USC really struggled to get going in this one and I imagine it had a lot to do with the accumulation of disappointment, the firing of their defensive coordinator, and the fact that these players are young men who have not yet developed the short term memory that you find in NFL players who can lose one week and more easily come back to improve and play their best game the next. There were such high hopes for the Trojans this year, especially since last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams was back to lead the team. But the obvious problem with the defense from 2022 didn’t go away and even though they were in five single possession games last year they won most of those and went from a 3-6 conference record in 2021 to an 8-1 conference record in Lincoln Riley’s first year as head coach. Quite a turn around from what had become kind of a tire fire of a team. However, when Lincoln came he brought folks who volunteered to come help him and as a result those that came, like his Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch, needed to completely upend their lives and the lives of their families. Lincoln and Alex Grinch are friends and their wives are best friends and when he decided to take the head coaching job he asked for help and Grinch got on the plane and came. So, it’s understandable that he would give his colleague and friend another year to improve the defense.
But that improvement never came and this season it started to show up in their fifth game against Colorado which they won by just a TD, and then their sixth against Arizona which they only won by two points. But the wheels started really coming off after that in their loss to Notre Dame on the road where they allowed 48 points, a heartbreaking two point defeat to Utah, and then a narrow one point victory over California while allowing 49 more points. After that it was back-to-back losses to both Washington and Oregon where they gave up on average 44 points a game. At the end of the 52-42 loss to Washington Alex Grinch was seen bent over holding his head in his hands as he knew that his friend was going to have to fire him, which he did less than 24 hours later. Lincoln Riley is a really good coach with a track record to prove it and made this promise after that firing; “I have complete belief and conviction we will play great defense here. It is going to happen. There’s not a reason in the world why it can’t. We’ll continue to take the steps we have to do to do it and we’re going to be very aggressive that way.” I have no doubt he will and expect to see a much improved Trojan defense next season.
The Trojans didn’t score in this one until the start of the 2nd Qtr, their fifth possession of the game in which their first four consisted of a turnover on downs, a three-and-out, a fumble, and an interception. Yeah, seemed like nothing was going right and it was difficult to watch considering how potent their offense can be.
UCLA scored TD’s on two of their first three possessions with that second one basically gift wrapped by USC after a fumble at their own 19 yard line. After holding UCLA to a three-and-out after the interception USC would end up starting on their own 1 yard line after a great punt by the Bruins’ Will Powers. Seven plays and 99 yards later the Trojans would finally find the end zone at the end of a 74 yard TD pass from Williams to Brendon Rice to make it a 14-7 game with just a minute gone in the 2nd Qtr. After getting stuck 14 plays later and sitting 4th and 6 from the USC 17 yard line Chip Kelly would send in his place kicker Blake Glessner who would miss a 36 yard field goal. After working out the early kinks it seemed as though USC was primed to come back and tie this up. But both teams were held to three-and-outs on their next possessions with USC getting a shot at cutting into the lead on a field goal attempt sitting 4th and goal at the UCLA 8 yard line, but missed. After holding the Bruins to a three-and-out they got another chance from the UCLA 17 yard line where Place Kicker Denis Lynch connected from 34 yards out to make it 14-10 with time expiring in the half.
Having deferred to start the game UCLA got the ball first after the break and took full advantage on a 15 play, 65 yard drive that took over five minutes and ended with TJ Harden in the end zone from a Ethan Garbers 7 yard TD pass to go up 21-10. After that came the straw that broke the camel’s back on a USC fumble returned for TD on their very first play after the punt to make it 28-to-10. There was plenty of time left in the game but with UCLA matching the ten points the Trojans put up on the board after that with an equal amount USC could never catch up and ended up on the back end of a 38-20 loss—their fifth of the season.
Caleb Williams connected on 31-of-42 for 384 yards, 1 TD, and 1 pick with Senior WR Brenden Rice having a huge game while collecting 8 of those passes for 147 yards and the one score. Five other receivers combined for 19 receptions and 223 more yards of that 384 yard total. Against the nation’s leading rushing defense USC wasn’t able to get anything going on the ground. In 22 attempts they accumulated just three yards total. MarShawn Lloyd and Austin Jones actually rushed 14 times for 23 yards but Williams lost 20 yards on seven attempts. For UCLA, QB Ethan Garbers was 18-of-31 for 155 yards and 3 TD’s with no picks. On the ground TJ Harden carried the heavy load for the Bruins while rushing 22 times for their one lone TD and 142 of their 199 total yards with Carson Steele picking up 49 more on 12 attempts. The UCLA defense recorded 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss and the Trojans helped them out with three fumbles, two lost.
The Bruins host Cal this coming Saturday while the Trojans, who got an early start and are done with their regular season will wait to find out what bowl game they’ll be playing in. For you USC fans, have no fear that you’ll have to wait a long time to avenge this loss because the teams, both of which are headed to the Big-10, are scheduled to play each other again about the same time next year in the Rose Bowl.