The USC Trojans haven’t played a complete football game since early September. USC blasted both Nevada and Stanford and looked very good in those two games. Those are the last times USC has played what one could call a well-rounded 60-minute game from start to finish.
Naturally, Nevada and Stanford did not tell us much about USC this season. Those games offered no real insight into the true quality of the Trojans. Beating up on tomato can teams isn’t a bad thing, but it is hardly definitive in terms of identifying a good team.
The Trojans still haven’t shown they can play an excellent game against a good or very good opponent. If they wanted to start doing that against Washington on Saturday, that would be great. No one, however, should expect USC to max out. We need to see real leadership from this roster, and we need to see the Trojans play with a true sense of pride.
We discuss this plot point and more on our new podcast, a look at the big one against Washington. Ian Hest produced the show:
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