Tunnel Vision: USC offense continues to surge while the defense tries to find its way

Peristyle Podcast - USC Trojan Football Discussion

Ryan Abraham - USCFootball,com publisher

Sports, Basketball, Football

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this latest edition of Tunnel Vision USCFootball.com's Ryan Abraham, Connor Morrissette (aka "Triple-Double") and intern Riley Sager are back in studio breaking down the Trojans 45-31 victory over Michigan State late Saturday night in the Coliseum. It looked like USC had put the game away but the Spartans, in large part to a series of SC mistakes, clawed their way back in the third quarter cutting the lead to just 7 points. At that point quarterback Jayden Maiava and the rest of the offense took over and created some much needed separation, thwarting any potential MSU miracle comeback. Through four games the offense has been elite with no turnovers for Maiava and only four punts on the season, one of which was garbage time in the final seconds of the Michigan State victory. USC is first in total offense at 584 yards per game, first in points per game at 52.5, 1st in points per play, 1st in yards per play at 9.1, 4th in nation with 7.1 yards per rush and 4th with 11.9 yards per pass attempt. It has been a different story on the defensive side of the ball, with some marked improvements over last season but also some major concerns. The front seven is getting after it, forcing a lot of negative plays and pressure on the opposing quarterbacks. However, the secondary is struggling with multiple busted coverages each game including two that turned into Spartan touchdowns on Saturday. The penalties have also derailed some of the better defensive efforts, including four flags on one MSU drive that turned a punt where USC got the ball back into a Michigan State touchdown. The crew talks about all of that and everything else they saw in the Coliseum and what their initial thoughts are heading into a tough road test against No. 23 Illinois. This is the podcast version of our Tunnel Vision video show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE for 30% OFF an annual VIP membership to USCFootball.com!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Please review, rate and subscribe to the Peristyle Podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Make sure you check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠USCFootball.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for complete coverage of this USC Trojan football team. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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