Three keys to beating Arizona State

November 5, 11:07 AMUSC Trojans ExaminerNeal Leitereg

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In the aftermath of a ghoulish Halloween night, Southern California is a team standing at a bit of a crossroads. The loss to Oregon has put them at a huge disadvantage in terms of competing for a conference championship and a shot at the Rose Bowl. However, where the Trojans go from here is completely up to them.

As they saying goes, a person's character is defined by what they do in their darkest hour, and for the Trojans, it doesn't get much darker than this. That being said, this is still a Pete Carroll coached team. This is a team with All-American players across the board, capable of making game-changing plays at the drop of a hat. This is a team capable of working through adversity and succeeding.

It has been a season of many ups and downs for the Men of Troy. Fortunately this is a program that has found itself in the upper-echelon of college football programs not because of pure luck, but through perseverance and a resolve to be the best in the country year in and year out. While the losses to Oregon and Washington are disheartening, it doesn't change the Trojans' philosophy this season and moving forward.

And with that, let's check out the three keys to beating the Arizona State Sun Devils.

1.  Get on the same page defensively

Giving up more than 600 yards of total offense is totally unacceptable, especially for a defense that has performed at a high level for most of the season. Finding that rhythm and getting on the same page is essential for this young group of Trojans' defenders.

Head coach Pete Carroll touched on this point at his press conference on Tuesday saying, “It's your ability and strength that you have to discipline yourself to focus on what's coming up that really is the challenge.”

Moving forward and having the discipline and strength to learn from a game, like the one in Eugene, will go a long way towards making the defense a stronger more cohesive group. Ultimately understanding what went wrong with coverages and assignments as a whole will help this defensive unit as they move forward the rest of the year.

Sometimes all it takes is going back to the basics, which is something we'll see against the Sun Devils this Saturday.

2  Allow Matt Barkley to let it fly

The Sun Devils are a fairly good defensive team when it comes to stopping the run. Ranked first in the Pac-10 in rush defense, Arizona State has been giving up 80.1 ypg on the ground to opponents. The same thing cannot be said about their pass defense, where the Sun Devils rank in the bottom half of the conference.

Letting true freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, have a little more freedom in this game could be key if the tailback tandem of Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford cannot get it going early on. It seems like Barkley has shown us a little more, in terms of his passing ability, with each game that he's played.

Another aspect of Barkley's game that has shown improvement is his developing relationship with Ronald Johnson. Johnson, who was sidelined for the first five games of the season with a broken collarbone, has come on strong lately and looks to have finally found a comfort zone with his freshman quarterback. Johnson's speed combined with Damian Williams' ability give the Trojans a lethal combination in the receiving game.

I look for Barkley to open it up and bring the heat to the desert this Saturday.

3.  Don't let takeaways take away from the game

The Sun Devils are +7 in the turnover game this season, good for second best in the Pac-10 conference. Southern California, on the other hand, is tied with Stanford for last in the conference in terms of turnover margin at -3.

The Trojans need to limit their mistakes on the offensive side of the ball to make sure that the Sun Devils do not capitalize on potential miscues. Arizona State has shown a knack for making the big interceptions this season and so the onus will be on Matt Barkley to make the smart reads in the pocket.

On the Southern California side of things, pressuring Arizona State's Danny Sullivan could go a long way towards creating a few turnovers of their own. Sullivan threw two interceptions last weekend against the California Golden Bears and getting a couple takeaways of their own will go a long way for the Trojans.