Defense wins this game for Trojans

The sights and sounds didn’t tell the story. Even after an outstanding performance at the Rose Bowl, USC’s defenders looked like the losers of a middleweight fight, from the smeared eye black across linebacker Brian Cushing’s face to the cut on defensive end Lawrence Jackson’s lower lip.

And while the defense was the more consistent unit throughout USC’s 32-18 victory over Michigan on Monday, it still had to take a spot on Coach Pete Carroll’s news conference praise list behind offensive stars John David Booty, Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith.

Plenty of pain, granules of glory. That’s life when the only time you get the ball Is because somebody else made a mistake.

The headlines and highlights might shout otherwise, but know this: The defense won this game for USC. It shut down Michigan’s running game, holding the Wolverines to 58 gross yards rushing and only 12 net rushing yards. The Trojans sacked Michigan quarterback Chad Henne six times, and most of the numbers produced by him and receivers Mario Manningham and Steve Breaston came after the outcome was decided.

And after 34 minutes of football that Carroll called “kind of a dead game offensively on both sides”, the Trojans defense kick-started the touchdown party with an interception that gave USC the ball at the Michigan 38-yard line.

“This game was really,” Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said, “more than anything else, our inability to sustain anything offensively.”

Which means it was really the USC defense’s refusal to let them.

Michigan’s style suited the Trojans well. The Wolverines’ zone blocking schemes created gaps the Trojans could fill. Their traditional offense allowed USC to focus on pressuring the quarterback.

“It was perfect for us,” USC linebacker Oscar Lua said.

So was the Trojans’ combination of game plan and execution.

In the flawed, playoff-less world of college football, we can only speculate about whether the Trojans could beat top-ranked Ohio State. Carr sidestepped the question. But Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long was impressed enough to give the nod to USC in at least one department.

“USC has a great defense, and so does Ohio State,” Long said. “They’re both great units. USC is just so fast. That’s definitely the best defense we faced this year, there’s no question.”

It’s also the best defense that never got called the best defense. Maybe it wasn’t always perfect, particularly that loose game at Oregon State. But while the offense struggled to meet the standards of its Heisman-heavy predecessors, the defense gave up fewer points and yards than the 2005 edition. Lost amid the disappointment of the UCLA game was the fact the Bruins picked up only 235 total yards and scored but one touchdown in their 13-9 victory. Losses are shared by the entire team, but let’s just say the defense was entitled to smaller portions.

“We took a lot of heat because we didn’t get a lot of turnovers, and we didn’t get a lot of sacks,” defensive coordinator Nick Holt said. “But that’s a misnomer. That looks good and flashy, but we played really good team defense throughout the year and we really started to jell.”

By New Year’s Day they even had their sack celebrations down, including a New York Giants-style jump shot by Terrell Thomas (showing some Jordanesque hang time), a Mr. Universe over-the-shoulders flex by Sedrick Ellis and a third-quarter sack that caused Cushing to imitate Shawne Merriman’s “Lights Out” routine.

Cushing said Merriman is one of his favorite players, and he sure emulated him Monday. The coaches switched his spot with Dallas Sartz to utilize Cushing’s rushing ability, and Cushing had four tackles-for-loss and 2 1/2 sacks.

You had to take your hat off to him. Teammate Keith Rivers did when Cushing didn’t have a Rose Bowl champion cap for his defensive player of the game acceptance speech.

From his spot on the victory stage he called out to Rivers.

“I need a hat!” he said.

Rivers gave an incredulous smile. “You got MVP?” he said before tossing his white cap to his teammate.

Cushing made the most plays, Jackson the biggest.

On Michigan’s first drive of the third quarter, with Henne pressured by Sartz and Rivers, Henne threw the ball right to Jackson’s chest.

As much as the Trojans credited preparation for their performance, this was one play that didn’t go the same as in drills.

“That same play happened in practice, and I dropped the ball,” Jackson said. “The coaches got really mad. So I’m happy that I made it in the game.”

Four plays later, a wide open Chris McFoy caught a pass from Booty in the end zone.

Asked what he liked about his unit’s game, Holt said:

“I thought our front seven played tremendous today, and I think our corners played well against some good receivers.”

Realizing that didn’t leave much out, he said: “Everybody played well.”

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande go to latimes.com/adandeblog.