First-and-10: The key takeaways and critiques from USC's ugly loss to OSU

The numbers say it plainly.

USC got manhandled Saturday night at home, losing 45-27 to Oregon State -- the Beavers' first win in the Coliseum since 1960.

Oregon State (3-1) piled up 324 rushing yards, managing to average 6.3 yards per carry on 51 carries. The Beavers had 535 total offensive yards.

It was as close to a repeat as the lopsided home loss to Stanford two weeks ago as there could be -- and until a final Oregon State field goal the score was even almost identical (the Trojans lost 42-28 to the Cardinal).

USC was favored by double-digit points in both of those games. That surely won't be the case at any point moving forward.

Let's get right into the weekly First-and-10 breakdown -- the 10 most glaring observations, criticisms and thoughts from the Trojans' performance Saturday night.

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Kedon Slovis may have had a rough night, but it wasn’t quite as bad as the box score seems to indicate. He finished the game 31-of-49 for 355 yards, with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Through the first half, Slovis played clean and efficient football, with hardly any significant mistakes to point to besides a forced and ill-conceived fade to a double-covered Drake London at the close of the second quarter. He had four passes dropped by receivers in that half -- the first of which wound up an Oregon State interception off the chest of Tahj Washington. For the most part, Slovis was finding his receivers and getting the ball out on time, but things crumbled as the game progressed. Slovis made a number of bad decisions trying to force plays as the Trojans fell into an increasingly deeper hole, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that he started to find his groove again. He hit on a number of big plays and led long drives down the field, but the deficit was already beyond recovery by then.

As the final stages of the game wound down, Slovis threw 2 more interceptions in desperation time. In moments, Slovis exhibited some of his worst tendencies in this game -- locking onto receivers too early and forcing balls, as well as occasionally holding onto the football for far too long. He also put some of his best traits to work -- moving efficiently in the pocket, throwing the back shoulder fade better than almost anyone in college football, and fitting the football into tight spaces.

Slovis has yet to look like the quarterback he was two years ago, and I think it’s very reasonable to wonder if he’s ever going to perform at that level again. Nonetheless, having seen everything that went wrong for the Trojans on Saturday, it’s hard to point to Slovis as the root of the team’s struggles. The big plays he created were what kept the Trojans offense afloat, and I’m not convinced that any other quarterback on the roster would have done much more. He’s far from the biggest issue on the offense, and though he’s also been far from great there’s little doubt in my mind that he should remain the starting quarterback for this team through the near future. If things continue to look this sour by the time Jaxson Dart is back healthy, however, I think an open competition is inevitable.

One of the reasons I’ve been somewhat forgiving of Slovis has been the drop issues his receivers have exhibited consistently throughout this season. The Stanford loss was marred by them, with two potential touchdowns and a pick-6 lost to missed opportunities. Even in last week’s dominating win against Washington State, Drake London dropped three balls. Saturday was no different.

Tahj Washington had 3 critical drops in the first half -- all of which should have turned into first down conversions at the least. The first of those drops, as previously mentioned, resulted in a turnover that stifled an otherwise promising opening drive for USC and led to the Beavers’ first touchdown. London also dropped an easy pass on a slant, a concerning trend that he’s continued through three games despite his domination otherwise.

The USC offense was humming quite smoothly through the first half aside from the drops; without them, the Trojans were moving the ball with relative ease. The lack of consistency catching the ball is a serious problem for this offense and does no favors to the quarterbacks trying to find a rhythm on that side of the ball. Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell pointed to the drops as one of the biggest issues the offense faced in this game, and I’m actually inclined to agree with him on that one. When a quarterback can’t rely on his receivers to secure footballs that hit them in both hands, life gets tough for an offense.

Freshman tight end Michael Trigg saw by far the most playing time of his young career, finding himself split out in the slot for much of the Trojan’s offensive snaps. The athletic tight end finished with 44 yards on 3 receptions, as well as drawing a pass interference penalty on a deep seam route. His expanded role was clearly a focal point of the offensive game plan, and the flashes he displayed seemed to validate that decision. Trigg is unusually dangerous with the ball in his hands for someone of that size. The power he brings might be expected at his height and weight, but his quickness isn’t. He showed that on a catch-and-run, making defenders miss as well as capitalizing down the field on deeper routes. With a rather uneven start to the season from the Trojans’ receiver crew, don’t be surprised to see Trigg’s role in the offense expand further in the coming weeks.