SEATTLE -- Two times now in the span of three weeks and with two different quarterbacks, USC has seen an opposing defense sell out against the downfield passing attack and collect 3 interceptions in dealing the Trojans a deflating defeat on the road.

BYU did it to freshman QB Kedon Slovis, and on Saturday No. 17 Washington made sure not to let Matt Fink get anything going through the air.

Wide receiver Michael Pittman, coming off his monstrous 10-catch, 232-yard performance against Utah, was asked after this 28-14 loss how often the Huskies didn't have him double covered.

"I feel like on third downs is the only time that they played man, and we had third-and-shorts so obviously you don't want to really pass it on third-and-short. So yeah, it was frustrating," said Pittman, who finished with 4 catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Said offensive coordinator Graham Harrell: "That was the gameplan. They tried to take it away. If you look at what they did, they were dropping 8 most of the time, playing way off … and I think at times we had opportunities and didn't take them. ... At times we did take it underneath and then we hit the one long one to Pitt. But that was the game plan to take away the explosives from the receivers."

RELATED: Column: QB Matt Fink struggles as USC stumbles at Washington | WATCH: Video interviews with USC players and coaches after the loss at UW

It stands to reason the Trojans will keep seeing that approach after the losses to BYU and Washington. The only mystery is why Utah didn't find a way to adjust to USC's downfield attack last week.

As Harrell and head coach Clay Helton both noted, the Trojans did rush for a season-high 212 yards (including 7.6 yards per carry from the running backs) Saturday -- after entering the day averaging 118.5 rushing yards per game -- but it didn't matter due to the aformentioned interceptions.

Both Slovis and now Fink have struggled with misreads when faced with blanketing pass coverage. To be fair, Fink's first pick was just a woeful throw that would have been trouble against any defense, and the second was a poor red zone decision that had nothing to do with the downfield coverage, but the blueprint indeed seems that getting the Trojans' passing attack out of rhythm undermines the whole operation.

Fink finished 19-of-32 passing for 163 yards, 1 TD and those 3 INTs.

Harrell actually had no qualms with the overall offensive game plan -- just the stunting interceptions and red zone breakdowns.

"I thought the second half we did a lot of good things offensively, we moved the ball and then didn't finish drives -- and mainly because of turnovers. You can't do that," he said. "... Obviously it was a different gameplan coming in based on what we thought we would see, and really they played exactly what we thought we would see, honestly. So the game plan's a little different. They want to try to force us to run the ball and we rushed for over 200 yards. So I thought the O-line and the running backs and that also goes with perimeter blocking, we did some good things."

Pittman, meanwhile, indicated that Washington threw in some wrinkles that the Trojans weren't totally expecting, and he noted how the approach was nuanced from BYU's.

"They were stacking and they were bailing back and pressing up front, so that's generally not the best -- because he's sitting back at 12 yards and just turning his butt and going -- so that's generally not the best to throw a deep ball," Pittman said. "It didn't throw us off, but I feel like we didn't know that they were going to come in and do that. I just wasn't expecting them to come in and play it like that. ...

"I would say it was similar, but BYU didn't go as far to have a man press and then have a guy like overtop."

What is clear is that it was a smart plan by Washington. Fink's big peformance off the bench against Utah was largely contingent on throwing the ball up downfield and letting his playmakers make plays. That wasn't there Saturday night -- aside from a 44-yard touchdown to Pittman in the third quarter when he got behind the defense -- and Fink's strengths are not in managing the intermediate passing attack.

Whoever starts at quarterback moving forward, though, the Trojans might expect to face some variation of this defensive approach.

In an eye-opening stat, redshirt freshman running back Markese Stepp tied for the team lead in carries with 10 while turning it into a career-best 62 yards.

Fans (and some reporters -- maybe affiliated with this site) have been clamoring to see more of the bruising 230-pound back. He started slow with 5 carries for 7 yards in the first half, but he broke off a 35-yard run in the fourth quarter and took the next two carries for 10 yards and another first down.

"It felt great. I just did my job, was assignment-perfect and just out there having fun playing football," Stepp said.

Meanwhile, junior Stephen Carr had his biggest gain of the season on a 60-yard burst in the third quarter. He later added a 15-yard run while finishing with a season-high 94 rushing yards on just 7 carries. His previous high single-game total this fall was 56 rushing yards and he was coming off a -16-yard performance against Utah. For that matter, USC had just 13 net rushing yards collectively in that game.

Carr declined to speak to reporters afterward, as did running backs coach Mike Jinks and offensive line coach Tim Drevno.

"I thought the running game was very much improved," Helton said. "We challenged both the offensive line and the runners that they were going to have to step up big. It felt like they were going to play their safeties deep and corners deep the majority of the day -- they did."

Said Vavae Malepeai, who rushed 10 times for 49 yards: "UW was kind of dropping 8 at the beginning, and at the end of the day the O-line and the wideouts were doing their job. They were blocking on the edges and the O-line was getting movement up front. So we were just really running behind them, they were opening up holes and as you seen, the running backs made some plays today."

Max Williams, a 4-star true freshman, made his season debut Saturday, manning the nickel spot to open the game.

Helton later revealed that starting nickel Greg Johnson had violated a team rule and was thus held out for the first quarter, but whatever got him that opportunity Williams really made the most of it.

It doesn't show up in the final box score for the freshman for whatever reason, but Washington's first possession ended with a 3-yard sack of QB Jacob Eason. Hunter Echols had flushed him out of the pocket coming off the left edge and Williams finished the play as Eason scrambled right.

Later, Williams forced a fumble on running back Salvon Ahmed at the goal line, but Washington recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown nonetheless.

"Greg Johnson had broken a team rule so I sat him down the first quarter and Max got his opportunity. I thought both kids handled it extremely well, and Max came out did his job, played well and Greg got his opportunity he came out and did what he was supposed to do," Helton said.

Williams, who lost his senior season at Gardena Serra High School to a torn ACL, was further slowed in the preseason by a nagging hamstring injury.

"It's funny because this was like the first week I felt 100 percent -- no knee brace, no hamstring pain. I just felt like myself again, like I haven't felt in a long time," he said afterward.

-Redshirt junior Liam Jimmons was in at right guard for the Trojans on Saturday in the second half (and maybe earlier). Helton wasn't asked if there was any injury to starter Jalen McKenzie, but there should be an update Sunday night when he talks to the media next.

-John Houston led USC with 10 tackles while fellow linebacker Palaie Gaoteote finished with 9. Defensive tackle Jay Tufele had 2 tackles for loss and a sack.

-USC held Washington QB Jacob Eason to a season-low 16 completions (on 26 attempts for 180 yards). It was his second-quietest game of the season behind a 162-yard, 1-INT performance vs. Cal. The matchup between Eason and USC's depleted young secondary -- missing top safety Talanoa Hufanga and top corner Olaijah Griffin -- was a concern coming in, but that proved to have little bearing on the outcome.

"That's as good a quarterback as we may face, him and probably [Oregon's] Justin Herbert later on, so credit those kids for the job they did today," Helton said. "It wasn't perfect, but the defense put us in position to have a chance to come out with a win today."

-Helton is now 12-16 away from the Coliseum since taking over the job in 2015 as interim head coach and then eventually full-time head coach. That includes a 2-6 mark since the start of the 2018 season with the only road wins a surprising 24-20 nailbiter at Arizona last fall and a comfortable win over an overmatched Oregon State team.

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