USC Fans Will Love The New Mindset From Trojans' Offense

The USC Trojans are officially 5-2 after their road loss to the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. With their final bye week ahead, the Trojans coaching staff sees the recent loss as an opportunity to learn and grow, especially with five games left on the schedule.

Sep 13, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley reacts during the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans enter their final bye weekend following their second loss of the season to No. 12 Notre Dame on the road.

Although the loss adds no margin for error to position themselves in Big Ten title and College Football Playoff race, the USC coaching staff reminded Trojan fans that the team is gearing up for what's next.

For offensive line coach Zach Hanson, the loss adds learning opportunities for their players entering the bye weekend, and more room for improvement.

Zach Hanson Sees Learning Opportunities And Growth After Loss

Dec 27, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley holds the championship trophy after the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Hanson has emerged as the missing piece for the offensive line, impacting the Trojans on and off the field.

Since Hanson has stepped into his new coaching role, quarterback Jayden Maiava has only been sacked five times through seven games. Previously, Hanson was the Trojans tight ends coach from 2022-24, and added assistant head coach for offense to his coaching role last season.

After a difficult loss to the Fighting Irish, Hanson emphasized the competitive Big Ten race ahead, and what comes next for USC.

"We got a lot of football ahead of us, everything's still out on the table in the Big Ten," Hanson said on Trojans Live.

What Hanson also noted was the amount of growth and opportunity that's presented to their players after a loss, that sometimes winning does not allow.

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"We can learn and grow from all these opportunities that we have, and even losing a game, you learn more about you know life and about football losing than you do winning all the time," Hanson said. "Everybody wants to go mountaintop to mountaintop, (but) the valleys are where you really learn and grow throughout this whole thing."

Throughout this season alone, the Trojans have been dealt their difficult hand with injuries. Specifically for Hanson's offensive line, starting left tackle Elijah Paige and center Kilian O'Connor are out for the time being.

USC's Shuffled Offensive Line, J'Onre Reed Doing All The Right Things

Sep 6, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans offensive lineman J'Onre Reed (50) quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) warm up prior to the game against the Georgia Southern Eagles at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

With a lot of younger talent in Hanson's room, learning from a loss allows them to learn the ups and downs, but still perform at a high level.

"With a group of young guys like I have or or you know slowly gaining more experience, it's being able to ride those waves, the ups and downs," Hanson said. "And just kind of steady everything out just like we're asking them to do in a football game."

Since the addition of backup center J'Onre Reed in the lineup for O'Connor, his multiple years of starting experience has proved his talent and ability to compete. Prior to his transfer to USC, Reed played two seasons with the Syracuse Orange, where they finished last season 10-3.

Sep 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley watches game action against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Hanson highlighted the immediate impact Reed made when joining the Trojans staff, sharing Reed's ability to take on the backup role after his starting role at Syracuse.

“it's very difficult. I'm really proud of Reed the way that he's attacked. This season being the backup to start is a difficult deal when you come in being a multi-year starter at another place," Hanson said. "But he really just embraced his role and really learned and grew where he needed to grow. He's still continuing to do that right now."

Reed's performance at the wake of O'Connor's injury has impressed Hanson, with Reed able to match O'Connor's level in each game he's played.

"It's hard to do after a guy like Killian goes down because Killian's so sharp and he's been in this system for so long, that all his calls are pretty much exactly what we want them to be because he's been in it for so long and he was around Jonah and all these other guys that played here as well," Hanson said.

With the Trojans next matchup back on the road, USC has the chance to bounce back and continue their Big Ten win streak in week 10, on the road at Nebraska at 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC.