USC Football: 3 takeaways from win over Washington State in Week 14

USC football held serve at home defeating the Washington State Cougars on a rare Sunday night game in Los Angeles to remain undefeated.

Sunday Night Football was not just for the NFL this week as USC and Washington State played a rare Sunday evening game in Los Angeles. The Trojans defeated the Cougars 38-13 to remain undefeated.

The Trojans scored 28 points in the first quarter and never looked back. Sophomore quarterback Kedon Slovis threw five touchdown passes and four of them were to Amon-Ra St. Brown as the Trojans cruised to victory.

The defense shut down the Cougars’ run-and-shoot offense as Washington State struggled to get anything going on Sunday evening. USC forced three turnovers and surrendered just 263 total yards in the victory.

The Cougars managed just 190 yards passing between three quarterbacks as USC pressured Washington State quarterbacks all night long with five sacks and eight quarterback pressures. The Trojan secondary did not let anything get past them, surrendering just one throw over twenty yards all game long.

Though USC’s offense scored 28 points in the first quarter, the Trojans managed only ten points the rest of the game. The Cougars adjusted to what USC wanted to do in the passing game, and the Trojans scored just three points in the second half of the game. What is most concerning for head coach Clay Helton and the Trojans is the running game? USC managed just one rushing yard in this game.

Here are three takeaways from tonight’s game.