Positives and negatives from USC’s 41-27 home loss to Oregon

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On Saturday evening, the USC football team fell 41-27 to Oregon at the Coliseum. With the loss, the Trojans dropped to 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in Big Ten play.

What went well for USC, and what went poorly? Here are some positives and negatives from the game:

Positive: Jayden Maiava

Maiava was not the reason that USC lost the game. The Trojans’ quarterback threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a score on the ground.

Positive: Kayden Dixon-Wyatt

The freshman wide receiver also continued his impressive start to the season. Dixon-Wyatt caught seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Negative: Lincoln Riley

Plain and simple, this was a game that Riley had to win. This was supposed to be USC’s moment. This was supposed to be USC’s opportunity. The Trojans leaned into such this week, constantly advertising that “the time is now”.

As it turns out, the only thing that it was time for was Riley to blow yet another big game.

Negative: Gary Patterson

Patterson’s USC defense actually had a decent first half, holding Oregon to 13 points. The unit also did enough for the game to be tied at 27 in the fourth quarter. In the biggest moments, however, the defense could not come through, allowing Oregon to score touchdowns on its final two drives to seal the game.

Negative: Desman Stephens II

Stephens’s hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and his continuing to celebrate while Moore was being attended to by medical staff was one of the dumbest things that I have ever seen on a football field. USC announced a one-game suspension for Stephens on Sunday, and he was lucky that his punishment was not significantly worse.

Negative: The future outlook of the program

Plain and simple, this is the type of loss that makes you seriously reevaluate the future of your football program. Right now, it is extremely difficult to imagine a future where Riley gets the Trojans back to being a national title contender anytime soon. That is a very bad thing.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Positives and negatives from USC’s 41-27 home loss to Oregon

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