In a matter of just six weekends, USC went from 4-2 to 5-7.

That final mark was not only humbling but historic. Attendance hit a 30-year low, the Trojans hadn’t lost to UCLA and Notre Dame while finishing with a losing record since 1991, and only one other USC team had ever experienced a six-win drop-off from the previous season. And yet even after consecutive 10-win campaigns, what unfolded over the second half of last season was never shocking. Sure, USC has recruited about as well as any program in the country aside from a select few under Clay Helton. But the roster taking the field this past fall simply didn't reflect that.

It was the culmination of numerous missteps and misfortune over the past few years. In this two-part series, we examine the many forks in the road that produced the 2018 season and where things are headed in 2019.

First up: the offense. (Click here for the defense)

Cast

Coach Bryan Ellis, Jalen Greene (transferred), Ricky Town (transferred), Sam Darnold (NFL), Matt Fink, Jack Sears, JT Daniels

Recruiting review

After hitting on Darnold in the Class of 2015 -- for the record, the Trojans were in the market for a second QB in addition to Town and Darnold’s high school coach contacted the USC staff asking if Darnold could get a look after he sat out most of his junior season with a broken foot -- the Trojans struck out on their top choices in 2016. They could have had K.J. Costello but didn’t commit to him in hopes of landing Shea Patterson instead. By the time Patterson committed elsewhere, Costello had moved on as well. USC was in the driver’s seat for Tua Tagovailoa until he got acquainted with Alabama and his family decided it was relocating as one to Tuscaloosa.

The Trojans were in danger of reaching in the 2017 class until Darnold’s rapid ascension prompted Sears to flip from Duke late in the process. USC’s primary target in the Class of 2018 was Jack Tuttle, even after he committed to Utah. They weren’t going to flip him, but it became a moot point once Daniels reclassified. The latter development also led USC to decline Patterson’s attempt to transfer in from Ole Miss following last season. Newest addition Kedon Slovis will participate in spring practice but figures to need time before he factors into the playing equation.

Decisions and development

There’s no need at this point to rehash the Max Browne versus Darnold competition from 2016. But I do wonder if a slice of Helton’s logic in choosing Browne initially had to do with how it would set up the Trojans long term. In an ideal world, Browne, after three years as the backup, would have performed at a high level out the gate in Helton’s first full season and been USC’s QB1 for the next two years. Darnold then would have taken over last year and probably still be on the team in 2019.

That’s basically what transpired for the duration of the Pete Carroll era, as Matt Leinart succeeded a redshirt senior Carson Palmer, John David Booty succeeded a redshirt senior Leinart, and Mark Sanchez succeeded a redshirt senior Booty. Sanchez broke the chain when he opted to forgo his final year of eligibility, leaving Carroll to start Matt Barkley a year earlier than he wanted to. Prior to Darnold, USC had not lost a starting quarterback after their sophomore season since Todd Marinovich in 1990. (In related news, USC went 3-8 in 1991.)

Heading into the 2018 season, USC had not had less game experience among QBs on its roster since that dismal '91 campaign. It made for a dramatically different existence than having Darnold or Patterson or Costello or Tagovailoa in cardinal and gold this past fall. Still, that neither Fink nor Sears could beat out Daniels in training camp -- Daniels was indisputably better than his peers in practice last August -- largely falls on the staff, which had more than a year with the other two. The bright side moving forward is that Daniels now has a lot of experience under his belt, and both Fink and Sears have performed well in spot duty. The level of QB play in 2019, from whoever ultimately claims the job, could be markedly better than it was last year. But the OC and QBs coach hire(s) is crucial.