LOS ANGELES — Before September, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see USC at 3-3 or 4-2 midway through the regular season.
But a dramatic season-opening victory against a top-15 LSU team generated optimism and heightened expectations for the Trojans.
This always figured to be some sort of reset year for USC, which is breaking in a new quarterback and a new defensive coordinator and scheme while adapting to life in its new conference, the Big Ten. The Trojans have led in the fourth quarter in all three of their losses, which have all been decided in the game’s final minute or final play. That’s what makes the 3-3 record so disappointing.
USC will look to win a Big Ten road game for the first time and try to get its season back on track at Maryland on Saturday. Before the Trojans get there, though, let’s take stock of where things stand and assess how things have gone, position by position, halfway through the season while looking ahead at what’s to come.
Quarterback
It’s Miller Moss’ first season as the starting quarterback, and he’s been mostly solid. Moss has passed for 1,618 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions in six games. He has completed 63.7 percent of his passes, and his 269.7 passing yards per game rank 20th among qualified FBS quarterbacks.
But Moss has committed some critical turnovers in each of the Trojans’ three losses, and the offense hasn’t been anywhere near as explosive as it was in the past two seasons. USC’s passing attack has produced 21 plays of 20-plus yards, which ranks 49th nationally. It recorded 69 such plays last year, which was tied for third. Moss is averaging 6.9 yards per attempt. Caleb Williams was at 9.4 last year.
That has as much to do with what’s surrounding Moss as Moss himself. But there have been calls from a vocal minority of the fan base for USC to bench Moss and turn to UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava, who is a more mobile option. The theory is a running quarterback could help the Trojans work around their issues.
Tuesday, for the second time in five days, Lincoln Riley backed Moss as his starting quarterback. “He’s our leader,” he said. “He’s our starter. There’s zero question about that.”
A thought regarding the Moss discourse: Teams should bench their starting quarterback if they’re losing games because of their starting quarterback. USC isn’t losing games because of Moss. He isn’t missing blocks, missing kicks, dropping passes or failing to get off the field when opponents face a fourth-and-7 and a fourth-and-10 on the same drive.
There are quite a few issues with this team. Moss isn’t one of the most pressing ones.
Running back
Where would this team be without Mississippi State transfer Woody Marks? He’s been arguably the best player on the team. Through six games, the redshirt senior has rushed for 579 yards and four touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 189 yards.
He’s become the focal point of the offense over the past three weeks. USC has run 206 combined plays in that span. A third of them (69) have ended with the ball in Marks’ hands by carry or reception.
Redshirt freshman Quinten Joyner has flashed when he’s had the opportunity, which included a 75-yard touchdown run against Penn State last week. He’s averaging 9.1 yards on 37 touches.
But Joyner hasn’t had a ton of opportunities. He had a crucial first-half fumble against Minnesota and was benched for the remainder of the game, and he has carried the ball just seven times over the past two weeks.
Joyner is one of the few explosive playmakers on a team that lacks dynamic weapons. So we’ll see if he receives more touches over the second half of the year. But halfway through the season, Marks and Joyner have made the running back group the strength of the team.
QUINTEN 👏 JOYNER 👏
📺 CBSpic.twitter.com/R9ZnJGOiut
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) October 12, 2024
Wide receiver
Relative to preseason expectations, the receivers might be the most disappointing position group on the team. Four sophomores — Zachariah Branch, Duce Robinson, Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane — receive a majority of the targets.
Each player is extremely talented, but none has emerged as a true No. 1 option, and they’ve lacked consistency from week to week. One week, one of the receivers will have a big game. The next game, the same receiver will have two or three catches for minimal yardage. The group has struggled with drops as well.
Branch has been the most puzzling case. He’s supposed to be the most explosive player on this team and one of the most electrifying players in the country, but he hasn’t displayed the same burst or speed he did as a true freshman in 2023. Branch just hasn’t created a ton of separation as a receiver. He has caught five passes for 16 yards in the past two games. Branch was a freshman All-American as a returner in 2023 but is averaging just 2.1 yards on seven punt returns after averaging 20.8 yards on 16 punt returns last year.
Riley said the receivers have played better of late, and he believes the group has progressed. But from the outside looking in, this is the second consecutive season in which a talented receiving corps has underwhelmed.
Tight end
Lake McRee was a pleasant surprise through the first 2 1/2 games. He caught 12 passes for 134 yards and was more involved in the offense than any tight end in recent USC history. Not to mention what he brought to the offense as a run blocker.
But a knee injury has kept him out for the past three games. True freshman Walker Lyons and redshirt freshman Kade Eldridge have combined for eight catches.
McRee looks like he’s on his way back soon. That’ll help this position. Though McRee is a senior, the group is built well for future seasons with Lyons, Eldridge and others waiting in the wings.
Offensive line
This group was a major question mark heading into 2024, and six games into the season, it remains a major question mark. The line failed to protect Moss for the entire game against Michigan and in critical moments against Minnesota, and that was the key takeaway from both losses. Per TruMedia, Moss has thrown the seventh-most passes under pressure this season.
USC is counting on two young, second-year starters on the line: left tackle Elijah Paige and right guard Alani Noa. It’s also relying on redshirt junior Mason Murphy, who has been inconsistent throughout his career.
If the coaching staff had to depend on one of these players, it would be manageable. Some years, stuff just happens and a staff finds itself in a pickle. For the Trojans to have to count on all three in Year 3 of Riley’s tenure is a roster construction problem.
Redshirt senior center Jonah Monheim and left guard Emmanuel Pregnon have been solid, but USC will lose Monheim and could lose Pregnon after the season. The young players will develop and progress in an ideal scenario, but USC desperately needs to add more high-end talent to this group. And fast.
Defensive line
USC’s coaching staff is probably getting nearly as much as it can out of this group. The reality is years of subpar defensive recruiting, which preceded Riley, have left the Trojans in a spot where they lack difference-making talent and adequate depth up front.
This was the case before USC lost Bear Alexander, who had the highest ceiling of any player at the position, after three games. There was a clear disconnect between Alexander, who lost his starting role, and the coaching staff, which continued to challenge him to be a more consistent player.
Alexander, who is redshirting, seems destined to transfer once the portal opens. That is compounded by news this week that edge rusher Anthony Lucas, who has been the Trojans’ best and most disruptive defensive lineman, will miss the remainder of the season with a lower extremity injury.
USC has recorded six sacks this season, which ranks 123rd nationally, and just 2 1/2 of those sacks have come from its defensive line.
There will have to be a program-wide emphasis to upgrade the talent on the offensive and defensive lines because USC will not get to where it wants to go until these two groups dramatically improve.
Linebackers
Senior Eric Gentry looked like a brand-new player under this defensive staff and led the Trojans in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks through four games. But he announced this week that he’ll redshirt the rest of the season after suffering multiple concussions within a relatively short time frame.
This group also doesn’t have a game-changing talent, but position coach Matt Entz has USC’s linebackers playing much better than they have in recent memory. Mason Cobb looks better in this defense than he did in last year’s scheme. Oregon State transfer Easton Mascarenas-Arnold has been solid.
And true freshman Desman Stephens II flashed his potential with a critical interception against Penn State and should be a fixture at this position for the next few years. Entz is recruiting better than any other position coach on staff as well, with three blue-chip linebacker commits in the 2025 class.
What a play from @DesmanIi 🔥
📺 CBS
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) October 12, 2024
Defensive backs
This is the strength of USC’s defense. It’s had some tough moments the past two weeks, like surrendering those two fourth-down conversions on Penn State’s score-tying drive, but the quality of play is much better than in prior years. The Trojans are allowing 198 passing yards per game, which ranks 45th nationally and is considerably less than the 246.4 they allowed in 2023.
Safety Kamari Ramsey has been the defense’s best player and is a textbook tackler, which helps set the tone. Akili Arnold has been solid next to him at safety, and it looks like Zion Branch, a former top-100 recruit in the 2022 cycle, is starting to play well consistently.
Senior Jaylin Smith has been strong at corner, but the spot opposite him has been prone to some inopportune breakdowns, so USC needs steadier play there.
Greedy Vance Jr. has been solid at nickel as well.
This group has been good, but it can do only so much without a true pass rush to help support it.
Specialists
Punter Eddie Czaplicki has been awesome. He’s averaging 49.8 yards per kick, which ranks second nationally, and has been great at pinning opponents deep.
Kicker Michael Lantz has been more consistent than Denis Lynch was in the previous two seasons. He has made 10 of 13 field goals, but the misses have been crucial, including one in overtime against Penn State.
USC hasn’t received much out of the return game and is getting killed in the field position battle as a result, seemingly starting several drives within its own 15-yard line week after week.
And those are the sort of little things that have come back to make a big difference in USC’s frustrating season.
Final thoughts
USC is a good team. Its shortcomings in late-game situations have prevented it from being a 5-1 or 6-0 team. The program lacks high-end talent at several spots, which makes its margin for error much smaller.
It can’t overcome certain things with talent, so it’s required to be nearly perfect. And the past four weeks have displayed how tough that can be.
To make matters worse, the Trojans’ already questionable depth will be tested with these recent injuries. So younger and more inexperienced players, such as defensive ends Braylan Shelby and Kameryn Fountain, will have to step into expanded roles and contribute in a major way to get this season back on track.
USC can still finish strong. There’s only one game remaining against a ranked team: at home against Notre Dame. So the path is there, but the Trojans have to be better in several areas, especially with situational football, to reach their potential.
(Photo of Woody Marks: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images)
