After every practice, we say whether the offense or defense "won" the day, and RipsIt reader Daniel Fuentes e-mailed in asking how the victor is determined each day.
In most practices, the winner is determined based on which side "wins" the most plays during the final team period -- a scrimmage-like session between the top units. The offense wins a play by rushing for four-plus yards or completing a pass, and the defense wins by holding the offense to a rush of less than four yards or if the offense throws an incompletion. On Saturday, the offense won 16-15, meaning it either rushed for four yards or completed a pass on 16 of the period's 31 plays.
Almost always, thanks to Coach Carroll's often controversial scorekeeping for the sake of tight competition, the tally will be tied between the offense and defense toward the end of the workout. And more often than not, the practice won't be decided until one final sudden-death overtime play, like what happened in Saturday's practice.
Only in turnover-themed practices will the day's winner not be determined by the play victories in the last team period. On those days, the offense wins if it doesn't allow a turnover during full-team or 7-on-7 drills, while the defense is victorious if it gets at least one takeaway.
University Southern California Trojans
Wednesday, July 08
Wednesday, July 08
Wednesday, July 08
Monday, July 06
