USC may be reeling, off to a 3-4 start with four lopsided losses, but that's still far above the state of affairs at Arizona.
The Wildcats, in their first season under coach Jedd Fisch, have lost 19 straight games dating back to the 2019 season.
They lost to a Northern Arizona team that has a losing record at the FCS level. They lost 34-0 to a Colorado team that has been blown out by every other Pac-12 opponent it's played.
Yeah, it's been bad.
On Saturday, Arizona (0-7) brings that losing streak to the Coliseum to take on a Trojans team fighting for bowl eligibility and mostly awaiting a sense of direction for the future with the program's ongoing coaching search.
The game kicks off at 4 p.m. and will air on ESPNU -- a fair reflection of the national interest this one should draw.
Arizona did nearly snap its losing streak last week, holding a nine-point fourth-quarter lead at home against Washington before ultimately losing 21-16.
The Wildcats have been respectable at times on defense, ranking 52nd nationally in allowing 357.6 yards game (better than USC's 382.1), but they rank 94th in scoring defense at 30.4 points per game allowed.
That's likely is due to the offensive struggles that have put the defense in bad situations.
The Wildcats rank 127th out of 130 FBS teams in scoring at just 14.3 points per game and 106th in yards at 337.6 per game.
Arizona has gone through three quarterbacks this season, with redshirt freshman Will Plummer taking over following season-ending injuries to Jordan McCloud and Gunner Cruz. Plummer is completing just 53.9 percent of his passes for 442 yards, 2 TDs and 5 INTs overall.
As a result, the Wildcats have leaned heavily on their ground attack, involving wide receivers into the mix, including Jamarye Joiner as a limited-use wildcat QB. Five players have at least 97 rushing yards, led by Drake Anderson (239 rushing yards, 3.8 yards per carry).
At receiver Stanley Berryhill III is the focal point of the limited passing attack, with 54 catches for 465 yards and 1 TD.
As always, our TrojanSports.com staff breaks down the matchup and other relevant storylines of the week, like stat projections for WR Drake London and RB Keaontay Ingram and our favorites in the USC coaching search:
1. What percentage chance do you give USC to reach a bowl game and why?
Ryan Young: "I'd say 35 percent. The Trojans need to win three of their final five games to become bowl-eligible, and they've been blown out by two touchdowns or more against the four best teams they've played, so it's hard to expect anything at this point. I do think they will beat this winless Arizona team, but that's the extent of my confidence. A road game against an Arizona State team (presently 5-2) competing for a division title? Not likely. A road game against struggling Cal (2-5)? Honestly, that could go either way, which is a statement on what this season has become. And then home against a frisky UCLA team (5-3 right now) and nationally-ranked BYU (6-2)? Doubtful. So, in summary, USC absolutely has to take care of business against Arizona, likely has to win on the road at Cal and then pull off an upset in one of the other three games. Also, playing in a lower-tier bowl game with a coaching staff in transition is a complicated matter. It's possible if the motivation is there, and I have no doubt the players have pride and want to win, but in the big picture it may actually be easier to use December to focus on assembling the new coaching staff and rallying this 2022 recruiting class before the early signing period later in that month."
Tajwar Khandaker: "Currently sitting at 3-4, USC needs 3 victories from the remaining slate of 5 games in order to secure a bowl berth. Despite their poor form, the Trojans should still be heavily favored to win against both Arizona and Cal. That leaves a win against at least one of UCLA, ASU and BYU necessary to make a bowl. It’s not a particularly tough pathway, but as this team has not grown any more cohesive or effective over the past month I don’t feel particularly strongly about their odds of making it work. I’ll give them a 55-percent shot of making a bowl, and that number reflects much more on the circumstantial context than it does the team."
How should USC incorporate freshman QB Jaxson Dart the rest of the season and what do you expect for his role Saturday?
Khandaker: "Like I said last week, I think the right move is still to leave Kedon Slovis as the clear-cut starter. Nonetheless, I think the coaching staff should look for creative ways to get Dart in games, particularly in short-yardage and goal line situations. Given the Trojans’ red zone struggles, I think it would be worth taking advantage of Dart’s mobility on options and rollout plays in that part of the field, at least on occasion. All of that comes with the caveat of his health; I don’t think there’s any reason to risk re-aggravating his meniscus injury if it’s not yet back to 100 percent. I suspect that will weigh heavily on the coaching staff’s decision-making as well, and as a result I don’t expect to see much of Dart against Arizona, besides perhaps a couple of situational snaps of the variety described above."
Young: "I don't see the upside just yet. USC should not need the added wrinkle of Jaxson Dart to beat 0-7 Arizona. Give him at least another week to continue to catch up from the time lost and let that knee get stronger and stronger. Also, I recognize that it's unlikely Dart ends up staying five years and truly needing a redshirt season, but at this point it would seem silly to blow his redshirt in a lost season. He can play in three more games and still take a redshirt this year. The Trojans have five games left. There's absolutely no need to play him in more than three of those games. So give him another week, and then sure, get him some added experience late in games with an eye toward next season. But I disagree on the short-yardage/goal line scenarios -- I absolutely would not want Dart running at all the rest of this season and exposing his knee to another potential hit. That can be unleashed next season when he's the starter. As to what I expect to happen? I wouldn't be surprised if they got him in for a series or two, considering they had him rotate in for some first-team reps here and there in practice this week."
