USCs troubled defense moving up under Gary Patterson: Starting to pay off

Call it the Press Box Defense or Gary Patterson 2.0.By any name, what USC has unveiled on defense in the two games since its defensive savant moved into the press box is vastly superior to what preceded it.The Trojans are getting more stops, giving up fewer points and making the plays they need to finally complement their elite offense.“At some point and time,” Patterson said recently on “Trojans Live,” “you’ve got to win because of defense to become the program you want to become.”Patterson’s comments on the YouTube show hosted by the USC athletic department were his first since the season started.He has not spoken with reporters since the low of getting ripped apart by Oregon backup quarterback Dylan Raiola or the high of bouncing back with a flurry of late stops in back-to-back victories over Washington and Penn State.Patterson credited coach Lincoln Riley with the idea of moving from the sideline to a higher vantage point as a way for coaches still learning one another to “meld it all together.”“Moving up to the box has really, really helped,” Patterson said, “not just with me seeing things – because I’ve always been a guy that saw things from the sidelines – but putting us in a situation where I get more communication from the sidelines now because I’m not down there.”Patterson said safeties coach Paul Gonzales, his former longtime assistant at TCU, is his point person on the sideline.

The new arrangement has helped Patterson get calls in quicker – which had previously been an issue in the moments before the snap – because he can better see the way things are developing on the field.“It’s starting to pay off,” Patterson said.That’s been particularly true in the second half.No.16 USC (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) didn’t give up any points over the final 28:30 against Washington, allowing the Trojans’ offense to mount a comeback, and surrendered only two field goals in the second half against Penn State.

The Tro...