Dominant win against Georgia Southern still leaves many USC fans dissatisfied

In some ways, a win is a win. Imagine if coach Clay Helton had managed to lead his new Georgia Southern team into the Coliseum to a win against USC. Although the Trojan fan base is currently frustrated, a loss would have been detrimentally earth-shattering.

Instead, despite winning 59-20, there is a largely disappointing feeling surrounding the second win of the season. Perhaps part of this has to do with the desire to embarrass coach Helton upon his return to Troy. That will, of course, have a part as to why this lopsided win was frustrating to watch.

More importantly, though, the concern is what the product will look like now with Big Ten play set to begin. Only conference opponents and Notre Dame remain on the schedule.

At times, both sides of the ball looked exceptional. It has to be conceded that the offense and defense struggled at times a little more than what was expected, particularly after a largely good showing against Missouri State.

There were bright spots. The Trojans managed to get 755 combined yards. That is obviously a good day at the office. Even so, against a lower-competition team, the execution and self-inflicted mistakes left some to remain desired.

Defensively, coach D'Anton Lynn's unit did well for a lot of the game to force a third-and-long scenario and then followed up by getting off the field. Still, mistakes on this side of the ball and busts in coverage have some worried about what will happen against the better BIG teams.

What is needed next from USC

For one, it could be seen as a mostly positive side that there are more complaints from the USC fan base following a 39-point victory. Playing devil's advocate, it is better that these fixable errors occur now, giving the team a chance to review the tape and make the needed corrections before the conference portion of the schedule begins.

Coach Lincoln Riley knows that the product will need to be more buttoned up moving forward. Following the win over the Bears, the Trojan HC mentioned that the staff knows how to keep the players hungry and not falling into complacency. After this latest USC win, that should be all the easier for the coaches as they prepare for Purdue.