Tatupu Signifies Defense

USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu figured the play was over.

With Michigan in a third-and-long situation midway into the second quarter, Tatupu watched the Wolverines’ John Navarre throw a low, off-target pass that appeared to be falling incomplete. Then something strange happened.

Instead of hitting the Rose Bowl turf, the pass ricocheted off the foot of the Wolverines’ Braylon Edwards directly to Tatupu, who beat teammate Jason Leach to the ball. Tatupu returned the interception 26 yards to the Michigan three-yard line.

Three plays later, the Trojans scored to take a 14-0 lead. They never looked back.

“I was just jogging along and then I saw the ball deflect off the Michigan receiver’s leg,” said Tatupu, who finished with a game-high 12 combined tackles in USC’s 28-14 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan on Thursday. “Jason Leach and I were both eyeing the ball, but I got my hands on it first.”

Tatupu’s interception proved to be the turning point. USC had a 7-0 lead, but Michigan’s defense had kept the Trojans from scoring on three consecutive possessions after USC drove 54 yards in four plays for a touchdown the first time they touched the ball.

“I don’t know if [the interception] was the big play of the game or not,” said Tatupu, whose father, Mosi, played on USC’s 1974 national championship team. “The ball just came to me and I did my job by making a play.”

Making timely plays was something USC’s defense did all game. The Trojans sacked Navarre nine times and pressured him out of the pocket at least a half dozen times more.

If it wasn’t defensive end Kenechi Udeze applying force from the outside, it was Shaun Cody or Manuel Wright bulldozing up the middle. And if the Trojan defensive front was a little slow getting into the Michigan backfield, defensive backs Will Poole, Marcell Allmond or Leach already were in Navarre’s face.

“They had only given up 15 or so sacks all year and we wanted to get after them,” said Udeze, who had four tackles for losses, including three sacks. “Our whole defense did a great job of coming together and limiting a strong offense like Michigan to only [14] points.”

USC Coach Pete Carroll did not add any new schemes to throw at Michigan; he just opened his big book of blitzes and turned the Trojans loose.

USC attacked Navarre from all angles. Even when the Trojans didn’t blitz, Navarre seemed to think they were.

“A lot of teams in the Big Ten blitz a lot,” said Navarre, who completed 27 of 46 passes for 271 yards and one touchdown. “We just didn’t put it in the game plan that they would come at us as much as they did.”

The Wolverines’ predictability on offense also gave the USC defense an advantage. Whenever Michigan needed a big play, the Trojans seemed to know what was coming.

“We had a month to prepare for them,” USC linebacker Champ Simmons said. “They are predominately a solid side running team and that was a cue for us. That allowed us to play faster than we would have if we weren’t playing such a team with strong tendencies like Michigan.

“They thought they would be able to overpower us and once they couldn’t, that played right into our hands.”