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Published Oct 10, 2021
The most notable quotes from USC coaches, players after the loss to Utah
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Ryan Young  •  TrojanSports
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There were plenty of questions with not many firm answers after USC's latest blowout loss in the Coliseum as the Trojans fell to Utah, 42-26.

We've rounded up the most notable comments from coaches and players after that defeat:

RELATED: USC feeling 'déjà vu' after latest demoralizing loss in the Coliseum | WATCH: Postgame reaction from Trojans coaches and players

Interim head coach Donte Williams

"The guys fought till the end, but that's not good enough at all -- especially for USC."

"There was a moment there that the quarterback looked like he just couldn't miss, whether it was over the top or underneath coverages we weren't doing enough."

"We've got to make sure we come into the bye week and focus on us. We've got a lot of things we need to clean up as a team and we're going to focus on those things and make sure we clean them up."

"You've got to put this game behind you, so it's a high level of concern if people can't put the game behind you. But I know this team, I know the guys in that locker room, I know we won't have a problem with doing that. There will be guys in there tomorrow making sure they're watching film to make sure they do what they've got to do to make sure we get ourselves prepared."

On the focus entering the bye week: "Us. Making sure that we're playing the right guys, making sure that we're calling the right plays, making sure we're doing things the right way. This was the first half of the regular season so we've got a whole second half to go, so we've got to make sure we've got the right combination of guys and plays going on that field."

On Michael Trigg's status: "I don't know, to be honest. They said it's a lower leg injury. Until the MRI and stuff like that comes back I don't know."

On whether he sees guys playing hard until the end: "Shoot, you see at the end of the [game], you see Kedon still rolls out and throws the ball deep and the guys up still catches the pass. At the same time, you see the defense still fighting, trying to get stops. They're selling out to stop the run and the last play they throw a pass over our heads. So I see guys still fighting, I don't see guys giving up, but the fight is not good enough. You've also got to execute in the fight."

On the struggles at home: "On the road, it's only us. It's a business trip. So you're trying to make everything at home the same way -- a business trip. It's us. At the same time it's a rollercoaster, it's been up and down, which usually it's the other way for teams when they play great at home and bad on the road. We're going to continue to make sure that things are tweaked the way it needs tweaked to where we can perform either way it goes."

On what he hopes to accomplish over the bye: "Making sure that we're playing the right guys, making sure that we're calling the right plays, making sure we're doing things the right way. This was the first half of the regular season so we've got a whole second half to go, so we've got to make sure we've got the right combination of guys and plays going on that field."

On whether he gave thought to playing some younger guys late in the game: "Later in the game? I'm thinking about playing some of the younger guys early in the game. Like, it's competition always so the better guys need to play to succeed. Just because you're a senior or a junior doesn't mean that you just play. The better player needs to play."

On whether he expects personnel changes after the bye: "I mean it's going to be competition so I definitely do. We have some young guys that are really good players that are banged up right now so I mean it's a little mixture of both, but it's always going to be open competition here. That's why people come to 'SC to play with the best, to play against the best. So we've got to make sure us as coaches we're evaluating the right way to make sure we get those guys on the field."

"It's the whole team right now, it's a little bit of a rollercoaster, so I need to make sure that it's not a rollercoaster and everybody's on the same train tracks."

On whether the emphasis on accountability is showing any results: "You know what, it's a process. So Saturday is all about the work that you put in. You go put the work in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, throughout the week and it's a process on Saturday. It sucks that at home you can't see the finished product of that process. So that's where it's a disconnect. You look at the accountability in the locker room, yes, I do like the way that we're going accountability-wise. A lot of things that we changed and the players have stepped up and done it, but at the same time it's a process. So the finished product on Saturday it hasn't shown the reward in which it should."

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