USC earned a tough win over Washington, but the good vibes are still lacking

USC scraped by with a win against Washington on Saturday night, bringing them to 5-1 and keeping their playoff hopes alive. But after such a shaky performance on homecoming, it’s hard not to wonder why does this victory feel more like a loss?

This kind of vibe is becoming the new normal for USC fans this year. Sure, the team grabbed the must-win victory, but it’s tough to walk away feeling like they actually proved anything.

USC turned things around against Washington before it got ugly

On the bright side, the defense finally looked like they had a pulse, especially with Gary Patterson calling the shots from the booth. But man, it was a rough ride. When they went down 21-10 in the third, the Coliseum was honestly toxic.

You could hear the student section chanting for Lincoln Riley to be fired. It really felt like the wheels had completely fallen off. The defense gave up another head-scratcher of a touchdown, and Jayden Maiava looked totally rattled against a Washington team they should have handled easily on homecoming. It felt like the end of the Riley era at USC. And then something happened. Maybe the Riley era wasn't at its end as many may I have thought.

The defense, which had just given up one of the most embarrassing touchdowns in a long time, managed to make that disaster an outlier instead of the norm. With less than five minutes left in the third quarter, not even ten minutes of game time after that total collapse, the unit finally flipped the script.

Jahkeem Stewart, the ultra-talented defensive tackle, found himself in the right spot after Elijah Newby strip-sacked Washington’s QB, Demond Williams. Stewart grabbed the ball and hit a top speed that seemed impossible for a guy his size. The Trojans had already cut the lead to 21-16, but this defensive heroics gave them the lead for good, and they didn't look back for the rest of the night.

Look, I know winning is better than losing, but that was honestly one of the ugliest games I've seen from USC in a while. The Trojans really pushed the "win ugly" theory to the absolute limit. The penalties were the biggest headache. It felt like a flag on every single play, killing big drives, wiping out sacks, and taking points off the board. It was just one step forward, two steps back the whole night. Between the lack of discipline and the drama with Desman Stephens last week, it’s getting pretty hard to watch.

Even though that game was a total mess, a win is a win. USC finally snapped that long home losing streak against Washington, and honestly, the playoff dream is still alive. If they can just play like they did for the first half of the season, they’re looking good for a spot. Sure, it shouldn't have been that close.

That one penalty really killed our momentum early on, but you’ve gotta give the team props for not folding when things got rough. It proved the defense can actually step up when the offense hits a wall. The Lincoln Riley era lives to fight another day, and I can’t think of a crazier place to test that out than a white-out at Penn State next week.

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