How PFF College graded the USC offense vs. Washington

It's hard not to dwell on the obvious when it comes to USC's 28-14 loss at Washington.

Third-string quarterback Matt Fink turned in the opposite performance of his memorable relief effort against Utah, this time tossing 3 interceptions while completing 19 of 32 passes for 163 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 rushing TD.

The first two of those picks and the overall ineffectiveness of the passing attack -- just 62 yards in the first half -- substantially changed the complexion of the game and put USC in a hole from which it couldn't recover.

It also might have changed the complexion of this season for the Trojans.

Coach Clay Helton was candid both after the game and in his Sunday night conference call with reporters in acknowledging the Trojans let a winnable game slip away.

"For our staff and our players getting on the plane [Saturday] night, we felt like we left an opportunity out there," he said. "It's something that I know this team will grow from, over the last two weeks playing two good teams and living and learning both from success and failure, we're going to get better from [it]. I still believe in this team wholeheartedly. They play hard, they play with a lot of heart and I walked on that plane last night even more confident that this is a team that can win the conference."

USC (3-2, 2-1 Pac-12) does still control its path to the division title and a shot in the conference championship game, by virtue of holding the tiebreaker over preseason favorite Utah and with the rest of its Pac-12 South games still to play.

But what if USC had gotten some better injury luck this season, where might things stand?

Could a healthy JT Daniels have prevented the loss at BYU, when freshman Kedon Slovis tossed 3 picks in a narrow overtime loss in his first road start. Could either Daniels or Slovis have led the Trojans to a win over Washington where the margin again seemed to hinge on the QB play? Could this team be 4-1 or even 5-0 if the dominos had fallen differently.

Well, if that's a thought Helton has allowed himself to have, he wasn't wiling to indulge it publicly when asked Sunday night. His thoughts remained narrowly fixated on those early mistakes vs. Washington -- and understandably so as the what-if factor was especially high Saturday.

As Helton would reference three key moments, Washington's first touchdown followed a USC three-and-out deep in its own territory, leading to a short punt and Huskies possession at the Trojans' 35-yard line. Fink's first interception then gave Washington possession at the vistors' 38 and set up the second touchdown. And the second pick came in the third quarter with USC down 20-7 and set up with a second-and-4 from the Huskies' 10.

"In both losses I look at the turnovers, and [Saturday] was critical when you look at that first half. ... So two drives came with drive starts from the 35 and 38, and then we have a turnover going in in that second half that I really thought was going to provide some momentum," Helton said. "We have a great drive and get down to the 10 and then have a turnover there, those have been the critical difference between us winning and losing -- the turnovers when you look at both losses.

"It's something that a young team will grow from and learn from. I think the last two weeks are great learning lessons that we'll show. I can't wait to show not only the Utah film again but this film from [Saturday] and show the difference in the two games and what's important, especially when you're going to be playing some really talented teams down the stretch here and having a chance to win and compete for a conference championship."

Beyond the obvious -- the interceptions -- let's take a closer look at what the PFF College advanced data shows from USC's offensive performance at Washington:

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