Go beyond the scoreboard
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Last season, the fourth quarter was USC’s Achilles’ heel. Lincoln Riley tried to turn it into a rallying cry.
Hoping to turn his team into late-game closers, the USC coach adopted the mantra “the longer it goes, the better we get.” The oft-repeated saying is just empty words now after USC’s second-half tailspin hit rock bottom with a 38-20 loss to rival UCLA at the Coliseum on Saturday. The Trojans (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) will limp into the bowl season after losing five of their last six games.
“I’ve clearly not done a good enough job in the second half of the regular season getting our team ready to go,” Riley said.
Lincoln Riley was supposed to transform USC back into a college football powerhouse. Instead, the Trojans are mired in mediocrity and it’s his fault.
USC players and coaches touted Riley’s motto after close wins against Colorado and Arizona. USC’s social media pages had it written in their biographies. But since surviving triple overtime against the Wildcats, the Trojans have been outscored 130-102 in the second half during the last six games, including a 69-54 deficit in the fourth quarters.
When asked how he can process the team’s meltdown during the second half of the season, rush end Jamil Muhammad paused for six seconds before finding the words.
“We didn’t finish well. I mean, it’s no other way to put it,” said the Georgia State transfer who had five tackles Saturday. “As a group, we did things well, but we didn’t do enough things well to win.”
Amid the slide, USC quietly updated its social media slogans. On Saturday, USC’s X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram pages boasted a new phrase.
“It’s always fight on.”
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Trojans look emotionally exhausted
USC quarterback Caleb Williams gets a hug from backup quarterback Miller Moss in the final moments of Saturday’s loss to UCLA.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Even when USC’s record was perfect, it didn’t take a trained eye to see the team’s flaws. A brutal late-season schedule put every blemish on full display.
The back-loaded schedule featured four opponents currently ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25 in the final six games compared to the first half that included only two teams with a record currently better than .500.
After its off week, USC played nine consecutive games. Four were decided by one possession. It was a roller coaster for the Trojans to lose their national championship hopes in a two-point loss to Utah, win a thrilling one-point shootout over California then drop back-to-back games against Washington and Oregon that crushed their Pac-12 title dreams. As a result, the team was “a little worn down,” Riley said.
“But the reality is if you play better and you coach better, then you’re not in that many [close games],” Riley added.
Caleb Williams might have played in his final game for USC following a 38-20 loss to UCLA that underlines how far the Trojans have fallen this season.
The Trojans sleepwalked through the first quarter Saturday, allowing the visiting Bruins to take a 14-0 lead. Last year, USC fought back from the same deficit in the rivalry game. Even with Caleb Williams at quarterback, this torn-down team couldn’t engineer the same magic.
“There’s sometimes ups and downs throughout the game,” defensive back Jaylin Smith said. “There’s going to be those where other teams are going to make good plays and it’s just how you respond to it and I think ultimately sometimes our response just wasn’t up to par, up to our standard.”
3
Turnovers
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
They saved USC last year. Turnovers sank the Trojans this year.
Losing the takeaway battle 3-0 Saturday doomed the Trojans to an uncompetitive disappointment. Riley’s recent silver lining of pointing out the Trojans were just a few plays away couldn’t hold true any longer, especially after a fumble by running back MarShawn Lloyd resulted in an 11-yard touchdown return for UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson that put the Bruins up 28-10 with 9:29 left in the third quarter.
“You may lose a close one here and there where it’s just right there, one play here and there,” Riley said, “but to not give yourself a chance like today, it’s unacceptable. So I gotta be better.”
Riley likened the performance to USC’s five-turnover debacle against Notre Dame.
Freshman Zachariah Branch lost a fumble when UCLA safety Kenny Churchwell III ripped the ball from the receiver’s grasp, setting the Bruins up inside the red zone during the first quarter. UCLA scored three plays later. Williams compounded Branch’s mistake by throwing an interception on USC’s next drive. It was Williams’ fifth interception of the season and first since he threw three against Notre Dame.
USC is minus-two in the turnover margin this season after leading the country at plus-22 last season.
Behind another strong defensive effort and a standout game from Ethan Garbers, UCLA might have saved Chip Kelly’s coaching job with its win over USC.
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Rushing attack ground to a halt
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
USC found unlikely success in the running game against Utah when the Utes led the country in rushing defense, but the Trojans were suffocated by UCLA’s defensive front Saturday.
USC’s three rushing yards in 22 carries were the fewest for the program since minus-five rushing yards against Texas in 2018.
The Bruins entered the game as the nation’s best rushing defense, giving up just 70.8 yards on the ground per game. Riley called them “the best D-line that we’ve played this year.” UCLA even flexed its depth on defense after losing top defensive lineman Jay Toia to a right leg injury early in the second quarter. Star edge rusher Laiatu Latu led the Bruins with seven tackles and had two of UCLA’s four sacks.
Chip Kelly has struggled during his UCLA tenure, but why would the university’s decision-makers think now is a good time to make a change?
“We knew coming in, we were going to need to run it well,” Riley said. “We were going to need to be pretty good in the short passing game, the quick passing game to be able to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands. We did OK in the short passing game, but our run game wasn’t good enough.”
Lloyd led the Trojans with 17 rushing yards in eight carries, averaging just 2.1 yards a carry after averaging 7.44 yards per attempt entering the game.
5
Sour senior send off
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
After six years, Justin Dedich walked off the field at the Coliseum for a final time to the sound of UCLA players ringing the Victory Bell. It was the ultimate bad note for the USC senior captain.
“Obviously wanted a different outcome for this game. Especially with my unit,” said Dedich, who has started every game at center this season. “But grateful for all the times I’ve had in this place and grateful to be part of this team, part of this program. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Love being a Trojan.”
Dedich, safety Max Williams and defensive lineman Stanley Ta’ufo’ou were among the few seniors honored before the game who had spent their entire college careers with the Trojans. Most had transferred to USC as Riley tried to quickly rebuild the program. Riley wanted to honor the sacrifices of both senior groups — those who chose to stay amid the coaching change and those who chose to follow the new coaching staff — by pushing the program forward in the future.
“As time goes on, I want to validate what they did,” Riley said, flanked by Dedich and Alabama transfer linebacker Shane Lee at the postgame news conference. “And we’re going to. We are going to be great. It sucks right now. It hurts right now. But I’ve never been more motivated or never had more of a fire in my belly than I do right now.”
