QUARTERBACK

Lincoln Riley praised Jayden Maiava but he was the second-best QB in the Coliseum. It was another example of Maiava not quite living up to the hype against a marquee opponent.

Grade: C

RUNNING BACKS

King Miller looked like his former self on the 27-yard run. But he managed only 47 yards in his other 12 carries.

Grade: C+

WIDE RECEIVERS

Nine different receivers caught passes. They played their part but they weren’t a decisive factor in the game, mainly because of Little Lord Riley and his 12-yard flea flickers.

Grade: C+

OFFENSIVE LINE

They gave up two sacks on the opening possession but none after that. However, yet again, they proved to be unremarkable overall despite all the promises in the offseason.

Grade: D+

DEFENSIVE LINE

It’s hard to overlook the roughing-the-passer penalty on Jide Abasiri, while grading this unit. There was some moments but let’s remember they were part of a defense that allowed 504 yards in offense.

Grade: D+

LINEBACKERS

If it wasn’t enough that Desman Stephens embarrassed the university, the rest of the linebackers were busy chasing running backs down the field or failing to cover the tight end.

Grade: F

DEFENSIVE BACKS

They were all over the field but usually in the wrong spot or not covering a receiver. The 29-yard TD pass to give Oregon a 34-27 lead was just a glaring example but far from the only one.

Grade: F

SPECIAL TEAMS

They set the tone early with a missed chip shot field goal, just the latest miscue this season. Special teams certainly isn’t setting the tone through five games.

Grade: C-

COACHING

Let’s see, the team was undisciplined in the supposedly biggest game of the Riley Era. The sideline was a circus. And Lincoln Riley goes for it on fourth-and-7 in the fourth quarter, which showed he had no faith in his defense. The offense let him down too. The guy wasn’t ready for prime time. Again. In a big game. It was like USC did not have a head coach on the sideline. A mannequin would have been better because it wouldn’t have hurt the team.

Grade: F

GAME MANAGEMENT

A special category. They ran out of beer swords in the first half. There was no one in the administration to tell Riley to have his player stop celebrating after getting kicked out of the game, or being a cheerleader in the second half.

Meanwhile, the radio broadcast became a national embarrassment, which meant the country finally saw what die-hard Trojan fans have experienced for decades. The one-game suspension for the targeting was also a joke. Who is in charge around here?

Grade: F