It says something that a 42-28 win on the road in Pac-12 play could create so much consternation for USC fans.

It reflects just how much order has been stored for this program and the expectations that surround it.

The Trojans simply have too much potential and too grand of goals to slog their way through a tight game against a rebuilding Sun Devils squad that had lost 29-0 to Fresno State the week before.

Though coach Lincoln Riley makes a fair point that every week is its own story and that playing USC is always going to bring out a maximum effort from the opponent -- in this case, that involved ASU coach Kenny Dillingham throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Trojans -- that doesn't explain 10 penalties for 85 yards, operational miscues on offense four games into the season and terrible tackling.

The college football world seemed to notice as well as 4-0 USC dropped three spots to No. 8 in the AP poll.

"You know, you get on the road and everything's just magnified a little bit. We were just a little tick off, especially offensively in terms of moving, play clock got down on us a lot and we did not handle that well, so we'll have to do a better job preparing the guys for that," Riley said.

We have a few other notes for the Trojans to work on, meanwhile, as we break it all down in the weekly First-and-10 -- the 10 most notable takeaways from USC's performance.

Across the board, a lot about this game echoed the Trojans’ season opener against San Jose State. Much as in that contest, the team appeared to be out-of-sync and lacking focus, giving up far too many poor plays on both sides of the ball despite picking up a fairly straightforward win thanks to their overwhelming talent advantage. Caleb Williams’ day certainly reflected that of the season opener, as the star passer turned in another statistically dominant performance to lead his team to victory despite having what the eye test would indicate to be an off game by his standards.

To be clear, Williams still had an impressive showing by any objective measure -- 20-of-31 passing for 322 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and 2 rushing TDs. He pulled the offense out of dreadful situations generated by others on multiple occasions, salvaging touchdown drives from possessions that appeared doomed to die at third-and-20 or fourth-and-7. His magical brilliance as an improvisor was deadly once again, helping him create big plays resulting in scores repeatedly as he led the offense to a healthy 42-point outing. That is, however, the lowest scoring output this Trojans team has produced through four games, and the offense didn’t seem to operate on Saturday with the same machine-like efficiency we’ve gotten used to seeing.

That regression was the result of a handful of factors including inconsistent offensive line play and questionable management of game situations, but foremost among them was the fact that Williams appeared to be a tick out of rhythm -- yes, even on a night where he totaled 5 TDs and completed nearly two-thirds of his passes. Though he ran through his reads masterfully at times, the reigning Heisman winner’s decision making was shaky in moments throughout the game. He nearly threw an early pick after overlooking a lurking underneath defender and failed to pick out the right option in his progressions on a handful of occasions over the course of the contest. His normally steadfast accuracy faltered here and there as well, as Williams just missed open receivers in uncharacteristic fashion a few times.

We’re so used to Williams playing in demigod mode that it stands out when just a bit more human error crops up in his play; the impact on the quality of the Trojans offense is noticeable. The version of Williams that played in Tempe last Saturday is still one of the most dangerous players in all of college football, but USC’s overall chances of victory decline significantly when he’s not handing in his best in any given game. This roster is much improved top to bottom from last year, but make no mistake, this team goes as far as Williams will take it. Without him, this offense would be good but not nearly as devastating; it’s ultimately designed around the unique capacities No. 13 brings to the helm.

Meanwhile, the entire argument for why USC’s defense can potentially contribute enough for this team to make the playoff is predicated on the underlying assumption that the offense will be producing the way its expected to -- the way it does when Williams is in top form. All of the Trojans hopes rely on the QB being at his best. If this team is to achieve its goals, he has to do that consistently. Is that unfair to ask of a young quarterback already producing at a historic level? Probably. But Williams is a singular talent in a singular position -- if there were ever a player who could be asked to shoulder such a burden and to meet those imbalanced expectations, it would be him.

I think Saturday night was the result of both he and the rest of the team not being adequately prepared for the environment, gameplan and energy they encountered in Tempe coming off of an awkwardly positioned bye week. They did enough to make it through, but they, and he, must know that similar performances simply will not do against the buzzsaw that is the rest of USC’s schedule. Williams has to meet his own lofty bar pretty much weekly from here on out; I think he will.

This began to become clear after the Stanford game, but USC’s usage of MarShawn Lloyd against ASU seemed to cement his place as the team’s clear-cut lead back going forward. The Trojans handed the football off 18 times on the night and 14 of those carries were taken by Lloyd, and even Lincoln Riley acknowledged they could probably should have given it to him more as he averaged 11 yards a carry for 154 yards and 2 TDs.

"We ended up hitting some big plays in the pass game that shortened some of those drives there in the end. But yeah, as good as he was running, you could argue that we probably should have gave it to him more," Riley said.

Saturday’s game made clear what had already seemed apparent in the prior weeks: what Lloyd brings to the USC backfield is something not replicated elsewhere on the Trojans depth chart -- not now or at any point in the past five years. The electricity he brings to every touch is evident, easily making him the Trojans’ most dynamic runner of the football since Ronald Jones. He was a man among boys against the Sun Devils, ripping off long gains with his consistent vision and remarkable explosiveness as he refused to let the first tackler get him to the ground. Lloyd’s patience at the line of scrimmage and his unique capabilities as a lateral mover allow him to get free in a way that few backs can replicate and few defenders can handle. His dancing with the ball disrupts the pursuit angles of tacklers, allowing him to find a lane and burst through it before anyone is really ready to try wrangling him. His easy movement skills down the field make it possible for him to turn any given touch into a touchdown, giving the Trojans home-run ability from the backfield to go with what they already have at the pass-catching positions.

On the subject of pass-catching, Lloyd has also shown tremendous utility as a receiver, demonstrating natural hands and a strong fundamental understanding of how to manipulate space in order to get open. He’s also a stout and active pass-blocker, making him capable of managing a true three-down role. Lloyd’s productivity on the ground against ASU was easily the best thing the team had going for it consistently over the course of the night; he was just as dominant to close out the game as he was in its early phases. He’s clearly one of the stars of this offense, and capable of carrying the load for the whole unit for prolonged stretches when necessary. The question that remains is how willing Riley is to do that when the opportunity arises.

In this contest where it was abundantly clear that Lloyd and the rushing offense were having their way, it was perplexing for Riley to continue pushing forward with such a pass-intensive gameplan late into the game even as the aerial attack stalled. Why run the risk of shortening possessions and give the Sun Devils the chance to control more clock when you know you’re entirely capable of eating up minutes and eventually scoring on the back of your ground game? One part of my guess is that Riley consciously kept forcing the passing game because he wanted to get a response out of his guys and to see them get it right in real time.

The performance they put up for most of the early game was not up to Riley’s standards, from both a setup and execution perspective. Knowing that this was one of the few games left where the Trojans might have a chance to workshop kinks in their game rather than play for the result all the way through, it’s quite likely that Riley took the opportunity to do so. After all, the early portion of the season has been full of naked experimentation on behalf of he and his staff.

With that said, I’m not entirely sure that Riley would lean in a different direction if facing a similar scenario in a higher-stakes game. As of yet, we haven’t really seen him fully commit to a run-heavy game plan for an extended period of time. There were some late game situations last season where the circumstances seemed to dictate an advantage in relying on the run game to salt away the clock, yet Riley almost uniformly seemed to avoid doing so, at least to any dedicated extent. Given the fact that the Trojans now have a true backfield star to lean on if need be, I’m curious if Riley will be more open to letting Lloyd and the running game carry the load for the offense if the situation is ripe for it. If he is, this offense becomes much, much harder to plan against, even for the best defenses, in a way that a purely pass-dominant offense can never be.

Though the Trojans will undoubtedly and rightfully run the brunt of their offense through the right arm of Caleb Williams, whether or not they show the versatility to be able to lean on the run when necessary will be a critical storyline to monitor over the course of the season.