Late USC fight in near-comeback leaves room for concern

It is not so much worrisome that USC lost on the road to Illinois. After all, the Fighting Illini made this Big Noon matchup their homecoming weekend, and the home team was coming off an embarrassing loss to Indiana.

Illinois had a lot to prove and an extra layer of motivation and focus in wanting to show that the game against the Hoosiers was far from a reflection of what they can be in 2025.

That is to say that a loss in itself would not necessarily be room for concern. Instead, it is the areas in which USC once again did not help itself and some of the same old patterns that have frustrated Trojan fans in the past and how they keep showing up that lead many to be disappointed despite a fourth-quarter rally and a mere two-point loss in a 34-32 affair from this past Saturday.

There were certainly positives. Overall it is always critical to keep in mind the larger picture and to be able to evaluate games and individual facets within games beyond the final result itself.

In this case, however, it is difficult to ignore some of the glaring issues that presented themselves. in Champaign.

For one, the defense was unable to look nearly as formidable as it had at the beginning of the season. While this could be expected from a beaten-up secondary, this game was truly one in the early stages through the way in which Illinois was able to run the football at will.

Even so, coach D'Anton Lynn's unit was able to produce two turnovers at a time when it looked like Illinois was going to be able to easily put up an additional six on the board. The wear and tear, though, of being forced to grind up possessions on the ground certainly made it difficult late on when the defense needed to yet again come up with stops once the Trojan offense had woken up.

Easily the most frustrating aspect was penalties. These are the types of things that can be largely controlled. While a bad call here or there can, of course, happen. A team that repeatedly sees laundry on the field is one that is not disciplined enough.

General takeaways for USC

This game in particular should once again highlight health and the margins and how important every possession is in the Big 10. Gifting extended drives or stalling one's own drive will make it impossible for USC to achieve the heights that many still believe this team can achieve.

The ineligible man downfield call that wiped out a spectacular trick play stands out. In general, though, this is an area on both sides of the ball that needs to be cleaned up throughout the team immediately.