USC looks to ‘mix it up’ as defensive line struggles to rack up sacks

LOS ANGELES — It would be foolish for him, Jamil Muhammad theorized, to worry about sacks.

Foolish, because he was once a three-star kid out of Alabama who had once signed with Vanderbilt and somehow ended up at Georgia Southern and somehow ended up in Southern California. Foolish, because he was once a high school quarterback who’s now a 260-pound defensive end four years later. He’d clung to his football life, for years. His exact sack count wasn’t a concern.

‘I mean, this thing we call life is just a daily fight,” the senior said a couple weeks ago, still without a single sack in 2024 after leading USC with 6.5 the year before.

And yet, the chance that slipped away still haunted him.

Two Saturdays ago, as fourth-quarter minutes ticked away and Penn State was pinned on a fourth-and-10 from the 40-yard-line, Muhammad timed a snap perfectly and burst untouched through the middle toward quarterback Drew Allar. He bounced off running back Nick Singleton, helpless to stand in the way of a charging bull that once weighed all of 208 pounds in high school. Muhammad dove for Allar, as the quarterback rolled right.

He missed. Allar stepped up, hit a receiver for a first down, and Penn State went on to score a game-tying touchdown in a brutal USC overtime loss.

“Yeah, could’ve been game right there … I’m sure I’ll be in a lot more positions like that,” Muhammad said.

He was, last Saturday against Maryland. Muhammad led USC with three quarterback pressures and a hit on the Terrapins’ Billy Edwards Jr.

Still, no sacks.

USC’s defensive front has often looked transformed against the run in 2024. But they’ve been one of the least productive pass-rush units in the Big Ten, both in pressures and sacks, as the season’s midway point has passed.

It’s presented a unique challenge for defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who – outside of his squad getting repeatedly torched by Penn State tight end Tyler Warren in a loss two weekends ago – has shown an equally unique ability to adapt to enemy personnel and his own. On Saturday, needing to create some form of pressure against a Maryland program that treated running the football like a contagious disease, Lynn continued to throw virtually his entire on-field unit in eccentric blitz packages.

Linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold got a first-quarter sack, his first of the season. Safety Kamari Ramsey added another on USC’s most crucial defensive play of the game, careening off the edge on a late fourth down that seemingly sealed the game for the Trojans before the disaster that unfolded in Maryland.

Through seven games, USC has more sacks from its middle linebackers and secondary (5.5) than its defensive line (2.5) – the only team in the Big Ten with such a distribution.

“We’re going to keep on trying to mix it up,” Lynn said Wednesday, “and give different people opportunities.”

He’ll have to, if USC hopes to affect opposing quarterbacks. When asked the formula to figuring out pass-rush momentum a few weeks ago, Lynn answered “the guys just developing into pass-rushers,” not exactly heaping praise on USC’s edge and interior group.

“I think they’ve gotten better,” Lynn said, then. “And then from our end, from a schematic standpoint, how can we put them in the best positions to succeed?”

Sophomore Devan Thompkins made his second consecutive start at defensive tackle in Maryland, but didn’t record a single pressure. Braylan Shelby, a clear breakout candidate in the fall, had a season-high four pressures against the Terrapins but hasn’t been able to consistently hunt opposing quarterbacks. It could all mean more snaps for true freshman Kameryn Fountain, a 6-foot-6 athletic marvel who saw his first defensive action since Week Two against Maryland.

“It’s going just depend on the flow of the game,” Lynn said last week, “but Kam is going to be a guy that, his role is going to continue to grow.”

In the meantime, though, Lynn’s best option may be a continued dosage of safety and weakside-linebacker blitzes, as USC continues to try to finish games – and finish one-on-one battles against linemen.