Final Thoughts: USC Football defeats Cal, Looks for Answers on Defense

Final Thoughts: No. 9 USC defeats Cal, 41-35

Eight Wins for the Trojans:

USC notched its eighth victory of the year Saturday night, which is its most wins so far in a season since 2019. It's the first time since 2008 in which a Trojan team started off a season 8-1. In addition, Lincoln Riley is off to the best start for a first-year head coach at USC since John Robinson went 8-1 in 1976.
"Very proud to get to the eighth win here. Very important for us as a program," Riley said. "Winning is hard. For us, our program, our players, finding ways to do that is still paramount. So I'm extremely proud of the win. We had to finish it in a way that obviously we didn't want, but that's just part of it."
Though the Trojans came away with the victory, Riley noted that it wasn't the team's best performance on either side of the ball. While the head coach expected more from his team Saturday night, he did note that it's much better to be wanting more out of a win rather than the alternative.
"Obviously, a lot to improve on. We know we're going to have to improve," Riley later added. "If you can improve by winning, you'll be there in the end, and in my experience with these things, you get to the end and nobody remembers how. You either found a way to win them, or you didn't, and the reality is this team is 8-1 with everything in front of us."

Frustrations Arise:

USC's players described their game against Cal as just "not putting it all together" for 60 minutes. In light of Saturday night's performance, Lincoln Riley was asked whether the Trojans showed complacency against the Bears. The head coach shared that "frustrated" was the better word to describe his team at times during Saturday nights game. Riley noted that it seemed like the team knew they were close to putting away the game, but just couldn't turn the corner. He made it clear, however, that frustration shouldn't hold the team back.
"I wasn't really enthused about how we started the game, but I didn't feel any complacency," Riley said following the game. "I honestly felt like we started playing pretty good, there at the end of the half. It felt like we were starting to squeeze them down at the beginning of the second half and I think the guys were really wanting to separate and just kind of go knock them out. We couldn't quite get over the hump, and I sensed some frustration a little bit at times. We've got to get past that."

Key Trojans Remain Out:

Injuries kept key Trojans out once again on Saturday. Wide receivers Jordan Addison and Mario Williams and inside linebackers Eric Gentry and Ralen Goforth did not play against Cal. Lincoln Riley shared that Addison was very close to playing, but was ultimately held out. Riley noted that those who were held out Saturday have been making progress, but were ultimately held due to their health status.

USC's Receivers Continue to Step Up:

For the second week in a row, USC saw its wide receiver room step up and contribute. Michael Jackson III had a career night against Cal, scoring two touchdowns and recording his first 100-plus yard game as a receiver. Tahj Washington picked up where he left off in the desert against Arizona, recording 112 yards on seven receptions with one touchdown. Overall, quarterback Caleb Williams was 26 of 41 for 360 yards and four touchdowns. Williams now has five games this season with 340-plus passing yards, something that hasn't been done by a USC quarterback since 2019.
"They're two really competitive players, two guys who have made an impact, not only on offense, but on special teams," Riley said of Jackson and Washington. "They're two guys that right at the beginning when we started, they weren't necessarily at the top of the depth chart or guys that were getting a lot of opportunities, and they've hung in there and they've continued to work, continued to improve. Those guys are kind of evidence of what we need to be as a team."

Urgency to Correct on Defense:

Cal's offense averaged 24 points per game prior to its matchup against USC, and averaged just 17 points per game in their five previous losses. The Trojans allowed the Bears to accrue their second-highest point total and total yards so far this season on Saturday.
Overall, USC's defense has now allowed its opponent an average of 525 yards per game over the course of its last three games. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch described his defense's performance as of late as "really disappointing" saying that there is an obvious sense of urgency to make corrections.
"The nice thing is we sit here today, as frustrated as we are with a win. Thank god. We can be excited we won and pissed off about how we played," Grinch said. "We can do both and we're going to be. We're going to have to flip it quickly and get back to work tomorrow."

Quick Turnaround:

Grinch was correct in using the word quickly as the Trojans will have a 6-day turnaround until their next game. USC is back in the Coliseum once again on Friday facing Colorado.
"We got a big week coming up in terms of a short week and being able to operate that way." Riley said. "We have our first challenge of playing on six days. We'll need to face that well and get ready for the next challenge and try to go get win number nine."

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