USC vs. Cal four things to watch: Trojans still in Pac-12 title hunt
Caleb Williams in action during Coliseum loss to Utah. With the playoffs out of the picture, USC still hopes for success by winning its four remaining conference games. (Gina Ferazzi / LAT)
Thuc Nhi Nguyen (LA Times) — The vibes, as the kids say, were off.
Even when USC was undefeated, putting up record-breaking numbers on offense behind a quarterback still favored to win his second Heisman, nothing felt good enough.
Coach Lincoln Riley pushed his team to “play on our own terms,” but his attempts to ignore and isolate from outside criticism grew futile. Expectations crept in. Expectations wore the Trojans down. Expectations felt bigger than the wins USC piled up en route to a 6-0 record.
“We let some of the appreciation and fun out of winning get away there in the middle,” Riley said this week. “I’ve seen that happen before, especially this year, especially susceptible to it, and high-level programs like this.”
With their playoff hopes dashed, the No. 24 Trojans will try to find their joy again in chasing a conference championship. USC (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12) is still squarely in the Pac-12 title hunt despite a difficult four-game final stretch that includes two top-10 teams.
“We haven’t played to the way we think we can play,” Riley said. “And you persevere through it and you overcome it, the energy and the excitement and the camaraderie that comes from that is so powerful. And that’s the opportunity we got right now.”
Here are four things to watch in USC’s game against the Bears (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Pac-12 Network):
Lloyd’s quick hook
USC rushed for 100 yards in one quarter against Utah’s vaunted defense that was giving up just 66.8 rushing yards per game. MarShawn Lloyd eclipsed that number by himself with 74 yards on five carries. Then it was all undone by one fumble.
Despite rushing for 86 yards on seven carries, including a 45-yard touchdown, Lloyd didn’t get another attempt after fumbling with 6:18 remaining in the third quarter. The Trojans had only three carries by a running back for the rest of the game, all by Austin Jones on USC’s first drive of the fourth quarter.
Riley acknowledged he got “a little gun shy” after the fumble, and it gave the coach unwelcome flashbacks to how costly USC’s five turnovers were against Notre Dame. The Trojans could have tied the game on the drive on which Lloyd fumbled. Instead, Utah recovered and scored on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 14.
Lloyd leads the Trojans with 81.3 yards per game and 7.9 yards per carry. Riley said he believes the run game is “starting to click” after the Trojans ran for 145 yards, the most against the Utes this season.
“Obviously that’s going to be really important, always is in November ball,” Riley said. “So I gotta do a better job of that. We gotta hang on to it. [Lloyd] will and I will both.”
Murphy makes some strides
Needing more power at right guard after giving up six sacks against Notre Dame, USC coaches tabbed Mason Murphy for the position against Utah as the redshirt sophomore made his first start of the season. With Murphy, who was working primarily at tackle, playing inside, offensive line coach Josh Henson chose former starting right guard Jarrett Kingston to start at right tackle over Michael Tarquin, who had started every game this season. The reshuffled line will remain in place this week, Henson said, as the Trojans cut down their sacks surrendered to three, and established a stronger running game that averaged 6.3 ypc.
Kingston primarily played left guard at Washington State but said he feels more natural at tackle because the position allows him to use his athleticism in space.
Murphy played in all 14 games last season and started five at tackle. But during the offseason, coaches emphasized the importance of adding strength to his 6-foot-5 frame. Now to be chosen for a position as physical as guard is “just the culmination of hard work,” Murphy said.
“I had a really good summer, got stronger, got bigger, got faster,” he continued, “and I think that just reflects on my team now.”
Grinch continues to disappoint
While USC’s frustrations on offense under Riley are new, the defensive disappointment has been a constant. After the Trojans gave up 482 yards to a team that was averaging 322.2, the pressure continues to build on defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
“It’s my responsibility to get better and help build this program,” Grinch said. “We’ve had X number of games in a two-year period of time and it’s not where it needs to be yet. And we admit that.”
USC is ranked 104th in total defense, giving up 407.6 yards per game. In 2021, the year before Riley and Grinch took over, USC gave up 408.9 yards per game and 6.4 yards per play, which were the worst marks for USC since 1955, when records first became available. The futility was surpassed by last year’s defense which gave up 423.9 yards per game and 6.53 yards per play.
With just nine takeaways, the ball-hawking plays that saved the Trojans last year are gone. Safety Calen Bullock, who sparked a second-half comeback against Utah with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown, said USC’s goal is to force three turnovers a game. The Trojans have reached that mark only once, against Stanford.
Safety blanket
How bad have things gotten for USC football? Trojans are on Pac-12 Network vs. Cal, and no one cares… Matt Zemek (Trojans Wire) — The 2023 college football season has gone from promising to painful in a very short time for USC. A team that was 6-0 is now 6-2. A team with College Football Playoff aspirations probably will not even make the Pac-12 Championship game. USC has gone from prominent to irrelevant in one fortnight. The two-week crash-and-burn sequence has led to a very unexpected development: The Trojans will appear one last time on Pac-12 Network this weekend in… Read more »
The big game is Oregon Utah at 12:30 followed by USC Cal at 1. 1pm on the Pac12 Network is better than 7:30 on ESPN, at least we will make the highlights.
I’m pretty interested in CU at UCLA too: 4:30 pm (ABC).
Where Prime goes, coverage will follow. Sure would like to see him dump Chip Kelly on his face in the Rose Bowl, though I’d need a miracle for that.
Urban Meyer names the best coach in college football… Nick Shepkowski (Fighting Irish Wire) — Nick Saban is widely regarded as the greatest college football coach of all-time as he’s led an Alabama dynasty that has lasted the last 15 years. He’s not the best coach in college football according to Urban Meyer however. Nor is Kirby Smart, leader of the Georgia Bulldogs and winner of the last two national championships. Nor is Dabo Swinney, who has won a pair of titles while falling on a bit more difficult of times of late. So who does the three-time national championship-winning head coach Urban Meyer see… Read more »
Only took KW 29 years to become an overnight success at Utah!
Whit always got the most from what he had. He has been getting better players the last 5 years and now they are a pretty strong team, bought in to Whit’s system and philosophy.
He’s getting the (kind of) players Stanford used to get.
I always figured that Pat Haden would not consider hiring him as the SC coach because Whittingham wouldn’t drink with Haden.
Whittingham honestly looks better than most of the movie stars in Hollywood.
One problem I deal with with SC that WILL go away after this season .The TV package I have with my local Cable company has NO Pac-12 Network connections . BUT gives me Multiple channels that are very much connected with the BIG-10 ….Including Live showings of BIG-10 games .
I know your pain. We can get the PUKe 12 channel, but can’t see paying for it for a full year to watch 3 or 4 games. I believe this rinkydink channel misses the point of broadcast. They’re in it for the money, while the rest of the conferences are selling their schools through broadcast. Anyway I have a sister who lets me use her Comcast account for the games, so I would be able to see it, but I had a real brain fart and accepted tickets to live theater at 2:00pm because USC only plays night games. Finally… Read more »
Wow, 2 weeks in a row you plan something on Trojan Football Saturday. RT you’re slipping big time! Though you were doing the God thing last week so I will give you a pass on that one Brother. 🙏
Actually I blame my phone, which was operating on Eastern time a little over a week ago and still reads 4:00PM on my calendar. That seemed reasonable until I looked yesterday and the time has corrected.
I managed to set a timer on my sister’s account. She couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t able to set a recording. I checked and she had several recordings that she didn’t realize had recorded. There were 290 General Hospital episodes. They set one timer just over a year ago and it kept going until today.
A likely story, RT….😂
Your wife made you accept the theatre tickets, am I correct RT?
USC is got a game coming up they probably will win . ( AND FINALLY Look Good as they do it ) ….. But (and thank you once again Pac-12 Network) I won’t get to see it ! …..But AS ALWAYS …..FIGHT ON !!!!!
Hey, at least we finally get an afternoon game on the west coast and evening for you HOF19.
I can watch SC play before Satuurday dinner!
Boy you eat fashionably late in ATL, doc. 😉
4 pm start, probably order dinner at halftime. Sorry, I guess I did misrepresent myself. Not used to seeing SC play while it is still daylight outside here in the Eastern Time Zone.🙃
Don’t you mean supper? 
I still don’t use that southern colloquialism for the 3rd meal of the day….
Always lots of action here on the TDB on game day.
It’ll be another wild day of comments here I’m sure as LR takes on “Skinny Pants Wilcox”, the CAL coach’s nick when he was failing big-time as the USC DC.
Even Clay Helton didn’t want anything to do with Wilcox as USC’s DC and he immediately fired Wilcox the day after USC lost to STAN 23-21 in the Pac-12 championship game.
I DO give KABC 790 Radio a HUGE thank you because …Thru the internet and the PC in my den I get a LIVE Radio play-by-play of the game .AND with radio announcers that are VERY MUCH PRO-USC …..Fight On !!!!!
It’s actually pretty easy to watch Pac-12 games without the Pac-12 Network. The way I’ve always done it is to turn on my VPN and then go to the Pac-12 International channel on Youtube to watch the live stream. Never told anyone about it because I figured if enough people started doing it, they might close up the loophole. But it’s our last game ever on the network, so why not.
MT — Welcome to the TDB! Thanks for the tip.
Fumbles happen. Riley shut down the running game after a fumble? Why? This is crazy I can’t remember the last time the Trojans had a multiple fumble game. How is throwing the ball any safer? Once the ball leaves the quarterback’s hands it’s anybody’s ball. Even with a laser accurate quarterback, there is always a chance to intercept or bat down a pass. Yes passing moves the ball, but quickly scoring isn’t always the best idea. Overall, our offense has become McDonald’s when Lawry’s is wanted. The problem with this approach is that our defense isn’t Lawry’s or any other… Read more »
Will Lincoln Riley never measure up at USC, or is he one move from winning big? Matt Zemek (Trojans Wire) — Lincoln Riley is a polarizing figure. Many people think he will never succeed on a grand scale and win a national championship at USC. Others think he just needs to make a big change in how he does business. Which way will this story turn? We asked two Ducks Wire experts for their insights. Don Smalley: Never is a big word. I think the USC situation shows just how important the assistants and the support staff are. The Trojans have… Read more »
So the whole world outside of McKay Center knows that Grinch needs to be replaced. Let’s hope LR shows us he knows on November 19th!
LR already damaged his rep a lot by keeping Grinch for 2023. Many more astute observers than I warned of the bad move’s likely consequences, which have all come true so far.
Grinch rewarded his boss with yet another crap defense to help ruin a hugely hyped season. Too bad LR has been so slow to fix some of USC’s problems. He obviously had/has a lot more to learn than many of us dreamed.
Grinch probably won another season with the “Just get me more talent” argument. He failed. LR still is an OC dressed as a Head Coach. What I am looking for in growth as a head coach are, 1. Replace Grinch, designate a Special Teams coach and turnover most of the offense to his OC (especially game time play calling) and 2. Sign 5* linemen out of high school.
Also, our strength and conditioning, and size, is horrible. That’s all on LR, and his friend Bennie Wylie also needs to go.
There are so many numerous examples of USC lacking in this area. I’ll refrain from again posting smallish OC Justin Dedich, in his sixth year at USC (god bless him), getting easily forearmed flat on his face during an attempted whiff block v UTAH. It would be comical if it weren’t so harmful to USC’s look this year.
We can’t S&C 270-pound lineman into 315-pound lineman — at least not in a good way. We have to recruit big guys to have big guys. And we can’t S&C our arm tackles into working. That is more about the broken defensive scheme, which, in my view, became truly broken only this year (last year, I thought the players were more the problem than the scheme). But that is not to invalidate your comments at all, Allen. Our overall S&C is bad, as exhibited by us fading hard at the end of halfs/games. We may not be able to, but… Read more »
I’ve heard good things about Turley as well.
Shannon Turley (CUBuffs.com)
Hence the other part of my wish list after changes on staff, sign 5* 300 lbs linemen out of HS.
Good point, I will add a change at S/C to my list.