How different will life be for the USC Trojans in the Big Ten? This can be approached from a lot of different angles, but for the purposes of this article, let’s talk tactics.
USC football analyst Josh Webb explained:
“If we try to imagine a scenario with Big Ten teams, USC will see a much different approach to the game compared to most Pac-12 teams,” Webb said. “Where teams such as UCLA won’t hesitate to go for it on fourth down repeatedly, risk-averse coaches such as Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz or Michigan State’s Mel Tucker won’t approach that with the same mindset. These coaches will be much wiser to some of the tricks Lincoln Riley is going to pull, having seen much of it from Urban Meyer and Ryan Day at Ohio State.
“Jim Harbaugh will approach Riley differently because he is working with NFL-caliber defensive players at Michigan. Such players are not as common in the Pac-12. These safeties will be much more aware of the fact that Riley will try to put them in a bind. As such, defenses will notice Riley is using the counter to set up the play-action pass. These defenders will be much more attentive to their keys and won’t be so quick to fly down to stop a run that’s never coming. While the Pac-12 has teams like this, they’re few and far between and not representative of a whole. That’s not the case in the Big Ten.”
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