This is getting very depressing, very mind-numbing, and very repetitive. Another week, another late-game collapse by USC football. It is a broken record. The same story just keeps repeating itself again and again with no end in sight. USC comes within one play of winning but doesn’t make that play. The Trojans get several chances to finish off an opponent and can’t take that last step. What is going on around here? As we prepare to give you our USC football report card and hand out USC football grades for the 29-28 loss to Maryland, just stop for a moment and realize that the grades we are about to hand out — and the rationale for giving them — are basically the same as they were for the Minnesota game and the other games USC has allowed to slip away.
The overall 60-minute product wasn’t terrible, but the result was terrible. The good things this team does are wiped out by the bad things. If USC football was able to make the final winning play, mistakes could be forgiven much more easily, but this team is consistently not making that final winning play. Grades simply have to reflect that, even if this team did play well for portions of time, enough to build a 28-14 lead in the second half.
Let’s go to the classroom and hand out the latest (depressing, annoying) USC football report card:
MILLER MOSS GRADE — C
Miller Moss is throwing crucial interceptions to undo the good work he does. Moss is not the main reason USC is falling short, but he also isn’t avoiding the big mistake which helps an opponent at just the right (wrong) time. Moss has to eliminate large mistakes from his portfolio. Until he does, we can’t give him an especially good grade.
WOODY MARKS GRADE — B
Woody Marks continues to be one of the best players on this USC team. His failure to catch the fourth-down pass at the end of the game prevents us from giving him an A. However, that incomplete pass is partly on Moss for not getting him the ball sooner. You can see from the game film that Marks was standing there for a second and that if Moss gave him the ball earlier, Marks probably secures the catch and sets up a field goal try for USC.
JA’KOBI LANE GRADE — B
Lane made a sensational catch and stood out as a playmaker for USC. The receivers as a whole have been better in recent weeks. However, with the offense not making the final few plays needed to seal a win, we’re not going to hand out “A” grades.
SECONDARY GRADE — C
The overall performance wasn’t terrible, but once again, a USC defender was in position to make a play on a downfield pass and did not make it. This keeps happening every week. Guys are in position, so Doug Belk is doing his job there. However, players aren’t reacting to the ball as well as they need to. Average football leads to average grades.
LINEBACKER GRADE — C
Without Eric Gentry, the linebacker room is obviously undermanned, but after another inconsistent defensive performance in which an opposing offense mounted key drives late, there is only so much we can do or say. If a “B” is above-average, we can’t give a B to this group right now. There’s not much that is above-average when a team keeps losing winnable games.
DEFENSIVE LINE GRADE — C
The story here is a lot like the story of the USC linebackers without Eric Gentry. USC’s defensive line, without Anthony Lucas and Bear Alexander, is missing key pieces. Yet, when Maryland drives down the field at the end of the game to win, there’s only so much we can do. We can’t give a very high grade when a defensive unit keeps falling just short.
OFFENSIVE LINE GRADE — D
If you are going to tell us that the offensive line played a generally decent game and was far better than a “D” grade for most of the day against Maryland, we’re going to agree with you. You’re right.
However, the USC offensive line — yet again — played its worst football on the most important possessions of a game. USC had several chances to kill this game off and put it away, much as it had a chance to finish off Michigan when leading by four with five minutes left on Sept. 21. USC had a chance to finish off Minnesota early in the fourth quarter on Oct. 5. USC had a chance to finish off Penn State at the end of regulation. On each of those game-defining drives, the USC offensive line has not played well. Until this offensive line plays well on a game-finishing drive, the overall 60-minute body of work will not be reflected in the final grade. This O-line needs to finish games, period.
D’ANTON LYNN GRADE — B-MINUS
With a lot of key players missing, Lynn dialed up blitzes from the secondary to get sacks and pressures. Lynn has guys in position to make plays, and USC did get a defensive stop late in this game when leading by six points. The problem is that the offense couldn’t get a first down, and the field goal team couldn’t protect a field goal. Lynn is not one of the top five or eight reasons USC lost this game.
SPECIAL TEAMS GRADE — F
USC just had to protect and make a 41-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter. It couldn’t do it. What an absolute disaster.
LINCOLN RILEY GRADE — F
Lincoln Riley’s 2024 USC team has had the lead in the fourth quarter of all seven games. The team is 3-4. The Trojans aren’t a soft team overall, but they are soft in crunch time. Riley is failing spectacularly in getting his players to show mental toughness and to exhibit consistency of technique and execution in high-stress moments. It is staggering to see this team fail precisely when games are there to be won.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football report card for another late collapse against Maryland
