Still Learning: USC Found a Way to Finish, but the Questions Aren’t Going Away

By Jason Burrell | South Bay Black Journal

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Maybe I asked the wrong question last week.

After watching USC beat Louisiana, I wanted to know one thing.

Can the Trojans finish?

Saturday afternoon at Rutgers, I started realizing that finishing isn’t always one thing.

Sometimes it’s a fourth-down stop, or it’s a once-doubted player returning from injury with a 99-yard interception return.

Maybe it’s trusting your quarterback enough to throw the football when everybody in the stadium knows you’re trying to run out the clock.

And sometimes finishing means having a clear path to the end zone and being smart enough to fall to the ground and run the clock out.

USC is still learning.

That’s probably the best way I can describe this football team after watching the Trojans fight their way through a 42-35 victory over Rutgers.

They aren’t a finished product.

Not even close.

But they’re 4-0.

And there is something to be said for learning while you’re winning.

Especially on the road and especially in the Big Ten.

Lincoln Riley didn’t pretend otherwise afterward.

“We didn’t play our best ball really on all sides,” Riley said. “We’re going to have to play a lot better going forward.”

They Better because Oregon is coming, and the Ducks are going to watch this film and take full advantage of the Trojan mistakes.

Rutgers Didn’t Care About USC’s Ranking

Let’s give Rutgers some credit.

They weren’t intimidated by the Trojans’ offense. They emptied the bag, including a beautifully executed fake punt, and kept swinging every time USC appeared ready to put them away.

Rutgers came into Saturday averaging just 90.5 rushing yards per game.

They ran for 168 against USC.

What do you think Oregon’s gonna do?

Because we’re four games into the season now.

At some point, the defensive front has to become more than potential.

USC made some excellent defensive plays Saturday, but the Trojans allowed Rutgers to control too much of the football game.

That’s what’s frustrating!

USC ran the football efficiently. King Miller finished with 102 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

Yet Rutgers possessed the football for much of the afternoon.

If you’re Lincoln Riley and you’re trying to get this program over the hump, run the football like USC ran it Saturday, and stick with it.

Control the game and let that offensive line lean on somebody.

Keep your defense, who’s still learning, on the sidelines drinking Gatorade.

Because the deeper USC gets into this schedule, the less margin for error it’s going to have.

Ninety-Nine Yards Doesn’t Tell Prophet Brown’s Whole Story

Prophet Brown made one of the biggest plays of the game.

Rutgers was on its way to complete another 75-yard scoring drive, then Brown picked off a slant at the 1-yard line and took it to the house for a 99-yard Touchdown.

Which extended the Trojans’ lead to 27-14.

That’s a 14-point swing.

But here’s the thing. He missed last season, battled injuries, and had to watch teammates play the game he desperately wanted to play. There are no statistics for that, and nobody puts rehabilitation in a box score. Nobody records the mornings when an injured player walks into the facility knowing everybody else gets to practice and he doesn’t! 

“He’s been through so much,” Riley said. “The different injuries that he’s been through. He was doubted here at times early on in his career, and he has persevered.”

Then Riley said something even more meaningful.

“He’s the epitome of what it means to fight on.”

“Last year I loved that team, and it was hard to not be on the field with them,” Brown said. “But, you know, we got this year, and I thank God for the opportunity to come out here and play with my brothers.”

Sometimes we become so consumed with what athletes produce that we forget what it took for them just to get back onto the field.

Lincoln Riley Knows Who To Trust

This USC football team’s strength is its offense. Lincoln Riley knows it.

Jayden Maiava is comfortable running Riley’s offense, and Saturday he showed something more important than another statistical performance.

We saw trust.

USC led 42-28 late.

Game over, right? Nope.

Rutgers drove the football down and converted fourth-and-10 for a 28-yard touchdown, moving the Scarlet Knights within seven points, 42-35.

Here we go again!

Four minutes and 24 seconds remained.

Now Riley had a decision. He could play it safe and run the ball three times.

Make Rutgers use its timeouts and punt, or ask his young defense to keep learning on the job.

Riley wasted no time and put the football in Maiava’s hands.

First play.

Pass.

Maiava to Mark Bowman.

First down.

Next play.

Another pass.

That told me everything I needed to know; Riley trusts that when the game has to be finished, his quarterback will shut the door. He also trusts the running game. As he went back to Miller, the Trojans started chewing away at Rutgers’ remaining timeouts. Rutgers never got the football back.

But I’m Not Letting This Defense Off the Hook

USC’s defense deserves credit Saturday.

Real credit.

Two interceptions.

Fourteen points off turnovers.

Prophet Brown’s 99-yard touchdown.

And maybe the most important defensive possession of the fourth quarter came after USC’s offense failed on fourth down.

Rutgers took over deep in its own territory. Eventually the Scarlet Knights faced fourth-and-1.

This is where Greg Schiano lost the game for his ball club, with 11:39 left to go in the game, trailing 35-28. The Trojan defense stood tall and played Big-boy football and stopped the Knights from getting 1-yard.

USC took over on the short field, and Maiava eventually found Riley Wormley leaking into the flat for a touchdown.

42-28.

That’s complementary football.

Defense gives the offense a short field.

Maiava turns it into seven points, and that’s what USC is supposed to look like!

But this is what drives Trojan fans crazy!

A few minutes later, USC had Rutgers facing fourth-and-10.

Fourth-and-10!!!

You don’t need to make a spectacular play.

Just get off the field!!!

Instead, Rutgers scored.

That’s the part of this defense that still isn’t finished.

Prophet Brown and Christian Pierce can make the spectacular plays.

We’ve seen it! But can the Trojans consistently make the ordinary play?

Stop the run, stay disciplined in your rush lanes, and don’t give quarterbacks escape routes. 

Ultimately, can they get off the field on third down?

And when you have somebody facing fourth-and-a-mile?

You have to finish it!

Because Oregon will not let you off the hook; they’ll find every weakness Rutgers exposed Saturday and see if USC fixed it.

Sometimes the Smartest Touchdown Is the One You Don’t Score

My favorite play of the afternoon might have been one that didn’t produce any points.

King Miller could have walked into the end zone. Rutgers was out of timeouts. USC needed another first down. King Miller took the handoff, broke free, got the first down, and went down

Game over! 

That’s winning football.

Earlier in the game, I watched Miller stumble on a run where I thought he had another 20 or 30 yards in front of him.

I wanted him to stay on his feet.

Funny game.

When USC needed him most, I wanted him to keep running.

This time the smartest thing Miller could do was fall down.

And he did.

That’s growth.

That’s awareness.

That’s putting the football team ahead of yourself.

Late in the 4th quarter, the Young Trojans managed to make victory formation interesting.

Maiava had an awkward exchange under center that went to replay before officials upheld the ruling that USC maintained possession.

Even taking a knee became an adventure.

Maybe that was the perfect ending for this football game.

Because USC isn’t polished yet.

The Trojans aren’t complete.

They’re still trying to figure some things out.

But they’re figuring them out at 4-0.

And that matters.

Now It Gets Real

Oregon comes to the Coliseum next Saturday.

Then Washington.

Then Penn State.

This is where USC finds out what it really has.

The offense looks ready to me.

Maiava looks ready.

The offensive line showed me something Saturday.

Miller showed me something.

And Prophet Brown reminded everybody that sometimes patience gets rewarded in ways you couldn’t have imagined while you were waiting.

The defense?

I’m still watching.

I’m still asking.

Because beating Rutgers doesn’t erase the questions.

It just gives USC another week to answer them.

Last week I asked whether the Trojans could finish.

Saturday they did.

Barely.

Maybe that’s enough for now.

Because becoming a championship football team isn’t something that happens all at once. Ask LSU!

Sometimes you learn it one possession at a time.

One fourth-down stop at a time.

One mistake at a time.

One 99-yard interception at a time.

And sometimes one first down, followed by a running back smart enough to fall.

USC isn’t there yet.

They’re still learning.