddsmakers are suggesting, with that number, an outcome that might doom Helton. USC has the four toughest opponents from the Pac-12 North in the rotation this year, along with road trips to both Notre Dame and BYU. That schedule has many jumping straight to the next step of brainstorming names for Helton's replacement.
I'm excited about USC because I see a path for the doom and gloom narrative to flip. The Trojans have several reasons to believe they can not only exceed that win total but win the Pac-12 and contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Now let's take a look at that path, how USC snaps back into place and proves last year's 5-7 was the anomaly.
1. Graham Harrell's offense could turn the Trojans into the Pac-12's most explosive team. Harrell, hired by Helton after Kliff Kingsbury left to take the Arizona Cardinals job, brings an up-tempo, more simplified offense with emphasis on skill players finding green grass. The players have used spring and fall to get more in tune with the option-based, on the fly decision-making process instead of having to spend extra days installing a more complicated offense. Explosive plays in Air Raid and option-based offenses usually start to pile up once your wide receivers get comfortable enough to make their own decisions on the fly to exploit weaknesses in the defense. When you consider the level of talent on this roster, USC's ceiling offensively in 2019 is right up there with some of the best in the country.
The big question at the moment is at quarterback, where last year's true freshman starter J.T. Daniels faces competition from Jack Sears and Matt Fink as he prepares for his second year under center. USC has all the pieces in place to predict some high-level production this fall, but it does need one of these quarterbacks to emerge as a reliable option before that ceiling can be reached.
2. "Monsters running down the field". No matter who wins the quarterback job, there is a belief that USC will be very effective pushing the ball down the field thanks to an elite group of wide receivers. Redshirt junior Tyler Vaughns is the most consistent option, and he's out there with fellow vet Michael Pittman and a pair of second-year sophomores poised for a breakout season in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Devon Williams. Harrell likes what he's seen from the offense when it comes to the long ball, and at the rate they're hitting on it in camp, it sounds like we should expect plenty of it this fall.
"When you're throwing to those guys, when you have monsters running down the field, that helps the cause," Harrell said this week, via USCFootball.com.
The simplified offense has also helped speed up the adjustment for freshmen like Munir McClain and Drake London, allowing them to quickly enter the battle for playing time and bring competitive depth at the wide receiver position.
3. Stronger finishes. While USC finished with a 5-7 record it was not a year where the Trojans were failing to be competitive. They actually held a first quarter lead in 10 of their 12 games and a first half lead in the other two. A huge part of the conversation around this team in fall camp has been focusing on the details that can help defend those early leads and turn them into wins. If there's an early hint that USC hasn't corrected some of the smaller issues that led to blown leads and losses in 2018, it will be quickly tied to Clay Helton and the heat on his seat.