UCLA loss is a wakeup call

For the first time in my life on Saturday night, I lost faith in USC football. It happened with 14 seconds left in the first half, when UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley threw yet another wide open touchdown pass to receiver Eldridge Massington. For years, I have grown up with a steadfast belief in USC’s ability to make second-half adjustments, to come out of the locker roaring with vengeance, and to come back and win in the final 30 minutes.

Seven-win Sark · Head coach Steve Sarkisian fell to 7-4 in his first season at Troy with Saturday’s loss against UCLA. Sarkisian won seven games in three of his five seasons as the head coach at Washington. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

I grew up believing that USC was never out of a game. No matter how great the deficit was, no matter how dim the outlook was, the USC football team had the innate spirit and drive to come out victorious against all odds. As a fan this conviction was shaped early on in the Pete Carroll era: even when USC was down 21-3 to Arizona State at halftime, even when they were down to a lowly Stanford team at half, even when they were struggling with Dennis Dixon and Oregon, the outcome was never really in doubt. USC would find a way to win.

On Saturday that faith crumbled quicker than the USC secondary. For the first time in my rooting career, I did not honestly believe that USC would come back to win in the second half. It was torture, sitting there without the slightest bit of hope that the Trojan coaching staff could rally their troops. With 14 seconds left in the second quarter, I accepted the notion that USC would allow the Bruins to continue their lease on the city for another dreary year.

As one of the most optimistic fans around — prior to Saturday I thought USC could hang with Alabama — halftime was a torturous affair. What was exponentially worse, however, was watching the first five minutes of the second half confirm the fear that USC football has fallen right off that cliff.

That’s the problem though. By comparing USC to the standards Pete Carroll set, USC is holding itself back. Trying to recreate the magic by hiring his former assistants is not working. Much like the Bill Belichick coaching tree, Carroll’s assistants haven’t been as successful because they just aren’t him. If yesterday was any indication, Sarkisian and Co.’s ability to motivate players for big games and make second-half adjustments stood somewhere between slim and none.

By living in the past both as fans and a program, we are hampering the future of the Trojan football program. College football has evolved in the past 10 years; USC needs to as well. I’m not sure if that means bringing in a guy like Will Muschamp to run the defense or having an offensive coordinator call the plays. Something needs to change.

If you take away the cupcake games — Cal, Washington State, Colorado and Fresno State — and focus on the games of quality, it is not a pretty picture. The Trojans are 3-4. The offense is middling in mediocrity, failing to utilize the vast arsenal of weapons at their disposal. The “bend but don’t break” breaks like a sieve either against the pass, the run or both once the fourth quarter hits. The record could be much worse if Arizona’s kicker hits a chip shot, or if David Shaw learns about this thing called the forward pass. USC could have easily been 1-6 in these games.

The season that was built on smoke and mirrors has been revealed for what it truly has been, a year of pretending. Saturday was a night of reckoning that one can only hope will reverberate around the entire program. All the issues that the team has been skating by with were revealed against the Bruins.

The Trojan’s hurry-up offense again tired out the thin, beleaguered defense. I understand wanting to implement one’s scheme for the future, but that needs to be balanced out against giving your current team the best chance to win. Great coaches adjust to their players. Good coaches simply try to adjust their players to their scheme.

The obsession with getting cute on third and fourth downs and trying to outsmart the other team instead of imposing one’s will killed the Trojans on Saturday. It seems like the only time the fullback gets involved this season is on third down, when the play call is to run it unsuccessfully up the middle or throw it eight yards down the field to no avail.

The team got overly aggressive at unnecessary times almost as if to futilely run daring plays to spite the critics who say the team is too conservative. Whether it was the fourth-and-2 or calling long developing routes, this unwarranted and reckless aggression cost the team mightily. If a team is blitzing as aggressively as UCLA was, it would seem prudent to call a few more middle screens and draws to counteract their swarming defense.

On defense, the Trojans stopped blitzing after the first quarter. They had decent success against the Bruins through the first six drives. Take away the two blown coverages, and USC’s assortment of blitzes actually stymied the Bruins on three drives. It’s no coincidence that what might have been Kevon Seymour’s first corner blitz of his career, resulted in a flustered Hundley throwing a pick six.

The moment when USC went conservative and started to treat Hundley like he had a yellow jersey on was when the Trojan’s defense faltered. For three years now, USC has made Hundley look like an All-American when he simply is not. Don’t let the beatdown fool you. UCLA really is not that good. Their performance Saturday was a byproduct of poor preparation and coaching by the Trojans. If Stanford doesn’t beat them, Oregon will decimate the Bruins.

Admittedly, it’s easy to sit back and criticize decisions of X’s and O’s after the game. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have enough knowledge of the intricacies of the game. The flaws I pointed out were very surface-level, however, and readily apparent to anyone watching the game.

What should be criticized more extensively is the lack of fire and intensity the Trojans had coming out of the locker room after halftime. To not make adjustments nor motivate your team in a rivalry game is befuddling to me as a fan. That has nothing to do with depth and sanctions; that is just Football 101.

Sarkisian admitted that coaching must get better after the game. While I respect him owning up to his mistakes, at a certain point saying “we will get better” gets old if the product on the field remains the same. Talk is cheap, actions are what counts. As the old adage goes, game tape never lies.

As a fan, I can only hope that Saturday was a wakeup call for the Trojan program. I hope that out of the depths of despair, USC can rise as a football team to the level of greatness it was once accustomed to maintaining. I hope that when we console ourselves as fans and say we will get them next year, USC does actually beat UCLA in 2015. I hope for a program with fight and determination and passion. I hope that our faith will be restored.

Jake Davidson is a sophomore majoring in accounting. His column, “Davidson’s Direction,” runs Mondays.