USC Defensive Motto: In Carroll We Trust

Omar Nazel took a few moments -- or about as long as the USC defense needed to announce itself as a major force in the 2003 college football season -- to come up with the right word.

How good is the Trojans’ D? How much would they miss strong safety Troy Polamalu, the emotional leader of last year’s squad? Those questions were answered by the third play of Saturday’s game at Auburn when Polamalu’s replacement, freshman Darnell Bing, intercepted a pass.

This is a defense that will dictate games, a defense that will hand the ball over to the offense in good field position and say, “You guys can take it from here.” It shut out Auburn and held the hyped Tiger running backs to 43 yards rushing.

And what is the essence of this defense?

Nazel, the starting defensive end, thought it over. He exhaled. Then it came to him.

“Trust,” Nazel said. “It comes from Pete Carroll teaching us and ingraining the defense in us.

“First things first, he told us, trust him. We trust each other. The defensive line trusts the linebackers. The linebackers trust each other. The linebackers trust the D line, and so on and so on. Really, it revolves around trust and how much we respect each other.”

Carroll, who is the defensive coordinator as well as head coach, called a brilliant game Saturday. The Trojans threw an assortment of looks at Auburn, and dropped different players off the line and into pass coverage. It’s not often that the defense creates mismatches, but that’s what happened in the opener. The Tigers dedicated blockers to empty areas, and couldn’t find open receivers downfield.

It starts with the calls from Carroll on the sideline.

“He’s never failed us,” cornerback Marcell Allmond said. “Even if it’s a call that doesn’t exactly put us in the right place, then we can make the right check to be there.

“And our linebackers are fast, our corners are fast, safeties are fast, D-linemen are fast.”

Yes, speed can compensate for many strategic mistakes ... and make most schemes look good. This group of Trojans looks faster than ever. They’ve gone from DSL to a T1 line.

Carroll has tweaked the scheme a little bit. Last year, it centered on Polamalu.

“Troy got all of the calls,” Carroll said. “He got all the good stuff.”

Bing has a little more freedom, a little less responsibility. And after his stellar debut Saturday, there’s a lot less concern about him from Carroll.

“Once we got the game on and saw how he played and saw how he could take the practice understanding to the games, then I have no worry about it,” Carroll said. “It’s just a matter of continuing to play. He’ll get better and better. That [position] was a real concern. I didn’t know. I didn’t know how he would react. He reacted exactly how he played. He shined in that game.”

Apparently, the prospect of replacing a player who was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the No. 16 pick in the 2003 draft wasn’t daunting. How could Bing feel the pressure of filling Polamalu’s shoes when he was wearing 1965 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett’s jersey?

Garrett, now the athletic director, gave permission for his No. 20 jersey to be un-retired -- although Bing said that wasn’t a prerequisite for him to come to USC.

“They asked me what number did I want,” Bing said. “I told them, 20. I didn’t know it was retired.

“They asked me, did I want any other numbers? I was like, ‘No, not really.’ ”

Bing is so nonchalant, it’s no wonder he doesn’t feel pressure.

Carroll has another theory, one that explains all of those tipped passes that seem to find their way into Bing’s hands during practice: “He’s got a golden horseshoe in his back pocket.”

With his 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame, Bing can fill Polamalu’s spot on the field. But who would take his place in the huddle and on the sidelines, what player would rally the Trojans the way their emotional leader did last year?

That task went to Nazel.

“The coaches found a way that I could utilize my assets,” Nazel said. “That’s one thing that Pete Carroll does very well, he finds out the personalities and positive attributes of each and every player that he has and he utilizes that to the maximum capabilities. And because I have a big mouth, I can be that vocal leader ...

“Really, I’m just doing what I do. Football excites me. I get happy when I play football. And I like to talk. If other people can get excited because of that, then I’ll gladly talk more so my teammates can get riled up.”

They have the mouth and the motors. The front line is so dominant it allows Carroll to tinker with his coverages. The players are smart enough to process the pro-style system he throws at them.

We still have to see how the defense can respond to an offense that’s more creative and diverse than Auburn’s. And we’ll see how effective quarterback Matt Leinart can be when an opponent takes away his 6-foot-5 safety net, Mike Williams.

But for now it looks as if 14 points will be enough to win most games. And it looks as if this defense has far more answers than questions.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at ja.adande@latimes.com