LOS ANGELES -- The USC defensive line has built up its reputation this offseason to be an explosive and gritty group of young talent, but defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn is looking for one question to be answered during this Saturday's season opener against Missouri State at the Coliseum.
Coach Lynn was asked after Wednesday's practice what question he would like answered regarding his defense after Saturday's season opener, and his response was straight to the point.
"Can we affect the quarterback with four people?" Lynn answered.
Coach Lynn believes his defensive line can make any quarterback they face be affected by a four-man rush, but he's also cautious and wants to see it in a game first before making any firm statements.
"I saw this unit put in the work in the spring," Lynn said. "I think they had a good camp. At the end of the day, we just keep emphasizing that it's about affecting the Q [quarterback]. Yes, we want sacks, but we also want to collapse the pocket, we also want good rush lanes, we want to speed up the quarterback's clock, we want to make him come off a read, there's different ways to affect him."
USC's defensive line will include some big names such as defensive ends Kameryn Fountain and Anthony Lucas, along with defensive tackles Devan Thompkins and Jide Abasiri. They will look to put the pressure on Missouri State's quarterback, Jacob Clark, as a first test.
Coach Lynn gave his insight on the challenges that his defensive line might face when coming in contact with Clark, as he is a seasoned quarterback heading into his senior year.
"He's played a lot of football, and there's not a lot of defense or coverage or fronts he hasn't seen," Lynn said. "He makes very good decisions from a route concept standpoint. They do a lot of good things on paper that really test your coverages."
Depth will be a main staple point for this USC defense, and once again, Coach Lynn emphasized the importance and flexibility that it will bring to him come game days.
"It's nice just to have multiple guys that can play on and off the ball, so it doesn't always have to be the same guy going on the edge," He said. "If anything happens on the depth chart, it's nice that we can still keep doing that throughout the game."