A supreme example of that happened Saturday night in the Emerald Bowl.
After Matt Barkley's slant pass over the middle was picked off by Boston College safety Marcellus Bowman on the first play of the second half, coaches took advantage of the quarterback's miscue and essentially used it as a setup for a the game's biggest play later on.
Carroll and the offensive coaches noticed Bowman, the strong safety, was increasingly sagging down into the box, which paid off for him on the pick. But on the sideline, USC coaches scratched out a play that would exploit the safety's placement that had previously reaped rewards for him. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Damian Williams weaved past the close-to-the-box Bowman and snuck free for Barkley to launch a 48-yard pass that Williams caught at the 1-yard line to set up the clinching score.
Understandably, coaches were ecstatic about the game-changing play that made amends for the earlier interception -- and turned the pick into a positive for the Trojans.
"It was one of those plays that we drew up in the dirt," Carroll said with a wide grin. "And it worked to perfection."
Wideout Damian Williams hauls in a 48-yard pass from Matt Barkley against the coverage of Boston College safety Marcellus Bowman, whose position in the box coaches exploited for the big play. [Photo courtesy of Getty Images]
