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On Saturday, the USC football team fell on the road 34-32 to Illinois. The defeat was the Trojans’ first loss of the 2025 season, and they now sit at 4-1 on the year.
While there were plenty of things that went well for the Trojans during the game, there were far more inexcusable mistakes. Between issues with discipline, defensive struggles, and poor clock management, USC simply did not deserve to win this football game.
Let’s take a look at some positives and negatives from the defeat:
Positive: Makai Lemon
With fellow wideout Ja’Kobi Lane once again limited, Lemon had another monster day, catching 11 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He legitimately looks like one of the best receivers in the country.
Positive: The offense
It was not a perfect day offensively for USC, but the Trojans scored 32 points and recorded 490 yards of total offense. That should be enough to win you a football game.
Negative: The defense
USC recorded 490 yards on offense and somehow still got out gained, as Illinois had 502. D’Anton Lynn’s unit had the opportunity to make a statement and get a game-winning stop, and completely failed.
Negative: Penalties
The Trojans committed eight penalties for 69 yards, with the worst of those being an inexcusable ineligible man downfield penalty that wiped out a long touchdown pass. Over the past two weeks, USC has racked up more than 150 yards of penalties. That is simply inexcusable.
Negative: Turnovers
While USC’s offense did move the ball well, they did commit two costly turnovers. One of those was an absolutely awful interception thrown by quarterback Jayden Maiava, who had not turned the ball over through the first four games of the season.
Negative: Clock management
USC’s clock management at the end of the game was horrific. With the Trojans trailing by six and driving late, instead of trying to run down the clock and score a touchdown with as little time left as possible, Lincoln Riley elected to take a shot to the end zone. USC scored right away, giving Illinois the ball left down by only one with nearly two minutes on the clock and all three timeouts remaining. That left the Illini more than enough time to drive down the field for the game-winning score against a struggling Trojans defense.
#USC #football #falls #Illinois #positives #negatives
