Trojans Search for Options to Stop Jackson

There is one big difference between the Notre Dame team USC shut out last year at the Coliseum and the one the Trojans will play Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

Jarious Jackson.

Without him last season, Notre Dame didn’t complete a pass against the Trojans until the third quarter, with two woefully inexperienced quarterbacks trying to fill in for the injured starter.

This time, USC not only has to contend with Jackson’s option skills--he ran for a 48-yard touchdown against Arizona State and had a 100-yard rushing game against Oklahoma--but also with his passing: He ranks third in the nation in quarterback efficiency.

Throw in the fact that USC has had more than a little trouble against the option--see Texas Christian, 1998 Sun Bowl--and it’s enough to give a Trojan bad dreams.

“Dreams? I would say nightmares of TCU,” safety David Gibson said. “Option teams are really tough because you get a couple of days to prepare for a totally different system.

“The issue is discipline, and knowing your responsibilities.

“The scary thing is even if you defend it perfectly, you have to worry about No. 7 back there running around. Running and throwing. They’re a very good team. They could easily be 6-0.”

Jackson didn’t play against USC last season after injuring his knee on an intentional safety against Louisiana State. This season, he has been the biggest reason for Notre Dame’s turnaround from 1-3 to 3-3.

He was part of the earlier problem too, throwing six interceptions and only three touchdown passes the first four games. But he passed for 240 yards or more four games in a row before last week, something no Notre Dame quarterback had ever done.

“I think the last couple weeks, without a doubt, he’s playing the best football of his career,” Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie said.

“He can run, as we all know, but he’s developed into really a good passer.

“A lot of people, when he came here, thought he would be a linebacker--including me. That’s how far he’s come.”

The test for the Trojans is to see how far they’ve come.

“It’s a big-time challenge seeing the option--especially the way these guys run it,” defensive coordinator Bill Young said, praising new Notre Dame offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers. “I have the utmost respect for that offense. It puts a lot of stress on you defensively.”

It’s not pure option, which is part of the problem.

“It’s the whole gamut,” Young said. “They’ll get in the shotgun, spread you out and throw the football, and then they mix in the option too.

“They run the option about 10 plays a game, but you don’t know which 10 they’re going to be, so you’ve got to be ready all the time. And if they start having a lot of success, you’ll see a lot more than 10.”

The way USC defended the option in the Sun Bowl--or didn’t--the smart money is on more than 10.

USC snuffed Notre Dame’s option attack last season, but that was by stacking the line against the run because backup quarterbacks Eric Chappell and Arnaz Battle were virtually no threat as passers, completing seven passes in the game.

But TCU--and such agile big-play quarterbacks as Oregon’s Akili Smith last season and Arizona’s Keith Smith this season--have burned the Trojans with big plays.

“I don’t know why,” linebacker Zeke Moreno said. “Last year we shut out the option when Notre Dame came over here, then we go to the Sun Bowl and just get rammed by the option.”

Eleven men have to trust each other against the option, and that sounds easier than it is when Jackson looks as if he’s about to break a 20-yard run.

“You just have to be option-sound, on all downs, even third and long,” Young said. “Everybody has to know who has what responsibility, who has the quarterback, who has the pitch, who’s in the alley.

“One of those things they’ll bring to the table that a lot of teams don’t with their passing offense is the ability of the quarterback to come running out of the pocket. They run a lot of quarterback draws and counters, very similar to what we saw last week against Arizona with their quarterback.”

The Irish have plenty of options at running back too: Tony Fisher, Tony Driver and Julius Jones.

In the end, one of the keys for USC might be the help it gets from the backside linebackers and safeties. The striking closing speed of outside linebacker Markus Steele could be big.

“Where you make up for it is defensive speed, say if the backside linebacker can run all the way across and make a play--Markus or Sultan [Abdul-Malik] or the safeties,” linebacker coach Shawn Slocum said.

Steele already has been keeping a close eye on the Notre Dame quarterback.

“I’ve seen Jarious Jackson just about every game,” he said. “My father sent me tapes of Notre Dame and I’ve been looking at them almost daily, knowing they’re a big option team. We’ve got to stop the running backs and the quarterback, so it will be a good test for us.”

He might have the pitch on one play and the quarterback on another, but Steele thinks he knows the name of the game.

“Stop the quarterback,” he said. “The quarterback runs everything.”

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USC at NOTRE DAME

Saturday,

11:30 a.m.

TV: Channel 4

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