We can’t ignore what is right in front of us. USC “ain’t played nobody,” as the grammatically mangled saying goes.
We wrote after the Stanford game:
“Stanford didn’t test USC. This was not a test. This was another scrimmage, another preseason game. Backups played the whole second half. Under 20 minutes into this game, the score was 35-0 and the competitive phase of play was over.
“Miller Moss frankly could have been inserted into the game that quickly, but Lincoln Riley wanted Caleb Williams and the first-team offense to play through to the end of the first half, which was reasonable enough. Moss did start the third quarter and therefore got the whole second half. He deserved it, and it’s a testament to the quality of USC’s play that Moss was able to get a whole half of work. It shows the game was put to bed early on a Saturday night.”
We are waiting for USC’s defense to be tested. Meanwhile, Colorado and Oregon have had shaky games early in the season. We asked our Pac-12 expert panel, “Which team has the greatest cause for concern on defense: USC, Oregon, or Colorado?”
Here are the panel’s answers: