What We Learned from USC’s 38-24 victory over Colorado

USC went into Boulder and came out with a 38-24 victory over the Buffaloes and the Pac-12 South. Next up, they face off with their cross-town rival UCLA. Before we move on to the cross-town rivalry, let’s look to see what we learned in the game against Colorado.

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Third Quarter Woes: For the second week in a row USC saw a significant lead trimmed down in the third quarter. USC was leading 27-0 only to allow Colorado to climb back to within 13 points. When USC goes up by a significant amount they tend to take their foot off the gas. From that point, teams tend to crawl back into the game against the Trojans. USC has to stop easing up in the third with a huge lead and put teams away. With UCLA coming up, the Trojans will have no luxury of taking their foot off the gas.

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Penalties Are Still an Issue: USC once again showed its lack of discipline once again in Boulder. The Trojans committed nine penalties for 75 yards. Not as much as last week, however USC committed some penalties that put them in long yardage situations or wiped out decent gains. These penalties happen to stall promising drives which puts them in trouble. Can we also take a second to mention that Pac-12 referees also need to be re-evaluated?

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Michael Pittman has arrived: USC got more contributions from another young receiver Saturday afternoon. Michael Pittman had another stellar game, showing everyone that USC has another weapon for Sam Darnold. Pittman had four catches for 59 yards and had one touchdown, reaching for the ball at the high point. The thing with Pittman has also been the little things that he does such as blocking and breaking tackles to gain more yards. This is exactly the reason why Tyler Vaughns got the starting position as well. Look for Pittman to get more looks by Darnold against UCLA and in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

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Sam Darnold Found His Groove: Sam Darnold struggled early with his inconsistencies and inability of taking care of the ball. For the second straight game Darnold passed for over 300 yards and threw for multiple touchdowns. He even rushed for a score. The run game and finding chemistry with his receiving core has really helped Darnold get back into his groove.

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USC will play for the Pac-12 Championship: As a result of their 38-24 win over Colorado, USC clinched the Pac-12 South. Despite the result of the UCLA game next week, the Trojans will play for a shot at their first conference championship since 2008. 2015 head coach Clay Helton led USC to the Pac-12 Championship Game as an interim head coach. Days before the game he had the interim tag removed. This year Helton leads USC back where they await the winner of the Pac-12 North and possibly an outside shot at the College Football Playoffs.