[Chupacabra]

You can't get pushed around on both lines and win. That's it. Good WRs can't catch the ball if the ball can't get there. Good RBs are going to have a hard time if the hole's not there. It doesn't matter how good your DBs are if the rush can't get to the QB. If you give up big holes in the running game you can't expect to control the ball.

I'm a lot less concerned about a corner struggling to tackle than I am about a complete lack of a pass rush. Right now there are no pass rushers on the team. We've known that there are no DL behind Phillips and this game confirmed it. I know a certain freshman TE buried on the depth chart with some pretty decent DL bloodlines. Of course Randy Hart isn't around to coach him.

My biggest concern is a lack of guys who play like their hair is on fire. Remember when Ben Gardner, Josh Mauro, Chase Thomas, and Trent Murphy were all on the edge? There's not a single guy on the edge as good as ANY of these four. Even when they didn't sack the QB they either collapsed the pocket or sealed the edge on runs. Phillips could be one of these guys but he's out of position at NT. I see him more as a super-Mauro at DE.

The good news is not everyone's going to have USC's talent. The bad news is that Washington and UCLA might.

[Chupacabra]

You can't get pushed around on both lines and win. That's it. Good WRs can't catch the ball if the ball can't get there. Good RBs are going to have a hard time if the hole's not there. It doesn't matter how good your DBs are if the rush can't get to the QB. If you give up big holes in the running game you can't expect to control the ball.

I'm a lot less concerned about a corner struggling to tackle than I am about a complete lack of a pass rush. Right now there are no pass rushers on the team. We've known that there are no DL behind Phillips and this game confirmed it. I know a certain freshman TE buried on the depth chart with some pretty decent DL bloodlines. Of course Randy Hart isn't around to coach him.

My biggest concern is a lack of guys who play like their hair is on fire. Remember when Ben Gardner, Josh Mauro, Chase Thomas, and Trent Murphy were all on the edge? There's not a single guy on the edge as good as ANY of these four. Even when they didn't sack the QB they either collapsed the pocket or sealed the edge on runs. Phillips could be one of these guys but he's out of position at NT. I see him more as a super-Mauro at DE.

The good news is not everyone's going to have USC's talent. The bad news is that Washington and UCLA might.