Back to the Basics for Secondary

Among the lingering questions from Saturday’s close-call against Nevada Las Vegas is, what happened to USC’s vaunted secondary? It gave up 354 yards passing--234 in the second half.

“One, I think their quarterback [Jon Denton] is a good player,” said Keith Burns, USC’s defensive coordinator. “They did the right thing to keep him in the shotgun [and buy him time against USC’s pass rush.]”

Burns also said, however, that the UNLV game was the first this season in which the defense was “back on its heels” trying to stop the onslaught.

UNLV used crossing routes against USC’s man-to-man coverage, and also caught the Trojans playing too deep or too far off their men.

“We have to go back this week and work hard on the fundamentals of man and zone,” Burns said.

He also suggested the respect factor was a little low.

“I said that our guys heard we were playing Vegas, and they thought we were playing blackjack and roulette,” Burns said.

It was nearly Russian roulette.

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In a bit of a twist, Burns said standout cornerbacks Brian Kelly and Daylon McCutcheon are marked men.

“We didn’t do a good enough job making them realize that these guys want to beat you,” he said. “Whoever you play, they’re going to be giving you their best shot.

“We’ve got to do a better job of motivating Brian and Daylon. The level Brian played at against [Florida State receiver] E.G. Green and [California receiver] Bobby Shaw, that’s got to be his standard.”

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Defensive lineman Aaron Williams, who suffered a pinched nerve, was scheduled for further tests as USC waits to see if he will be able to play against Arizona State.

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NEXT UP FOR USC

WHO: Arizona State

WHERE: Sun Devil Stadium

TIME: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

RADIO: KLSX-FM (97.1)