USC report card: handing out grades to Trojans after brutal defensive collapse vs Cal

Yes, #USC plainly flunked on defense. No C-minus or D-plus grades in the secondary. This was a true foul-up, which starts with the letter F.

The USC Trojans are getting used to games like this … which is not a good thing. In all candor, we did think the larger 2022 season was going to be like this: offense great, defense bad. However, it did come as a surprise that the Trojans made California Golden Bear quarterback Jack Plummer look like Aaron Rodgers for much of the game, especially the fourth quarter.

It did come as a shock that Cal’s bad offensive line and generally unreliable offense were able to move the ball so easily against the Trojans.

USC’s defense was actually not terrible in the first half of the season. No, it wasn’t especially good (except for the Oregon State and Washington State games), but it wasn’t horrible.

This? This is horrible.

Let’s go to the grades. We will not take it easy on this defense. No one should.