After being in the crosshairs of fan ire just a couple weeks ago, USC’s offensive line is at least showing signs that it could be trending in an encouraging direction.

Namely, in the department of run-blocking as the Trojans averaged 7.9 yards per attempt in piling up 189 rushing yards in the 33-30 overtime loss to Penn State last weekend.

That comes on the heels of a 173-yard rushing performance (6.2 YPC) at Minnesota, and both reflect a noted uptick in production from the earlier games against power conference foes as USC had averaged 3.0 YPC vs. LSU, 4.6 vs. Michigan and 4.4 vs. Wisconsin.

“That's as good a challenge as you'll face all year, and I thought our guys rose to the challenge. I've been saying we're getting better there. Those guys are getting snaps under their belt. The group's getting more cohesive,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “Our younger, less experienced players are learning and growing each and every week and we got a good leader there in the middle in Jonah [Monheim]. And so, no, I thought they did a lot of really good things. I thought they gave us a great chance to win, gave us a great chance to move the ball and certainly excited about that group going forward because you feel like we're starting to come together and hit our stride at a very important position.”

Running back Woody Marks, who rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries (while Quinten Joyner went for 82 yards and a TD on 3 carries), gave his perspective on the improved ground attack.

“The small details are what took us a long way in the running game,” Marks said. “… Just everybody locking into the details. It starts in practice when we come out on Monday in practice. Everybody's just locking in, doing extra things with the O-line, running backs, quarterbacks doing extra things. I think we're all clicking on one and we're going to try to keep the train going."

Said left guard Emmanuel Pregnon, who has been the steadiest of USC’s linemen: “I feel like we're getting better every week. Everybody's pushing everybody. Just reiterating the standard that we have as an O-line and what we want to become and grow to become. So that's something that we always remind each other of. …

“Just the standard. What we tell ourselves and how hard we practice to make it that way. We understand what we have to do in our jobs and how important it is to us, so we just want to make sure we do the best that we can and train as hard as possible."

The pass protection remains a work in progress as USC yielded 11 quarterback pressures to Penn State, with redshirt freshman left tackle Elijah Paige giving up 4 of those as he continues to go through some growing pains.

“I feel like Elijah has been straining. He's a hard worker, in my opinion, and I think he's going to do a lot of great things in the future. I think he's been growing everyway. He's pretty smart,” Pregnon said.

Despite the pressures, which were an uptick since the Trojans gave up a season-low 5 vs. Minnesota (but still less than the 21 given up to Michigan and 15 to Wisconsin), quarterback Miller Moss took just one sack and spoke favorably of the protection.

“They've done a great job coming together, really kept me clean the past two weeks, which has been nice. I think they're a young group that has learned a lot and taken a lot strides this year and they're going to continue to do so,” Moss said.

Meanwhile, as we do each week, we combed through the film from the unit’s performance vs. Penn State and have our own analysis.

Breaking down USC's offensive line performance by player

(Game grades per PFF on 0-100 scale where grades in the upper 70s and 80s are above average and the 90s are rare.)