Still Learning: Oregon Will Test How Far USC Has Really Come

By Jason Burrell | South Bay Black Journal

LOS ANGELES — I like what Lincoln Riley is building at USC.

I like Jayden Maiava. I like the young receivers. I like the offensive line and what King Miller has brought to the running game.

But I won’t confuse being 4-0 with being a finished football team.

And Oregon is coming to town.

USC escaped Rutgers with a 42-35 victory last Saturday. The Trojans put together 461 yards of offense, but Rutgers matched it with 460 and controlled the ball for more than 33 minutes.

The Scarlet Knights ran for 168 yards after entering the game averaging roughly 90.

That concerns me.

Because Oregon has a quarterback who knows how to operate its offense and enough weapons to make a young defense pay for mistakes.

Dante Moore enters Saturday with 849 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Ducks are averaging 506 yards of offense per game.

USC cannot afford to spend another afternoon learning how to get off the field.

And let’s be fair. Oregon has questions of its own.

The Ducks lost 39-31 at Oklahoma State, and Dan Lanning acknowledged afterward that his team gave up too many explosive plays and failed to win consistently at the point of attack.

So spare me the idea that Oregon is untouchable.

The uniforms are impressive. The talent is real. But changing uniforms isn’t the same thing as winning championships.

Still, Oregon has won four consecutive meetings with USC, including last season’s 42-27 victory.

That’s history USC has to confront!

What interests me most is how Riley handles this game offensively.

Maiava has been in the system. He understands what Riley wants. But USC doesn’t have a CeeDee Lamb or Hollywood Brown, the kind of established receiver Riley once had who could take over a game almost by himself.

Trent Mosley and the other young weapons have ability. Some were playing high school football last year.

They’re still learning.

That doesn’t mean they can’t make plays. It means we haven’t seen how consistently they can make them against this level of competition.

USC needs its running game, its offensive line, and its quarterback working together. It cannot keep giving opponents extra possessions while asking its young defense to survive.

Riley called the Oregon matchup an important game this week.

He’s right.

But the importance goes beyond rankings.

We know USC can score. We know Prophet Brown and Christian Pierce can make spectacular defensive plays.

What we don’t know is whether the Trojans can consistently stop a quality offense, control the football, and finish when the opponent refuses to go away.

Today gives us a chance to find out!

USC is 4-0. But the Trojans are still learning, and Oregon won’t grade them on a curve.