USC defense gears up for Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State

LOS ANGELES — The USC defense has spent this week trying to fix something that won't show up on any stat sheet or box score: their trust. Several players who spoke after practice on Wednesday pointed to the same root issue from the Wisconsin loss. It wasn't talent or scheme, but a group that wasn't successful at picking each other up when things started going sideways.

Defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren said the fix isn't a new scheme or different approach, but a return to the same process the group has leaned on since January. 

"That trust is built every single day," VanSumeren said. "We've been playing with each other so long…I know what this guy's going to do when I'm in with him. I know I can go to war with these guys."

Safety Prophet Brown agreed, framing last Saturday's defeat as a rare case where all three phases failed simultaneously, something he said seldom happens to a well-coached team.

Anthony Wahl-Imagn Images

"We all could have been better in our own right," he said. "I feel like at times, nobody necessarily picked each other up. We kind of just let it happen and didn't really step up for each other all the time."

Defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart didn't dress anything up, either, saying the locker room had hard, honest conversations this week. He described a defense that's "slowly getting back" to trusting the player next to it. He credited the group's constant grind since January for making those tough conversations possible in the first place.

Their progress will be tested in a significant way, with Ohio State's offense rolling into the Coliseum built around Heisman frontrunner wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Safety Prophet Brown didn't waste time pretending there's any real trick to slowing down Smith, the program's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Brown compared him to Rutgers' wideout KJ Duff, not as an equal, but as the closest reference point he's faced this season for a player defenses can't fully take away.

"They find a lot of different ways to get him the ball," Brown said. "So it's not about trying to completely eliminate him, but put a cap on him…he's a great player, and it's a great opportunity for us."

Smith, joined by the rest of the Ohio State receivers, will be playing their first full game with freshman quarterback Luke Fahey under center. The California native will, in all likelihood, be taking over starting duties from Julian Sayin, who suffered a season-ending injury to his throwing arm during a 19-15 victory over Indiana on Oct. 17.

VanSumeren added that he thinks USC's run defense has quietly improved from a season ago even if it doesn't always show up on highlight reels. 

"I believe it has stepped up really good," he said. "A lot of that stuff is not seen…[it] doesn't pop off the screen. It's something that you see if you really watch the tape and you really dig into it."

Stewart agreed, pointing to Ohio State's supporting cast around Smith as the reason the group can't afford to fixate on one single matchup. He also didn't shy away from the extra motivation of facing a team with former friends and teammates on the other sideline, several of whom he said already know what kind of game it's going to be.

"They know it's going to be a long game for them," Stewart said. "It's going to be a great game. I'm just happy we get to fall back on our training, our trust, and as a team we're gonna show what we got this Saturday."

For a defense that insists its issues were never about ability, Saturday offers a clean gut check. There are no excuses to hide behind, and the best receiver in the country will be standing on the other side of the ball to test whether USC's trust has truly been built back up.