Haley Sawyer (OC Register)  —  None of the players on USC’s football roster were around for Y2K. And it’s been that long since the Trojans had as dismal of a rushing performance as they did Saturday in Wisconsin.

The minus-17 rushing yards was the Trojans’ lowest total since a game against Arizona on Oct. 9, 1999, and the Badgers’ defensive showing against the run was the second-best in school history, and its best since 1951 when they limited Iowa to -18 yds.

That game is forcing the Trojans to reckon with a part of their offense that has had a noticeable dropoff since last season, especially when it comes to explosive chunk plays.

It turns out, there’s no singular shortcoming. A combination of factors has led to the change of pace for the school that has produced multiple Heisman Trophy winners.

USC’s running game – ranked 13th out of 18 Big Ten teams with an average of 131 yards per game – has produced 37 plays of 10 yards or more, five plays of 20 yards or more and just one play that went for more than 30 yards.

Against Wisconsin, USC’s longest run was seven yards.

2026 is a dramatic decrease from the rushing home runs of last season, when the Trojans’ rushing attack was the sixth-best in the conference. The one-two punch of freshman King Miller and junior college transfer Waymond Jordan rattled off 70 runs greater than 10 yards in 13 games. They were also one of the best in the Big Ten when it came to distances of more than 20, 30 and 40 yards, and even had 11 runs stretch between 40 and 79 yards.

“I think it’s more just relying on techniques, going back to the fundamentals of what got us here at the end of the day,” Miller, a former walk-on, said of how USC could get more explosive. “Just going back to the drawing board with myself and any player that steps out there, any back that’s back there. Just gotta execute better.”

Miller and the rest of the running back corps have been behind an offensive line that’s been exceptional this season, for the most part, despite a few changes due to player injuries. Tobias Raymond’s transition to center has been smooth in the wake of Kilian O’Connor’s season-ending knee injury before the start of the season. Elijah Paige’s pass-blocking ability at left tackle earned him midseason All-American honors from The Athletic.

“We should have been more physical at the point of attack, but that’s not the only thing that went into us not running the ball well and not winning the game,” Raymond said. “It could be post-snap communication; there were a lot of things that we just didn’t do well enough to win the game.”

Who’s in the room?

Five running backs have carried the ball at some point for USC this season, but the primary rushing attack has been a balance of Miller (622 yards) and Jordan (291 yards).

The combination looked a little different, however, at Wisconsin. Jordan didn’t touch the field at all, despite being in uniform and not listed on the Big Ten availability report. Riley Wormley, who has rushed for 60 yards, didn’t play, either.

Jordan had an ankle injury last season that kept him out of the last seven games and had a “cleanup” procedure in spring. The senior is healthy this season, but he is still getting back to the form that earned him 576 rushing yards on 88 carries in five games last year.

“Waymo’s still been – I think, fair to say – continuing to work himself back from that injury,” Riley said. “He has some weeks where it’s pretty good and has some weeks where it’s not.”

Miller is on track to finish with a 1,000-yard season after putting on 10 pounds of athletic weight in the offseason to help him run harder. He’s broken 42 tackles this season, and only 15 of his 125 runs have been stuffed.

At the moment, however, he’s averaging roughly the same amount of rushing yards per game as last season and has seen his yards per attempt shrink from 6.2 to 5.6 per carry.

The coaching staff has been developing Wormley, a redshirt freshman, as well as true freshmen Shahn Alston and Deshonne Redeaux, this season, occasionally deploying them in games to keep the legs of the other backs fresh.

Other factors

Quarterback Jayden Maiava has transformed fully into a pocket passer this season. He isn’t dashing for bootlegs, and the Trojans’ use of designed QB runs has been few and far between.

USC uses the deuce and trey variations of 11-personnel the overwhelming majority of the time, with running back-heavy 21 personnel used just 38 times this season.

The big, notable difference is the use of 12 personnel, which involves two tight ends.

The Trojans had two skilled tight ends in Lake McRee and Walker Lyons last season, which allowed them to run 12 personnel 316 times – more than 25% of the time – according to Hudl IQ analytics. This season, they’ve run it only 114 times.

Having two tight ends on the field often favors running backs, since the second tight end serves as an extra blocker and opens up gaps for the running back, therefore increasing the likelihood of explosive plays.

It’s worked out for Maiava, who has used the increased throwing opportunities to become one of the most efficient passers in the Big Ten. The senior leads the conference with 287.8 passing yards per game and is third in terms of completion percentage at 66.8%.

Last season, Maiava threw for 285.5 yards per game and had the benefit of targets like Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. Both receivers helped keep defenses honest before continuing their careers in the NFL – Lemon as a consensus All-American and first-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles and Lane as an All-Big Ten third-teamer and third-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens.

Saturday’s Wisconsin game was Maiava’s only multi-interception game of the season, and he has passed for at least 300 yards in three games. His rushing yardage has dramatically decreased from 157 yards in 2025 to minus-62 this season, making it clear that running has been all but eliminated from his style of play.

“(It’s) just going back to doing what I’m coached to do,” Maiava said. “That’s what makes Coach Riley so great, is he doesn’t coach just plays and concepts. He does off-the-script plays, he’s coaching scramble drills. That’s what it comes down to.”

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