QUARTERBACK

Jayden Maiava was pretty much the offense, or whatever you would call it, until UCLA collapsed in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t one of his best games but it didn’t need to be.

Grade: B-

RUNNING BACK

The running game was fairly atrocious until King Miller’s 41-yard TD run. If USC wasn’t playing UCLA, it might have mattered.

Grade: C

WIDE RECEIVER

Can Makai Lemon win the Biletnikoff Award after 34 yards receiving against Oregon and 32 yards against UCLA? The answer is probably yes.

Grade: C+

OFFENSIVE LINE

The pass protection in the first half was below par and the running game struggled most of the game. For me, that’s business as usual with an average offensive line.

Grade: C-

DEFENSIVE LINE

It’s been 11 games and this group has been completely overhyped. Who is the disruptor? Who dominates? What did they do in key moments? And yet, the facile media/fanboys fall for it.

Grade: D+

LINEBACKER

Let’s grade Rob Ryan: Eric Gentry was better in previous seasons. Did anyone develop? Not really. Is there a candidate to wear No. 55? Willie McGinest was still probably the best linebacker coming out of the tunnel Saturday.

Grade: D

DEFENSIVE BACK

The best news of the day was the secondary got to face Jerry Neuheisel because Nico Iamaleava was pretty good despite getting little support from the sideline or on the field except for receiver Kwazi Gilmer, who had 10 receptions.

Grade: C-

SPECIAL TEAMS

It’s been quite a meltdown to end the season as the normally reliable Ryon Sayeri missed two field goals against UCLA. The punting has been shambolic all season. What type of evaluation will Lincoln Riley do with special teams? He doesn’t seem willing to make changes.

Grade: F

COACHING

A big part of coaching is having your team prepared to play. Did USC show up ready to play its most-hated rival? Nope. You had a crowd bursting at the seams waiting for a reason to explode and a team sleepwalking for three quarters.

How would Riley fare against Lane Kiffin? Ryan Day? Kirby Smart? No wonder he refused to go to the SEC.

I don’t know why Lincoln Riley can’t appreciate the rivalry but he doesn’t appreciate a lot of things. What was the deal at the end of the first half? UCLA has the ball with 1:26 left and the ball at the 26-yard line.

Iamaleava scrambled for six yards and Riley let the clock wind down to 22 seconds when UCLA called a timeout. The Bruins could have gone for it on fourth down but settled for a field goal and the lead.

Didn’t Riley want to get the ball back and try and score? His clock management is terrible.

Grade: F

InsideUSC with Scott Wolf

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