it's week one baby this game in Las Vegas Sunday night USC and LSU this is one of those games that you saw on the horizon you're like man is ever going to get here oh it's here baby a week from today we'll be getting ready to watch this game which I cannot ABS I can't wait week one is here make sure you are subscribed right here to the Onre YouTube channel college football every single day giving you our prediction in this game Tuesday 11:00 a.m. eastern want y'all a part of this want to hear y'all's take on it so get in the live chat we'll have a good time but again that's Tuesday 11:00 a.m. eastern right here on the on3 YouTube channel subscribe so you don't miss our pick or anything that we're doing here throughout college football season and Beyond so I think everyone is saying well who's better on defense in this game who's whose defense is improved that's the obvious question that's the obvious talking point let's take it a step further though the thing I'm interested in who's better structurally on defense and when I say structurally I mean just who is in consistently better position to make plays because last year both of these squads allowed six yards a play I'm just going to tell yall right now neither side of this operation recruits poorly enough to allow six yards a play now I'm not telling you that either side has the Personnel to be a top 10 defense in 2024 suppose it could happen but it would surprise me and surprise a lot of folks as well but I think overall the scheme and the structure of last year's defense there's a reason they changed defensive stats at USC and at LSU Blake Baker now calling the defense at LSU D ly calling the defense at USC are you in better position to make plays are we better aligned for Success some of that is coaching some of that is communication at the end of the day I just want to see it I just want to see it because even if neither defense looks perfect in this game either if neither defense pitches a shutout which again would surprise me if that were the case I just want to see progress I want to see progress I want to see a different identity different direction from both sides of this matchup defensively because honestly now this this could be a uh quarterback duel in a lot of sense that's kind of my next question here which quarterback has more command of the offense Miller Moss Garrett nus Meer it's kind of sad to say but today in modern college football kind of Throwbacks right like it used to be hey I'm not playing I could play somewhere else peace I'm out now also worth noting both of these dudes backed up uh Heisman winning quarterbacks Caleb Williams at USC and jayen Daniels at LSU so it wasn't like these guys are slouches in their own right my question is as they' both waited their turn in this game who is able to put more on the plate of the defense because what we just said now the defense trying to reset new scheme trying to adjust all those things there is a pretty good opportunity I think for both sides to maybe overload them and and maybe uh short circuit that defense hey we didn't prep for this look they didn't show that on film but they installed it this week because the quarterback could handle it that could be the difference in addition of that for the quarterback when speaking to the quarterback duels like I do think the defenses will be improved structurally but it doesn't mean there's not going to be one to two gosh dang if things are really bad three times where there's uh some money on the table and I mean we know this when there's money on the table you better take it what I mean by that is when that safety was supposed to be deep but instead he's rolled down we got Zachariah Branch deep we got CJ Daniels deep eyes have a chance to get pretty big heart rate can accelerate a little bit you know you start to maybe see oh hey this is a big play about to happen are you able to be poised enough to hit the shot like Matt rues says you don't change your shot with the game on the line with both these quarterbacks is it sort of a lights out kind of operation for them offensively to where they're like no I'm good I've done this in practice a million times moment doesn't change me let's roll whoever's able to be and this is a cliche but we we'll say it whoever's able to be less impacted by the moment and not have those big eyes when they see that deep shot available and perform and execute in that moment I think obviously has a really good chance to win this football game so speaking to the quarterback battle and the duel that this is going to be who's able to support their quarterback the best because last year with how bad the defenses were I think it's fair to speak about both Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams probably feeling like every time that took the field like hey we got to score here like if if we don't score 40 or 50 today it may not happen for us we may be toting the L so that means punting is is probably not an option for you in the back of your mind at least if you're a competitor and you want to win so what that causes you to do as a quarterback is is press a little bit maybe you start to take that shot down field when it's not there maybe you start to add lib and scramble and try to fit a ball in double coverage when you should have thrown it away if that's the case for for these quarterbacks and they have to press it's going to make for some turnovers pretty straightforward in addition to that do you have a run game behind you cuz the Run game is able to just I think be the translator for the quarterback makes everything make a lot more sense a lot more simple the defense can't be as dishonest just overall simplifies your game plan who has a better run game behind them who's able to lean on that and set up a more third manageable here's the big thing though I think we need to pay attention to in this game it be situational it'll be subtle but just pay attention to this I think in this game even with the defense probably being improved I think it's a game where you can't trade three for seven like you get into that Red Zone you got to come away with a touchdown and what could determine that when the field gets condensed and there's less space to work with when you're throwing the football is who wins those contested catches who wins that match up one-on-one when kyen Lacy has a 50-50 ball is he able to turn it into his kind of a situation where we've seen him in practice go up and just one-handed and bring it down for a touchdown doesn't need to be one hand kir but you know what I'm saying like can you win those contested matchups when there's not a whole lot of space to throw the football to same thing Zachariah Branch probably not throwing him as many jump balls but like when we get one-on-one with a safety can you create the separation to where Miller Moss can throw you the football in the back of the end zone and come down with it so we get seven instead of having to settle for three again it sounds simplistic but with the way this game I think is going to shake out it'll be about quarterback play and helping your quarterback so overall man LSU USC I said it before the greatest movie in Las Vegas since the hangover it'll be a real good time I'm excited for it and again we'll have our pick for you on Tuesday during our live show 11:00 a.m. eastern subscribe so you don't miss it get at me on the socials now Instagram and on Twitter @ JD pel let me know who you have winning this game ahead of our Tuesday prediction we love y'all we appreciate y'all going to keep this party rolling it's week one we will see y'all next time hey y'all thanks so much for watching subscribe to the channel here to make sure you don't miss an episode of the hard count also be sure to check out other videos on the Onre YouTube channel