This past Friday, USC football (4-4) dominated under the lights against Rutgers (4-4). With notable offensive performances from redshirt senior running back Woody Marks, redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss, and sophomore wide receiver Makai Lemon, the Trojans left no doubt in who deserved to win this game.
It was all Trojans from the start of the game. USC immediately got on the board with a one-yard touchdown run from Marks — the first of his career-high three on the night.
There was never a point in the game where USC didn’t maintain its lead from that point, completely outperforming Rutgers on both sides of the ball. The Scarlet Knights simply could not keep up with a USC team who was dominant physically on defense and skillfully so on offense.
This performance completely contradicted the past three weeks of frustrating USC football. The Trojans have made a habit of collapsing in the final moments of tight games via big mistakes, but they put this game away early and minimized mistakes for an uncommonly dominant victory.
While it may seem like this could be a corner turned for the program, USC was expected to win this game. The Trojans’ only home loss came to now-No. 3 Penn State. They trampled Utah State and came back to win conclusively against Wisconsin — all things that fans and the media expected of them.
So, in reality, this performance may not have been the turning point needed to change the season’s outlook.
The only remotely notable wins Rutgers have were against 4-3 Washington and Virginia Tech. Not bad wins, but Rutgers is not the big victory that USC needs. The Scarlet Knights also have a loss to a weak 2-5 UCLA football team and were blown out by the 5-2 Wisconsin team that USC dominated in the second half.
You can only beat the opposition put in front of you, but this win against Rutgers should not and cannot change the narrative for this USC team. The Trojans still haven’t proved they can close out games against Big Ten opposition in high-intensity situations. There’s little new to say about this team after the Rutgers game.
If USC is to change this season’s narrative, which they are fully capable of doing, the team needs to match the intensity, physicality and heart they showed in their incredible outing against now-No. 16 LSU. USC fans know their team is capable of better results and it needs to be held to the same standard the Trojans showed in Las Vegas against the Tigers.
With massive games coming up, including a pair against rivals UCLA and Notre Dame in back-to-back weeks, there is still a lot worth fighting for at season’s end. If USC can play to its potential, there is still a world where this is a season fans can look back on proudly.
Based on the past four weeks of conference play, those results seem unlikely. The team, however, seems to believe otherwise. After the game, Moss discussed how he thinks that this could be a turning point for the rest of the season.
“I don’t know if it’s relief as much as affirmation of who we are, what we believe in,” Moss said. “I give a ton of credit to the guys in that locker room, the staff, with the whole program on how we continue to come together and continue to fight through adversity. It’s great to close one out and hopefully get on a run here in the back half of the season.”
While there may be belief within the team that the season can be turned around, USC still hasn’t shown it on the field. Unless head coach Lincoln Riley can truly get the best out of this team that has escaped his squad so far this season, it is becoming increasingly likely this season will be another throw-away during his tenure.
Collapses and inconsistency in big moments have been the theme of the Lincoln Riley reign. He still needs to prove he can maximize his team’s ability. The Trojans have shown that they are capable of performing at a high level. If USC plans to get back to being the elite program it is supposed to be, it needs to learn to do that consistently.
Even after a high-quality performance against Rutgers, there are still more questions than answers for the USC football program. Can Lincoln Riley get the best out of himself and this program? Can USC return to being an elite program? Is USC capable of performing in the Big Ten? The answer to these questions for a program with USC’s reputation should be yes.
It’s time to prove it.