USC football‘s loss on Saturday was a brutal one. The Trojans played terrible defense, turned the ball over multiple times, committed too many penalties, and had poor clock management, ultimately leading to them falling to a less talented opponent.
You may have noticed that I did not specify which USC loss I was talking about. While in this instance, I was referring to the Trojans’ 34-32 defeat at Illinois, there are seemingly countless games that the program has played under head coach Lincoln Riley that have met those exact same criteria.
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Michigan State! Minnesota!
Committing an absurd number of penalties? It literally also happened last week against Michigan State. Struggling against an inferior opponent on the road? Just look at the Minnesota game from last year.
Maryland! Michigan!
Turning the ball over at inopportune times? Maryland. Allowing a two-minute drill where the opponent runs the ball right down your throat? Michigan.
Penn State! Utah!
Poor clock management at the end of the game? Penn State. Scoring too soon and giving your opponent too much time for a game-winning drive? Utah 2023.
Groundhog Day
The defense not being able to get a stop if the fate of the world depended on it? Take your pick.
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Saturday’s loss to Illinois largely encapsulated the numerous issues that USC has had over the past few years under Riley. Many of these were things that the Trojans also struggled with under prior head coach Clay Helton. But when you pay more than $100 million to hire one of the alleged top young coaches in the sport away from a fellow blue blood, the fan base has every right to expect more from your program.
Broken record
For USC fans, Saturday’s game felt very much like a deja vu. The same issues that have plagued the Trojans for several years now continued to hurt them, leading to yet another agonizing loss.
As Taylor Swift said, “I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.” On Saturday, it felt we were watching the same film with USC for the who knows how many-ith time. Once again, the ending was not at all pleasant.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football loss to Illinois was an achingly familiar story
