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Swanson: USC, UCLA missing opposite pieces of…

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College Sports |
Swanson: USC, UCLA missing opposite pieces of the puzzle

USC’s offense is phenomenal but its defense stinks; UCLA’s defense is top-rate, but its offense often sputters. Neither combination works.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams, left, has the Trojans’ offense hanging big numbers on the scoreboard, but often not enough to offset a struggling defense. UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu, right, anchors a Bruins’ defensive unit that often terrorizes opponents, but the UCLA offense often sputters. If two programs could somehow unite as one, they could seemingly solve each others’ biggest issues. (Photos by The Associated Press)
USC quarterback Caleb Williams, left, has the Trojans’ offense hanging big numbers on the scoreboard, but often not enough to offset a struggling defense. UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu, right, anchors a Bruins’ defensive unit that often terrorizes opponents, but the UCLA offense often sputters. If two programs could somehow unite as one, they could seemingly solve each others’ biggest issues. (Photos by The Associated Press)
Mirjam Swanson, NBA reporter for SCNG, in Monrovia on Friday, August 17, 2018. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
By | mswanson@scng.com | Southern California News Group
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

So the college football gods got jokes, huh?

And if you’re a USC or UCLA fan, you probably don’t find them funny. They probably seem kind of sick and twisted to you. Cruel, even.

Because all the Trojans’ College Football Championship puzzle is missing are those pesky defensive pieces, corner pieces that slipped out of their grasp and inexplicably disappeared. I assure you, if you spent months working on this glorious vision only to realize it’s not going to come together, you’d cry too.

And the Bruins’ have those very pieces!

But UCLA’s puzzle isn’t looking too hot either – because what it is missing is a crown-shaped piece under center, a dependable quarterback to complement a historically effective defense. And, be real, you’d get frustrated and “un-unified” too if giving up 129 yards on the ground (fewer than USC’s defense has in all but three games) proved insurmountable, as it did in last week’s 27-10 loss to Arizona.

Entering Saturday’s games at No. 6 Oregon and at home against Arizona State, USC and UCLA both have something the other wishes it did: The Bruins (6-3 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) have the defense the Trojans need. And USC (7-3, 5-2) has the offense UCLA needs.

And I’m sorry, but what in the 24-hour Alaskan winter darkness is going on?

It’s like a mirror image: identical, but backward.

All gas, all gas. All brakes, all brakes. Nothing in moderation.

And a couple of unranked football teams. A big bowl of pudding worth of proof: Football really is the sum of all its parts.

Maybe it’s the ghosts of the Pac-12 past delivering some penance to the schools that punctured the dam last year, the institutions that were first to announce their pending departure to the Big Ten, which took out the legs from and essentially delivered the death knell for the 64-year-old conference?

Or maybe it’s just the nature of the sport – of the quintessential team sport?

You can have Superman on your team, a Heisman Trophy-winning QB who is driving an offense averaging a gaudy 45.5 points per game – second both in the Pac-12 and nationally, among all FBS teams – and still be losing games.

You can have a new star defensive coordinator like D’Anton Lynn, who has engineered a unit that’s on pace to set school records in both rushing defense (70.4 yards per game) and sacks per game (3.8 per game) – both second-best in FBS rankings – and still be losing games.

Because no matter how stout your defense is, if your team is able to muster only 28.6 points and 240.9 passing yards (62nd and 56th, nationally) per game while also giving the ball away 17 times (11th in the Pac-12 and 111th in the nation), you’re going to be losing games.

And no matter how prolific your offense is, if your defense is hemorrhaging points to the tune of 34.5 points per game (121st in FBS), including allowing more than 40 points in five of the past six contests – you’re going to be losing games.

That’s why USC coach Lincoln Riley finally made the call this week to fire his friend, former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, excusing him after the Trojans relinquished 52 points and 572 yards against Washington – the most, in both cases, since the Trojans lost 62-33 to UCLA in 2021.

Is it any wonder major USC donors were fed up with their defense’s performance? Sources with knowledge of the situation told our reporter Luca Evans: “There was no way that Grinch was going to survive this season.”

Any surprise that UCLA fans also are starting to get agitated? Expectations weren’t as sky high as the Trojans’ were this year, but still Bruin believers are rustling around in their sheds and garages for pitchforks, starting to circle up, united by their dissatisfaction with Coach Chip Kelly – who is 33-32 in six seasons but recently signed an extension through 2027.

“Our execution on the offensive side of the ball has to improve,” Kelly said last Saturday, speaking specifically about his banged-up offense having squandered multiple red zone opportunities against Arizona – while also making a broader point about point-scoring.

Said Riley on Monday: “We’re gonna play great defense here. Like, period. It’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen soon. There’s no reason why it can’t.”

You can imagine both coaches pondering: If the guys across the way – on the opposite side of town, if not the other side of the ball – can do it, why can’t we?

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