Turnovers doom USC in upset at the hands of unranked Minnesota

Saturday night, the USC football team took a step backward in a 24-17 loss to unranked Minnesota. Here are some rapid reactions to what took place in this game that went down to the wire.

Turnovers are becoming a problem for USC

Last week, following USC's win over Wisconsin, we discussed how the three first-half turnovers the Trojans gave the Badgers were the reason that USC trailed 21-10 at halftime. We also talked about how being that loose with the football would eventually come back to haunt USC.

We didn't expect that to come to fruition just one game later but it did. The Trojans again gave the ball away three times against Minnesota while taking the ball away only once.

RB Quentin Joyner had a first-half fumble and QB Miller Moss was picked off twice in the second half, including on the final drive when he was trying to lead his team to a TD to send the game to overtime. However, it was the first pick of the night that turned this game around.

With USC leading 17-10 in the third quarter, the Trojans had driven to the Golden Gophers' 35. On 3rd-and-4, Moss was hit from his blind side as he tried to throw the ball causing the football to flutter into the hands of a Minnesota defender.

On the ensuing possession, the home team would tie the game after a six-play TD drive. Meanwhile, USC would not score again the rest of the night.

USC can't solve the Golden Gopher pass defense

Give credit to the Minnesota defense. It entered the night as the No. 1 unit in the country against the pass but many USC fans were confident that the Trojans would be able to have success through the air given that none of Minnesota's opponents thus far had been known as prolific passing teams.

However, USC couldn't find a way to move the ball through the air against Minnesota either. Though Miller Moss was 23/38 passing, he threw for only 200 yards. That's an average of just 5.3 yards per pass attempt.

No USC receiver had more yards than the 54 that Kyron Hudson had on five catches. Meanwhile, a week after what looked like a breakout game for Ja'Kobi Lane, he had just two catches for 13 yards.

USC fans will have to give credit to the Minnesota defense for keeping a lid on the Trojan offense. However, there was another contributing factor that helped keep USC's offense stuck in neutral.

Once again, the USC offensive line was awful in pass protection

USC has a major issue in pass protection. It is bad enough when one tackle position is constantly being beaten but when both can't protect the passer, that's a serious concern.

Saturday, USC was repeatedly beaten by the Minnesota pass rush off of the edge. That was a huge reason why Moss had to major in the short passing game.

Minnesota had only one sack on the night but time and time again, the Golden Gophers made Moss get rid of the ball before he wanted to. If Moss wasn't so good at getting rid of the ball in a hurry, he would be one of the most sacked QBs in the country.

Somehow, USC head coach Lincoln Riley is going to have to figure out how to protect Moss. In every Big Ten game thus far, the opposition has battered and beaten the USC QB and until that changes, the Trojans are going to continue to struggle.

The USC defensive line is not without responsibility for this loss

Let's not let the defensive line of the Trojans off of the hook. They were repeatedly gashed by the Minnesota ground game to the tune of 193 yards on 40 carries.

What's more, USC had only one sack on the evening. The defensive front simply has to be better than it was against a pedestrian Minnesota offense.

Golden Gopher running back Darius Taylor had his way with 144 yards on 25 carries. That's an average of 5.8 yards per rush.

On the game-winning drive that gave Minnesota a 24-17 lead, the Golden Gophers ran the ball on ten of twelve plays. Yet USC could do nothing to stop the ground attack even knowing that Minnesota didn't want to throw the ball.

This offseason, there were concerns about whether or not USC could handle the physicality of the Big Ten along the line of scrimmage. Through three games, that's still a problem with both Michigan and Minnesota having run all over the Trojans.

Woody Marks is USC's best weapon

If there was one Trojan who stood out on offense, it was running back Woody Marks. The transfer from Mississippi State was amazing again on Saturday night.

Running for 134 yards and a TD on 20 carries, he also caught four passes for 30 yards. Marks is proving to be a standout in all aspects of the game, though, as he is also a fantastic pass blocker.

Coming into the game, USC wanted to be able to run on a Minnesota defense that had been susceptible to giving up yards on the ground. That proved to be something that Marks was able to do but in honesty, there's reason to believe that Riley should have leaned even more heavily on the ground game.

Marks has been USC's best and most consistent offensive weapon this season. It would be wise to use him and the ground game even more, especially if the tackles are going to be a liability in the passing game.