On Saturday, the USC football team defeated Rutgers 42-35 in Piscataway, New Jersey. With the victory, the Trojans improved to 4-0 on the season and opened Big Ten play 1-0.
What did we learn from the game? Here are a few key takeaways:
An unacceptable performance
USC may have won the game, but make no mistake about it, the Trojans did not play well at all. USC delivered an incredibly sloppy performance, allowing a Rutgers team that it should have blown out to remain in the game until the very end.
Rutgers is really bad
As we mentioned, the Scarlet Knights not a good football team. Had the Trojans played like this against just about any other Big Ten opponent, they would have lost by three scores. Plain and simple, Rutgers lost this game far more than USC won it.
Road struggles continue
The Trojans have notoriously been
a bad road team under head coach Lincoln Riley. Saturday marked their first opportunity to prove that those struggles were a thing of the past. Instead, it was more of the same.
New defensive coordinator, same issues
USC’s defense is certainly not as bad as it was three years ago under Alex Grinch. But Riley is now in his fifth season in Los Angeles and on his third different defensive coordinator, and he has still yet to show that he can put together a team with a good defense. That is a massive problem.
Penalties a problem again
For the second week in a row, penalties were a big issue for USC. After being penalized eight times for 78 yards last week against Louisiana, the Trojans committed eight penalties for 71 yards against Rutgers.
Up next
USC will now return home for one of the biggest games of the Riley era to date. The Trojans will host Oregon at the Coliseum next Saturday evening in a West Coast showdown.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Five takeaways from USC’s 42-35 victory over Rutgers
