If USC football wants to go to the Pacific Northwest and beat Washington in a Big Ten battle with a Pac-12 flavor, one key might trump all others. UW Huskies Wire focused on one specific factor in this West Coast clash:
The Washington Huskies haven’t had trouble moving the ball in their first year under coach Jedd Fisch, averaging 435.9 yards per game, good for No. 32 in the nation. However, they’ve had a significant amount of struggles on third down, moving the chains at a meager 36.96 percent, which ranks No. 99 out of 134 FBS teams.
That could be due to a variety of issues, including offensive line struggles, players running routes, and play-calling. With the USC Trojans coming to town, who have been one of the country’s best third-down defenses, allowing a 30.48 percent conversion rate, Fisch and quarterback Will Rogers have to find a way to make some fixes to the offense quickly after managing just 4 conversions on 14 attempts across third and fourth down against Indiana.
Knowing how shorthanded USC is on defense, Washington has to be able to avoid three-and-outs, keeping the Trojan defense on the field for a lot of snaps. It’s not just a matter of scoring seven points instead of three, though that is the most important aspect of third-down conversions. Being able to control the ball and dominate time of possession will likely enable one team to win this game. USC can’t allow Washington to win the third-down battle.
This is indeed a likely indicator of Saturday’s winner, especially if turnovers are even.
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