Saturday night’s Big Ten matchup between Washington and No. 18 Southern California arrives with a little extra edge because both teams are trying to shake off losses before they meet in Los Angeles’ Memorial Coliseum.
USC (4-1, 1-1) saw its perfect start disappear in a 41-27 home loss to then-No. 20 Oregon last week. That result also extended the Ducks’ run over the Trojans to five straight, covering the final years of the Pac-12 and the last two Big Ten seasons.
Even so, Lincoln Riley brushed back any suggestion that the setback revealed something bigger about his team.
"We didn't get run out of the stadium," Riley said on Tuesday evening. "There's a lot of good things on that tape."
Jayden Maiava still gave USC plenty to work with, throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns against Oregon. He has topped 260 passing yards in every game this season and has thrown multiple touchdown passes in all five contests.
Kayden Dixon-Wyatt also turned in a strong night, catching seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
The issue for the Trojans is that the offense has not been as sharp in recent weeks as it was early. Their 27 points against Oregon were their lowest total of the season, and the defense has been leaking points as well. USC opened with a 39-0 shutout of Fresno State on Sept. 4, then allowed 30 points to Louisiana on Sept. 12, 35 to Rutgers the next week and a season-high 41 to Oregon.
The Trojans will also be without linebacker Desman Stephens, who was suspended for one game after his late hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and the celebration that followed.
Washington (3-1, 0-1) comes in needing a reset of its own after a 27-24 home loss to Minnesota last week. The Huskies managed just 40 rushing yards on 27 carries, a number that fits a broader problem.
Through four games, Washington is averaging 107.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 124th among 138 FBS programs. Among power-conference teams, only Cal, Oklahoma, Stanford and Arkansas have been less productive on the ground.
"We have to be better at running the football. We have to be better at taking care of the quarterback," Washington coach Jedd Fisch said on Monday.
"We can't let him get sacked, [and] he's got to not get sacked. The receivers have to win [their matchups]."
Demond Williams Jr. has absorbed 10 sacks in four games, with seven of them coming in the Big Ten opener against Minnesota. Fisch also pointed to the rushing issues and pass protection as factors in Washington’s struggles on third down. The Huskies have converted just 17 of 50 third-down chances so far.
USC has had its own issues in that area. Opponents are 22-for-54 on third down against the Trojans through five games.
Defensively, the Trojans have been uneven under first-year coordinator Gary Patterson. They piled up five sacks against Fresno State, then managed only one sack each against San Jose State, Louisiana and Rutgers. Against Oregon, they failed to record a sack at all.
In Other News...
USC Quarterback's Response To Dante Moore Injury Has Oregon Fans Talking
The late sequence between USC and Oregon turned into more than just a targeting call when Dante Moore stayed down after a hit by linebacker Desman Stephens, who was ejected from the game. In the aftermath, USC quarterback Jayden Maiavas decision to remain nearby while Moore was being tended to drew attention, adding a human moment to an otherwise heated Pac-12-style collision. Moore was later diagnosed with a concussion, though scans came back clean, and Stephens was suspended for the next game.
Maiava still had to finish the job on the field, and he did so with a strong day through the air, throwing for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Afterward, he also made clear he was sympathetic to what Moore went through, a response that has resonated beyond the box score and given Oregon fans plenty to discuss after a rivalry-type matchup that ended with both injury concern and disciplinary fallout. [Read more 🡒]
USC Is Suddenly Leaning On A Freshman More Than Expected
An injury to Trent Mosley has pushed Kayden Dixon-Wyatt into a much bigger role than USC likely envisioned for a true freshman this early in the season, but the wideout has handled it with the kind of production that changes expectations fast. Against Oregon, he turned in his second 100-yard game, catching seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown while earning an 81.0 Pro Football Focus grade for Week 4.
Through four games, Dixon-Wyatt now leads the Trojans with 25 receptions, 272 yards and three touchdowns, a striking start for a player still getting his footing at the college level. The bigger question for USC is no longer whether he can contribute, but how much of the passing game will continue to flow through him as the schedule moves forward and the Trojans adjust to life without Mosley in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
USCs Big-Budget Vision Is Facing A Credibility Test Already
USCs push to modernize the program has been one of the defining stories of the Lincoln Riley era, and it has been easy to see why the school poured so much into the effort. Early in 2023, the Trojans overhauled their personnel operation with Chad Bowden leading the new staff, added assistant coaches, and opened the Bloom Football Performance Center, all of it aimed at giving the program a more comprehensive, forward-looking foundation. The early returns were encouraging enough to justify the investment, with recruiting rankings trending upward and the win total improving in 2025.
But the selling point of a big-budget rebuild has always been credibility on the field, and that is where the conversation has started to turn. The loss to Oregon, along with persistent defensive issues, has made it harder to separate the long-term plan from the week-to-week reality, and it has put Riley under a more skeptical microscope. For a program that has been trying to show it can operate like a heavyweight again, the next stretch matters less for optics than for whether the overhaul is actually producing the kind of football USC says it is building. [Read more 🡒]