Boston College at USC: 5 Big Questions with Reign of Troy

2. BC’s defense is playing much more opportunistically so far and SC’s offense has struggled, but there is still serious talent in cardinal and gold. How effective will Tre Madden and Marqise Lee be against Don Brown’s dudes?

MC: If the same offense that appeared in the Washington State game show up this week, then Brown’s defense can stack the box, force Kessler to stay in the pocket and play a bend-don’t-break rush defense against Madden, while Lee will sputter without dynamic play calling. If Kiffin mixes it up and utilizes his playmakers effectively, then I think that opens up the running game considerably, as that would mean that Lee and the passing game would get going. Though, the key to stopping Lee is simple. Hold him. Last year, there were several teams that played hack-a-Lee, especially in the redzone, and it forced USC to try to run in tight areas, leading to small gains and turnovers. So the key for BC is to hope USC gets too predictable and capitalize, or simply try to distract Lee and make USC use unproven weapons like Darreus Rogers at receiver and Justin Davis in the backfield to force mistakes. I think BC takes Madden’s runs and guards the pass, which worked well for WSU last week.