Elliott: In shifting to 6-, USC reveals it is really on route to building a championship pedigree

The 1972 USC football team was honored on the field at the Coliseum on Saturday, a tribute to earlier glory from a method that is striving to replicate that team’s air of invincibility whilst it proceeds to arise from the darkness that descended throughout the late stages of Clay Helton’s coaching tenure.

Consensus nationwide champions at 12-, the 1972 Trojans had been viewed as one particular of the best groups at any time assembled and perhaps the finest of coach John McKay’s several outstanding teams. But in just about every of the two seasons right before they attained the summit, they ended up 6-4-1 and struggled in conference play in what was then the Pacific-8.

It requires time to find out how to maintain the intensity and regularity that individual elite teams from the wannabes. The procedure can be uneven. It’s imperfect, frequently with a attain in just one place balanced by a negative trend or issues in other locations. There are tests in every single recreation, some of them examinations that groups ace and some that they are fortuitous to squeak previous.

Beneath mentor Lincoln Riley, the existing Trojans are grasping the value of effort and constant focus to depth in supplementing their expertise. They’re most of the way towards locating the productive mix they’ll have to have to stay in the conversation for the College Football Playoff, a mission they sophisticated Saturday by developing adequate fantastic times to outweigh their number of lapses in a 30-14 victory about the tough Washington State Cougars.

“Really tricky, really hard-fought win,” Riley reported. “We explained to the men all 7 days, ‘Circumstances never make or break you. It’s how you reply to them.’ It’s been a tricky grind to commence to create this, but we’re getting a hell of a lot of enjoyable.”

Trojans mentor Lincoln Riley appears to be at a participate in sheet in opposition to Washington State in the to start with half. “Really challenging, really hard-fought get,” he reported afterward.

(Gina Ferazzi / VFAB)

In starting off 6- for the very first time considering the fact that the 2006 Trojans — who completed 11-2 and beat Michigan to earn the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007 — the No. 6 Trojans were lucky and have been excellent Saturday.

The great fortune: most notably, when two Cougars penalties nullified an clear interception by Chau Smith-Wade in the 3rd quarter, enabling USC to preserve possession and soon after prolong its direct to 24-14 on a 38-property touchdown go by Caleb Williams to Mario Williams.

The fantastic performances: Large receiver Mario Williams caught four passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Managing back again Travis Dye had 28 carries for 149 yards (both of those time highs) and one landing, that coming on a four-yard rush late in the 2nd quarter that erased Washington State’s 14-10 guide and put the Trojans forward for very good. Tuli Tuipulotu was dominant, earning a few monstrous sacks and five tackles, four of them for a reduction. The protection banded collectively when the Trojans necessary it most. “We regularly identified a way,” Riley stated. The specific teams ended up good far too, like area-objective kicker Denis Lynch’s 3-for-3 overall performance.

Quarterback Caleb Williams was 15 for 29 for 188 yards and two touchdowns and was additional in command than he was two months ago at Oregon Point out but not as fantastic as he was in his 27-for-37, 348-garden, three-landing general performance very last 7 days from Arizona State. He acquired the position finished, and that is what mattered.

There’s place for USC to improve just about almost everywhere, but it is outstanding for a team that has not but founded its credentials or identification to match a year reduced in factors allowed whilst padding its file to 6-. The Trojans’ protection, while progressively extra depleted by accidents, held Cougars quarterback Cameron Ward to 172 passing yards, nicely underneath the 289 he averaged about his to start with five video games, and sacked him 5 instances.

USC huge receiver Mario Williams rejoices after he built a 38-property, very first-quarter touchdown catch. He completed with 4 receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns.

(Gina Ferazzi / VFAB)

The Cougars had scored 110 details in their prior three games, but the Trojans shut them out in the 2nd fifty percent, yet another step ahead. The team’s lifestyle is strong far too, Riley mentioned, with unique issues held to a bare minimum. “We go on to get far better and lean on just about every other,” he said.

The recreation versus the Cougars loomed as the starting of the Trojans’ toughest stretch to date, but they weren’t intimidated by adversity Saturday. They performed with much more of the “edge” Riley said they’d lacked previous 7 days, and they erased Washington State’s 14-10 next-quarter guide with no indicators of panic or nerves. USC will participate in at Utah future week, and even though that matchup misplaced some of its glow when the Utes missing to UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, Rice-Eccles Stadium is a rough position for website visitors. USC just can't permit up.

The Trojans’ travel plan is gentle after that, with a bye 7 days on Oct. 22 and a vacation to Arizona on Oct. 29, but they never depart California yet again for the rest of the normal year. It is a prolonged way off, but it is entertaining to aspiration about the USC-UCLA activity at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 19 being a conference of unbeaten groups.

All five teams rated in advance of USC gained Saturday, with all but No. 1 Alabama — a 4-position winner about Texas A&M — romping by at least a few touchdowns. The Trojans likely will keep where they are, at No. 6. But they finally have a apparent path upward and out of the darkness of defeat.

“We know more troubles are approaching,” Riley claimed. “I just truly adore coaching this workforce.”

It’s uncomplicated to see why. Their collective journey has begun with good assure, but it’s significantly from more than.