On this episode of the Peristyle Podcasts hosts Ryan Abraham and Coach Harvey Hyde are back together talking about USC's 38-20 loss to UCLA in the Coliseum, closing out what was a once promising college football season in the most disappointing way possible. The Trojans were preseason ranked No. 5 and started off winning their first six games and didn't trail for the first five. Since then USC lost to both of its rivals in uncompetitive games, went 1-5 and once again sported one of the worst defenses in the country.

There was great anticipation heading into the 2023 college football season, but it ended up being very difficult to endure and ended on a terrible note with an uncompetitive loss to UCLA. Coach Hyde says the party's over now, Santa Claus didn’t bring any gifts and there is no easy way to make sense of it all. He feels major changes are needed and they are needed immediately, not just with the defensive coordinator but how the entire coaching staff is structured, how recruiting is handled, the overall football philosophy, the entire package. 

Losing to the Bruins and gaining only three rushing yards is inexcusable. It was the last chance for this team to have some positivity heading into the bowl game and while most Trojan fans anticipated a victory over this UCLA squad that had scored 17 points total in its last two games, that didn’t happen. No bragging rights. No Victory Bell. No momentum going into a bowl game. 

The defense obviously needs fixing but there are issues on offense and special teams as well. Coach feels the team was dominated on both lines and that is where football games are won, in the trenches. Caleb Williams is a special player but there was far too much pressure on him to succeed. He needs help from the line, the skill players and the coaching staff since he isn’t forced to do everything on his own. 

As usual the guys answer listener questions via email, text message and voicemail to finish up the show.

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Make sure you check out USCFootball.com for complete coverage of this USC Trojan football team.