The trenches
| Pass rush | sack rate | stopped behind the line | faces | sacks allowed | pairing |
|---|
| USC pass rush | 2.8% 144113th | 7.4% 28397th | faces MD | 3.2% 12630th | 3.0% ~1.0 sacks |
| MD pass rush | 5.7% 8856th | 8.1% 18581st | faces USC | 2.9% 17524th | 4.3% ~1.4 sacks |
sacks from CFBD play-by-play; college has no charted pressure, and these rates are not opponent-adjusted Measured on 7,926 team-games 2022–25: a college line's sacks-allowed rate carries +0.27 into its next game and a defence's sack rate only +0.10 — the line is most of this. The pairing predicts the game's sack rate +0.27, yards per dropback −0.16 and points added per play −0.15. Heaviest quarter of pairings against lightest: 7.8% vs 4.2% sack rate, 6.1 vs 7.2 yards per dropback.
MD with the ball
| MD offence vs USC defence | MD offence | USC defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.13279th | 0.191119th | +40 |
| success rate | 0.45257th | 0.42291st | +34 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.23963rd | 1.363113th | +50 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.13867th | 0.08089th | +22 |
| rush: success rate | 0.43584th | 0.40069th | -15 |
| rush: explosiveness | 1.04240th | 0.96184th | +44 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.12999th | 0.424127th | +28 |
| pass: success rate | 0.46156th | 0.462114th | +58 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.400115th | 1.724115th | 0 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.50753rd | 0.44667th | +14 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.30973rd | 0.374131st | +58 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 2.88299th | 2.58741st | -58 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.234126th | 0.19368th | -58 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.71489th | 0.76294th | +5 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 3.43398th | 4.179119th | +21 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.14371st | 0.1169th | -62 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.08564th | 0.07530th | -34 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.05878th | 0.04121st | -57 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 70.20075th | — | — |
USC with the ball
| USC offence vs MD defence | USC offence | MD defence | rank gap |
|---|
| points added per play | 0.30719th | 0.02967th | +48 |
| success rate | 0.5355th | 0.38060th | +55 |
| explosiveness (points added on successful plays) | 1.18791st | 1.22167th | -24 |
| rush: points added per play | 0.08285th | -0.05139th | -46 |
| rush: success rate | 0.48636th | 0.36746th | +10 |
| rush: explosiveness | 0.829107th | 0.87856th | -51 |
| pass: points added per play | 0.56410th | 0.16978th | +68 |
| pass: success rate | 0.5924th | 0.41888th | +84 |
| pass: explosiveness | 1.49786th | 1.57279th | -7 |
| standard downs: success rate | 0.55822nd | 0.41643rd | +21 |
| passing downs: success rate | 0.4673rd | 0.319106th | +103 |
| line yards per rush (the O-line) | 3.26849th | 2.33418th | -31 |
| rushes stopped at or behind the line | 0.16872nd | 0.227108th | +36 |
| short-yardage conversion rate | 0.79343rd | 0.70663rd | +20 |
| points per trip inside the 40 | 4.61131st | 4.150117th | +86 |
| havoc allowed (TFL, forced fumbles, breakups per play) | 0.0898th | 0.15965th | +57 |
| havoc allowed by the front seven | 0.04710th | 0.11497th | +87 |
| havoc allowed by the secondary | 0.04242nd | 0.04531st | -11 |
| average starting field position (yards from own goal) | 69.30094th | — | — |
Rank gap = the defence's FBS rank minus the offence's on the same measure: +60 means the offence ranks 60 places better than the defence it faces. Unit against unit only — college has no player charting to name a matchup by.