Is USC looking for considerable statistical production from Eric Gentry this season? Of course. Alex Grinch and Lincoln Riley want and need high-impact players who will make significant equation-changing plays. Yet, if statistics are the sole prism through which one evaluates Eric Gentry and assesses his ceiling at USC, that’s a very limited framework.
Arizona State’s defense got smoked by Utah, did not dominate a bad Washington offense, and was placed in terrible spots by its offense against Washington State in 2021. Gentry didn’t get a lot of help from his defense or his offense (or, for that matter, his coaching staff). His stat line at Arizona State wasn’t particularly imposing.
Should that worry anyone at USC?
It shouldn’t.
Gentry has been a star in practice, drawing lots of positive reviews from Alex Grinch. His leadership contains value beyond numbers. That point aside, when linebackers make tackles, one always has to look at where and when they occur: Are they the result of the defensive line getting a push and creating a favorable situation for the linebacker, or are they the result of a linebacker having to make a tackle in open space because a teammate didn’t do his job?
Mark Rogers talked about this point with us at The Voice of College Football:
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