USC Trojans are Frustrated but Fighting On as they Face the Season's Final Stretch

If USC fans were frustrated watching the Trojans struggle to separate and put away Arizona and Cal the past two weeks, they have something in common with the USC players. Multiple players and coaches used or agreed with the word “frustrated” after the 41-35 win against Cal to describe their emotion in watching the Golden Bears cut a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to a point where a recovered onside kick would have given them an opportunity to win the game.

USC can likely get away with less than their best for one more week as Colorado visits the Coliseum this Friday night. But after that, the Trojans need to find this elusive 60 minutes of their best football that they’ve referenced not being able to achieve all season.

Head coach Lincoln Riley believes it might not be that far away.

“We’re closer than we, or probably anybody else thinks, to doing that,” Riley said. “But you’ve got to go do it…The Margin for where we are right now to doing that is very thing. There’s not a huge difference. There’s a handful of key plays in the game that we simply have got to make more of. And that’s on all three sides.”

Riley sensed the players wanted to use the third quarter to continue pulling away from Cal. Holding a 20-7 lead, USC forced a Cal three-and-out on the opening drive and delived what could have been a knockout punch with a 59-yard catch-and-run by wide receiver Michael Jackson III.

Not Pulling Away

For the third time in three games, the Trojans had an opportunity to separate and turn a game into a blowout. But they couldn’t get it done.

“I think the guys really wanted to separate and just kind of go knock them out,” Riley said. “And we couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

USC committed two pass interference penalties on the ensuing Cal drive, including one on a third-down incompletion. The Golden Bears scored a touchdown on the drive. And then following a three-and-out on its next drive, Cal scored touchdowns on its final three drives of the game.

“I sense some frustration a little bit at times when we’re not playing our best,” Riley said of the Trojans. “And I did sense a little bit of frustration. We have to get past that. This is college football. Those other teams, they’ve got coaches and players, too, right? We’ve got to get past whatever it is.”

Riley said he doesn’t sense a complacency issue. And several players after the game shot down any notion of there being energy fluxuations or a feeling that the job is done partway through the third quarter.

USC Players Talk Frustrations

Cornerback Mekhi Blackmon said there was “most definitely” frustation on the defensive side as the game went along and the Trojans were unable to generate stops. Safety Bryson Shaw said he was “a little frustrated” both with himself and his defensive back group. But it all stems from knowing they have more in them. And knowing the result they want is within their grasp.

Shaw held his fingers a fraction of an inch apart.

“We’re that close,” he said. “I feel like there’s just too many missed opportunities out there. There’s not an effort problem. Just too many big opportunities that we’re missing, including myself. Frustrating.”

Shaw echoed defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s thoughts when the coach said the Trojans need to find ways to make more plays. An offense always has the advantage on any play, but they can’t bat 100% on contested catches or close plays.

“Just doing our job is one thing,” Shaw said. “But doing our job and being intentional about making plays, that’s what we need to do.”

It’s tough to lay too much blame at the feet of the offense. They scored 40 points once again and provided enough to win. But in the aforementioned part of the third quarter, after Cal scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-14, USC’s ensuing drive took 21 seconds off the clock and featured three-straight incompletions.

Running back Travis Dye scored a rushing touchdown for the eighth-straight game and finished with 106 total yards. But his thoughts mirrored the defensive players’.

“I would say frustration,” Dye said. “Because again, it’s just that one little thing that, you know, takes it away from putting 70 points on the board. And it’s not on one person. It’s not on one side of the ball–it’s not on anything like that. It’s just not connecting the way we want it to, the way we know it can connect. And that’s very frustrating.”