Trojans Wire is taking stock of the USC football team and the Pac-12 during the off week and this midseason break in the schedule.
Our rankings of the Pac-12 through Week 7:
12 – Colorado
11 – Cal
10 – Stanford
9 – Arizona
8 – Arizona State
7 – Washington State
6 – Oregon State
5 – Washington
4 – Utah
3 – USC
2 – Oregon
1 – UCLA
In terms of the eye test, Oregon looks better than USC, as does UCLA, but that is partly a product of offensive line health. USC’s offensive line has not been healthy the past three weeks.
USC gets a week off on Oct. 22. The Trojans really need to get their big guns back (Courtland Ford in particular) for UCLA and Notre Dame. They’re not in a great spot in terms of health, but their schedule is soft enough in the next few weeks that they can get healthy in time for UCLA on Nov. 19.
If USC can get past Arizona on Oct. 29 (a game in which it will have two weeks to rest), the Cal-Colorado double-stack on Nov. 5 and 11 should give USC a few chances to heal and win without everyone at full strength.
Just be ready for UCLA. That’s the long-term goal for USC over the next month.
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