USC Football: Defensive Concerns Resurface for Trojans After Lackluster Performance

They are who we thought they were

The USC Trojans looked like they got a comfortable win by two scores with a 42-28 win. Not all things are what they seem, which was undoubtedly the case for the Men of Troy. 

After their Week 1 win against San Jose State, the defense raised many eyebrows for their lackluster performance. Their feet were at the fire, but they responded with two outstanding performances against Nevada and Stanford. 

All seemed well with the Trojans defense going into the bye week and into their Week 4 matchup against Arizona State. However, after three hours and thirty minutes, we went back to raising questions and being concerned for the USC defense. 

The defnese looked pedestrian once again as they gave up a score in every quarter, allowed 353 total yards 21 first downs compared to USC's 22 first downs, and ASU led in time of possession 31:48 to USC's 28:12. 

Head coach Lincoln Riley knows his team can do better after their performance on Saturday, and sometimes things won't go your way, no matter the results of the game. 

“That’s the season,” Lincoln Riley said. “How are you going to go and top being up 49-3 at half the previous week? That’s not reality. The challenges continue to change, and you either respond and keep growing together as a team and getting better and winning along the way, or you don’t. We won. We did a lot of good things, and we’ve got a lot to get better at, and we’ve got to get ready for another tough road one next week.”

(via The Atheltic)

The USC defense gave up a season-high 28 points to an ASU team that came off their worst performance of the season at home to Fresno State. On top of that, they faced third-string QB Drew Pyne, allowing him to complete 58.3% of his passes and throw for 221 yards. 

If you think that was bad, the run defnese was worse, allowing ASU running back Cam Skattebo to look like Reggie Bush, rushing for 111 yards, a touchdown, and four catches for 79 yards. 

Tackling was a big issue for the Trojans (sounds familiar?). This is not the performance the Trojans expected from themselves and not the one Trojan fans expected. 

The win is the most important thing, but they must learn from this, as things will only be more challenging as the season progresses. The Trojans will be in serious trouble if they play even half of what they looked like on Saturday. 

Still, it's nice to get the win.