5 Thoughts on USC Beating UCLA

1. Slop: Two teams combined to commit 23 penalties for 215 yards, 3 turnovers, and just looked bad at times. Josh Rosen had receivers dropping balls left and right while the Trojans frequently got caught out of position and not knowing what the call was on defense. The highlight of the defensive woes came when Rosen floated a pass to a receiver who slipped past three Trojans defenders in the end zone; they just stood there in a reenactment of the Three Stooges. On several 3rd-and-long plays, the Trojans completely lost receivers and the Bruins converted easily. Then there was Darnold with time running out at the half, scrambling on a run, choosing to go for the first down instead of running out of bounds to stop the clock, only to get tackled one yard shy and time expiring. We know the Bruins were bad but we didn't know just how mentally out of the game the Trojans would be.
2. Regular Season End: It's somewhat fitting that USC would win in sloppy fashion to close out the regular season. When they set their minds to it they're too good for most teams to keep up with. When they're bored or distracted, they look exceedingly terrible. On a weekend when the top-10 was taking other teams to the woodshed, USC woke up late, took an early lunch, then nearly forgot to finish the job before the end of the day. If you bet against the spread with the Trojans, you'd be rich after this season -- Saturday night was no different. I don't particularly buy the excuse of not having a bye week, but now that they have a bye week, they should be playing lights out at the PAC-12 Championship, right? Also, it was Jim Mora's regular season-ending game, too, as he was fired as UCLA's head coach.
3. Nonetheless, 10-2: Despite all of the complaints, they finished the regular season at 10-2 and that counts for something. In two seasons, the Trojans under Helton are 20-5 and no previous coach has done this since Pete Carroll's last two combined seasons, 2008-2009. So let's say that these coaches are learning on the job -- something most of us believe to be true -- then, doesn't this mean that Helton's got a very bright future ahead of him and the Trojans? I think so. In other words, as the coaches figure things out, the team seems likely to take the next step up into the echelons of powerhouse programs. I can state, without a doubt, that USC's got the best running backs coach in the nation and their backs have made huge strides over last year.
4. Signs of a Bright Future: You can already see just how bright USC's future is. What took years for Porter Gustin to figure out -- maintaining discipline on the edge -- has taken Jordan Iosefa just a handful of games. He played lights out against UCLA, stopping the reverse and backside cut. Tyler Vaughns catches everything thrown his way while Michael Pittman is too strong for most defensive backs to handle him. Vavae Malepeai is a bull while Stephen Carr is an explosive running back in the mold of a Charles White. Now, if only they'd cut out the mental errors and gain some consistency, they could take the next step into becoming a powerhouse.
5. Best in PAC-12?: Obviously, the answer to that question comes after the PAC-12 championship game in two weeks. And you know that most people have USC as the best in the league. At this point in time, however, and until they lose, Washington State remains the best team in PAC-12, not USC. Both USC and WSU beat Stanford -- which makes Stanford #3 in my mind -- but WSU beat USC. Head-to-head matchups matter a lot, so it's difficult to place USC ahead of WSU. And if you could come up with a script for a redeeming season end for USC, it would be WSU winning the Apple Cup and USC crushing WSU in a rematch at the championship game. That's why WSU should be tops in the PAC-12.