3 Husky Objectives for Beating USC

UW defense needs to show up after failing to unsettle Minnesota the previous week.

John Mills helps QB Demond Williams Jr. get back on his feet against Minnesota, which is what their team now needs to do. | Dave Sizer photo

Playing USC in Los Angeles is hardly the place for the University of Washington football team to regroup.

You typically need to be operating at an extremely high level to beat the Trojans on their own turf. Just ask Michael Penix Jr. about his memorable 2023 experience. Fifty-two UW points that day.

Yet the Huskies will go into Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon and try to bounce back from a 27-24 loss to Minnesota in a home game for which they were heavily favored to win.

On the plus side of this match-up, coach Lincoln Riley can't win the big one, hence the Trojans' 41-27 loss to an Oregon team using a back-up quarterback to get it done, where all of that disappointment might make USC vulnerable this weekend.

Jedd Fisch has a lot of football talent interspersed throughout the lineup, but the Huskies haven't played cohesively or in a threatening manner yet this season.

It's time for these guys to step up or consider this season a major disappointment waiting to happen.

Three things need to take place in the heat and the smog of Southern California for the UW to feel better about itself:

1. AN ATTACKING DEFENSE

Ryan Walters' defense simply didn't show up against Minnesota for a couple of reasons. The Gophers picked on the secondary replacements for injured cornerback Manny Karnley and nickelback Rahshawn Clark, in particular Elias Johnson, who was drawing his first start, and the Huskies gave up three touchdown passes.

More disturbing was the lack of pressure supplied by the UW defensive front, which was supposed to be this attack-minded crew that would make 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback Drake Lindsey highly uncomfortable. That's what Mississippi State previously did. The Huskies had one sack and one interception.

They need takeaways against USC to make it a game.

2. GAME-WINNING FG

Before he was a former Texas State kicker who transferred into the UW, Tyler Robles was an ex-USC booter who did little more than watch during his two years with Riley's team before leaving town.

This Southern California native was reminded almost since the first day he came to Montlake that this game, should it be competitive, could come down to a Robles field goal.

It would be nerve-wracking to the highest degree, but it might be his most satisfying football moment if his kick was true.

3. SMART QB PLAY

Demond Williams Jr. needs to show he's a quarterback worthy of nearly getting stolen away by LSU in the offseason. He needs to show he's worthy of four million Montlake dollars.

Yet regardless of any outside or in-house incentives, Williams, as a third-year Husky quarterback, needs to step it up, show some steady career progression and play a lot smarter than he has. Throw the ball away. Run more. Make something happen against a quality opponent.

Like Lincoln Riley, he hasn't won the big one either. The Huskies need Willaims to make stuff happen in a hurry on a big stage.