USC has made it to the midpoint of its 2026 regular season with a 6-1 record, 3-1 in Big Ten play, and a trip to Wisconsin up next on Saturday. That’s the backdrop for a first-half look at the Trojans, and the grades tell the story of a team that has flashed real firepower while leaving plenty of room for debate on the other side of the ball.
The offense has carried the standard you’d expect under Lincoln Riley. USC earns an A- here, thanks in large part to Jayden Maiava’s play at quarterback and the rise of Trent Mosley, who has already emerged as one of the country’s top receivers as a true freshman. The Trojans have kept the points coming, and that has remained the clearest strength of this team.
The defense has been more complicated. USC gets a C+ after a stretch that has included a shutout of Fresno State and games in which Washington and Penn State were held under 25 points.
But there’s also the Oregon game, where the Trojans were lit up by the Ducks’ backup quarterback, and the 35 points surrendered to a very bad Rutgers team. Gary Patterson’s group has shown real promise at times, but the consistency still isn’t there.
Special teams comes in at B+, and that’s largely a credit to new coordinator Mike Ekeler. Outside of a couple of missed field goals and a questionable onside kick decision against Penn State, the unit has avoided major problems.
Coaching lands at C, a grade that reflects both highs and lows. Riley earned praise for one of his best games in years in the win over Penn State, but that doesn’t erase the Oregon loss two weeks earlier or the rough showings against Rutgers and Penn State. Even so, the second half gives him a chance to change the narrative.
The recruiting work gets the strongest mark of the bunch: an A. General manager Chad Bowden and USC have been operating at an elite level on the trail, the Trojans’ true freshmen have already made an impact, and the 2027 class is shaping up well.
Put it all together, and USC’s overall grade comes out to a B. It hasn’t been a smooth route to 6-1, but the Trojans are right where they want to be, and the next five games will go a long way toward defining where this program is headed.
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USC Faces A Real Road Test As Availability Questions Loom
USC has spent the week trying to make practice feel a little less polite and a lot more like what it will encounter in Madison, using crowd noise and even Wisconsins familiar Jump Around to sharpen its edge for a trip to Camp Randall Stadium. Coaches and players have talked about the atmosphere and the need to be ready for a true road test, the kind that can expose small communication issues and test a teams composure before the first snap.
The other concern for the Trojans is the availability report, which listed 11 players in various injury statuses heading into the matchup. For a team already preparing for one of the louder environments it will see all season, those questions add another layer of uncertainty to an already tricky assignment, with USC waiting to find out how much of its roster will be available when the lights come on. [Read more 🡒]
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The conversation is less about rewriting the past than about what the new format might change for a program like USC going forward. An expanded playoff would not erase the seasons that slipped away, but it would give the Trojans far more room to survive the occasional stumble and still keep a path alive. For a fan base that has spent years measuring itself against a national standard, that is a meaningful shift, even if the real intrigue is how often USC would have been placed and how deep those chances might have run. [Read more 🡒]
JuJu Watkins Is Already Putting USC Back In The Spotlight
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Watkins returns after missing last season because of injury, and her comeback gives USC an immediate centerpiece as it prepares to open with an exhibition against Cal on Oct. 25. For a Trojans team that has spent the offseason waiting for its star to rejoin the floor, the bigger question is how quickly Watkins can pick up where she left off and what that means for a program already being treated like one of the leagues headliners again. [Read more 🡒]