USC football report card for familiar and crushing loss to Washington

.

USC football has become a sad, tired Groundhog Day act this season. When trying to hand out a USC football report card, the assignment has become numbingly recognizable. USC football grades always seem to fall in the same places. The Trojans’ loss to Washington was eerily and achingly familiar. It was so much like the other games USC has lost this year. The bad cycle, the repetitive pattern, the doom loop just keeps dominating the USC football universe. It’s a season of misery, a brutal journey no one could ever imagine. It’s not as though USC isn’t showing up. It’s not as though the Trojans are getting blown off the field and are clearly second-best each time they take the field. No, they have a chance to win every week. We keep saying it because it’s true:

“All five of their 2024 losses have been like this. USC fans rightly have had enough with Lincoln Riley. They can’t stand this, and they shouldn’t. There is no reason for USC to be like this. Yet, this is the harsh and cold truth. The details of the 26-21 loss to Washington bear a strong resemblance to what we have seen in previous weeks.”

As was the case with Michigan and Minnesota and Maryland, USC led in the fourth quarter and could not finish the job. Games keep going down to the wire, and USC keeps failing to make the key plays which could turn defeat into victory. Here is the latest USC football report card after another wrenching defeat:

LINCOLN RILEY GRADE — F

Riley – Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Washington has a great pass defense and a below-average run defense. Guess what Lincoln Riley did for most of the first half? Yes, he threw the ball. What else is there to say? When Riley started trusting the run, USC moved the ball and looked great. How could the game plan have been so wrong? The coach just can’t swing and miss like this, but Riley has been…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-football-report-card-familiar-052150802.html

Author : Trojans Wire

Publish date : 2024-11-03 05:21:50

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Check Also

Why LSU should target former NC State receiver in transfer portal

Nov 30, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack wide receiver Kevin …