The No. 19 USC Trojans’ defensive coordinator Gary Patterson made a rare media appearance on Oct. 12 for Trojans Live. During his segment, the veteran coach opened up about the loss to the Oregon Ducks, how his move to the booth helped the defense, the strength of the defense and how important it is for the defense to close out games.
Reflection After Oregon Loss and Bouncing Back
“Really I could back to the conversation I had with [NBC Sports college football color analyst] Todd Blackledge before the Washington game, after Oregon. You know we just didn’t play very well,” Patterson said.
“We practiced well … You really tell on Tuesdays, where guys are starting to come around and so it was disappointing that I didn’t get them in a better place. I’ve been one of these guys that believe the football gods get even with you. So you gotta just be honest. So I told them ‘We didn’t play very well.’”
“This week, we practiced well on Tuesday, as good as any time we ever have. Really, the last Tuesday, Wednesday [practices], you could see the communication. The young guys, how they were coming along.”
“On Friday night, we kind of have a video test, type situation. I told them – before Penn State – ‘You guys know last week, for 28 minutes you held them? They scored on the first drive of the second half but then they were scoreless the rest of the second half.’ They all kind of looked at me. Nobody had, even said that to them.”
“Because I’ve been talking to them – at some point in time, you got to win because of defense. If you want to become the program you want to become.”
“And I said you got everything in front of them. What I do on Friday night is kinda lay it out – ‘Okay, here is how I think the game needs to go if we want to win. What we got to take away. What we got to be able to do better.’ It was fun to watch for the kids, they’ve really come a long when its come to that stuff. The staff’s done a great job. We just need to keep getting better.”
Moving From the Field to the Booth
In Week 5, during the Washington Huskies game, Patterson moved to the booth. He originally started the season on the sideline.
“It was really a great thought on [Lincoln Riley’s] part. There was so much going on, you know, two new staffs trying to meld it all together. That me moving up the box has really, really helped. Not just with me seeing things, cause I’ve always been a guy that saw things from the sidelines,” Patterson said about the move.
“Putting us in a situation where I get more communication from the sidelines cause I’m not down there. Coach [Paul Gonzales] is kind of my lead guy, kind of getting that distributed. Everybody getting a chance to do their thoughts and processes. Really allows them to do their job,” Patterson said about the positives of the move.
“Moving me upstairs also has helped get the call in. Understand because I can see it quicker, especially the way people have done things. It’s starting to pay off.”
Defense Closing Out Games
“Really the last two ball games … Me watching, it looks like a team that’s playing together, pulling for each other [on] both sides of the ball. I think its really helped the whole team perspective for us to be getting some stops at the end of ball games like we have the last two weeks and so there’s confidence level of that happening. Maybe it hasn’t happened in the past.”
In Week 5, the Huskies were facing third-and-four at Southern Cal’s 12-yard line. Kameryn Crawford came up huge with a six-yard sack, and the defense forced an incomplete pass for a turnover on downs. Then in Week 6, Christian Pierce came in with a peanut punch, which was recovered by Chasen Johnson in the final four minutes of regulation. The Trojans went on to run down the clock.
“So those are things that helped … I think it helps the quarterback, it helps Lincoln to make decisions, how he wants to do things. I think he felt good about we could maybe hold them to a field goal if he took the onside kick, cause we knew it was going to be there. Maybe he wouldn’t have made those kinds of decisions earlier on or last year, whenever it was.”
Strengths of the Defense
“Just getting everybody back … We knew this seven-game stretch, this first seven games, was going to be a load. And that’s why early you have a No. 1, No. 2 defense that holds San Jose to three points. But we knew we need [No. 45], the true freshman D-tackle [Jaimeon Winfield]. We had to get him in ball games … We gave up points, so you know, people are on you on the stats side of it and all that kind of stuff.”
“But you’re starting to see some of those younger guys like [Elbert ‘Rock’ Hill IV] and some of those freshmen play – that we put in at the end of ball games when we were up – that are getting reps, that are now starting to get better. They’re knowing how to communicate. They’re knowing how to do things.”
“I mean, Lincoln had a great plan of how to do that. Was it frustrating at times, because you know you’re going to get pounded? Cause you gave up this many points to this person, and nobody wants to do that … We have a pitch count on everybody. And everybody, we know kind of where we want their range of how many reps you’re gonna get in the ball game, from freshman to senior, so we’re gonna play them.”
“Coach [Mike Ekeler] does a great job because we have a lot of kids, that some of them are not scholarship guys, that are running down on special teams and doing things that are pretty good … Helping with the rep count for everybody else. And when you do that, you can stay healthy, and your team grows, cause everybody’s a part of it, everybody’s contributing and doing the things you need to do.”
Improving on Limiting Explosive Plays
“We got room for improvement. Again, we gave up like … It’s like, ‘When you are going to get over giving up four explosive [plays] before you guys figure out we don’t need to do this kind of stuff.’ I’ve got to do a better job and all that stuff too of making sure that we put them in positions.”
Against Penn State, the defense allowed two 35-plus-yard and two 20-plus-yard plays that moved the chains for a first down.
“We went into the game knowing that we didn’t want the ball thrown over our head, and we wanted to make sure we stopped the run… In the second half was all about making sure that happened. Being able to play down inside the 15-yard line, keeping them out of the end zone. I think that’s big.”
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